Recently, Microsoft lost a case filed by Alcatel-Lucent with regards to patent infringement of MP3 technologies owned by the later. In Lucent Techs. Inc. v. Gateway, a jury awarded 1.5 billion in damages to the plaintiff and against Gateway, Dell, Microsoft and other defendants for using patented technology without a Read more…
(via Wiebke Abel and other sources) The blogosphere has exploded once more in collective cries for or against a proposed code of conduct for bloggers. Tim O’Reilly has made a call for the imposition of a self-regulatory set of rules that bloggers will post under. The proposed code is: Take Read more…
The New York Times comments on a report by vidmeter.com about the popularity of user-generated content prevalent on YouTube as opposed to content owned by the creative industries. The report concludes that of the most popular videos, only 9% had been removed due to DMCA take-down requests, while those potentially Read more…
I never thought I would say this, but I’ve actually read something written by Andrew Orlowski which has not prompted me to throw things at my computer screen in anger. In an article on Net Neutrality, he has actually uncovered something that has been worrying me since I first heard Read more…
(via Jordan Hatcher) Ben Muse recently linked to an International Chamber of Commerce report on high-seas piracy. Apparently, sea piracy is on the decrease as pirates find it more difficult to collect plunder from their victims. There were 239 piracy attacks during 2006, while 2005 saw 445 attacks in total. Read more…
Becky Hogge from the always excellent Open Rights Group has reminded me that their support ORG party will take place next Wednesday 11 April. Details about the venue, how to get there, times and other questions can be found here. Becky also has reminded me of the most excellent raffle Read more…
(via Michael Geist). A Canadian photographer posted some pictures in Flickr and licensed them under a Creative Commons ShareAlike licence. According to one Mr Spatial Mongrel from Kamloops BC (no real name is given, but you have to love the nick), one of his pictures was used for political propaganda Read more…
The March 2007 issue of SCRIPTed is now live. In this issue: Editorial: The internet and security: do we need a man with a red flag walking in front of every computer? Lilian Edwards. Peer-reviewed Special Issue – Creating Commons: Introduction to the Special Issue, Graham Greenleaf. Finding and Quantifying Read more…
As I mentioned yesterday, the EMI and iTunes DRM deal did happen, and it was not a joke. I have nothing else to add, as it seems like everyone and their mothers have been talking about it. The demise of DRM? The beginning of the end? The rise of iTunes? Read more…
Another good April 1st has gone by, with some beautiful stories. Google sits on top of the April’s Fool list, as usual. This year everybody’s talking about Google’s TiSP, a convenient ISP that comes through your toilet, and whose tag is “Want WiFi around? Just Flush it down!” The service Read more…