19588806
submission
langelgjm writes:
The Social Science Research Council, an independent, non-profit organization, today released a major report on music, film and software piracy in developing economies. The product of three years of work, the authors conclude that piracy is primarily driven by excessively high prices and that anti-piracy education and enforcement efforts have failed. Still, chief editor Joe Karaganis believes that businesses can survive in these high piracy environments.
The report is free to readers in low-income countries, but behind a paywall for certain high-income countries, although the SSRC notes that "For those who must have it for free anyway, you probably know where to look."
15291870
submission
langelgjm writes:
ACTA negotiators met with a limited number of civil society representatives at an informal lunch yesterday, in Washington, D.C. Biggest news from the event? Explicit admission that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement isn't actually about counterfeiting. According to those present, Luc Devigne, a lead EU negotiator, "asked more than once how you could have an 'IP Enforcement' treaty and not include patents—and dismissed suggestions that ACTA was specifically an 'Anti-Counterfeiting' treaty rather than a broader enforcement treaty." For those unaware, yet another ACTA negotiating round is taking place this week in Washington. It was announced with little fanfare by the United States Trade Representative's office hardly a day before beginning. Even stranger, a South Korean negotiator indicated that some civil society groups in South Korea are pushing for "internet morality" provisions to combat slander. No word yet on whether a new text will be released after the round ends; now would be a good time to call up USTR and demand more transparency.
14976882
submission
langelgjm writes:
Announced this afternoon in a joint conference call held by CEOs Eric Schmidt and Ivan Seidenberg, Google and Verizon have released a joint net neutrality proposal in the form of a "suggested legislative framework for consideration by lawmakers." This comes on the heels of last week's assertion (and subsequent denial) that Google and Verizon were close to concluding talks that would permit Verizon to prioritize certain content in exchange for pay. A look at the actual text of the framework shows some positive net neutrality principles, but there is also some more curious content: "Wireless broadband" is singled out for exclusion from most of the agreement, and providers would be permitted to prioritize "additional online services... distinguishable in scope and purpose." Public Knowledge, a watchdog group based in Washington, has criticized the agreement for these provisions.
13643468
submission
langelgjm writes:
In the lead up to next week's Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations in Lucerne, a conference that drew over 90 academics and experts from six continents has released a statement issuing a harsh condemnation of both the substance and process of the agreement.
Held last week at American University's Washington College of Law, the attendees say "We find that the terms of the publicly released draft of ACTA threaten numerous public interests, including every concern specifically disclaimed by negotiators." The "urgent communique" covers more than the usual ACTA topics of interest on Slashdot: in addition to the agreement's effect on the Internet, it also considers the effects on access to medicines, international trade, and developing countries.
Meanwhile, Public Knowledge has an action alert where you can send a note to the White House expressing your opposition to ACTA.
10440244
submission
langelgjm writes:
Michael Robertson, a "serial entrepreneur" of MP3.com fame, has made Slashdot news several times before. A recent article in the New York Times (registration may be required) discusses MP3tunes, the successor to MP3.com. MP3tunes allows you to rip your entire CD collection and store it online, whence it can be streamed to computers and various internet-equipped devices, including the iPhone and Android, and even the Playstation and Wii. However, the record industry is in the midst of a lawsuit against Robertson and his service, claiming that he should be paying licensing fees. The industry points to its blessed competitor, Catch Media, as the proper alternative: "Mark Segall, its business development adviser, says the company will soon announce which music companies will use the technology but suggests that consumers will have to pay a "convenience fee" for streaming their music from the Web, comparable to charges at an A.T.M. Won't people balk at paying again to listen to R.E.M. songs they have owned since the 1980s? Catch Media hopes not."
10081368
submission
langelgjm writes:
In an incident that is ripe for puns, Florin Necula, a New York City man, swallowed a flash drive in an attempt to deny investigators access to its contents. The ploy worked — at least temporarily. After four days, Necula agreed to allow doctors to remove the drive. Necula is being charged with obstruction of justice; he and three others are suspects are believed to have installed ATM skimmers on several machines in an attempt to obtain bank account information. Should've used TrueCrypt.
10049906
submission
langelgjm writes:
University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist is reporting that the "biggest ACTA leak yet" is available today. The 44 page document (PDF) goes further than any leaks yet by discussing the individual positions of negotiating countries on particular issues. For example, "On the issue of anti-circumvention legislation and access controls, the U.S. wants it included per the DCMA, but many other countries, including the EU, Japan, and New Zealand do not, noting that the WIPO Internet treaties do not require it." Geist's blog list a number of other topics from the document, including ISP safe harbor and notice-and-takedown. The document reveals significant divisions in negotiating parties, often with the U.S. pushing for greater enforcement measures than other countries are prepared to accept.
In related news, USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk will meet with members of the Senate Finance Committee this week to discuss US trade policy. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon recently expressed concern over the lack of transparency and possible provisions of ACTA, sending a letter to Kirk about the issue. Any Oregonians should take this opportunity to call Wyden's office and ask him to question Kirk directly about ACTA.
7972430
submission
langelgjm writes:
The Washington Post reports that during Saturday's record-breaking snowfall, hundreds of twenty- and thirty-somethings gathered in a mostly-empty area of the city and proceeded to have an enormous snowball fight. Things were all fun and games until a D.C. detective in plainclothes stopped in the middle of the fight, leaving his Hummer and confronting the crowd with his gun drawn. At first, D.C. police denied the claims, but the incident was caught on tape. The detective is currently on desk duty pending an investigation. The tech angle to all of this? 25-year-old Yousef Ali, a one-time Apple Genius, said he was inspired to start the snowball fight by a friend's Facebook status and used a dormant personal blog and extensive Twitter promotion to expand the participant list: "Basically, I used a lot of my social media promotions techniques... to really push this thing pretty big."
7826770
submission
langelgjm writes:
In an unexpected turn of events, Wired is reporting that the Obama administration has expressed support for a treaty that would permit cross-border sharing of copyrighted works accessible to blind and visually-impaired people. A few days ago, we discussed the nearly unanimous opposition from U.S. industries to any treaty expands copyright limitations and exceptions. A Department of Commerce advisor spoke before the World Intellectual Property Organization today, saying that "We recognize that some in the international copyright community believe that any international consensus on substantive limitations and exceptions to copyright law would weaken international copyright law. The United States does not share that point of view."According to the EFF's Eddan Katz, the move represents a "an historic paradigm shift in international technology policy." At the same time, however, the U.S. representative cautioned that the administration was willing to strengthen international copyright laws in other regards.
7748294
submission
langelgjm writes:
According to Wired, "A broad swath of American enterprise ranging from major software makers to motion picture and music companies are joining forces to oppose a new international treaty that would make books more accessible to the blind." With the exception of Google, almost every major industry player has expressed disapproval of the treaty, which would allow cross-border sharing of digitized books accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Google's chief copyright counsel believes the industry-wide opposition is mainly due to “opposition to a larger agenda of limitations and exceptions... We believe this is an unproductive approach to solving what is a discrete, long-standing problem that affects a group that needs and deserves the protections of the international community.”
6224711
submission
langelgjm writes:
An article from yesterday's New York Times asks the question, will books be Napsterized? So far, piracy of books has not reached the degree of music or movie piracy, in part due to the lack of good equipment on which to read and enjoy pirated books. The article points to the growing adoption of e-book readers as the publishing industry's newest nemesis. With ever-cheaper ways to conveniently use pirated books, authors and publishers may be facing serious changes ahead. Interestingly, this is something I wrote about three months ago in my journal, where I called the Kindle DX an "iPod for books."
5382695
submission
langelgjm writes:
The New York Times reports that Wikipedia is attracting criticism from many psychologists (registration possibly required) after having published images of the ten standard Rorschach inkblots, along with the most common responses given for each. Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach created the inkblot test in the 1920s, and the test is still widely used in the mental health field.
Several vocal psychologists have argued that posting the inkblots is potentially harming scientific research. Bruce L. Smith, president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods, says "The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it." But James Heilman, an emergency room doctor who originally posted the inkblots on Wikipedia, counters by suggesting that "If someone had previous knowledge of the eye chart, you can go to the car people, and you could recount the chart from memory. You could get into an accident. Should we take it down from Wikipedia?"
Despite the fact that the images themselves are no longer under copyright, a German publishing company has stated that they are considering legal action against Wikimedia.
5365515
submission
langelgjm writes:
The New York Times reports that Wikipedia is attracting criticism from many psychologists after having published images of the ten standard Rorschach inkblots, along with the most common responses given for each. Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach created the inkblot test in the 1920s, and the test is still widely used in the mental health field.
Several vocal psychologists have argued that posting the inkblots is potentially harming scientific research. Bruce L. Smith, president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods, says "The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it." But James Heilman, an emergency room doctor who originally posted the inkblots on Wikipedia, counters by suggesting that "If someone had previous knowledge of the eye chart, you can go to the car people, and you could recount the chart from memory. You could get into an accident. Should we take it down from Wikipedia?"
Despite the fact that the images themselves are no longer under copyright, a German publishing company has stated that they are considering legal action against Wikimedia.
4988143
submission
langelgjm writes:
In a case of interest to many readers, the Supreme Court ruled today in an 8 to 1 decision that the strip search of a 13 year old girl in an Arizona middle school violated the girl's 4th amendment rights. "The officials in Safford, Ariz., would have been justified in 2003 had they limited their search to the backpack and outer clothing of Savana Redding, who was in the eighth grade at the time, the court ruled. But in searching her undergarments, they went too far," the justices said. Slashdot last reported on this story when the Supreme Court first agreed to hear the case in March. According to the article, "Thursday's ruling sends the case back to the lower courts to assess what damages, if any, should be paid by the school district. But, by a vote of 7 to 2, the Supreme Court held that the individual officials in the case should not be held liable." Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter.
4915779
submission
langelgjm writes:
President Obama has announced his intent to nominate David Kappos, a VP and general counsel at IBM, to head the US Patent and Trademark Office. This move is particularly notable not only because of IBM's much friendlier attitudes towards open source compared with some of their rivals, but also because Kappos himself is open source-friendly: "We are now the biggest supporters of the open source development project," explains David. "Admittedly this policy is not easily reconcilable with our traditional IP strategy, but we are convinced that it is the way to go for the future."
Not just a lawyer, Kappos earned an engineering degree before working in the legal field. Kappos has been described as "critical of the American approach to patent policy." Given his background, could this mean a new era for US patent policy?
