The U.S. House of Representatives has
drafted their version of Senator
Leahy's Protect IP Act,
renaming the bill the
E-Parasites Act. Among other changes discussed
previ
ously, the bill
now makes internet service providers and websites liable for activities of their users that infringe upon copyrights, effectively overturning parts of the 13-year-old Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
posted by jeffburdges
on Oct 27, 2011 -
120 comments
Senator Leahy's
Protect IP Act would require that U.S. ISPs impose an 'internet death penalty' upon domain after merely a preliminary injunction from a U.S. court that suspects the site of being 'dedicated to infringing activities', even if the domain's owner had never been notified and was not subject to U.S. jurisdiction. There is concern that the legislation would fragment the DNS system and
facilitate DNS spoofing by
obstructing DNSSEC (
pdf). There is also an
open letter opposing the bill signed by 108 Law Professors who study intellectual property law.
[more inside]
posted by jeffburdges
on Jul 24, 2011 -
29 comments
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a
criticism of Burning Man, LLC's
Terms and Conditions, saying that the automatic rights assignment to BMOrg for photos & video taken during the event is "creative lawyering intended to allow the BMO to use the streamlined “notice and takedown” process enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to quickly remove photos from the Internet" and that this is corrosive to our freedom of speech. Burning Man
responds.
posted by scalefree
on Aug 14, 2009 -
123 comments
The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act has added a whole other dimension to the term "copyright infringement." Sponsored by the US entertainment industry, it allows seizure of assets
before the accused is found guilty and the creation of a new executive branch led by an "Intellectual Property Czar" who would report directly to the President on IP crimes--similar to the Drug Czar of the War on Drugs. Financial penalties for copyright crimes have increased dramatically. More information
here, and a summary of critiques
here. Is this a useful addition to the War On Copyright Infringement or just more
bureaucratic red tape?
posted by schroedinger
on Oct 14, 2008 -
45 comments
Good Copy Bad Copy is "a documentary about the current state of copyright and culture," featuring Danger Mouse, Lawrence Lessig, Dan Glickman of the MPAA and others. The film's creators are releasing it free of charge, via Bittorrent.
posted by jbickers
on Aug 3, 2007 -
30 comments
Lawrence Lessig moves on Lessig has spent the last 10 years fighting for IP reform and open culture, He's decided to focus on fighting what he calls "corruption" (with quotes)... the pernicious effect that moneyed interests have in crafting and controlling public policy.
Finally, I am not (as one friend wrote) "leaving the movement." "The movement" has my loyalty as much today as ever. But I have come to believe that until a more fundamental problem is fixed, "the movement" can't succeed either. Compare: Imagine someone devoted to free culture coming to believe that until free software supports free culture, free culture can't succeed. So he devotes himself to building software. I am someone who believes that a free society -- free of the "corruption" that defines our current society -- is necessary for free culture, and much more. For that reason, I turn my energy elsewhere for now.
posted by delmoi
on Jun 22, 2007 -
61 comments
Ballmer: Linux Users Owe Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in Seattle yesterday, that Linux infringes upon his company's intellectual property. Does this signal preparations for all out war against the
open source community? Microsoft's recent
acquisition of Novell was seen as an ominous sign. Or perhaps it's a sign that user friendly versions of linux such as
Ubuntu threaten sales of Microsoft's
problematic new VISTA OS, scheduled for release Nov. 30th for businesses and Jan. 30, 2007 for consumers?
posted by Skygazer
on Nov 17, 2006 -
79 comments
P!nk, aka Alecia Moore, aka the hip new face of
copyright infringement. P!nk’s latest video,
U + Ur Hand, [youtube] blatantly appropriates characters created by late New Zealand artist
Martin Emond [possibly NSFW]. No permission was sought or granted, but
Illicit Clothing, which manage’s Emond’s estate, do not feel they have sufficient resources to sue Sony BMG. Nevertheless, they and Emond’s fans are justifiably
livid. It is highly unlikely that Emond, who took his own life in 2004, and whose musical tastes went in a very
different direction, would have felt any different.
posted by Soulfather
on Aug 3, 2006 -
44 comments
Panic -- makers of "Shockingly Good Mac Software" and visually appealing marketing collateral (including their
website) -- have documented the various places their branding has been
honored flatteringly borrowed ripped-off on the internets. My favorite is the site selling one of their original icons for $199, promising "
exclusive ownership." Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?
posted by pmbuko
on May 5, 2006 -
27 comments
As a followup to this post about Sew Fast, Sew Easy's cease and desist orders for using the phrase "Stitch and Bitch" et.al. to a variety of merchants, Yahoo groups, and knitting groups, it seems that a
boycott movement is gaining momentum. They also have a
CafePress store to support the cause. Additionally, I think SFSE may have underestimated the enormous growth in
knitting blogs and how
quickly they band together when given a cause.
posted by like_neon
on Jan 24, 2006 -
22 comments
Finnish police raid BitTorrent site "Around 30 volunteers who helped moderate the site were also arrested....MPAA is co-operating in criminal investigations with police in Finland, the Netherlands and France, so it is reasonable to infer that reports of raids in more European countries are likely to surface shortly." I was about to look into using
BitTorrent given the positive
feedback - maybe I should wait.
posted by Voyageman
on Dec 15, 2004 -
82 comments
Marvel Comics sues NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the makers of the online game
City of Heroes for player created content they feel infringes on their copyright. If Marvel wins the case, all game developers can expect to be held responsible for the behavior of their players. This case covers similar ground to the proposed
Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act, which is before a Senate Judiciary Committee. Introduced to crack down on illegal file sharing on peer-to-peer networks, the bill would hold technology companies liable for manufacturing products that encourage people to infringe copyrights. The language of the bill
caused an uproar among technology and consumer advocates who claimed it would kill innovation. If successful in their lawsuit, would Marvel be able to
sue the makers of pens and pencils for producing products that allow people to create pictures of copyrighted characters?
posted by Stuart_R
on Nov 16, 2004 -
31 comments
Being threatened with litigation by the RIAA? There's always
this solution.
posted by anathema
on Sep 27, 2004 -
5 comments
Microsoft
granted patent for technology that will allow human skin to conduct power and transmit data. Let the jokes begin.
(funny drawing here)
posted by anathema
on Jun 23, 2004 -
25 comments
