P2P
BitTorrent traffic still growing
Ars Technica has an interesting story on the continuing growth of BitTorrent traffic, yet the head of anti-piracy operations at the MPAA says that things are getting better. The problem for those figthing BitTorrent traffic is that sites are one Read more
Copyright
British music industry says no to private copying
(via Out-Law). The Music Business Group, which brings together all of the collective music industry associations, has issued its Response to UK IPO consultation on copyright exceptions. Just when you think that the music industry cannot sink any lower, they Read more
Announcements
SCRIPT-ed April 2008
The April 2008 issue of SCRIPTed is now live. This issue is filled with excellent material. There are some very relevant and timely articles on the P2P debate, and also on the German Constitutional Court decision with regards to Trojans. Read more
Copyright
European Parliament votes against three-strikes
(via Philippe Aigrain) There has been a bit of an overload on the three-strikes proposals these last few weeks, but I think that this is really important. The European Parliament voted last Wednesday on report A6-0063/2008 on Cultural industries in Read more
Copyright
The ISP rebellion
Much virtual ink has been spent discussing the latest attempt to shift liability for illegal file-sharing back to the intermediaries. UK ISPs are said to be in negotiation with the British Phonographic Industry in order to turn them into enforcers. Read more
Governance
Microsoft wins OOXML standard
The geeks are up in arms because Microsoft has won approval of its much maligned Office Open XML (OOXML) format as an open standard. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has finally allowed OOXML to become an international standard after Read more
e-commerce
Users liable for phishing and hacking
(via Out-Law) Who should be liable if a consumer is the subject of a phishing attack? At least in the UK, the common banking practice has been to assume some or all of the losses incurred by the customer. This Read more
Patent abuse
Blackboard’s patent on the way out
(via Ray Corrigan) I have been following the saga of U.S. Patent 6,988,138 protecting “Internet-based education support system and methods”. After winning an injunction in a Texas court, Blackboard has seen 44 of its claims knocked out in a preliminary Read more
Cybercrime
Think of the children
The British press is going through a feeding frenzy, as tabloids and mainstream media outlets try to outdo each other in reporting the threats posed to children online. The Daily Mail warns us that “Millions of girls using Facebook, Bebo Read more