Archive for the ‘Politics & Law’ Category
The Constable on October 14th, 2008
According to a recent article at the Wired “Threat Level” blog, DarkMarket.ws, an online watering hole for thousands of identify thieves, hackers and credit card swindlers, has been secretly run by an FBI cybercrime agent for the last two years, until its voluntary shutdown earlier this month, according to documents unearthed by a German radio network.
At least this explains why so many sites with illegal content are never shut down by law enforcement, lawsuits, etc. They must all be FBI stings. We recommend you stay away from sites like The Pirate Bay, Ultimate-Guitar.com, Songsterr, Pianofiles.com, Soundsbox, etc.
Yes, I’m being sarcastic… but still at least there’d be a reason that illegal sites (or sites designed to enable people to break the law) are allowed to proliferate relatively undeterred.
Well, except for Textbook Torrents which did get shut down.
The Constable on September 27th, 2008
From an article at Torrentfreak:
A Florida man was sentenced to three years probation on Thursday for his part in running a ‘warez’ server. The 55 year old, known online as ‘kidzap’, would’ve most likely been sent to jail, but avoided incarceration by pleading guilty to conspiring to commit copyright infringement. He collects a $2,000 fine.
The Constable on September 27th, 2008
The Senate approved new Intellectual Property enforcement legislation Friday (the EIPRA bill), with the House of Representatives expected to approve it themselves on Saturday. Missing form the final bill, however, was a controversial provision that would have turned the Justice Department into a free legal service in civil suits for copyright holders.
We’ll post an update when final word comes in from the House (supposedly later today).
The Constable on September 25th, 2008
Ars Technica has an article about a recent letter to Congress from the Department of Justice regarding to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008 (EIPRA). Basically, the wording of the Act made it so the DoJ was responsible for all civil and criminal cases of copyright abuse, thereby putting the burden on the taxpayer to fund such cases (but money won from the cases would go the rights holders).
In our opinion, cases of copyright abuse are clearly legal arguments that can and should go to the courts, and theft is theft (and those cases are mostly criminal), but when it comes to civil suits those really should be on the burden of the individual bringing the suit. After all, if something is worthy of going to court over in an actual lawsuit, it had better be something you are likely to win - which means groups like the RIAA could easily fund such lawsuits.
The article at ArsTechnica has more information on the letter, but it also has quite a bit of opinion inserted in the article as well - so take what you read with a grain of salt, since this is Ars after all.
The Constable on September 25th, 2008
Patents, like copyright, are core pieces of the Intellectual Property puzzle. With the ability to lay exclusive claim to an idea, patents can be extremely dangerous. Still, some sort of system is also necessary in order to encourage people to come up with their own ideas, guaranteeing that as soon as they do so they will not be stolen from them by someone else. The patent system is supposed to encourage the creation of new ideas, but it is now also being abused by some to block new ideas from ever happening through the use of “blocking patents.”
Check out this article from BBC for more information.
Life-saving scientific research is being stifled by a “broken” patent system, according to a new report.
“Blocking patents” are delaying advances in cancer medicine and food crops, says the Canada-based Innovation Partnership, a non-profit consultancy.
read more | digg story
The Constable on September 22nd, 2008
Activision, the publisher behind the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty games, are taking the battle over piracy to the courtroom, reports Edge.
Court filings uncovered by the European news organization allege that New Yorker James R. Strickland has “violated Plaintiff’s exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution” by illicitly copying and distributing Activision’s titles — an act that the firm characterizes as “willful and intentional.”
read more | digg story
The Constable on September 11th, 2008
A dozen special-interest groups urged lawmakers Wednesday to squelch proposed legislation that for the first time would allow the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute civil cases of copyright infringement. The bill, a nearly identical version the House passed last year, is strongly backed by the music and movie industries.
read more | digg story
The Constable on September 11th, 2008
Congress returned to work this week, and Senators appear to have copyright on the brain: A broad intellectual property enforcement bill introduced in July is slated for markup by the Senate Judiciary Committee later today, and another aimed at cracking down on piracy overseas was introduced yesterday.
read more | digg story
The Constable on September 11th, 2008
Yes, this is not directly related to the site… but I still recommend everyone watch this video from Ron Paul before they make their voting choice. Whoever is in power in our country will be deciding our laws - including the rights of copyright holders and creators.
Ron Paul held a press conference urging voters to select a third-party presidential candidate instead of Barack Obama or John McCain…
read more | digg story
The Constable on September 9th, 2008
According to an article over at p2pnet, JK Rowling has won her lawsuit against the Harry Potter Lexicon (who’s website appears to be gone?), barring them from publishing their reference as a hardcover book.  The author of the lexicon claimed fair use, which was dismissed by the courts.
Author JK Rowling has won her legal battle in a New York court to get an unofficial Harry Potter encyclopaedia banned from publication,” says the BBC.
“Judge Robert Patterson said in a ruling Ms Rowling, 43, had proven Steven Vander Ark’s Harry Potter Lexicon would cause her irreparable harm as a writer.”
