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The Courts

RealNetworks, Film Industry Headed To Court 173

Posted by timothy from the in-your-face-film-industry dept.
netbuzz writes "Apparently tired of waiting to be sued by the movie studios over its new DVD-to-PC copying software, RealNetworks this morning announced it will file a preemptive lawsuit in an attempt to authoritatively establish that the product does not infringe on copyright restrictions. Within an hour or so, the Motion Picture Association of America said it would have a litigation announcement of its own this afternoon."

Comment So why is MS breaking their promises news? (Score 1) 329

by R_Growler (#24812467) Attached to: IE8 Breaking Microsoft's Web Standards Promise?

Lets (that is us. The public) be honest.
They have always done that. Always!

MS is not to be trusted on anything (unless, of course, they come out with a statement saying: We are making an OS that will kill you and then rape your corpse. Then we would get ads featuring Seinfeld showing you the lighter side of having your corpse raped...) and we know this. They have done it consistently over the years.
The broken promises. The corruption. The underhanded dealings. The lies. The theft. The monopoly practices. Jeeze...
Honestly. Lets get a show of hands: Who of you, (yes even you; 7-digit-UID MS Fan Boi.) are surprised?

-RG.
The Internet

Olympic Web Site Features Pirated Content 235

Posted by kdawson from the do-as-I-say dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Despite all the emphasis on protecting Olympic copyrights in China this year, the official web site of the Beijing Olympics features a Flash game that is a blatant copy of one of the games developed at The Pencil Farm. Compare the game on the Olympic site with 'Snow Day' at The Pencil Farm."
Government

FBI Burying Doc Showing US Officials Stole Nuclear Secrets? 347

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the zomg-a-government-coverup dept.
BoingBoing is reporting that the FBI may be burying the existence of a document that proves US officials stole nuclear secrets for eventual sale to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. "One of the documents relating to the case was marked 203A-WF-210023. Last week, however, the FBI responded to a freedom of information request for a file of exactly the same number by claiming that it did not exist. But The Sunday Times has obtained a document signed by an FBI official showing the existence of the file. Edmonds believes the crucial file is being deliberately covered up by the FBI because its contents are explosive. She accuses the agency of an 'outright lie.'"
Biotech

Snortable Drug 'Replaces' Sleep For Monkeys In Trials 236

Posted by Zonk from the could-definitely-have-used-this-in-college dept.
sporkme writes "A DARPA-funded research project at UCLA has wrapped up a set of animal trials testing the effects of inhalation of the brain chemical orexin A, a deficiency of which is a characteristic of narcolepsy. Monkeys were deprived of sleep, and then given a shot of the compound. 'The study ... found orexin A not only restored monkeys' cognitive abilities but made their brains look "awake" in PET scans. Siegel said that orexin A is unique in that it only had an impact on sleepy monkeys, not alert ones, and that it is 'specific in reversing the effects of sleepiness' without other impacts on the brain.' Researchers seem cautious to bill the treatment as a replacement for sleep, as it is not clear that adjusting brain chemistry could have the same physical benefits of real sleep in the long run. The drug is aimed at replacing amphetamines used by drowsy long-haul military pilots, but there would no doubt be large demand for such a remedy thanks to its apparent lack of side-effects."
Media

Copyright Alliance Says Fair Use Not a Consumer Right 504

Posted by CowboyNeal from the no-rights-make-a-wrong dept.
KingSkippus writes "In response to a complaint to the FCC filed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) to change copyright warnings before movies and sporting events, Executive Director Patrick Ross of the Copyright Alliance tells us in an editorial that 'fair use is not a consumer right.' The Copyright Alliance is backed by such heavy-hitters as the MPAA, RIAA, Disney, Business Software Alliance, and perhaps most interestingly, Microsoft, who is also backing the CCIA's complaint."
Censorship

Digg.com Attempts To Suppress HD-DVD Revolt 1142

Posted by kdawson from the toothpaste-back-in-the-tube dept.
fieryprophet writes "An astonishing number of stories related to HD-DVD encryption keys have gone missing in action from digg.com, in many cases along with the account of the diggers who submitted them. Diggers are in open revolt against the moderators and are retaliating in clever and inventive ways. At one point, the entire front page comprised only stories that in one way or another were related to the hex number. Digg users quickly pointed to the HD DVD sponsorship of Diggnation, the Digg podcast show. Search digg for HD-DVD song lyrics, coffee mugs, shirts, and more for a small taste of the rebellion." Search Google for a broader picture; at this writing, about 283,000 pages contain the number with hyphens, and just under 10,000 without hyphens. There's a song. Several domain names including variations of the number have been reserved. Update: 05/02 05:44 GMT by J : New blog post from Kevin Rose of Digg to its users: "We hear you."
The Courts

SCO Wanted To Gag Torvalds, Moglen 168

Posted by kdawson from the can't-say-that dept.
An anonymous reader passes on word of court documents filed by IBM on Friday. The documents contain a copy of a letter, dated 2004, from SCO to IBM's lawyers stating that they tried to keep Linus Torvalds from making disparaging public statements about SCO, speculating erroneously that IBM was the principal funder of OSDL, where Torvalds worked at the time. Quoting: "The company also tried to silence Eben Moglen, the Columbia University professor who, until this month, was a director of the Free Software Foundation, and Eric Raymond, a controversial open-source advocate, saying they claimed to be IBM consultants."
Linux Business

Submission + - Linux Kernel 2.6.21 Released

Submitted by
Daishiman
Daishiman writes: "The new Linux kernel has been released, with a host of notable features. Linus Torvalds writes on the Linux Kernel Mailing List:

"If the goal for 2.6.20 was to be a stable release (and it was), the goal for 2.6.21 is to have just survived the big timer-related changes and some of the other surprises (just as an example: we were apparently unlucky enough to hit what looks like a previously unknown hardware errata in one of the ethernet drivers that got updated etc)."

Other notable feature is the new scheduler."
Announcements

Submission + - Jack Thompson Seeks to Profit From Massacre

Submitted by
Jaklar
Jaklar writes: "We've posted an email exchange between Jason Della Rocca, Executive Director of the IGDA, and Jack Thompson, everyone's favorite mouthpiece for anti-videogaming hyperbole. The emails shed light on Jack's motivations, clearly illuminating his intention to profit from tragic events, much to the dismay of Jason Della Rocca. I'm sure you'll find the emails as interesting as we did.
Here's a little taste:
From: "Jack Thompson"
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:42:01 -0400
Sure, you agree and then we get an agent to book it or them. Nice of you to characterize me as worse than an ambulance chaser. I was trying to stop these ambulances from being dispatched over the last eight years. You can apologize at our first debate. Do you agree or not?
==========================================
Della Rocca pressed the issue, asking Thompson to detail the process by which the debate would take place, to which Thompson responded:
=========================================
From: "Jack Thompson"
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:45:59 -0400
First, you agree to debate. Then we get an agent who gets us a venue, or more than one on college campuses, and we get paid to debate. We negotiate the venue and the revenue.

http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story /Jack_Thompson_Looking_for_a_Fast_Buck_in_Debate/"
Movies

MPAA Committed To Fair Use and DRM 212

Posted by kdawson from the crack-in-the-wall dept.
Doctor Jay writes "At a LexisNexis Conference on DRM this week, MPAA's Dan Glickman announced that the MPAA was fine with consumers ripping DVDs for portable video players and home media servers. 'In his speech to industry insiders at the posh Beverly Hills Four Seasons hotel, Glickman repeatedly stressed that DRM must be made to work without constricting consumers. The goal, he said, was "to make things simpler for the consumer," and he added that the movie studios were open to "a technology summit" featuring academics, IT companies, and content producers to work on the issues involved.'"
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA "Ex Parte" Procedures Attacked in Fre

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The widely reported Sacramento, California, case of SONY v. Merchant, which received international attention when a Visalia, California, lawyer penned a strongly worded letter to the RIAA's lawyer that caused the RIAA to beat a hasty retreat and promptly withdraw its case, has heated up as the RIAA went to a different court, this time going to Fresno rather than Sacramento, and tried a different tack, this time proceeding "ex parte" against fictional "John Does" so that they would not have to give the Merchants notice of what they were doing. Defendants have now launched a full scale attack (pdf) on the RIAA's tactic of bringing secret "ex parte" proceedings against improperly joined, multiple John Does, and demanding that notice be given of any applications to the Court prior to their being made (pdf). Defendants have also attacked the frivolousness of the RIAA's evidence, and argue that the RIAA's joinder of various "John Does" in a single case is in violation of the 2004 order issued by a federal court in Fonovisa v. Does 1-41."
The Internet

Submission + - Liberal Party of Norway Wants Legal File Sharing

Submitted by
dot-magnon
dot-magnon writes: "The Liberal Party of Norway (Venstre) passed a unanimous resolution that advocates legal file sharing. The party wants to legalise sharing of any copyrighted material for non-commercial use. It also proposes a ban on DRM technology, free sampling of other artists' material, and shortening the life span of copyright.

The Liberal Party is the first Norwegian political party, and the first European mainstream political party, to advocate file sharing.

From the press release:
— The laws today make a whole generation criminals, while we have yet to protect artists' interests. We've had systems to compensate copyright holders since the photocopier was invented, but new technology has been left behind. The laws must adapt to the citizens and modern technology. I believe in this resolution to create a radical, modern policy on culture and IT, while still protecting the interests of artists, says Trine Skei Grande, Vice Chairwoman of the Liberal Party.

Cultural spokesperson for the Young Liberals of Norway, Jonas Stein Eilertsen, also supports the measures drafted in the resolution. — New opportunities exist. We want to use technology and the possibilities in file sharing. We want to encourage the use and spread of any culture for non-commercial purposes.

The Young Liberals of Norway, the Liberal Party youth wing, proposed the resolution.

The resolution, in Norwegian: Slipp kulturen fri!
The full translation can be read on Young Liberals' website: Culture wants to be free!
Press release from Young Liberals of Norway: Liberal Party Advocates Legal File Sharing"
Sony

Submission + - Sony's new DVDs not working in some players

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It seems that the most recent DVDs released by Sony, specifically "Stranger Than Fiction","Casino Royale", and "The Pursuit of Happyness", have some kind of "feature" that makes them unplayable on many DVD players. This doesn't appear to be covered by the major media yet, but This Link to Amazon Discussions gives a flavor of the problems people are experiencing. This blogger apparently called Sony and was told the problem is with the new copy protection scheme, and they do not intend to fix it; it's up to the manufacturers to update their hardware. Is it a sound strategy for a company to institute a copy protection scheme that prevents a good chunk of legitimate customers from buying their movies?

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