Nov 21
A few months ago, we told you the story of Oliver Hotham
     |
Oct 05
Groups like the RIAA are putting in millions of DMCA requests to pull "pirate" links off Google, and even though it doesn’t seem to help
| |
Aug 13
Anti-Gay group Straight Pride UK is abusing the DMCA takedown process to censor work by a journalist. No surprise there—the DMCA is twisted for all kinds of dumb purposes. The inexplicable part? The hate group filed a takedown on… its own press release. How dare you say that we said the words that we wrote in a press release.
| |
Apr 05
The big movie studios are going after Google, asking the search giant to stop publishing links to the DMCA takedown requests it receives as these only add to the ways people can try to find copyrighted material. More »
Apr 01
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, passed in 1998, is a fundamental piece of legislation which forms the foundation of US law regarding digital rights. It’s far from perfect for consumers—but it also has a massive impact on the progress of research, too. More »
Mar 25
Watch All 6 Star Wars Movies At the Same Time on YouTube (It’s Confusing and Terrifying)
Posted in: Today's Chili
At first you think, This looks cool, all the intros side by side by side! And then you think, Waaaiiiit no these are the whole movies this is awful at least it will be taken down soon. And then: WAIT HOLD ON THIS HAS BEEN UP SINCE OCTOBER AND LUCAS HASN’T IMPALED ANYONE??? More »
Mar 21
Digital copyright is broken. We know this inherently, and wheeze exasperation whenever the latest nonsensical DRM news crops up. But fixing it’s not as simple as tossing the whole system out the window. So here’s a breakdown of every way digital copyright has gone wrong, and, with luck and persistence and prevailing sanity, how it can maybe fix itself. More »
Mar 08
To our delight, the recent ruling that phone subsidy unlocks are no longer protected by copyright law has sparked a lot of attention from the general public as well as the US government. However, some of the carriers are predictably not too excited by the amount of negative light it sheds on their own unlock policies. AT&T has taken to its public policy blog to discuss its viewpoint on the matter. Joan Marsh, VP of Federal Regulatory for the company, insists that “the ruling has very little impact on AT&T customers.”
Marsh reiterates AT&T’s unlock policy by stating: “if we have the unlock code or can reasonably get it from the manufacturer, AT&T currently will unlock a device for any customer whose account has been active for at least sixty days; whose account is in good standing and has no unpaid balance; and who has fulfilled his or her service agreement commitment. If the conditions are met we will unlock up to five devices per account per year.”
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T
Source: AT&T Public Policy Blog
Mar 07
We should have known that it wouldn’t take long for someone in congress to take up the fight to re-legalize cellphone unlocking. Those championing the effort on the floor of the Senate are Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) , Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) who introduced the Wireless Consumer Choice Act this afternoon. After the Librarian of Congress declared that unlocking a cellphone violated copyright law under the DMCA (that’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act) activists kicked into high gear in an attempt to prevent or reverse the decision. Consumer advocates quickly collected 100,000 signatures on a petition, forcing the White House to take a position on the matter. To the relief of many, including the globe trotters and ROM fanatics here at Engadget, President Obama backed our right to circumvent carrier locks — within reason, of course. This is after FCC chairman Julius Genachowski voiced concerns that the ban could hamper competition and innovation.
Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California, is pushing a similar bill in the House of representatives, but its the bipartisan senate version that seems to be garnering the most attention. In a statement Blumenthal called the legislation “common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice and important for ensuring healthy competition in the market.” Obviously this is just the beginning of a long long journey and all the sponsors can do is hope and pray their sad little scrap of paper will one day become a law.
Update: It turns out that there’s another bill that has been introduced in the Senate as well, penned by Oregon senator Rob Wyden.
Source: AllThingsD
Mar 04
The White House has responded to a 100,000+ signature petition opposing the recent decision by the Librarian of Congress to remove DMCA exemptions for unlocking cellphones. The official response? You should be able to unlock your phone with no legal penalty. So long as you own your phone. More »
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.