Since 2006 I have been following with interest the patent infringement case of Blackboard v Desire2Learn. Blackboard is a provider of educational software and virtual learning environments, which owns U.S. Patent 6,988,138 protecting “Internet-based education support system and methods”. In 2006 they sued VLE provider Desire2Learn for infringement of aforementioned Read more…
This is an instant classic. “You’ve just been sued by the R I A A…”
Technology news sites have been reporting this story, but I think that its importance has been downplayed. Last Friday, Pakistan Telecom blocked access to YouTube inside the country as a measure to censor the site because it contained criticism to the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). However, this blocking exercise went slightly Read more…
(via Slashdot) We would like to think that the internet is for humans. Nothing could be further from the truth, the internet is inhabited by millions of little robots which fetch feeds, index the web, trawl through content looking for patterns, browse blogs, search e-commerce sites and compare prices. While Read more…
I fear to utter the word “paradigm shift” because it is overused (and often misunderstood). However, 2008 is promising to be a year of true changes in the media environment. If the markets shift, will we get the regulation of the new market right? Why do I say that the Read more…
Laurence Eastham, editor of Computers & Law, has written a UK blawg review, and has kindly included yours truly in an article that mentions most of my favourite blogs, including Lex Ferenda, panGloss, IMPACT, IPKat, and Naked Law. I had not read Digial Media Law, but I will definitely give Read more…
I have been following with interest the murder trial of Linux programmer Hans Reiser, not because it has particular IT Law implications, but because it involves a prominent open source community member. Mr Reiser married his late wife, Nina, in 1999. They had some marital problems leading up to 2006, Read more…
… I found this. Associate Professor Evil Kills All Gold Farmers I loved the line: “I’m sick of gold farmers infesting our servers and inflating our prices. You get in the way of our ability to complete quests by killing NPCs and camping spawns! You make it harder to farm Read more…
The British technophobe media are having a field day. As a result of the tragic series of suicides in the Welsh town of Bridgend (17 since last year), some sectors of the mainstream media have been quick to allocate the blame on the internet in general, and social networking sites Read more…
The world’s biggest music collection has gone on sale for a starting price of $3 million USD, not on Sotheby’s, but on eBay. The collection is made up of 3 Million Records, 300,000 CDs, 6 million+ Song Titles, and it is stored in a 16,000 square feet warehouse. I may Read more…