Copyright
Forever Copyright
(via David Berry) The New York Times has published the most misinformed article on the copyfight that I have ever read, and believe me, I have read some humdingers! The premise is simple. Great ideas last forever, right? So, why should not copyright last forever as well? Property rights do Read more
Cybercrime
Fraud law used to fight P2P
(via Suw Charman) A man in London has been arrested for being the UK’s representative of AllofMP3, the Russian infamous for selling subscription services at a fraction of “legal” downloads sites, but that does not pay royalties to artists. According to the IFPI, the arrest is part of a growing Read more
e-commerce
City of Merchants
(An auction house in City of Heroes) (via Ashley Theunissen) The UK’s Fraud Advisory Panel has issued a recommendation asking for regulation of the fledgling economies in virtual worlds. According to this group, virtual costumers are increasingly involved in commercial transactions in virtual environments. These virtual online communities “… are Read more
Litigation
Web site? What’s a web site?
(via Rebecca Henderson) A cloud of shame has now descended upon the UK’s legal community. The Honourable Mr Justice Openshaw, a High Court judge hearing the Internet terrorism trial in London, has admitted that he did not understand what a web site was. According to Yahoo News, he told the Read more
Privacy
Data Protection film-making
Faceless is an unusual film for many reasons. The plot, apparently, talks of a world where everybody’s faceless due to calendar reform (huh?), but one day a woman wakes up and finds she has a face (Terry Gilliam meets Kafka). What makes the film truly unique is that it is Read more
Cases
Perfect 10 v Google
The U.S. Ninth Circuit has decided an appeal on the Perfect 10 v Google case, and has sent it back to the district court. For those unfamiliar with the case, Perfect 10 is an adult content provider who sued Google over Google Image thumbnails, claiming that the tiny images displayed Read more
Hacking
Cyberwar 1.0
The mainstream press has been reporting on what could very well be the world’s first cyberwar. A diplomatic conflict between Estonia and Russia over a bronze statute has resulted in what seems to be a series of coordinated attacks against Estonian institutions. Denial-of-service attacks have brought down websites belonging to Read more
DRM
AACS to sue the MPAA?
(via Machine-Envy and PanGloss) It’s amazing what a little hacktivism and playing around with search engines can do. If AACS starts issuing more cease-and-desist letter to take down the much-commented HD-DVD key from websites, they may have to remove this one. And then Think Geek has a set of notes Read more
e-commerce
PayPal now a bank
PayPal has sent an email to all its UK subscribers announcing that it will now be considered a bank. The message reads: “Currently, PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is the service provider for PayPal in the EU. PayPal (Europe) Ltd. is a UK company regulated and authorised by the Financial Services Authority Read more