Tag Archives: Intellectual Poverty

‘The Single Most Valuable Document In The History Of The World Wide Web’

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“Twenty years ago this week, researchers renounced the right to patent the World Wide Web. Officials at CERN, the European research center where the Web was invented, wrote:  ‘CERN relinquishes all intellectual property to this code, both source and binary form and permission is granted for anyone to use, duplicate, modify and redistribute it.’ It’s a dull sentence from a dull document. But that document marks the moment when the World Wide Web entered the public domain — a moment that was central to creating the Web as we know it today.  Could the Web have been patented? And how would the world have been different if it had?”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/05/01/180255276/the-single-most-valuable-document-in-the-history-of-the-world-wide-web

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Authors, composers want 3.4% of every Belgian’s Internet bill

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“Content owners in nearly every country have tried various strategies to get compensation for losses due to piracy. But copyright owners in Belgium have a bold new tactic: go after Internet service providers in court, demanding 3.4 percent of the fees their customers pay for Internet service.  The lawsuit has been brought by the Belgian Society of Authors, Composers, and Publishers, known as Sabam. The group’s claim is similar to the blank-media levy that exists in Canada. It seems to be based on the assumption that a particular medium is used to break copyright law, and therefore all the users of that media should rightly be required to pay a tax.”

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/05/authors-composers-want-3-4-of-every-belgians-internet-bill/

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Japanese police ask ISPs to block Tor

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“Japanese citizens who want to use Tor for whistleblowing or simply to stay invisible don’t have to worry quite yet about the agency’s desire to crack down on Web freedom. One industry insider told The Mainichi that ‘Communication privacy is our lifeline. We won’t be able to accept such a request,’ and with any luck, an industry backlash could force the agency to look at more sensible ways to combat cybercrime and piracy — or they could simply go back to chasing cats.”

http://www.zdnet.com/japanese-isps-to-block-tor-users-guilty-until-proven-innocent-7000014321/

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Gene wars: the last-ditch battle over who owns the rights to our DNA

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“US biotechnology giant Myriad Genetics is demanding that the US supreme court back the patents it has taken out on the BRAC genes. The company believes it should be the only producer of tests to detect mutations in these genes, a business it has carried out in the United States for more than a decade.  On the other side, a group of activists, represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, argues that it is fundamentally absurd and immoral to claim ownership of humanity’s shared genetic heritage and demands that the court ban patents.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/21/gene-wars-the-last-ditch-battle-over-who-owns-the-rights-to-our-dna/

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FoxConn will pay Microsoft royalties to produce Android, Chrome phones and televisions

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“Taiwan tech giant Hon Hai, parent company of FoxConn, will pay royalties to Microsoft to ward off a lawsuit over its production of devices using rival Google’s Android and Chrome platforms.  The licensing agreement protects Hon Hai from claims that the cell phones and televisions it produces and which use Android and Chrome infringe on Microsoft’s patented technology.  The Taiwanese company is the world’s largest contract electronics maker and assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, among others, in huge plants in China where it employs more than one million workers.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/17/foxconn-will-pay-microsoft-royalties-to-produce-android-chrome-phones-and-televisions/

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Aereo could bring down broadcast TV

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“Could it really turn out that a company with a seemingly loopy business model — capturing over-the-air TV signals and streaming them to subscribers over the Internet — will be the thing that finally brings down the American broadcasting industry? Quite possibly.  Chase Carey, News Corp.’s (NWSA) chief operating officer, said Monday that if the company in question, Aereo, is allowed to continue, his company’s Fox Broadcasting, and all its affiliate stations, will stop broadcasting over the air and go all-cable. Those other networks, though, along with PBS and Fox, are fighting hard to put Aereo out of business. But so far, they’re losing their legal argument.”

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/09/aereo-could-bring-down-broadcast-tv/?iid=EL

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Encryption and Privacy: Goodbye Copyright Laws

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“Kim Dotcom really is his name these days. He had it legally changed.  The federal government shut down his enormously profitable file-sharing business in 2011. It won’t shut down his latest version of file-sharing.  His new company, Mega, offers 100% encryption. His company can’t crack it. The U.S. government can’t crack it — not at a price it can afford, anyway.  So people can post movies, songs, or anything else on his site. You get 50 megabytes of free storage to start out.  His lawyers can now say this: ‘Our company will cooperate with the governments of the world. But, sorry, we have no idea what people are putting into their accounts.'”

http://teapartyeconomist.com/2013/04/18/encryption-and-privacy-goodbye-copyright-laws/

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HBO executive: Rampant piracy of ‘Game of Thrones’ is a ‘compliment’

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“Contrary to popular thinking, the rampant piracy of ‘Game of Thrones’ has not harmed the network that airs it, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo told Entertainment Weekly on Sunday, just hours before the show’s season three premiere.  ‘I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but [piracy] is a compliment of sorts,’ Lombardo reportedly said. ‘The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.’  The show’s creator, George R. R. Martin, said as much earlier in March.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/01/hbo-executive-rampant-piracy-of-game-of-thrones-is-a-compliment/

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Don’t Expand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Destroy It!

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“Aaron Swartz faced 13 counts under CFAA, up to 35 years in prison, for copying too many files from the online academic resource JSTOR. This threat of overwhelming state sponsored persecution has been regarded as the reason for Swartz tragic suicide January 11th, 2013.  The collective outrage generated from Swartz’s story has brought activists together in an effort to gain support for legislation that would reform and clarify CFAA, referred to as Aaron’s Law.  It appears that the House Judiciary Committee is not interested in Aaron’s Law’s spirit of reform and clarity, instead they prefer to see CFAA expanded and strengthened.”

http://c4ss.org/content/18174

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How to Defeat CISPA Once And For All!

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How to Defeat CISPA Once And For All!

“From SOPA and PIPA to ACTA to CISPA to the TPP and now back to CISPA, internet activists have been caught up in a deliberately bewildering game of whack-a-mole with freedom-crushing legislation. Now, ISPs are doing an end run around the whole legislative process altogether and voluntarily collaborating with the entertainment industry to spy on their own customers.  Join us today on The Corbett Report as we explore a real, grassroots, alternative solution to the problem of internet censorhip that can help to end this government/corporate control over our communication once and for all.”

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