Intellectual Poverty

Botched Kim Dotcom case spurs New Zealand to allow domestic spying

"New Zealand unveiled plans Monday to allow its foreign intelligence agency to spy on local residents, to fill a loophole exposed when Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom was illegally snooped upon. Prime Minister John Key said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) needed additional powers because the challenges facing intelligence agencies had changed enormously in the past decade. Existing legislation says the GCSB is supposed to focus on foreign intelligence and cyber-security, explicitly forbidding it from spying on New Zealand citizens or residents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBotched Kim Dotcom case spurs New Zealand to allow domestic spying

‘The Single Most Valuable Document In The History Of The World Wide Web’

"Twenty years ago this week, researchers renounced the right to patent the World Wide Web. Officials at CERN, the European research center where the Web was invented, wrote: 'CERN relinquishes all intellectual property to this code, both source and binary form and permission is granted for anyone to use, duplicate, modify and redistribute it.' It's a dull sentence from a dull document. But that document marks the moment when the World Wide Web entered the public domain — a moment that was central to creating the Web as we know it today. Could the Web have been patented? And how would the world have been different if it had?" Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘The Single Most Valuable Document In The History Of The World Wide Web’

Authors, composers want 3.4% of every Belgian’s Internet bill

"Content owners in nearly every country have tried various strategies to get compensation for losses due to piracy. But copyright owners in Belgium have a bold new tactic: go after Internet service providers in court, demanding 3.4 percent of the fees their customers pay for Internet service. The lawsuit has been brought by the Belgian Society of Authors, Composers, and Publishers, known as Sabam. The group's claim is similar to the blank-media levy that exists in Canada. It seems to be based on the assumption that a particular medium is used to break copyright law, and therefore all the users of that media should rightly be required to pay a tax." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAuthors, composers want 3.4% of every Belgian’s Internet bill

Japanese police ask ISPs to block Tor

"Japanese citizens who want to use Tor for whistleblowing or simply to stay invisible don't have to worry quite yet about the agency's desire to crack down on Web freedom. One industry insider told The Mainichi that 'Communication privacy is our lifeline. We won't be able to accept such a request,' and with any luck, an industry backlash could force the agency to look at more sensible ways to combat cybercrime and piracy -- or they could simply go back to chasing cats." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapanese police ask ISPs to block Tor

Gene wars: the last-ditch battle over who owns the rights to our DNA

"US biotechnology giant Myriad Genetics is demanding that the US supreme court back the patents it has taken out on the BRAC genes. The company believes it should be the only producer of tests to detect mutations in these genes, a business it has carried out in the United States for more than a decade. On the other side, a group of activists, represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, argues that it is fundamentally absurd and immoral to claim ownership of humanity’s shared genetic heritage and demands that the court ban patents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGene wars: the last-ditch battle over who owns the rights to our DNA

FoxConn will pay Microsoft royalties to produce Android, Chrome phones and televisions

"Taiwan tech giant Hon Hai, parent company of FoxConn, will pay royalties to Microsoft to ward off a lawsuit over its production of devices using rival Google’s Android and Chrome platforms. The licensing agreement protects Hon Hai from claims that the cell phones and televisions it produces and which use Android and Chrome infringe on Microsoft’s patented technology. The Taiwanese company is the world’s largest contract electronics maker and assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, among others, in huge plants in China where it employs more than one million workers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFoxConn will pay Microsoft royalties to produce Android, Chrome phones and televisions

Aereo could bring down broadcast TV

"Could it really turn out that a company with a seemingly loopy business model -- capturing over-the-air TV signals and streaming them to subscribers over the Internet -- will be the thing that finally brings down the American broadcasting industry? Quite possibly. Chase Carey, News Corp.'s (NWSA) chief operating officer, said Monday that if the company in question, Aereo, is allowed to continue, his company's Fox Broadcasting, and all its affiliate stations, will stop broadcasting over the air and go all-cable. Those other networks, though, along with PBS and Fox, are fighting hard to put Aereo out of business. But so far, they're losing their legal argument." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAereo could bring down broadcast TV

Encryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws

"Kim Dotcom really is his name these days. He had it legally changed. The federal government shut down his enormously profitable file-sharing business in 2011. It won’t shut down his latest version of file-sharing. His new company, Mega, offers 100% encryption. His company can’t crack it. The U.S. government can’t crack it — not at a price it can afford, anyway. So people can post movies, songs, or anything else on his site. You get 50 megabytes of free storage to start out. His lawyers can now say this: 'Our company will cooperate with the governments of the world. But, sorry, we have no idea what people are putting into their accounts.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEncryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws

Encryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws

"Kim Dotcom really is his name these days. He had it legally changed. The federal government shut down his enormously profitable file-sharing business in 2011. It won’t shut down his latest version of file-sharing. His new company, Mega, offers 100% encryption. His company can’t crack it. The U.S. government can’t crack it — not at a price it can afford, anyway. So people can post movies, songs, or anything else on his site. You get 50 megabytes of free storage to start out. His lawyers can now say this: 'Our company will cooperate with the governments of the world. But, sorry, we have no idea what people are putting into their accounts.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEncryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws

Encryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws

"Kim Dotcom really is his name these days. He had it legally changed. The federal government shut down his enormously profitable file-sharing business in 2011. It won’t shut down his latest version of file-sharing. His new company, Mega, offers 100% encryption. His company can’t crack it. The U.S. government can’t crack it — not at a price it can afford, anyway. So people can post movies, songs, or anything else on his site. You get 50 megabytes of free storage to start out. His lawyers can now say this: 'Our company will cooperate with the governments of the world. But, sorry, we have no idea what people are putting into their accounts.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEncryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws