Border property owners livid after feds seize their private land
"The Department of Homeland Security is buying up property, but paying very little for it. They may use it to build up permanent camera towers near the border." Continue reading →
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 →
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 →
Interview with British ‘straight pride’ group removed by copyright takedown notice
"WordPress has removed an interview with the 'homophobic' campaign Straight Pride UK after the group used US copyright law to issue a takedown notice. In an interview posted on his WordPress blog, student Oliver Hotham published an interview with the group, in which they stated that they 'admire President Vladimir Putin of Russia for his stance and support of his country’s traditional values'. Hotham did not take down the post, and WordPress then proceeded with a DMCA takedown notice on 3 August. The DMCA contains a provision mandating any company to instantly remove material if they are informed it breaches copyright." Continue reading →
U.S. film and music industries roll out new anti-piracy program
"The steps announced by the big Internet firms include pop-ups, which force users to acknowledge warnings, and mechanisms to slow a user’s access to near-dialup speeds. Some critics say that redirecting users is equivalent to a 'browser hijack'. 'It’s an elaborate surveillance system,' said Corynne McSherry at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group. 'There will be innocent people caught up in this system, it’s inevitable.' Internet subscribers 'face consequences based on nothing more than an accusation,' McSherry said. Participating in the program are Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Cablevision and Verizon — covering some 85 per cent of US residential customers." Continue reading →
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 →
Cellphone unlocking is the first step toward post-SOPA copyright reform
"Dear Congress, Please remove these items from your DMCA contraband list (both for developing the technology, selling and using the technology): Technology for unlocking and jail-breaking (currently allowed for iPhone, not allowed for iPad); Adaptability technology for the blind to have e-books aloud (currently subject to triennial review by the Librarian of Congress – it’s legal to use the technology but illegal to develop or sell); Technology to back-up our own DVD’s and Blu-Ray discs for personal use (current law makes this illegal and injunctions have even been used to shut down websites discussing this technology). Signed, The people." Continue reading →
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 →
A Funny Look at How Obamacare Screws Young People
"I’m reluctant to give favorable attention to anything associated with Rove, but this new video from one of his organizations is too good not to share. The Department of Health and Human Services has a video contest to sucker gullible young people into signing up for Obamacare, and here’s the satirical gem put together by Crossroads GPS. In conclusion, let’s remember that young people are suffering for reasons other than Obamacare. Here’s a video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation that looks at four examples of how Obamanomics is especially bad news for those under age 30." Continue reading →
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 →
- Go to the previous page
- 1
- …
- 142
- 143
- 144
- 145
- 146
- 147
- 148
- …
- 442
- Go to the next page