Alternative News

Larry Lessig Threatened With Bogus DMCA Notice; Decides To Fight Back

"As we've discussed, unfortunately, it's been almost impossible to win a 512(f) claim over a bogus DMCA takedown. The entertainment industry has fought hard to make sure that sending totally bogus DMCA notices that censor content are basically unpunishable, unless they can show a willful and intentional decision to ignore fair use and censor the content. Liberation doubled down even after being told that Lessig believed the video was fair use. On top of that, by filing the lawsuit himself, and seeking the declaratory judgment, instead of being sued first, it means that Liberation can't just dismiss the lawsuit (they're now the defendant, not the plaintiff)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLarry Lessig Threatened With Bogus DMCA Notice; Decides To Fight Back

GAO Study Confirms the Obvious: Bad Patents Lead to Trolls

"The study confirms what we already knew: low-quality, vague patents have led to an increased patent troll problem. Great. This is the same thing the Federal Trade Commission already reported in 2011, and little has improved; arguably, if anything, the situation has worsened. We now have reports from GAO, from the Congressional Research Service, and from the Federal Trade Commission highlighting the problem with software patents and patent trolls. We have unequivocal statements from the President and leading members of Congress that the AIA did not fix the problem. The time for reform is now. We should stop talking about it already and get something done." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGAO Study Confirms the Obvious: Bad Patents Lead to Trolls

Copyright Lawyers vs Patent Lawyers Smackdown: And The Winner Is…

"You may remember a rather wonderful court case from 2012 that pitted copyright lawyers against patent lawyers over the issue of whether submitting journal articles as part of the patenting process was fair use. Well, we now have the judge's decision. US Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Keyes sided with the patent lawyers, ruling that the reason they made unlicensed copies of the articles was to comply with the law for submitting applications to the patent office -- and not to compete within the market for scientific journals. The USPTO had already thrown its weight behind the idea that copies of scientific articles submitted as part of the patent application were indeed fair use." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCopyright Lawyers vs Patent Lawyers Smackdown: And The Winner Is…

Washington Appeals Court Bans Advisory Votes On Traffic Cameras

"Washington state's second highest court supports red light cameras and speed cameras to such a degree that it ruled on Monday that voters are not even entitled to a non-binding ballot question to see whether the public supports a city's policy. The ruling took a step further than a decision handed down last week allowing a city clerk to reject a valid petition, despite a state law mandating it be processed (view decision). The court ruled the very subject matter of photo ticketing is off-limits." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWashington Appeals Court Bans Advisory Votes On Traffic Cameras

Deadly Contradictions: Patent Privilege vs. “Saving Lives”

"Entrenching patent monopolies contradicts Obama’s stated goals of 'saving the world’s children from preventable deaths' and 'realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation.' This contradiction between the TPP and the U.S. government’s stated commitment to public health has been apparent for a while. Back in 2011, Doctors Without Borders executive director Sophie DeLaunay said that the TPP would create 'a fundamental contradiction between U.S. trade policy and U.S. commitments to global health.' Contradictions like this are nothing new for the state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeadly Contradictions: Patent Privilege vs. “Saving Lives”

Former White House ‘intellectual property czar’ jumps to anti-piracy lobby BSA

"Just weeks after leaving the White House, Victoria Espinel will take over as the head of the Business Software Alliance, a group with a shameful past of overaggressive anti-piracy and pro-software patent positions, driven in large part by legacy software companies long past their innovation stage, and well into their 'litigation' against innovators stage. The organization tends to take its orders mainly from Microsoft and Autodesk, two proponents of very strong copyright and patent enforcement, because it helps those legacy companies ward off competitors and disruptive innovators." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer White House ‘intellectual property czar’ jumps to anti-piracy lobby BSA

Watch out, startup communities: The Congressmen are coming

"The tech industry and startup world are only just waking up to the need to maintain an ongoing dialogue with Congress, while the political class is starting to realize that innovation and entrepreneurship are vital pieces in the nation’s economic puzzle. In the weeks ahead, however, the gap between the two worlds will shrink just a little as Congressmen fan out across the country to visit startup communities in their home districts. Starting today and proceeding throughout September, 44 members of Congress will be meeting with startups in their home districts from Tennessee to Ohio as part of Startup Day Across America." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWatch out, startup communities: The Congressmen are coming

How to (Inadvertently) Argue Against the Public Education System

"The idea that everyone should voluntarily herd themselves into the same crappy authoritarian institution, so that all will have some incentive to make that institution somewhat better, is utterly perverse. The beauty of networked communications technology [..] is that it’s no longer necessary to get everybody on the same page, and coordinate their efforts through some common institution, in order for anyone to do anything. The public schools are built on a mass-production industrial model of moving humans to a central location to be processed with a limited, uniform menu of information. But a near-infinite amount of education can now be moved around instantly at almost zero cost." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to (Inadvertently) Argue Against the Public Education System

Outrage in Missouri: Teacher to be Fired for using Free-Market Materials

"I graduated from Frostburg State way back in 1978 with a degree in history and later a degree in education and a Masters in history. I am in my 21st year as a public high school teacher. I used to teach U.S. Government and advanced studies until I was demoted for being too 'conservative.' Last year the principal 'wrote me up,' the process for firing tenured teachers. My crime? I was divisive and used too many free market sources in the endnotes of articles I used in class. The principal believes my views on Sinclair and the Progressives, especially The Jungle, are shared by no one else in the history or similar fields." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOutrage in Missouri: Teacher to be Fired for using Free-Market Materials

Woman violently arrested for playing banjo in wrong place at Syria war protest

"Iraq war veteran Emily Yates was arrested on Friday after a dispute with police about where she could stand while playing her banjo during a protest against U.S. military action in Syria. Video uploaded to Live Leak shows Yates asking Federal Parks Police why she could not stand in a shaded area of Independence Mall in Philadelphia. After several minutes of discussion, two officers bent Yates over a park bench and handcuffed her. By the time Yates is dragged from the park, at least eight officers are participating in the arrest." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoman violently arrested for playing banjo in wrong place at Syria war protest