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privacy
copyright
Leaked ACTA Treaty Will Outlaw P2P
ACTA—the misleadingly named "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement"—is the worldwide copyright treaty that's being negotiated behind closed doors, and that will create a sort of global DMCA if continues in its current state. Now Wikileaks has posted a draft of the treaty, and Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow gives his take:
More »Among other things, ACTA will outlaw P2P (even when used to share works that are legally available, like my books), and crack down on things like region-free DVD players. All of this is taking place out of the public eye, presumably with the intention of presenting it as a fait accompli just as the ink is drying on the treaty.
bad company
EMI Says You Can't Store Your Music Files Online
Today, MP3tunes' CEO Michael Robertson sent out an email to all users of the online music backup and place-shifting service MP3tunes.com, asking them to help publicize EMI's ridiculous and ignorant lawsuit against the company. EMI believes that consumers aren't allowed to store their music files online, and that MP3tunes is violating copyright law by providing a backup service. (And we're not using a euphemism here—it really is a backup/place-shifting service and not a file sharing site in disguise.) More »
worst company in america
Universal Music Group: Throwing Away Promotional CDs Is An "Unauthorized Distribution"
All promotional CDs are forever the property of Universal Music Group and giving or throwing them away are "unauthorized distributions," according to a brief filed by UMG. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, UMG claims that ownership rights to promotional CDs, typically sent to DJs, reviewers, and others in the music business to generate hype for new releases, are expressly retained by the label. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is taking up the fight against this absurd position in UMG v. Augusto. More »
riaa
RIAA Pockets Filesharing Settlement Money, Doesn't Pay Artists Whose Copyrights Were Infringed
None of the estimated $400 million that the RIAA received in settlements with Napster, KaZaA, and Bolt over allegations of copyright infringement has gone to the artists whose copyrights were allegedly infringed. Now the artists are considering suing the RIAA. More »
copyright
After Further Review, NFL Decides Churches Will Be Allowed To Host SuperBowl Parties
Don't you just love instant replay? The NFL has decided to reverse its previous ruling and allow religious organizations to hold SuperBowl parties "regardless of size." Previously, the only exception had been for sports bars.The league has said that organizations that host public viewings of its games on television screens larger than 55 inches violate its copyright. Sports bars are exempted. Last year, the league sent letters to two churches advising them of the policy.More »
copyright
Church Planning A SuperBowl Party? Don't Tell The NFL
Federal copyright law allows sports bars to show NFL games on screens larger than 55", but churches are not extended the same luxury, says the Washington Post:"There is a part of me that says, 'Gee, doesn't the NFL have enough money already?'" said Steve Holley, Immanuel's executive pastor. He pointed out that bars are still allowed to air the game on big-screens TV sets. "It just doesn't make sense."More »
pervs
"Family Friendly" Movie Censors Were Running Porn Business
According to the Provo, UT Daily Herald the founder of "Flix Club" a defunct company that edited swearing and nudity from films and resold them as "family friendly' versions, has been arrested on charges that he and another man paid two 14-year-old girls for sex. Police also said that the men may have been using the "family friendly" video business as a front for producing porn. More »
lawsuits
Diane Von Furstenberg Sues Target For Copyright Infringement
Wrap-dress designer extraordinaire Diane Von Furstenberg has sued Target, claiming the retailer is selling dresses with a print that is nearly identical to its "spotted frog design."More »
"Defendants' infringing dresses are 'wrap' dresses made of materials designed to look like silk jersey, a style consumers and the general public have come to associate with DVF," the complaint said.
videos
Joel Johnson Hijacks AT&T Funded Show To Question Internet Filtering Plans
Talking About AT&T's Internet Filtering on AT&T's The Hugh Thompson Show [Boing Boing Gadgets]
Why J.K. Rowling should lose her misguided copyright lawsuit against the author of a Harry Potter reference book. [Slate via BoingBoing]
misguided
Ford: Photos Of Your Car Are Copyright Infringement
Well, this seems misguided. A group of people who are members of the "Black Mustang Club" wanted to take some pictures of their cars and make a calendar using CafePress. Turns out, CafePress refuses to publish pictures of Ford cars due to claims of copyright infringement: More »
copyright
Procter & Gamble Sues Over Shampoo Bottle Infringement
Procter & Gamble has filed a lawsuit against a California company, claiming that it stole the design for their Herbal Essences shampoo bottle molds. More »
fake news
RIAA Sends Out Fake News Clip To TV Stations
The RIAA wants you to know that everyone loses with pirated products, so they've put together a fake news story and sent it out to TV stations around the country—maybe it will show up on your cash-strapped local news over the next few days, if you're lucky. We're torn, though, on posting this because it's being leaked (promoted?) heavily by the video news release (VNR) company that produced it—we want you to scoff at it with us, but keep your bullshit "stealth marketing" sensors up. More »
copyright
Article Recounts Sony's Rootkit Debacle In Detail
Remember Sony's cringe-inducing copy protection scheme a couple of years ago, where they secretly installed rootkits on millions of customers' PCs and then pretended it was no big deal? ("Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" — Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's President of Global Digital Business.) There's a new article (PDF) about to be published in the Berkely Technology Law Journal called "The Magnificence of the Disaster: Reconstructiong the Sony BMG Rootkit Incident." It's a very detailed and entertaining read that examines the conditions that led Sony BMG "toward a strategy that in retrospect appears obviously and fundamentally misguided." More »
worst company in america
Congress Wants To Up Copyright Infringement Penalties
The usual gang of RIAA-funded suspects have introduced a bill that would boost US intellectual property laws and the penalties that go along with them, and allow the U.S. government to seize computers, says Ars Technica. More »
filesharing
RIAA Told To Provide Breakdown Of Expenses Per Each Downloaded Song
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a Brooklyn judge made a defendant in an RIAA lawsuit very happy when he ordered the RIAA to document the actual expenses incurred per downloaded song. More »
copyright
