27159502
submission
Sockatume writes:
Ars Technica is reporting that Google has given the music conglomerate UMG the right to arbitrarily eliminate YouTube videos. When UMG had Megaupload's "Mega Song" removed from the site, it was assumed that they had made a DMCA claim, and that Youtube was responding under its "safe harbour" obligations. Megaupload's legal response argues that UMG has no grounds to request a DMCA takedown. However in court filings, UMG claims that its licencing agreement with Google gives it the power and authority to unilaterally wipe videos from the site, bypassing the DMCA entirely. If true, that means that your activities on Google are not just curtailed by the law, but by the terms of their secret agreements with media conglomerates.
18711522
submission
Sockatume writes:
In the third part of his investigation into shamed medic Andrew Wakefield, Brian Deer reveals how the journal which published the research and the hospital which funded it closed ranks when presented with evidence of misconduct, automatically clearing the besieged doctor without performing an investigation. "Documents, emails, and replies ... show the journal's editor, the paper's senior authors, and the Royal Free medical school, frantically mobilising against me. Were it not for the GMC case ... the fraud by which Wakefield concocted fear of MMR would forever have been denied and covered up."
18568994
submission
Sockatume writes:
In his second report, Brian Deer exposes how MMR-autism prophet Andrew Wakefield aimed to profit from the vaccine scare. Two years before the research that "discovered" the MMR-autism link, Wakefield began courting interest in a hundred-million-dollar diagnostics firm. The doctor hoped to seed the company with government legal aid money and profit by charging "premium prices" for new diagnostic tests to be used in vaccine injury lawsuits. By the time Wakefield published, the proposals had expanded into producing new "safe" vaccines, two businesses to gather legal aid funding, and interest from partners including Wakefield's own hospital. The scheme ultimately disintegrated with the arrival of new leadership at Wakefield's hospital and ongoing scrutiny into his research.
17953704
submission
Sockatume writes:
The first eight ACS:Law cases have reached the courts, and have already fallen on their face. The law firm hit the headlines when it demanded money from tens of thousands of Britons for illegal file sharing, threatening legal action. It seems its bark was worse than its legal bite, as default judgements have been refused in six of the cases for such egregious errors as attempting to make a claim when one is not even the copyright holder. Two of the cases were found in default as the defendants had failed to respond, but not on the merits of ACS:Law's case.
14743394
submission
Sockatume writes:
Shortly after Steve Jobs' "antennagate" press conference, Apple began hosting videos showing signal attenuation on rivals' phones. Said rivals were not pleased, with RIM accusing Apple of deliberately misdirecting the press into equating the iPhone's unique signal quirk with normal signal degradation. As subsequent testing by multiple outlets confirms the iPhone 4's stronger-than-usual signal drop, Apple has quietly taken down the videos. While no explanation has been given, Apple recently included a video on Droid X attentuation which tech outlets struggled to reproduce, as the grip in the Apple video only covered one of the handset's two cellular antennas.
8650494
submission
Sockatume writes:
Residents in Craigavon, South Africa complained of "[h]eadaches, nausea, tinnitus, dry burning itchy skins, gastric imbalances and totally disrupted sleep patterns" after an iBurst communications tower was put up in a local park. Symptoms subsided when the residents left the area, often to stay with family and thus evade their suffering. At a public meeting with the afflicted locals, the tower's owners pledged to switch off the mast immediately to assess whether it was responsible for their ailments. One problem: the mast had already been switched off for six weeks. Lawyers representing the locals say their case against iBurst will continue on other grounds.
7234238
submission
Sockatume writes:
The UK's Human Genetics Commission has published its report on the collection of DNA by the Police forces in England and Wales. Currently, Police collect DNA from every suspect in a case which could lead to a criminal record, and retain that material, which the European Court of Human Rights has ruled illegal. The government plans to keep all DNA samples for suspects from England, Wales and Northern Ireland for up to six years, except for DNA from individuals arrested during terrorism-related investigations, which will be retained forever. The report states that the police frequently performed arrests solely to collect DNA, that certain demographics (such as young, black men) where "very highly over-represented", that there was "very little concrete evidence" that the DNA database had any actual use in investigating crime, and that the database contained material from individuals arrested in Scotland and Northern Ireland, outside its remit. Of the 4.5m individuals in the database, a fifth have never received any convictions or cautions from the Police. The report recommends that an independent advisory body oversee the database, and that laws be passed to limit the uses of the database, while tracking those with access to it, and making misuse of the information a criminal offence.
6427359
submission
Sockatume writes:
According to a recent blog post, cinema chain Cineworld now has a policy banning anyone from carrying a laptop into a theatre, even if it is not used. The management claims that this is an anti-piracy move on the advice of the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the much-mocked source of all kinds of dubious anti-piracy statements. When it was pointed out that the laptop had no camera, the management made a temporary exception. For customers, the message is clear: leave your laptop in the car. For pirates, the message is clear: there is more money to be made slinking around cinema car parks looking for laptop bags.
6364461
submission
Sockatume writes:
The BBC (video) and Telegraph are reporting on a robot that scientists in Italy have developed which will move around the lower digestive tract using legs. The "Spider-Pill" is fitted with a camera and will stow its legs until it reaches the lower intestine. Once there it can crawl around and take pictures under direction from surgeons. Its USP is that it's more appealing that an endoscopy.
5434589
submission
Sockatume writes:
Eurogamer has published added an article on Tim Langdell's battle against the Edge iPhone game. British entrepreneur Tim Langdell founded Softek (later renamed The Edge, Edge Games and Edge Interactive Media Inc.) in the 1980s as a venture to fund games development, with profits to be split 50/50 with the developers. He moved to California in the 1990s in the wake of accusations of failing to pay his developers. Now a professor in games studies at National University, an IGDA board member, and a former member of BAFTA-LA's board, "Dr." Langdell spends his time accusing people of infringing his trademarks and offering to settle. After delivering a settle-or-die ultimatum to Edge publisher Mobigames (detailed in the article), he has convinced Apple to pull the game from the App Store. Mobigames is preparing to strike back: their lawyer believes that his trademarks are "liable to be revoked". Langdell has had a spate of bad press lately as other trademark disputes come to light, involving entities ranging from EA Games to Britain's venerable Edge Magazine (source of Edge Games' logo and now registering its own Edge trademark). He has never actually prevailed in a trademark hearing.
4728703
submission
Sockatume writes:
Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 will launch on October 22nd, one day ahead of the October 23rd date that rumours from the UK had suggested. The announcement also mentions the widely-expected "upgrade scheme" but does not provide details.
4355917
submission
Sockatume writes:
On the 30th of April 2009, Acer's vice-president for Europe discussed a new product, launching this September, which would support Windows 7's touch features. Asked whether this confirmed the Windows 7 release date as September 2009, he coyly remarked that "when it's in store it won't have Windows 7 pre-loaded." Microsoft would probably prefer that he stopped there, but he added: "We won't be actually selling [Windows 7] a day before the 23rd October." Their Managing Director for the UK helpfully clarified that while their product will ship with Windows Vista at launch, because it is on sale less than 30 days before the Windows 7 release date, it will be eligable for the "upgrade program" to get a free upgrade to the new OS. Whoops.
4318235
submission
Sockatume writes:
Shingo Maeda and colleagues at Waseda University have created a polymer gel that walk under its own chemical power. The team exploited the oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction to create periodic changes in the size of the polymer, and built a tensed structure that would amplify those small movements into a horrifically potent gait. The current version only walks across a notched surface, but the team are working on a terrible new form that will cross smooth surfaces like a snail. The team say they intend to apply it in the self-assembly of small structures. Suddenly, I can't stop screaming.
4265035
submission
Sockatume writes:
The UK branch of HWL, known as "3", will offer free Skype traffic for all users of its network from the first of May. 3 offers Skype on certain handsets already, including a special "Skype Phone", but users are obliged to have a monthly contract or make payments every 90 days on PAYG plans. Under the new plan, indefinite use can be obtained for the £1.99 price of a 3 SIM-card. Skypeout is supported by the service at its normal cost. Their press release outlines several business reasons for the decision, essentially that their existing Skype users are more loyal and more lucrative for the network than non-users. Most other networks ban VOIP outright, considering it a threat to traditional call and SMS revenue, and a burden on their networks. T-Mobile is the only other UK network that permits its use, and only its its highest-tier packet data plan. Two other UK networks are supposedly in a row with Nokia over that company's plans to ship a handset with a Skype application.
4075653
submission
Sockatume writes:
SCE's critically acclaimed Shadow of the Colossus is to become a feature film. The cult boss-rush game will be adapted by Justin Marks, who also wrote the recent Chun-Li movie. A friend of the writer reports that the studio hopes to turn it into a LotR-style fantasy blockbuster, expanding upon the side characters in the original's minimalistic and solitary storyline. This won't be the game's first trip to Hollywood, however. 2007's Reign Over Me featured the game, at the suggestion of editor Jeremy Roush.
