(via the Pirate Bay blog) The Pirate Bay has opened a web store for all kopimists around the world.The kopimi ethos allows, nay, encourages all to copy the work in a sort of anti-copyright (not to be confused with copyleft and other odious legal concepts). Although some of the designs Read more…
Meet Flo and Lucky, two dogs hounding out piracy from Malaysia’s borders. These two black Labradors are part of Operation Double Trouble (now, there’s a name destined for film fame). This operation is funded by the Motion Picture Association, which invested $17,000 USD to have the dogs trained in Northern Read more…
I guess I’m not the only person to have noticed the ridiculously over-the-top anti-piracy commercials in cinemas. Besides ‘Knock-off Nigel‘, there’s the utterly awful crime ad. You know, because pirates are also drug-dealers, arms tradesmen and people smugglers.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has published music piracy’s “10 inconvenient truths“. Jumping on about three or four bandwagons at the same time must be taxing for the good folks at the IFPI, but I digress. The list is (with some fisking added): “1. Pirate Bay, one Read more…
Absolutely brilliant video. Watch some unexpected characters explaining the basics of copyright law. In a faraway land…
(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…
This is a bizarre take on copyright law. DRM manufacturers Media Rights Technologies (MRT) and BlueBeat.com have issued cease and desist letters against Apple, Microsoft, Real and Adobe for not including their technological protection measures in products like Windows, iPod and Flash Player. I could try to explain the convoluted Read more…
(via David Berry) The BBC reports that AACS has vowed to fight against bloggers, aggregators, and all sort of users who have posted the now infamous key online. I must admit that my original scepticism has dissipated, and I cannot possibly believe that AACS would ever dream to take on 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…
(via Burkhard Schäfer) Students in Arizona have sued Turnitin, the makers of plagiarism-detection software. They claim that the company violates their copyright because the papers are kept in a database. Students could get $600,000 USD from the suit if they are successful. I’m having real problem seeing how a student Read more…