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Cellphones

Submission + - T-Mobile Blocking Twitter? (alternageek.com)

Submitted by
bblboy54
bblboy54 writes: "While there isn't any (published) official word from T-Mobile or from Twitter, it appears that T-Mobile has begun blocking users from sending SMS messages to the Twitter service. There are a few blog posts popping up regarding this including one over at Alternageek. I personally called T-Mobile last night and spoke with 3 different representatives before finally being told that "T-Mobile does not support third party message providers and while you were able to use the Twitter service previously, this was the result of a bug in their system which has now been corrected." When I specifically asked if I could expect to ever be able to use Twitter with T-Mobile again I was told that it wouldn't occur until Twitter made a contract with T-Mobile (the same mentality that ISPs are using to destroy net neutrality). This can be confirmed by asking anyone on T-Mobile to send an SMS to the Twitter short code (40404) and they will most likely receive a service is unavailable message which has been the result for the last 3 days."
The Courts

Submission + - Oregon AG Seeks to investigate RIAA tactics

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Turning the tables on the RIAA's attempt to subpoena information from the University of Oregon about the identities of the university students, the Attorney General has now filed additional papers requesting permission from the Court to conduct immediate discovery into the RIAA's 'data mining' techniques, such as the use of unlicensed investigators, the turning over of subpoenaed information to collection agencies, the obtaining of personal information from computers. The AG pointed out (pdf) that "Because Plaintiffs routinely obtain ex parte discovery in their John Doe infringement suits.....their factual assertions supporting their good cause argument are never challenged by an adverse party and their investigative methods remain free of scrutiny. They often settle their cases quickly before defendants obtain legal representation and begin to conduct discovery...... and have dropped cases, such as their case against Tanya Andersen, in which their methods and practices have been challenged through counterclaims...... While the University is not a party to the case, Plaintiffs' subpoena affects the university's rights and obligations. Plaintiffs may be spying on students who use the University's computer system and may be accessing much more than IP addresses." As one commentator succinctly put it, "They'll be going bananas in RIAA land" after reading this filing."
Music

Submission + - Universal blocks Trent Reznor's fan remix web site (cliveholloway.net)

Submitted by
cLive ;-)
cLive ;-) writes: "Trent Reznor's recent departure from Universal was meant to leave all this crap behind but, even now, the suits are stopping him from helping to bring the music industry into the 21st century (eg, with new distribution models). Having previously fallen out with his record company by urging fans to steal his music when he thought his CDs were overpriced, now he's being "lawyered" over his upcoming fan remix web site. The main gist of the problem is that Universal are scared to host his remix site when fans could be submitting mashup tracks that would infringe on other artists' rights, as this would affect the industry's ongoing lawsuit against YouTube et al...

When will these dinosaur industries get it?"
The Internet

Submission + - Fripp miffed over EMI download tactics (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by
Snifter
Snifter writes: "When it comes to getting royalties to its "artists" a liitle inefficiency helps record comanies save a fortune. As composer of the Vista's "ittle blipping noises" Robert Fripp writes: "It's a little too rich to punish punters for illegal downloads of EMI copyright material when EMI are themselves guilty of copyright violation." More on the STINQ, here."
Television

Submission + - Why Can't I buy a cablecard ready set top box? (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by
Al E Usse
Al E Usse writes: "Ars Technica does a write up of the problems that haven't been solved by the July 1, 2007 integration ban on integrated security in your cable box. Three months after the ban went into effect, digging up a third-party, CableCARD-ready set-top box can be an exercise in hair-pulling frustration. The companies who make the boxes don't seem interested in selling to consumers, cable companies still push their own branded devices, and Best Buy employees... well, the less said the better. We've heard the pain of our readers on this issue. One of them described his own epic (and fruitless) quest to secure such a device. His conclusion? "Although I should be able to buy a set-top box of my own, nobody will sell me one. I am standing on the doorstep, wad of cash in hand, yelling, 'Please take my money! I want to buy!' but am turned away."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - RIAA Finally Gets Day in Court (groklaw.net)

Submitted by
CrkHead
CrkHead writes: "After many years of avoiding a jury trial, Groklaw is reporting that they finally have to actually prove a case.

This is history in the making, in that this is the very first RIAA jury trial to actually go to trial in all the years since the RIAA began to sue people four or so years ago. I gather they tried to get out of this one too, but now it's set and it will happen.
"
The Courts

Submission + - Florida Judge OK's Claims Against Record Companies (blogspot.com)

Submitted by NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, has ruled that an RIAA defendant's counterclaim against the record companies for conspiracy to use unlicensed investigators, access private computer records without permission, and commit extortion, may move forward. The Court also sustained claims for violations of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act as well as a claim under Florida law for deceptive and unfair trade practices. The decision (pdf) by Judge Richard A. Lazzara in UMG v. DelCid rejected, in its entirety, the RIAA's assertion of "Noerr Pennington" immunity, since that defense does not apply to "sham litigations", and Ms. Del Cid alleges that the RIAA's cases are "sham".
Music

Submission + - 3-Part coverage of Music Industry by APR 1

Submitted by
kookjr
kookjr writes: "American Public Radio's, Marketplace, just had a three part story on the music industry. It was surprisingly consumer-friendly for a business centric show. The following links are directly to the shows, just click on the "Listen to Show" links; one, two, three."
The Courts

Submission + - Record Company Collusion a Defense to RIAA Case?

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Is collusion by the record companies a defense to an RIAA case? We're about to find out, because the RIAA has made a motion to strike the affirmative defense of Marie Lindor, who alleged that "the plaintiffs, who are competitors, are a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and of public policy, by tying their copyrights to each other, collusively litigating and settling all cases together, and by entering into an unlawful agreement among themselves to prosecute and to dispose of all cases in accordance with a uniform agreement, and through common lawyers, thus overreaching the bounds and scope of whatever copyrights they might have" in UMG v. Lindor. The motion will be decided by the same judge who agreed with legal scholars in sustaining another affirmative defense of Ms. Lindor, in which she alleges (pdf) that the RIAA's $750-per-song-file statutory damages theory is "unconstitutionally excessive and disproportionate to any actual damages that may have been sustained, in violation of the Due Process Clause"."
The Courts

Can Apple + AT&T Shut Down iPhone Unlockers? 318

Posted by kdawson from the cell-phone-contracts-are-not-copyrighted dept.
aalobode writes "Do Apple and AT&T have the legal right to stop hackers from selling unlocked iPhones? Under their terms, only AT&T may sell iPhones, and Apple gets a commission. When unlocked iPhones are used on other providers' networks, AT&T and hence Apple get nothing beyond what they earned on the initial sale of the hardware. Can they prohibit unlocking? Reselling? The article in Businessweek gives the for and against arguments, but leans toward the view that the hackers may have the law on their side for once."
Censorship

Submission + - Legal threats halt iPhone crack

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: BBC News reports that the British firm UniquePhones plan to sell software that could open the iPhone to non-US networks has been put on hold following legal threats. Apparently a 3am call from a lawyer claiming to represent AT&T warned that selling unlocking software could constitute copyright infringement and illegal software dissemination.
The Courts

Submission + - AG Gonzales : "attempted" piracy should be (com.com)

Submitted by
TechForensics
TechForensics writes: "Gonzales: It's time to punish 'attempted' piracy

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9736941-7.html?ta g=nefd.only

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales created quite a stir last month when he called for an aggressive rewrite of criminal copyright laws, including prison time for "attempted" copyright infringement, life behind bars for pirated software use, and more expansive wiretap authority in piracy investigations.

If anyone doubted his seriousness about that dramatic plan, look no further than the text of a speech the official delivered in Seattle on Wednesday. See http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2007/ag_speech_07 0627.html"
Censorship

Submission + - Forced to remove posts by law? 1

Submitted by
freaker_TuC
freaker_TuC writes: "Your own domain disappears from your sight, the nameserver is still serving it locally, the domain has been squatted. Reaction? With a big open mouth I looked to the domain registry info and saw the domain has been registered by someone else just right after the renewal at the registry failed and didn't even sent an update stating the domain was NOT renewed. What do you do? First, I contacted the offending party together with the registry to notify the domain has been squatted after up to 12 years of active duty stating I want it back. I could get it back for 1000$. I contacted the WIPO for domain arbitration, which costs up to 1500$ to get a panel ready, quite expensive to get your own domain back. I've posted the information at my website regarding the domain squat and warned about any identity theft because my main domain got lost which covered 95% of my private communication.

Because a few family members passed, I got in a waiting stage of which next step I should do to regain my domain back. I received an email of the squatter threatening to sue me for defamatory comments. This person is forcing me to take this information off-line and to notify slashdot or any forums which I have posted a comment about this to remove these posts.

What can one do to stay legal? Since I know slashdot does not sensor stories; Which is the best possible step to take to get rid of this culprit for once and always without needing to shake my entire wallet for this squat? Technically, it can't be called a "squat" according him, since he has "legally" obtained the domain name after expiration. This squatter is living in the USA while I am living in Belgium."
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Universal downgrade for Sony PSP (noobz.eu)

Submitted by
javipas
javipas writes: "The PlayStation Portable made by Sony is a wonderful device for all its user base, but it's even more great for those that have been able to run homebrew applications. The firmware upgrading roadmap had made impossible to downgrade certain consoles to a 'homebrewable' firmware, but a new exploit called Illuminati has been discovered to allow this task. Using a Lumines original game UMD anyone can now access the kernel mode that allows to run any kind of homebrew application. For the moment only a little "Hello World!" demo has been released, but soon a universal downgrader will allow any PSP user to access any kind of homebrew application/task. Running games from the memory card included, of course."

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