One of my favourite phrases in English is “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. When I was growing up, I used to get a lot of my music from tapes recorded from friends (and even from the radio). I didn’t have money to buy records, and Read more…
The mother of a teenage girl who serves and downloads music online is being charged £4000 for her daughter’s infringement. This seems to be part of a clever strategy by the music industry to attack P2P networks (I will talk more about it next week after I have presented my Read more…
Earlier this week there was a report that the UK may be considering extending copyright terms for sound recordings from 50 years to 90. The Wired article makes it clear that the UK project may be part of a wider strategy from the IFPI and the music industry to push Read more…
The new minister for the creative industries, James Purnell, has announced that he plans to introduce and extension to copyright terms to match those in the United States. While the article doesn’t mention it, I am guessing that this means an extension to copyright in sound recordings, which is currently Read more…
Just when you thought that the Microsoft Corporation did not have a sense of humour, you read this, and it brings a smile to your face. Check out the Thought Thieves competition, where you can win £2,000 worth of film and video equipment vouchers (Vouchers? What’s up with Bill Gates? Read more…
The RIAA has reached a new low in their tactics of suing P2P users. According to The Register, they have sued a dead woman. I love this line: “An RIAA spokesperson said that it would try and dismiss the case.” Yep, nobody is safe from the RIAA.
You want to get more money for your industry (which is already a very profitable one). What do you do? You ask people to turn in their bosses for software piracy after you leave the company. I was reading The Onion when I came across this ad: Being The Onion, Read more…
Check this out. The Eiffel Tower’s website specifies that the nighttime Eiffel Tower is protected by copyright, therefore all nighttime pictures of the famous tower that are not licensed are infringing copyright. I have done some research and it seems like the Société Nouvelle de la Tour Eiffel (SNTE) claims Read more…
I watched I, Robot last night. While the movie wasn’t all that bad, there were certain IP practices in the rental that annoyed me considerably. The first was an annoying commercial right at the start of the DVD (which can’t be forwarded) from FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft). This piece Read more…
Jailed for a song is a new campaign in the U.S. that is trying to get sensible IP legislation passed through the American Congress. The idea is to turn the tide of IP protection to regain liberties and freedoms enjoyed by the public, and to attack preposterous legislative proposals that Read more…