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Surprisingly, a Spanish judge has ruled today in favor of a file-sharing website since P2P networks as a mere transmission of data between Internet users, would not violate, in principle, any right protected by Intellectual Property Law. Furthermore, he decided that "offering an index of links and/or linking to copyright material is not the same as distribution." The decision was based on the notion that the file-sharer doesn't make any direct or indirect profits off the site

The "Digital Economy Bill" has been passed by the Lords and is now expected to be rushed through the Commons before the general elections. Despite criticism by the UK's major telecommunication providers and global internet giants like Google, the government said it was still committed to giving courts the power to block websites which are infringing copyright. The bill is mainly aiming to tackle internet privacy. Some of it's paragraphs however could lead to internet censorship.

Very interesting article on Hollywood vs. downloads and ISPs. 

Really enjoyed this article and its historical account of Hollywood on the defensive to any new emergence of technology is apt. Unlike the open source software movement, this industry fails to understand that the circulation of its content, whether licensed or not, eventually produces indirect benefits. Hollywood defends its position through laws created in a time when the internet was yet to be conceived. The obvious flow on discussion here is that the law simply can't stay abreast of rapid technology changes.

Another case in which intellectual property rights come into question. Apple is suing HTC for infringement of 20 Apple patents. It is interesting to note, that the majority of handsets which been specified in this case are powered by Google's Android operating system which is open source. I feel that corporations using open sources to power their products need to consider the potential repercussions. Although open source communities tend to operate with an ethic of contribution and collaborative innovation; it is inevitable that ideas and the products which stem from it will crossover from one realm to another, which in turn will lead to a figurative 'stepping on one another's toes' and ensuing law suits. In saying this, it is clear that whether or not it is open source product or not, that cases like this have almost become a symptom of the modern tech-business climate.

Not only was Tudehope sacked for publishing satire videos of Liberal Party faction fights but was outed as ghosting Turnbull's twitter. What a job! Interesting to see how Australia's political parties use online media.

The impending downfall of the this satire video (see previous bookmark) inspired me to share it. It's vegemite. It's good.

LOL. A parody downfall video of the downfall of downfall. Electronic Frontier Foundation are the authors of this piece, suggesting that maybe Apple's approach to DRM is... ironically more modern.

Report released in the United States which says that it is almost impossible to quantify the economic wide impacts of piracy, figures which have been given in the past are likely to have grossly overestimate the actual losses made in reality, It discusses how much of infringing copyright should be counted as a lost sale. i.e. Counting one illegal download as one lost sale is unrealistic in terms of real world economics.

Baking surveillance, control and censorship into the very fabric of our networks, devices and laws is the absolute road to dictatorial hell. This interesting article discusses legislative measures taken in the UK regarding the digital economy. The first question that springs to mind is - how will it be enforced in an effective way?

Australian government is planning to accedeto the concil of Europe's Convention on Cybercrim, to further govern online content. several opinons appeared, one is saying that "age-appropriate" filtering is more effective than compelling ISPs to provide access to stored electronic communications for foreign law enforcement pruposes.

The government has decided to accede to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (the only binding international treaty on cybercrime). It will require Australia to implement legislation dealing with offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data; computer-related offences, including forgery and fraud; content-related offences, including child pornography; offences related to the infringement of copyright and other related rights. The decision could have some baring on Australia's position vis-a-vis the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement?

Apple is one of several companies being sued for an alleged iTunes patent breach of an idea which is an online store for music downloads, some of Apple's other applications are also being sued for other patent breaches. Apple's operating Systems & Safari are also being sued by a Monkeymedia for breaching patents which dictate ways of displaying varying amounts of data through user control.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies has won over a lawsuit against Limewire (a free peer-to-peer file sharing that shares almost everything;Mp3,Videos,Ebooks, softwares etc). This case was first brought up to the court in 2006

Following my Diana Gabaldon post, I have an earlier post regarding the take down of the much parodied Hitler clip from the Movie 'Downfall' Again conflicting ideas of ownership of content once it's in the public domain

Nintendo VS NXPGAME. Filing lawsuit to repeat offender who was asked by Nintendo to desist in selling illegal video game copiers which allowed users to download, play and distribute NintendoDS and DSi games. Piracy in the video game market is a widespread problem to which video game companies are also taking an agressive stance.

What do technologies which main function provides a platform for the illegal sharing resort to once the crack down starts? Even though these companies did not directly share the copyrighted sources, they did provide the technology for their users to do so. In the case of Lime Wire, they seem to be choosing plain ignorance of the law to continue their open networks. They have countless years of promises to music executives to create filters, and screening for pirated downloads, but have constantly chose to not follow through. Once again they seem to be choosing the, "we will do it now," stance, but it seems it may just be empty promises once again and the ultimate end to the most popular site for illegal music sharing.