Comment Now all he needs... (Score 2, Funny) 648
is a second degree in maths and he's well on his way to waiting at the dole queue on monday.
Submission + - Cheers as FCC to Act Against Comcast Throttling (computerworld.com)
CWmike writes: "Consumer rights groups cheered reports saying that the Federal Communications Commission is ready to take action against Comcast for its decision to slow some peer-to-peer traffic on its network. Democratic FCC members Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein will join Republican Chairman Kevin Martin in voting to punish Comcast for slowing BitTorrent peer-to-peer traffic on its network at times, reports say. Martin, in a statement Saturday, confirmed that a majority of the five-member commission has agreed to take action against the cable provider. "This is good news for consumers and Internet users," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, which filed a complaint about the traffic throttling. "Comcast knowingly blocked lawful Internet use and denied it. The fact that the commission is willing to stand up ... for Internet users is a good sign that the concept of net neutrality is alive and well in Washington.""
Submission + - Rumor: MacBook Updates to Include Glass Trackpad (computerworld.com)
CWmike writes: "Seth Weintraub blogs... I have been hearing some interesting things about Apple's upcoming line of portable computers. The talk amongst insiders on the new MacBooks is kind of scattered but here's one nugget among a few: The trackpad is glass, multi-touch and uses gestures.... The screen isn't multi-touch. Will MacBook updates be enough to keep you from buying a Mac laptop for the next two months?"
Tenise Barker Takes On RIAA Damages Theory 282
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Tenise Barker, the young social worker from the Bronx who took on the RIAA's 'making available' theory and won, has now launched a challenge to the constitutionality of the RIAA's damages theory. In her answer to the RIAA's amended complaint [PDF], she argues that recovering from 2,142 to 428,571 times the actual damages would be a violation of Due Process. She says that the Court could avoid having to find the statute unconstitutional by construing the RIAA's complaint as alleging a single copyright infringement — the use of an 'online media distribution system' — and limiting the total recovery to $750. In the alternative, she argues, if the Court feels it cannot avoid the question, it should simply limit the plaintiffs' damages to $3.50 per song file, since awarding more — against a single noncommercial user, for a single upload or download of an MP3 file for personal use — would be unconstitutional."
Olympic Media Village – Most Expensive Internet In the World? 389
An anonymous reader writes "Working for the Olympics as an IT contractor, I recently moved to the Media Village (where all of the reporters live) and was surprised the there was no free internet. BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games) is charging a ridiculous amount of money for ADSL service: for 512/512 it costs 7712.5 RMB (1131.20 USD); for 1M/512 it costs 9156.25 (1342.95 USD); for 2M/512 it costs a whopping 11,700 RMB (1716.05 USD). That is for only one month! For extra features like a fixed IP? That costs an additional 450 RMB (66 USD). I just can't believe that not only do I have to deal with the Great Firewall of China, but also pay through the nose to use it!"
