The Net, Comcast Merger, Broadband; Digital Life; Windows H8.1; Apple; Facebook; Copyfight, Piracy; Apps; Patents; Ukraine

The Net

• The internet is fucked
• The Year We Broke the Internet
• Americans Would Give Up TV Before Internet
• Thirteen percent of U.S. adults say they don't use the Internet WaPo
• AT&T and Time Warner Cable ranked worst in customer service survey

Comcast Merger

• What's Wrong With the Comcast/Time Warner Merger—"If it's not blocked, a single corporation will be able to dictate digital communications and media content for decades to come."
• Comcast takes lobbying to new heights
• From the desk of a former FCC Commissioner—"Journalists need to generate a national discussion on the future of the internet.

Broadband

• ISPs Want To Destroy The Internet: Spread This Message So We Can Stop Them
• Broadband rage – symptom of a slow, patchy and expensive service—"Complaints are rising, with rural areas poorly served by fast broadband, but there are ways to try improving your service."
• Verizon says gamers should pay more for bandwidth

Digital Life

• Everything's Amazing And Nobody's Happy—"You are living in an age of wonders, says commentator Adam Frank. Every day we take part in activities that once seemed like the realm of science fiction. So why are you so dissatisfied?"
• Happy ending: @N has been restored to its rightful owner—Better late than @Never.
• Watch out for this Netflix "tech support" scam—"A security researcher has found an new twist on the traditional security hoodwink."

Windows H8.1

• Windows 8.1 update coming in spring, to improve controls, allow lower end hardware—And there's talk that there'll be a free version with Bing.
• Users mock Microsoft for asking their help on XP-to-Windows 8.1 upgrades—"After company's plea, users point out that upgrading XP to Windows 8.1 is 'impossible.'"
• Microsoft misjudges customer loyalty with kill-XP plea—"Expert questions Microsoft's strategic sense, calls XP upgrades a shakedown worthy of the 'Sopranos'."
• Windows XP will still get security support in China
• Windows XP: What to expect once Microsoft shuts down support

Apple

• Tim Cook Angrily Rejects Political Proposal Asking for Profits-First Policies—Climate change deniers can suck it.
• Apple CarPlay to bring iPhone experience to your next car's dashboard
• Sapphire crystal screens: why Apple is interested in a gemstone
• Apple wants US court to throw out 'radical' ebooks ruling
• Apple Maps sends skiers down dead-end road to fed-up homeowner
• Apple's Steve Jobs Memorial Statue Has Been Unveiled And ... It's Hideous—Not easy to defend.
• How to photograph a leaked Apple product

Facebook

• This Man's $600,000 Facebook Disaster Is A Warning For All Small Businesses
• How Facebook Exploits Underage Girls In Its Quest For Ad Revenue
• Bratty Teen's Facebook Post Cost Her Father $80,000

Copyfight

• Lawrence Lessig Wins Damages For Bogus YouTube Takedown
• 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Author Settles Copyright Suit Against Hometown Museum
• Candy Crush creator abandons 'candy' trademark efforts—In the US, but not in the EU.
• Keurig Will Use DRM In New Coffee Maker To Lock Out Refill Market
• Google Loses Emergency Bid To Keep "Innocence Of Muslims" Film Online
• Rep. Goodlatte Slips Secret Change Into Phone Unlocking Bill That Opens The DMCA Up For Wider Abuse
• House passes cellphone-unlocking bill with controversial limit on bulk reselling
• MPAA Shifts Its Funding Efforts To Republicans After SOPA Defeat
• Obama Nominates SOPA Lobbyist for TPP Trade Post

Piracy

• YouTube Ordered to Remove "Illegal" Copyright Blocking Notices
• MPAA's latest anti-piracy move accidentally, completely screws Hollywood studios
• Police Raid "Movie Cammer" and Family Twice - Then Drop All Charges
• "Dallas Buyers Club" Makers Censor Comcast On Demand, By Mistake
• Dotcom raid legal, FBI taking evidence not—"Police raids on Kim Dotcom's mansion in 2012 have been declared legal, but FBI removal of electronic information seized in the search was an unauthorised breach, the Court of Appeal has found."

Apps

• App-pocalypse Now—"I'm getting pretty sick of being nagged to install your damn apps."
• Europe invites Apple, Google to discuss 'in-app' purchases
• "Free-to-play" misleading advertising in Europe

Patents

• U.S. top court considers the 'patent troll' problem WaPo
• Inventor who shocked tech world stumped by 43-year patent delay
• Nokia, HTC End Patent Disputes, Begin Partnership

Ukraine

• Ukraine must exercise restraint in the face of Russian aggression WaPo
• G7 condemns Russia military build-up
• Russia blocks web pages linked to Ukraine protests Salon
• US concedes Russia has control of Crimea and seeks to contain Putin
• Poland's Tusk says must stop Crimea crisis expanding to regional conflict
• U.S. Spies Said No Russian Invasion of Ukraine — Putin Disagreed—"A day after U.S. intelligence said there would be no Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s troops started coming over the border."

TPP, Copyfight, Piracy, DRM, Patents; Gaming, Tilt, Nintendon't; Chrome Malware, Haxx0red

TPP

• Congress introduces Obama fast-track authority on global trade pacts like TPP
• Constituents Opposing TPP Fast Track Locked Out of Congressman Becerra's Office
• Sen. Bernie Sanders lambastes Democrats and Republicans over Trans-Pacific Partnership
• TPP holds out a kind of Potemkin democracy
• Tokyo, Washington agree to stay course on sealing TPP

Copyfight

• In Response To Growing Protests, EU Pulls Corporate Sovereignty Chapter From TAFTA/TTIP To Allow For Public Consultation
• EU Offers Public a Chance to Fix Copyright Law
• Internet Censors Came For TorrentFreak & Now I'm Really Mad
• The End of Ownership: Why You Need to Fight America's Copyright Laws
• The awkward copyright collision of Fair Use and Creative Commons
• It's the 30th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's Monumental Decision About Betamax

Piracy

• IP address does not prove online piracy, US judge says in landmark ruling
• Three Strikes Law Does Nothing to Curb Piracy, Research Finds
• City Of London Police Cannot Seize Domains Just Because Hollywood Says The Websites Are Infringers
• Prince Targets Facebook Users in $22m Live Concert Piracy Lawsuit
• This Google Glass user went to the movies. Then he got interrogated for about four hours.—Department of Homeland Security, in particular the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, doing the bidding of the MPAA.
• Here We Go Again: Canadian Recording Industry Calls on Government To Regulate the Internet

DRM

• DRM Circumvention May Be Legal, European Union Court Rules—"... under some circumstance."
• Latest Twist On DRM Of Physical Products: Machines Locked Down By Geolocation
• You can't download your .mobi files from Amazon anymore, even if they're DRM free
• All library audiobooks going to DRM-free MP3s
• Xbox One Disc-Based DRM Issues Are Due To Suspended Play, Says Xbox Support

Patents

• Supreme Court upends top patent court's "burden of proof" rule
• Google wins jury verdict against patent troll that sued its customers
• Samsung And Google Bury The Apple Hatchet, Sign 10-Year Patent Agreement

Gaming

• Master of His Virtual Domain—"George Yao, an ordinary guy, spent $250 a week conquering the online game Clash of Clans, at one point bringing five iPads into the shower with him so that none of his accounts would go inactive." NYT
• How online gamers are solving science's biggest problems—"A new generation of online games don't just provide entertainment – they help scientists solve puzzles involving genes, conservation and the universe."
• Tech Demo for Pillow Castle's First Person Puzzler—In the words of Immortal Keanu: "Whoa."
• IGN's 2013 Game of Year—Would love to watch a full movie—CG or live action—based on the story.
• Robot Odyssey: The Hardest Computer Game of All Time

Tilt

• Microsoft And Machinima Defend YouTube Promotion Deal—At first anyway, but Microsoft scuttled the XBOX deal and Machinima's opting for full disclosure.
• King has trademarked the word CANDY (and you're probably infringing)—And apparently "saga" as well. These guys are out of control and probably hypocritical.
• Judge reverses huge jury award over Madden video games

Nintendon't

• Nintendo Confirms Wii U Has Flopped, Slashes Sales Forecast By ~70%
• Nintendo Stock Drops Off a Cliff After Forecasts Lowered
• Nintendo 'studying' mobile devices in wake of bleak hardware sales forecast

Chrome Malware

• Adware vendors buy Chrome Extensions to send ad- and malware-filled updates
• Google bans Chrome extensions purchased to deliver adware
• Warning: Your Browser Extensions Are Spying On You

Haxx0red

• Target, Neiman Marcus Breach Caused By Code Written By Russian Teen
• As Target breach unfolds, information vanishes from Web
• Craft store Michaels may be latest mega-retailer to get hacked
• Cyber attack that sent 750k malicious emails traced to hacked refrigerator, TVs and home routers
• Millions of passwords and email details stolen in Germany
• Massive data theft hits 40% of South Koreans
• For 2013, '123456' unseats 'password' as worst password

World Press Freedom Day, Transparency, Web, Censorship, Lawsuits, DMCA, Copyfight

World Press Freedom Day

• North Carolina Lawmaker Forces Radio Show Off The Air After Hosts Criticized His Policies
• The Slow and Painful Death of Freedom in Canada
• Connecticut Attempt to 'Scrub' Away Arrest Reports in Dismissed Cases 'Bizarro' and Worse
• Gawker Defies Judge, Refuses To Take Down Post About Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Despite Court Order
• Blast from the Past: Silence or Death in Mexico's Press

Transparency

• North Carolina: Move is afoot to make government less open —"'I am the senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet.' It was no coincidence that Tucker's silencing of an N.C. newspaper publisher – heard by at least three people who were there – came just after he railroaded a bill through his committee that would let government operate in more secrecy."
• Supreme Court rules states can limit FOIA requests to their own citizens—"Alito declares "noncitizens have no comparable need" for public accountability."
• Congressman: Let's Just Eliminate Useful Information Altogether—"Tea Party Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) has proposed a bill that would end the government's ability to provide any of the major economic indices, including reliable unemployment or GDP figures."
• Hawaii: Government Transparency Bill Hung Up On Release Of Proprietary Information—"Just last month, Hawaii received an 'F' when it comes to government spending transparency."
• Australian Bureau of Statistics hobbles census data downloaders—"DVDs charged at $250 a pop."

Web

• Twenty years of a free, open web—But for how much longer?
• Governments Demanding Google Censor Online Criticism At Record Level
• The Delete Squad—"Google, Twitter, Facebook and the new global battle over the future of free speech."
• Web censorship: the net is closing in—"Across the globe governments are monitoring and censoring access to the web. And if we're not careful millions more people could find the internet fractured, fragmented and controlled by the state."

Censorship

• Facebook U-turn after charities criticise decapitation videos
• Exxon Hates Your Free Speech, Tries to Censor Satirical Ad
• Australian Networks Censor Community Education Website
• China censors the word 'censorship'—"China expands 'healthy news order' as director calls censorship 'enormous torment'."
• Apple Delays Day-And-Date Comics On ComiXology, And The Banning Of Saga—It was quite a saga for Saga #12.

Lawsuits

• The Popehat Signal: Stand Against Rank Thuggery In Ohio—Med Express has apologized for its bullying attempt of an eBay buyer, but the company has previous litigation.
• Charles Carreon Has To Pay $46K In Legal Fees—He of the Funnyjunk vs. The Oatmeal brouhaha, among others.
• Express to Internet Hate: Bus company threatens redditor with lawsuit—"Update: Pleading misunderstanding of Reddit, lawyer changes mind."
• Pain relief: patient can sue dentist who tried to censor online reviews—"Judge calls arguments for dismissing the patient's lawsuit 'ridiculous.'"
• We're Being Sued – For Linking To Shopzilla

DMCA

• Fox Shuts Down Cory Doctorow's Homeland Book In Overzealous DMCA takedown
• Court denies Grooveshark DMCA protection for songs like "Johnny B. Goode"
• CipherCloud DMCA notice—Allegedly abuses DMCA to hide the insecurity and lack of security in their service.

Copyfight

• What Is TPP? It's the Biggest Global Threat to the Internet Since ACTA
• MPAA Executive Tampered With IFPI Evidence in Internet Piracy Case
• UK.Gov passes Instagram Act: All your pics belong to everyone now—"The Act contains changes to UK copyright law which permit the commercial exploitation of images where information identifying the owner is missing, so-called 'orphan works', by placing the work into what's known as "extended collective licensing" schemes."
• Warner Brothers sued for unauthorized use of Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat
• I F**king Love Science and Facebook's problem with content theft

EA's SimShitty; Phone Unlocking; Your Rights Online; Copyfight; Megaupload; News.Biz; Porn Trolling

EA's SimShitty

• SimCity players still reporting long server queues, some as long as 30 minutes—That's always-on DRM punishes legitimate customers even those who "start up a private region and play by yourself." It's gotten so bad Amazon pulled the game out of its virtual shelves.
• EA: No Digital Refunds for SimCity Players
• SimCity: The Backlash
• A Tale of SimCity: Users Struggle Against Onerous DRM
• SimCity Meltdown: What Always-Online Says About Game Ownership In The Digital Age
• EA Apologizes For SimCity Disaster, Says It Was "Dumb" And Offers Free Game To Players
• EA Employee Chastises Company Over SimCity in Public Letter
• Maxis: SimCity offline mode is 'just not possible'
• EA: SimCity server response time has improved 40-fold since launch—"Studio pledges to 'look into' offline mode as part of 'earning back your trust.'" With the money already plunked in, I'd be surprised if they did.
• Just Cause 2 Developer On Why It Won't Utilize DRM: 'It Treats Our Fans Like Criminals'

Phone Unlocking

• White House says it should be legal to unlock cellphones
• F.C.C. Backs Consumers in Unlocking of Cellphones NYT
• US lawmakers scramble to legalise phone unlocking
• Copyright reformers pan weak legislation on cell phone unlocking—"Consumer advocates say Congress should focus on reforming the DMCA."
• AT&T's Response to the Cell Phone Unlocking Controversy Insults Users—"Apologies in advance for the rant, but AT&T's response to the controversy over cell phone unlocking really gets under my skin."

Your Rights Online

• Tim Berners-Lee: The Web needs to stay open, and Gopher's still not cool.
• EFF: Hey Google, Can We Have Data About FISA Court Orders Too?
• Harvard Searched E-Mails for Source of Media Leaks—"The administration searched staff e-mails to try to root out the source of leaks to the news media in a cheating scandal, and the staff members were not told until months later." NYT
• How Facebook could get you arrested—"Smart technology and the sort of big data available to social networking sites are helping police target crime before it happens. But is this ethical?"
• Iran blocks use of tool to get around Internet filter

Copyfight

• US Trade Rep orders Canada to comply with the dead-and-buried ACTA treaty, Canada rolls over and wets itself
• NDP Calls It: Bill C-56 is "ACTA Through the Backdoor"
• Microsoft restores transfer rights for retail Office 2013 copies—"As part of its shift to a subscription model, Microsoft introduced a controversial 'no transfer' restriction with Office 2013. Now, after an intense outcry from customers, the company has reversed course and agreed to allow users to transfer retail Office licenses between devices."
• Oops: DKNY Admits Using Blogger’s Photos Without Permission—"A popular street-style photographer says the brand offered to buy his pictures for its store windows, but he refused. Then it used them anyway."
• Apple Patents a System for Second-Hand iTunes Sales

Megaupload

• Researchers: movie studios sold more after Megaupload was shut down—Was the study funded by the MPAA?
• U.S. Government Wins Appeal in Kim Dotcom Extradition Battle
• Dotcom wins right to sue

News.Biz

• Mainstream media meltdown!—"Newspapers will never be the same. But what happens to democracy if the Web business model can't fund journalism?" Salon
• Newspapers go all-in for copyright fight against clipping service
• Is This Canadian Newspaper Breaking Copyright Law?—"If someone wants to post a quote from anything written by the National Post, they are now presented with pop-up box seeking a licence that starts at $150 for the Internet posting of 100 words with an extra fee of 50 cents for each additional word (the price is cut in half for non-profits). None of this requires a licence or payment. If there was a fair dealing analysis, there is no doubt that copying a hundred words out of an article would easily meet the fair dealing standard. In fact, the Supreme Court of Canada has indicated that copying full articles in some circumstances may be permitted."

Porn Trolling

• Angry judge calls porn troll's bluff, orders entire firm to court—Which they're refusing to do.
• Porn trolling mastermind is the world's most evasive witness
• Enraged by abusive lawsuits, anonymous troll slayers fight back—"Growing community of online activists is making life difficult for porn trolls."

TPP, ACTA, Hollywood, Net Access, Piracy, Domain Name Seizures, Megaupload, SurfTheChannel, Music, Big (and Freed) Content

TPP

• TPP: the Son of ACTA will oblige America and other countries to throw out privacy, free speech and due process for easier copyright enforcement
• The Biggest Threat to Free Speech and Intellectual Property That You've Never Heard Of
• Don't Let Them Trade Away Our Internet Freedoms--"The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) endangers the Internet and digital freedoms on par with ACTA, SOPA, and PIPA, and it does so in two significant ways: First, its intellectual property (IP) chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users' freedoms and innovation, and second, the entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy. The TPP is a major threat because it will rewrite global rules on IP enforcement and restrict the public domain."
• Prominent Academics Respond to the TPP
• USTR Tells Public Interest Groups They Have 8 Minutes To Talk To TPP Negotiators--And the EFF gets "an entire two minutes more."

ACTA

• CETA Update, Part Two: ACTA Provisions Are Still Very Much Alive
• EU Wants to Sneak in a Mini-ACTA by the Backdoor
• India's ACTA: Intellectual Property Rights And Secrecy Stall Treaty

Hollywood

• How Hollywood Is Encouraging Online Piracy--"The death of the DVD is pushing users to piracy."And Hollywood seems to think artificial scarcity is a sustainable business.
• 5 Ways Hollywood Can Stop Digging Its Own Grave--Pogue's follow-up.
• This Is Why People Pirate--"Do you know why people hate movie studios? Why, increasingly, they're driven to download content illegally, even though they're perfectly willing to pay for it? Because of crap like this."

Net Access

• Australia: ABC warps time to put Dr Who online early at IView--"Piracy is wrong, as you are denying someone their rights and income for their intellectual property. The fact that it is happening is indicative that as broadcasters we are not meeting demand for a segment of the population. So as broadcasters we need to find convenient ways of making programs available via legal means to discourage the need for piracy." Emphasis mine.
• Why Arrested Development on Netflix could change everything--"As plans for Arrested Development‘s return spread, many details indicate that thanks to Netflix, the popular cult series has the opportunity to not only legitimize the world of web content, but create a new business model for an industry that desperately needs it."
• HBO cuts the cord, brings streaming-only service to Europe
• Potluck for the Eyeballs: Amazon's Streaming Service
• Waiting for Apple TV? Don't Hold Your Breath--Even they can't cut TV's gordian knot yet.
• Broadcasters Defeat TV Streaming Service
• Streaming Site Admin Detained 7 Months Without Bail, Faces Deportation

Piracy

• 100k+ People Demand Pardon For Peter Sunde Of The Pirate Bay
• Obama Ambassador In Cambodia On Day Pirate Bay Founder Was Arrested
• German ISPs must hand over file sharer info to rights holders, high court rules
• RIAA Lobbyist-Turned-Judge: ISPs Deserve Copyright Trolls For Not Stopping Infringement--Like something like this wasn't foreseen.
• FileSonic cyberlocker offline after piracy complaints

Domain Name Seizures

• Feds Back To Seizing Websites Over Claims Of Copyright Infringement
• Oops! Copyright Cops Return Seized RojaDirecta Domain Names – 19 Months Later
• Members of Congress Demand Answers for Homeland Security’s Unjust Domain Name Seizures

Megaupload

• FBI must handover Dotcom evidence – judge
• Kim Dotcom promises that disruptive new music service, Megabox, will launch this year
• Kim Dotcom: MPAA / RIAA Corrupted the U.S. Government
• New Megaupload Will Be Massive Global Network To Change The World
• Dotcom's Frozen Funds Partially Thawed by New Zealand Court

SurfTheChannel

• Surfthechannel owner sentenced after piracy conviction
• Private justice: How Hollywood money put a Brit behind bars
• Fact's victory over Surfthechannel is a decisive blow in the copyright wars

Music

• Major Labels Claim Copyright Over Public Domain Songs; YouTube Punishes Musician
• RIAA Revenue Dwindles As Labels Cut Back--And budget cuts are hitting the MPAA too.
• Motion to reduce $675,000 verdict denied in SONY v Tenenbaum--Guess is the way the RIAA will be earning their paycheck.
• Grooveshark CEO on empowering musicians and beating the labels
• YouTube is teens' first choice for music--"Google's video streaming site is the most popular way young people listen to music, according to a new survey."
• Who inherits your iTunes library?--If Bruce Willis gets his way, it will be his kids. UPDATE: T'was a British tabloid rumor.
• Pop music too loud and all sounds the same--Kinda like how Rock N' Roll was during its day.

Big (and Freed) Content

• Musopen.org--"Musopen is a... non-profit focused on improving access and exposure to music by creating free resources and educational materials. We provide recordings, sheet music, and textbooks to the public for free, without copyright restrictions. Put simply, our mission is to set music free."
• Archive.org: Over 1,000,000 Torrents of Downloadable Books, Music, and Movies
• Alexandria 2.0: One Millionaire's Quest to Build the Biggest Library on Earth
• Award-Winning Manga Author Opens Up His Work To Be Used By 'Anyone, Anywhere, For Anything,' Royalty-Free--"Sato will not actually be renouncing his copyright. Instead, he has chosen to not enforce it, in essence granting the entire world free rein to use his work to create foreign language adaptations, applications, commercial films, TV series, produce merchandise or anything else the 'second users' can come up with."
• B-Movie Legends Troma Entertainment Releases 150 Films On YouTube

Megaupload, YouTube and Content Ownership, Copyfight, Piracy, Music Business, Trademark

Megaupload

• Apple Founder "Woz" Defends Megaupload
• Dotcom judge quits the case
• Kim Dotcom Goes on Mega-Offense Against U.S. Copyright Case
• Feds: We Can Freeze Megaupload Assets Even if Case Dismissed
• Elite force in dark in Dotcom house raid--What really happened at the raid? Guess they found the video they lost.

YouTube and Content Ownership

• How YouTube lets content companies "claim" NASA Mars videos--Guys like Lon Seidman hit by copyright abuse.
• YouTube restores Obama videos, refuses to explain takedown policies--Maybe Republicans will finally see the light.
• Radiohead To Prince: Unblock 'Creep' YouTube Vids

Copyfight

• Trans-Pacific Partnership: The Most Important Trade Agreement That We Know Nothing About
• Leaked MPAA Memo Reveals TV-Shack Press Strategy
• Leaked: US proposal on copyright's limits
• Court Shelves Washington State Law That Would Turn Service Providers Into Criminals Based On Their Users' Behavior
• Canada: Supreme Court Entrenches Technological Neutrality as a New Copyright Principle
• Embedding copyright-infringing video is not a crime, court rules
• Good News: Craigslist drops exclusive license to your posts

Piracy

• Piracy witch hunt downs legit e-book lending Web site--"Several authors on Twitter mistook an e-book lending Web site for a piracy hub, a mistake that eventually took the site offline. As the dust settles, a disturbing picture of file-sharing hysteria emerges."
• Pirate Bay blocks did little to curb file-sharing
• Demonoid Busted As A Gift To The United States Government--Anonymous is vowing revenge.
• Top German court says RapidShare must monitor link sites for piracy
• Google must delete 'torrent' from autocomplete, court says
• Google alters algorithm as Hollywood lobbyists win latest copyright battle
• Politician pushes extreme anti-piracy bill in the Philippines--"Thought the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was bad? A similar bill introduced into the Philippines' House of Representatives would penalize people who illegally download with a minimum two-year jail sentence and fines of 50,000 to 150,000 Phillippine pesos. ($1,200-$3,600)."

Music Business

• The Spotify Effect Shows Up: Streaming Music Boosts Warner's Bottom Line
• Another Music Service Shuts Down, Blames Ridiculous Licensing Fees
• Leaked Report Reveals Music Industry's Global Anti-Piracy Strategy
• Alex Day Sells Half A Million Songs By Breaking All The 'Rules'
• Anti-piracy group fined for stealing music

Trademark

• Courts Losing Patience With Clearly Bogus Trademark Claims; Dismissing Them Early
• Attaché Company Attacks Marvel, Alleging Avengers Infringement
• Jack Daniel's has a very nice trademark lawyer
• Anonymous Hits Back At French Firm That Tried To Trademark Their Logo
• Open-source movements butt heads over logo--Nerdfight.
• Judge Sides With Red Cross Over Trademark--Red Cross probes emblem 'misuse'
• Blast from the Past: Nissan vs. Nissan: Nissan Motor Sued Nissan Computer For Trademark Infringement, Trademark Dilution And Cyber-Squatting Seeking 10 Million Dollars In Damages

ACTA, SOPA, IPAA, Copyfight, Piracy, Megaupload

ACTA

• VICTORY! ACTA Suffers Final, Humiliating Defeat In European Parliament--But over the pond, Mexico signed ACTA though its Senate still needs to ratify it.
• ACTA IS BACK: Leaked docs show Canada/European Commission trying to sneak ACTA into Canada & back into Europe
• Don't believe every leak you read says EU Commission on CETA--"CETA text regarding the Internet is totally different from ACTA, the Commission said."

SOPA/IPAA

• SOPA IS BACK: Lamar Smith trying to quietly revive SOPA and cram it down the world's throats
• SOPA reborn by Congress as IPAA--And it's even worse.
• SOPA author wants to arrest journalists over leaks

Copyfight

• Canada: Copyright fees on music, video, struck down by top court--"The Supreme Court of Canada has decided that Internet providers do not have to pay copyright fees when their consumers download or preview music, and that teachers don't have to pay fees when they photocopy copyrighted materials for their students."
• Victory for Open WiFi: Judge Rejects Copyright Troll's Bogus "Negligence" Theory--The case was dismissed on preemption grounds.
• Supreme Court: RapidShare Liable For Copyright Infringement – Sometimes
• Censored by Copyright: Dan Bull video removed from YouTube after criticising copyright abuse
• Lawsuit Against BitTorrent Users Falters, Band Brands Action "Bullshit"--"A lawsuit against fans of the metal band All Shall Perish has faltered after it was revealed that the copyright troll plaintiff in the case has failed to register the required copyrights."
• Op-ed: MPAA/RIAA lose big as US backs copyright "limitations"

Piracy

• U.K. Home Office won't block O'Dwyer extradition in copyright case
• U.S. Pursuing a Middleman in Web Piracy--"The government’s antipiracy case against Richard O’Dwyer is unusual because he did not publish pirated content himself but pointed the way for others." NYT
• Artists Score Victory in Mass-Piracy Lawsuit Against CBS, CNET
• US "Six Strikes" Anti-Piracy Scheme Will Roll Out Gradually
• Why we are breaking the Pirate Bay ban--"We must not hand courts and governments censorship powers without a public debate about digital rights."

Megaupload

• FBI Continues To Insist There's No Reason For Kim Dotcom To Be Able To See The Evidence Against Him
• New Zealand Police Investigated over MegaUpload’s Founder Arrest
• Kim DotCom extradition hearing postponed until 2013
• Kim Dotcom offers US Department of Justice a deal
• US 'the enemy' says Dotcom judge

Trans-Pacific Partnership, Copyfight, International, Canada, Megaupload, TheOatmeal vs. Funnyjunk

Trans-Pacific Parternship

• TPP: Corporate Power Tool of the 1%
• Apparently The USTR Thinks 'Unprecedented Transparency' Means Hiding TPP Details From 98% Of Congress
• Wyden To Obama: Hollywood Shouldn't Know More About TPP Than Congress
• SOPA Supporters Urge White House To Use Secretive TPP Process To Insert Draconian New IP Laws
• Obama Trade Document Leaked, Revealing New Corporate Powers And Broken Campaign Promises
• Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement Pushes Corporate Sovereignty Over Environmental Law
• New World Order Blueprint Leaked

Copyfight

• Capitalists Who Fear Change--"Digital technology is reinventing our whole world, in service of you and me. It's free enterprise on steroids. It's bypassing the gatekeepers and empowering each of us to invent our own civilization for ourselves, according to our own specifications."
• Supreme Court to Decide Application of First Sale Doctrine to Foreign-Made Copyrighted Works
• Congressional Staffer Says SOPA Protests 'Poisoned The Well', Failure To Pass Puts Internet At Risk
• Comcast Protests "Shake Down" of Alleged BitTorrent Pirates--"The ISP is now refusing to comply with court-ordered subpoenas, arguing that they are intended to 'shake down' subscribers by coercing them to pay settlements."
• DOJ Realizes That Comcast & Time Warner Are Trying To Prop Up Cable By Holding Back Hulu & Netflix
• Creator posts original film to YouTube, BMF claims copyright--YouTube's fault for flagging the film over the sound of wind.
• Letter to Emily White at NPR All Songs Considered

International

• Wikipedia's founder calls for Richard O'Dwyer extradition to be stopped--"Jimmy Wales launches campaign calling on Theresa May to stop extradition to US of UK student facing alleged copyright offences."
• ACTA rejected by committee in crucial blow before final EU Parliament vote
• The Pirate Party Gains Steam Overseas; Will It Catch in the U.S.
• Norwegian student fined for subtitle piracy
• Japan Passes Jail-for-Downloaders Anti-Piracy Law--They also want to "spy on all user activity."

Canada

• Big Content wants to bring SOPA-style policies to Canada
• The MPAA's Secret Lobby Campaign on Bill C-11 and a Canadian SOPA
• Copyright bill finally clears Commons--"Act hasn't been updated since 1997, now in Senate's hands to pass before summer."

Megaupload

• DOJ tries to block return of data to MegaUpload user--"U.S. files motion asking a federal court to deny a request from a former MegaUpload user for the return of his football videos," as doing so "would set a bad precedent."
• Retired Judge Joins Fight Against DOJ’s 'Outrageous' Seizures in Megaupload Case
• FBI told to copy seized Dotcom data--"The FBI has been ordered to start copying 150 terabytes of data - including 10 million emails - contained on the seized computers belonging to internet mogul Kim Dotcom."
• New Zealand's High Court Steps Into Extradition Fight Over Kim Dotcom
• Megaupload: U.S. Intentionally Disrespects Foreign Sovereignty

TheOatmeal vs. FunnyJunk

• FunnyJunk is threatening to file a federal lawsuit against me unless I pay $20,000 in damages
• FunnyJunk's Lawyer responds to the Oatmeal by trying to shut down the fundraiser--He continues to fail.
• The Oatmeal v. Funnyjunk: How The Court Of Public Opinion Beats The Court Of Baseless Legal Threats
• FunnyJunk's lawyer vows revenge on The Oatmeal and Matthew Inman
• FunnyJunk's lawyer sues American Cancer Society and National Wildlife Federation
• FunnyJunk lawyer to subpoena Ars and Twitter
• EFF Will Represent The Oatmeal Creator in Fight Against Bizarre Lawsuit Targeting Critical Online Speech

Hollywood, HBO, MegaUpload, Copyfight, International

Hollywood

• TV Networks Say You're Breaking The Law When You Skip Commercials
• Tell Old Media to Keep Their Hands Out of Your DVR
• TV Network Exec Argues That Anything That Causes Cable Subscribers To Cut The Cord Is Illegal

HBO

• Shut up and take my money, HBO: Website pushes for standalone HBO streaming service
• The Reasons Why HBO Doesn’t Want Your Money
• HBO Says No Go To "Take My Money, HBO"

MegaUpload

• Kim Dotcom wins right to FBI files
• MegaUpload asks U.S. court to dismiss piracy charges--"The cloud-storage service accused of piracy says the U.S. lacked jurisdiction and Justice Department lawyers 'should have known' that before taking down the service and throwing its founder in jail."
• Dotcom info not 'physical'--"FBI agents who copied data from Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's computers and took it overseas were not acting illegally because information isn't 'physical material', the Crown says."

Copyfight

• Should Websites Charge A Fee To Process Copyright Takedowns?
• Undercover MPAA Agents Expose Alleged Movie Pirates
• Verizon Succesfully Defends Privacy of Alleged BitTorrent Pirates
• The Pirate generation: Are we 'unreasonable'?
• Study: Despite Tougher Copyright Monopoly Laws, Sharing Remains Pervasive
• Feds Urging Appeals Court to Reinstate $1.5 Million File-Sharing Verdict - against a Minnesota woman for sharing two dozen songs on Kazaa
• Bowing to U.S. pressure, Spain and Malaysia dropped from copyright blacklist--"After bowing to pressure from the U.S., Spain and Malaysia have been dropped from a high-profile copyright violations watchlist that officials use to pressure countries into changing their laws to align with U.S. intellectual property safeguards."

International

• The Game of ACTA: Mid-Battle Analysis, Next Actions--"After the well-received ACTA rejection by the three first committes in the European Parliament, things are looking hopeful to prevent this middlemen-regime treaty from ever becoming reality. But we’re not there yet; here’s where we are."
• Dead on arrival? Dutch Parliament kills ACTA before EU vote--"Dutch MPs have also ruled the government will never sign any such agreement."
• Germany increases USB flash drive tax by over 2000 percent
• Canada: Music played at public events to be subject to new copyright fees
• French court says YouTube not obligated to control content

Black Out and Speak Out Against Bill C-38, CISPA and SOPA, Copyfight, International, Pirate Party, MPAA, Movies, Music

Black Out and Speak Out Against Bill C-38

• Opposition plotting to disrupt passage of Conservative omnibus bill
• Bill C-38 protest has 13,000 websites going dark across Canada this June--June 4 is the day to Black Out, Speak Out.
• Most Canadians have no idea how seriously Bill C-38 will affect their lives

CISPA and SOPA

• CISPA: The End of "Our" Internet?
• White House taps budget official to replace Howard Schmidt as president's cybersecurity chief
• Senator admits: SOPA "really did pose some risk to the Internet"
• CISPA and SOPA: What Older Generations Just Don't Get About the Internet
• Reddit's Alexis Ohanian And Activists Aim To Build A 'Bat-Signal For The Internet'

Copyfight

• Google Lifts The Veil On Copyright Takedowns: Reveals Detailed Data On Who Requests Link Removals
• Kevin Smith's Approach To Competing With Piracy: Give Away A Ton, Then Sell Stuff That Can't Be Pirate
• Mark Twain: Copyright Maximalist Who Also Believed That Nearly All Human Utterances Were Plagiarism?
• Why Are People Resigning Before The Copyright Industries' Will?
• Nobody Cares About The Fixed Costs Of Your Book, Movie, Whatever
• DRM-free physical media: dead in the water or the answer to art's prayers?
• An Open Letter to Jay Leno About Stealing My Video and Then Getting It Removed From YouTube

International

• Romanian PM will not ratify ACTA
• Judge nixes "Oil Orgy" scheme to scare P2P users into quick settlements
• Dutch Judge who ordered Pirate Bay links censored found to be corrupt
• Idiotic Copyright Comparisons in Canadian Parliament
• Finnish court: open WiFi owners not responsible for copyright infringement

Pirate Party

• Three days before election, largest German state censors Pirate Party from the Net
• German Party Scores Fourth Consecutive Election Win
• The Pirate Party fits the political gap--"Germany's changed social stuctures means there's a section of voters no longer served by the main parties."

MPAA

• Piracy is NOT Theft After All
• We’re No Pirates! You Are Thieves! Or?
• Censorship Is Good For Consumers

Movies

• DVDs and Blu-rays will now carry two unskippable government warnings
• Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes Says Movie Windows Must Collapse To Combat Piracy
• Feds considering allowing DVD-encryption cracking

Music

• When did music become unimportant?
• Supreme Court Lets Stand $675,000 File-Sharing Verdict
• No, The RIAA Is Not Asking For $72 Trillion From Limewire (Bad Reporters, Bad)

MPAA Bully, At the Movies, Yer a Wizard Harry, Music, Whitney

MPAA Bully

• The Weinstein Co. says screw the MPAA, to release "Bully" unrated.
• Why the MPAA doesn't want your kid to see "Bully"--After giving it an "R" rating, they backed down and gave it a "PG-13". Salon
• Secrets of the MPAA--"Filmmaker Kirby Dick discusses the logic behind the MPAA -- and how we may finally get rid of it forever." Salon
• Review: 'Bully' is eye-opening
• Creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, explain the corruption of the MPAA and their power of all films in America.

At the Movies

• The Hobbit's 48 FPS Format Ruins Film's Artistry, Previewers Complain
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy--A 9-episode web-series that all started with a movie pitch in 2010 for a reimagined franchise. Instead of getting a second season, a full movie has been commissioned for 2013.
• This is ridiculous--Not sure if 'Shopped or the sites were changed after this picture came out.
• Beauty And Another Kind Of Beauty
• Beware of the Blog!--Movie and TV blog by our very own Wersgor who could use a little boost to get it updated again.

Yer a Wizard, Harry

• If Harry Potter Was an 80s Teen Flick
• Harry Potter Spring Teen Comedy
• Harry Potter and the X-Rated Trailer
• Harry Potter and the Brokeback Goblet
• Harry Potter and Hermione's Stalker

Whitney

• Shameful: Sony raised prices on Whitney Houston’s digital music 30 minutes after her death--They've said 'sorry' after they've gotten caught.
• Whitney Houston's Bodyguard earrings and velvet dress up for auction
• Warner cut off Netflix to profit from Whitney's death? Not true

Music

• MozART GROUP Eine Kleine Welt Musik
• DVD "Grupa MoCarta w Teatrze" - Jackson
• Hans Zimmer - Time - Musicvideo HD
• MattStache: 'Turn Me On'
• 90's Megamix--By Benny Davis of the Axis of Awesome.

Megaupload, Copyfight, Australia, MPAA, DMCA, Cases, Copyright and Ownership

Megaupload

• MPAA Asks For Megaupload Data To Be Retained So It Can Sue Users... Then Insists It Didn't Really Mean That
• Megaupload: Erasing our servers as the US wants would deny us a fair trial
• Police mysteriously lose video of Megaupload raid
• U.S. judge finds for MegaUpload, orders DOJ to cooperate on user files
• Government trying to deny Megaupload fair legal representation

Copyfight

• Odd Future: US group foresakes online sales for merchandise
• Judge: BitTorrent Downloads Are Protected Anonymous Speech
• Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray's Self-Destruction
• The disappearing virtual library
• Ctrl+Alt+Del: The eternal war

Australia

• Austrailian Gov't: Not In The Public Interest For The Public To Be Interested In Secret Anti-Piracy Negotiations
• The Department For ACTA
• ACTA will diminish Australia's digital economy: legal expert
• Police to cruise streets for unsecured Wi-Fi
• A Copyright First: Bogus Copyright Takedown Leads To Australian Court Awarding $150k Damages

MPAA

• MPAA Tech Officer Paul Brigner switches sides in internet fight
• Anti-SOPA Internet Society under fire for hiring MPAA executive
• Google defends hosting site under attack by MPAA

DMCA

• DMCA: The Horrors of a Broad and Automated Censorship Tool--"One third of the notices sent to Google are false, companies like Microsoft censor perfectly legal sites, and others use the DMCA to get back at competitors."
• Anti-Piracy Co. Blames Hack For Bogus DMCAs, But They’re Just Sloppy
• Key Techdirt SOPA/PIPA Post Censored By Bogus DMCA Takedown Notice

Cases

• Publisher backs down on Mein Kampf plans
• Photographer Appeals Ruling Saying It's Not Infringement To Have Vaguely Similar Photos
• Hobbit pub copyright row: Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen to pay licence
• Judge Orders Failed Copyright Troll to Forfeit 'All' Copyrights
• Publisher Drops Ownership Claims to Time-Zone Data--Caused quite a stir before.

Copyright and Ownershp

• The End Of Copyright
• Eternal Copyright: a modest proposal
• The End of Content Ownership
• Spotify founder: Future of music is access, not ownership
• Better Than Owning: Ownership is not as important as it once was--Interesting points and feasible for certain things, but not everything

Copyfight, ACTA, North America, Europe, ANZ, Movies, Music

Copyfight

• RIAA CEO Hopes SOPA Protests Were a 'One-Time Thing'
• RIAA (sort of) responds to SOPA critics, says copyright "offers little real protection"
• Copyright Math: The lies MPAA/RIAA are saying to convince politicians to pass their bills
• Copyright kings are judge, jury and executioner on YouTube
• The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde: It's Evolution, Stupid

ACTA

• Dutch Parliament Rejects ACTA On Human Rights Violations
• Danish Trade Minister Apologizes For Using Bogus Industry Numbers To Support Pro-ACTA Argument
• Bulgaria Withdraws From ACTA, following Poland and Germany
• Michael Geist's magisterial ten-minute ACTA takedown
• European Commission Blames Social Networks For ACTA Failure; Worried About Its Imminent Directive On Copyright Enforcement

North America

• Verisign Seizes .com Domain Registered via Foreign Registrar on Behalf of US Authorities
• Uncle Sam: If It Ends in .Com, It's .Seizable
• American ISPs to launch massive copyright spying scheme on July 12
• Canadian Music Industry Wants Its Own Lawful Access: Subscriber Disclosure Without a Court Order
• Canadian Music Industry Takes Aim At Google, Facebook, Reddit & Tech Startups With Bill C-11 Demands

Europe

• Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England
• SOPA, meet SOCA - British Police Take Down Website, Threaten Visitors
• BT and Talk Talk lose file-sharing appeal.
• Ireland Signs Controversial 'Irish SOPA' Into Law; Kicks Off New Censorship Regime
• Hactivistas protest brutal Spanish copyright law with flood of complaints

ANZ

• Australian Govt holds second secret anti-piracy meeting
• Blackout: Govt piracy meeting completely censored
• Megaupload Seizure Order "Null and Void" Says High Court

Movies

• MPAA: Ripping DVDs Shouldn't Be Allowed Because It Takes Away Our Ability To Charge You Multiple Times For The Same Content
• Stop innovating, please: Kaleidescape loses DVD ripping case
• BitTorrent doesn't hurt US box-office
• Fox, Warner want secure, high-def film players--DRM rears its ugly head.
• Heavy Hangs The Bandwidth That Torrents The Crown--"The Oatmeal made an unintentional point that was just as important as the first, however: The single least-attractive attribute of many of the people who download content illegally is their smug sense of entitlement."

Music

• UK Manager Says Major Labels Steal More Music Than Filesharers
• Massive Copyright Shitstorm Brewing, And iTunes Is Involved
• RIAA Insists That, Really, The Music Industry Is Collapsing; Reality Shows It's Just The RIAA That's Collapsing
• Paper Lions gets fed up with not being paid for their Album, Releases for free.
• iPass away – do my digital downloads die with me?