825737
submission
Jim Hall writes:
According to an article on the BBC, a US federal appeals court overturned a lower court decision involving free software, saying conditions of the Artistic Licence were enforceable under copyright law. This distinction is important since under federal copyright law a plaintiff can seek statutory damages and can be more easily granted an injunction. "Copyright holders who engage in open source licensing have the right to control the modification and distribution of copyrighted materials," Judge Jeffrey White wrote in his 15-page decision. Said Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig,"This is a very important victory ... In non-technical terms, the Court has held that free licences set conditions on the use of copyrighted work. When you violate the condition, the licence disappears, meaning you're simply a copyright infringer."
450628
submission
Jim Hall writes:
According to the BBC, a group of Czech artists who inserted a nuclear explosion into a national weather broadcast have been told by a prosecutor they could get 3 years. They are accused of tampering with a live panoramic TV shot of mountains last June. The video is still available on YouTube and is very convincing. "The fake broadcast was really very inadvisable and could have provoked panic among a wide group of people," said Martin Krafl, spokesman for the TV channel.
189769
submission
Jim Hall writes:
In the future, there will be robots! The US military is developing a robot with a teddy bear head to help carry injured soldiers out of combat. The "friendly appearance" of the robot is designed to put the wounded at ease. The 6ft tall Bear can cross bumpy ground without toppling thanks to a combination of gyroscopes and computer controlled motors to maintain balance. It is expected to be ready for testing within five years. Pretty cool.
61032
submission
Jim Hall writes:
The BBC writes that hundreds of episodes of BBC programmes will be made available on a file-sharing network (Azureus) for the first time. The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as Dr Who, and Red Dwarf. Until now, most BBC programmes found on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks have been illegal copies. Maybe I can finally now watch 'Torchwood' that I've been hearing so much about.
623
submission
Jim Hall writes:
According to an article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesota will switch to electronic voting for the '06 election. This fall, voters in 83 of Minnesota's 87 counties will use electronic machines made by Election Systems & Software of Omaha. Four counties — Ramsey, Anoka, Dakota and Washington — will use machines made by Ohio-based Diebold Inc. We used to use paper "bubble sheet"-style voting that had a nice paper trail. The new system may also provide a paper trail, requiring "safeguards that include the retention of original paper ballots and a mandatory hand recount in random precincts." But critics point out that election officials "don't really understand how the machines work and couldn't possibly catch a sophisticated attempt to hack the election results."
