Today Europeans will be hitting the streets against ACTA. This is great, a sign of public engagement from a disillusioned generation that feels like they are not getting anything from their leaders. Something bothers me though. If I were to go to any of the protesters and asked why they Read more…
Those interested in alternative business models for the music industry may have heard about singer Amanda Palmer‘s astounding success in crowdfunding her next album through Kickstarter, where she managed to collect $1.2 million USD in donations from her fans. Whichever way you look at it, this is an incredible achievement Read more…
This is the question posed by every single Internet governance paper, every Internet regulation book. In classrooms around the world, students grapple with this very simple question. The usual answer is that nobody is in charge of the Internet. Of course, this is not entirely true, there has to be Read more…
For something which has the unequivocal weight of the law behind it, software copyright has had a rather bumpy history in the courts. Once we get past the obvious facts of law, namely that copyright protects source code, the application of such protection has been more difficult. The reason for Read more…
If you live in Costa Rica, the answer to the question appears to be ‘No’. La Nacion newspaper reports today that Facebook has decided to close the accounts of 19 convicts, who had maintained a presence in the social network despite being in jail. FB took this decision prompted by Read more…
Yours Truly is in Geneva at the 9th session of the Committee on IP and Development at WIPO (all current and previous statements here). Here is our comment on the Agenda Item CDIP/9/INF/2: Scenarios and Possible Options Concerning Recommendations 1c, 1f and 2a of the Scoping Study on Copyright and Read more…
Magistrate Judge Gary Brown has produced an interesting document in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York involving four lawsuits regarding so-called copyright trolls, porn producers who sue lots of users based on IP address evidence. The ruling states: “The complaints assert that the defendants Read more…
The High Court of England and Wales has ruled that UK internet service providers must start taking steps to technically block access from their customers to The Pirate Bay (Virgin Media has already started). Arnold J has delivered a short copyright order in Dramatico Entertainment Ltd & Ors v British Read more…
The United States Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has passed in the US House of Representatives despite vocal online opposition, and the surprising threat of veto from the White House. H.R. 3523 drew criticism because it is purported to be a threat to privacy as it encourages Internet Read more…
The above xkcd cartoon should be required viewing for every IT professional making decisions about cybersecurity. We are now constantly faced with services that ask us to change passwords all the time, and these must meet certain requirements. The password must have a cap, a number, and increasingly, a special Read more…