26053412
submission
superglaze writes:
Against the backdrop of governments and courts around the world ordering ISPs to block file-sharing sites, European commissioner Neelie Kroes has said people have started to see copyright as "a tool to punish and withhold, not a tool to recognise and reward". "Citizens increasingly hear the word copyright and hate what is behind it," the EU's digital chief said, adding that the copyright system also wasn't rewarding the vast majority of artists.
20583808
submission
superglaze writes:
So, according to Steve Jobs, logging iPhone location data is not logging iPhone location. That's the only logical conclusion that can be drawn from Apple's obfuscatory (and belated) response to the iPhone tracking scandal. Rupert Goodwins at ZDNet UK has done a great analysis of the statement, and how it chimes with earlier words from Jobs regarding Antennagate and how awful Google and iPad-rivalling tablets are. As Goodwins says, "having decided on its reality, the company enforces it... Hence Trackergate, where institutional secrecy poisoned a good idea, but the complainants (and those darn journalists) just cannot understand that it's just Apple trying to do good deeds by stealth".
20107016
submission
superglaze writes:
Google has been found liable in an Italian court for defamatory comments made against an anonymous plaintiff — the complainant's name, when googled, elicited autocomplete suggestions that translate as "con man" and "fraud". Google was found not to qualify for EU 'safe harbour' protection because the autocomplete suggestions were deemed to be Google's own creation, and not something merely passing through its systems.
18572926
submission
superglaze writes:
T-Mobile UK has performed a drastic U-turn on its massive data allowance cut, after news of the reduction sparked a public outcry. The operator had said it was limiting existing as well as new customers to 500MB a month, with less than a month's notice, but on Wednesday it said the move would only affect new and upgrading customers after all. The backtrack followed criticism from consumer rights groups, who said the short notice was probably breaking consumer law. However, new Android customers will still get 83 percent less data per month than they would have done before the cut was announced.
17609118
submission
superglaze writes:
A variety of web companies, along with the UK's ISP Association, have written an open letter to prime minister David Cameron, calling for an upcoming revision to English libel law to take the internet fully into account. In the UK, an offending printed article can lead to a defamation suit up to one year after its publication, but on the web every time the content is viewed it counts as a new publication. This means that years-old articles can spark libel lawsuits at any time. Quite fairly, the companies think this is ridiculous.
17432458
submission
superglaze writes:
Nokia smartphone chief Jo Harlow has revealed more about the Finnish giant's plans for Symbian, which it brought in-house on Monday. Harlow told ZDNet UK that Nokia had not yet decided on a definition for "open" that would suit the licensing for the open-source platform. She also promised to make the ageing platform "beautiful", and explained what she sees as the differences between Symbian and rivals such as Android and iOS.
