ControlFreal - Slashdot User

Submission + - Amazon Gives Thanks for Joke of a Patent System

Submitted by

theodp

on Thursday November 22, 2007 @01:41AM

theodp writes: "By changing the word 'a' to 'the' and adding the phrase 'purchasable through a shopping cart model,' lawyers for Amazon.com have apparently managed to reinstate two of CEO Jeff Bezos' 1-Click Patent claims that were rejected a month earlier. 'Patent Owner's Rep was informed that the proposed addition to the claims appear to place the claims in condition of patentability,' writes the USPTO in its Ex Parte Reexamination Interview Summary of the 11-15 conference call that was held with five representatives of the USPTO and patent reformer Amazon."

Submission + - Copyright Alliance Presses Presidential Candidates (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property

on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @08:15PM

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Not satisfied with the current life plus seventy copyright terms and huge financial liabilities for infringement, the Copyright Alliance is pressuring presidential candidates for stronger copyright laws. In particular, they want the candidates to divert police resources to punish even non-commercial copyright infringement. After all, without copyright, what would become of the next Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, or da Vinci?"

Submission + - Dutch internet pirates aqcuitted (www.nu.nl)

Submitted by

nu.nl

on Tuesday July 24, 2007 @09:53AM

nu.nl writes: "Original article in dutch.

Rotterdam — The judges of the court of Rotterdam have acquitted the five administrators of large websites of large scale piracy.

By handling illegal copies of movies and music the suspects were accused of being a criminal organization that infringed copyrights on a large scale. The court of Rotterdam (Netherlands) acquitted them.

Three of the 5 men (aged 21 to 34) from Amstelveen, Rotterdam, Maarssen and Maastricht did get a 250 Euro fine because they copied some of the music and films to internet. The suspects were accused with being the administration behind the internet pages releases4u.com and shareconnector.com

The DoJ thinks these sites to be the largest piracy sites ever in the Netherlands have been taken down. The DoJ therefore asked a fine of 5000 Euro and six months jail time. It was one of the first times that a group of dutch pirates were brought before the Dutch justice system.

On Releases4u.com and Shareconnector.com the suspects hosted codes that lead to files that were present on the sharing network of eDonkey. These codes (hash links) to illegal files are considered to be illegal according to the prosecutor. The judge did not find enough evidence that the five put these links on the internet.

The five suspects would, according to chairman S. van Klaveren. not infringe on copyrights of others for a profit. The judge found no concrete evidence for spreading the illegal files."

Submission + - Protect Your Data Deep Within the Alps (physorg.com)

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Thursday May 31, 2007 @11:52AM

eldavojohn writes: "How safe is your data physically? Would it survive a hurricane? Would it survive someone breaking in and stealing it? Well, the term "Private Swiss Bank Account" might be changed to "Private Swiss Data Account" as a Swiss company is offering data storage guarded underneath the Alps. This digital "Fort Knox" also alleges protection from computer viruses and hackers for its customers."

Submission + - Google Traffic Maps Now Live In 30 US Cities

Submitted by

Unleashed2k

on Sunday March 04, 2007 @12:43PM

Unleashed2k writes: "For more than 30 major U.S. cities, you can now see up-to-date traffic conditions to help you plan your schedule and route. If you're in San Francisco, New York , Chicago, Dallas, or any of the other cities we now include, just click on the traffic button to show current traffic speeds directly on the map. If your route shows red, you're looking at a stop-and-go commute; yellow, you could be a little late for dinner; green, you've got smooth sailing. Click here for more information"

Submission + - It's official: Vista copy protection 100% cracked

Submitted by

Slinky Sausage

on Sunday March 04, 2007 @03:00AM

Slinky Sausage writes: "There's been a steady stream of 'sort of' cracks for Vista coming out of the piracy groups, but a crack has been released this morning by "Pantheon" which is doesn't avoid Vista's activation — it exploits it! Apparently despite the requirements for everyone including volume licence customers to activate, Microsoft built in the capability for OEM system builders to pre-install copies of Vista without activating it over the internet. The crack works on any Acer, HP, Lenovo, Hewlett Packard or custom machine (as long as you have the BIOS of that machine available)."

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