Archive
Category: Weblog
Random assortments, selected for semantic content.
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Spamming Conviction Appeal: One Overturned, One Upheld
A US judge has dismissed a felony spamming conviction that had been called one of the first of its kind, saying he found no ‘rational basis’ for the verdict and wondering if jurors were confused by technical evidence. Ruling on Tuesday, Judge Thomas D Horne also said jurors may have [become] ‘lost’ when navigating Virginia’s… Read more →
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Microsoft Wins Appeal in Eolas Patent Case
This just in from Ars Technica: [A] Federal appeals court has overturned part of a lower court decision awarding Eolas US$521 million in damages for patent infringement by Microsoft. The case revolved around the use of browser add-ons such as plug-ins, ActiveX controls, and applets, which Eolas (a spinoff of the University of California) claimed… Read more →
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Playing with Fire: Selling a Custom iPod
A Francis Hwang recently attempted to resell his ‘Special Edition U2’ Apple iPod on eBay preloaded with several songs from Negativland, a band famous for being sued by U2’s publisher ‘for allegedly using an unlicensed sample of “I still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”.’ Hwang marketed his sale as the ‘Special Edition U2 vs… Read more →
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American E-Voting The Subject of Sweeping Reforms
According to this press release, several US congressmen are proposing to rectify some of the problems associated with last year’s electronic presidential ballots, including requirements that operating code be open source and machines leave a paper trail: The Count Every Vote Act of 2005 will provide a voter verified paper ballot for every vote cast… Read more →
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Industry Code: Consumer Internet Access Contracts to Be Regulated
‘Remember TPG’s $26.95/month ADSL plan that cost at least $42.85/month due to hidden data charges? Or Telstra’s ‘Broadband Amnesties’ in the face of complaints about unfair terms and conditions? Or ISP contracts forbidding customers from complaining to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman?’ A Working Committee for the Australian Communications Industry Forum (‘ACIF’) has released a new… Read more →
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Eminent Domain for Intellectual Property?
This interesting article on Prospect explores the possibility of state-sanctioned seizure of private intellectual property rights for the purpose of lowering pharmaceutical costs: Unless the drug industry starts to negotiate significantly lower prices, it may find itself battling debt-strapped states for control over the manufacture of drugs. States already take land and other property in… Read more →
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Attention Widows: When in Florida, Never Parachute on Sunday
Two American students are intent on making criminal history by spending their summer breaking as many US laws as possible. Starting in the liberal state of California, they hope to evade the attention of local police officers when they ride a bike in a swimming pool and curse on a crazy-golf course. In the far… Read more →
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Parents to Fight Order Terminating Life-Support
The father of a brain-damaged Florida woman said a judge’s ruling Friday ordering his daughter’s feeding tube to be removed March 18 is ‘a temporary relief.’ The parents’ attorney, David Gibbs, said he will appeal to the US Supreme Court contending that his daughter, who has been severely brain-damaged since she suffered heart failure in… Read more →
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European Parliament to Reconsider Software Patents Directive
The European Parliament has unanimously backed a motion for the European Commission to review its proposal for a software patents directive, in accordance with decisions taken by the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on February 2 and the Conference of Presidents on February 17: ‘The Newspeak from the European Patent Office has failed to achieve its… Read more →
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Teenager Arrested for Sending ‘Spim’
A US teenager has become the first person to be arrested on suspicion of sending unsolicited instant messages, or ‘spim’. Anthony Greco, 18, was lured from New York to Los Angeles under the pretence of a business meeting. He was arrested upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport last Wednesday. Greco allegedly sent 1.5 million… Read more →