A stoic report from the European Parliament’s STOA
The European Parliament has a department called “Scientific Technology Options Assessment” or STOA. STOA has recently announced a report on the European patents system, outlining policy options for improving the system. As readers know, patent systems tend to be a controversial issue and theSTOA’s preliminary report was therefore the hotly debated in a seminar back in June 2007. But living up to its name, the STOA remained rather stoic and didn’t take any of the concerns voiced by stakeholders into [...]
Mac users, watch out for MacSweeper program!
According to PCWorld.com, “[s]ome Macintosh users have encountered a security program whose function and Web site have the tell-tale signs of a scam. Visitors to the Web site selling the program, called MacSweeper, are offered a free security scan of their computers. The scan, which only works on Macs, highlights supposed security problems with the computers. It offers to remove the problems with the purchase of a US$39.99 lifetime subscription. But the awkward English on the program's Web site, and [...]
Copyright-It’s a Two-Way Street
To prove that support for strong copyright protection doesn't equate to being in the pocket of the major corporate entertainment industries, I call your attention to an article in the Washington Post last week. The article described how Fox, Virgin and Microsoft had used photos from Internet photo sharing sites in their commercial ventures without permission. The article quoted one person as saying, "I guess copyright only pertains to them." Well, it doesn't. This doesn't require lengthly legal analysis. It [...]
Operators of The Pirate Bay likely to be charged with conspiracy to breach copyrights
The Wall Street Journal reports that “[o]ne of Hollywood's biggest foes is about to be called on the carpet. After years of steering Web surfers to free entertainment, the organizers of a massive directory of pirated movies, music and software in Sweden could finally face serious legal repercussions. Based on evidence collected in a 2006 raid on the offices of The Pirate Bay, Swedish prosecutors say that by the end of January they expect to charge the individuals who operate [...]
Monsieur Sarkozy, Are You Sure that Taxing the Internet is the Right Way to Preserve a Financial Incentive for Artists and Content Creators?
Most public policy experts agree that Internet access drives a country’s economic growth and productivity – so why would French President Nicolas Sarkozy want to impose a tax on the Internet? Well, Sarkozy is proposing to ban commercials from public television to halt the decline in the number of viewers – and the lost advertising revenue is to be made up for with a tax on “new means of communication.” According to Taylor Reynolds, an economist at the Organization for [...]
Online video sites profit from writers’ strike in the US
BBC News reveals that “[o]nline video sharing sites are reaping the benefits of the ongoing writers' strike in the US. According to net measurement firm Nielsen Online, some online video sites have doubled their audience since the strike began at the end of October. The news comes as US-based Pew Internet Project highlights a more long-term growth of video sharing sites. Its study finds that the audience to sites such as YouTube has nearly doubled in the last year.” According [...]