Nobody was shocked when the Secretary of State for Business announced three strikes. There could be a lot more than that by the end of the winter. As it turned out, though, he wasn’t talking about industrial action: Lord Mandelson was resurrecting the proposal to cut off your access to the Internet if you’re accused of infringing copyright. Like privatising the Royal Mail, he probably doesn’t see why this is controversial. continue reading at www.macuser.co.uk
Showing all entries tagged ‘Law’
Punishment without the crime
on 20 November 2009
Libel: yes, it’s got out of hand, but there’s a baby somewhere in that bathwater
on 19 November 2009
‘I am not an investigative journalist,’ says former Mirror editor Roy Greenslade, ‘and I don’t have much time for people like John Pilger and Duncan Campbell.’ continue
TV or not TV, that is the question
on 4 October 2009
Incomprehensible regulations mindlessly enforced: a reliable staple of modern consumer news, represented most recently by TV Licensing’s push to get business owners signed up. continue
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Google Books: be careful what you wish for
on 9 September 2009
Microsoft has weighed in to the Google Books debate, filing a brief in its capacity as a publisher (of books, not software) in the class action suit that seeks to give Google the right to digitise every book in America. It wants the case thrown out, and it’s right. continue
People are not blank slates, and we can’t hack their sense of right and wrong
on 4 September 2009
First it was computers, then mobile phones. Now hackers have found a way to compromise keyboards. What’s going to be the next cyber-security threat? Biscuits? continue reading at www.macuser.co.uk
If the solution to illegal downloading is ‘delivering fantastic legal services’, are all those tanks on lawns just delivery vehicles?
on 31 July 2009
So Stephen Fry has admitted to downloading the series finale of House over BitTorrent because it was quicker than finding a legal copy. Lord Stephen of Twitter made his confession during July’s iTunes Festival, where he criticised the entertainment business for suing file sharers, saying that ‘making an example of ordinary people is the stupidest thing the record industry can do’. The industry appears to agree, because it’s stopped doing it, just as the British government – trying to appease the industry’s previous stance – proposes formalising the process. The currently favoured alternative, threatening to cut off users’ connections if they’re deemed to be sharing files illegally, has just been ruled unconstitutional in France, the country most gung-ho about implementing it. It’s all getting harder to follow than an episode of House. continue reading at www.macuser.co.uk
When free attacks
on 21 July 2009
Chris Anderson wondered if Obama’s putative pinko anti-trust policy (ie having an anti-trust policy) might interfere with Google’s cross-subsidisation of free services from ad revenues. continue
Some are more equal than others
on 16 July 2009
Craig posted at Cult of Mac about Tim Langdell’s continuing attempts to sue anyone who uses the word ‘Edge’ (which, last we heard, was an English word) in a videogame context and now, apparently, to prevent anyone making any kind of game involving a sphere. In passing, Craig mentioned the characteristic use of an axonometric projection in marble-rolling titles, ‘commonly referred to as “isometric” continue
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Another butterfly, another wheel
on 19 June 2009
So Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who appealed after being told to pay $220,000 for illegally sharing a couple of dozen music tracks via P2P, now faces an increased award of $1.92 million. continue
I’m incredible
on 3 June 2009
Referring to Daily Express articles speculating that Michael Owen’s footballing career might be finished, his solicitor, John Kelly, told a libel hearing: ‘These incredulous allegations are entirely without foundation.’ continue
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