Every time the net neutrality fight comes back around, we hear the same tired promise from the cable industry: We love net neutrality, we will promise you net neutrality, just don’t pass or enforce any laws that actually require us to do it. [More]
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MPAA Swears It’s Not Pushing For More Anti-Piracy Legislation
By 9.12.14
A few years back, the entertainment industry used its unique charms (read: money) to glamour several members of Congress into supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act, one of the few pieces of legislation to draw almost universal disdain from everyone other than the industry that backed it, as it would have exacerbated the shoot-first-maybe-investigate-later model already in place thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Thankfully, some Congressional aides actually look at the Internet and sensed the public backlash wasn’t worth the campaign donations that their bosses were still going to get anyway, and SOPA failed. Now the industry says it wants to combat piracy by winning over consumers instead of arresting teenagers. [More]
Apple CEO Promises To Improve Security Following Nude Photo Theft
By 9.5.14
While Apple maintains that the recent mass theft and publication of hundreds of revealing photos of female celebrities was a result of clever guessing and not an actual breach of the company’s iCloud service, CEO Tim Cook says Apple is adding safeguards to reduce the likelihood of another embarrassing incident. [More]
AT&T Promises: Kill Net Neutrality And You’ll Pay Less For Internet
By 3.24.14
Most of the discussion about net neutrality and paid peering has been about who shoulders the financial burden for increased broadband use — the Internet Service Providers who need to invest in hardware and manpower to meet demand, or the companies like Netflix, Google, and Amazon whose content is so in-demand that it requires extra support from the ISPs? In the end, it doesn’t really matter since it’s the consumer who ultimately foots the bill, but AT&T is making its argument for weak net neutrality by saying it will lead to lower rates for subscribers. [More]
Microsoft Swears It Isn’t Going To Change Its Mind Again On Xbox One DRM
By 8.28.13
First, Microsoft announced that the upcoming Xbox One gaming console would severely restrict a user’s ability to resell games or play previously owned titles. Then Sony announced that its competing PS4 wouldn’t have any new restrictions, and Microsoft was basically forced to give them up. But that hasn’t stopped some consumers from being justifiably concerned that, once Xbox One has garnered a substantial user base, Microsoft will pull an about-face and institute the harsh digital rights management programs it had intended. [More]
