Archive for 2011/03/14
Is copyright still relevant in an era in which the copying and distribution of information is so easy? Does copyright hinder online innovation or will it be a stimulus for creative people? Should downloading be forbidden or are our civil rights put in jeopardy to protect an industry that adapts too slowly to new developments?
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Copyright, Education / AwarenessBlog dialogue between Future of Copyright and Ius Mentis is now available in print
UltraViolet (UV) is the name of new technology standards expected to debut this summer that Hollywood hopes will help reignite the public’s interest in collecting movies and cauterize the bleeding in their home-video divisions
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Tech EvolutionAnticipating that a lot of Americans will be trying to contact loves ones in Japan, AT&T has implemented free international calling and texting until March the 31st
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / AwarenessUPDATE: Verizon too, until April 10th
http://gizmodo.com/#!5781617/att-customers-can-call-and-text-japan-for-free
The UK’s biggest ISPs are set to reveal exactly how, when and why they throttle internet connections in order to maintain network performance. BSkyB, BT, O2, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone have all agreed to provide better information on traffic management, which should help customers understand why connection speeds vary
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Bandwidth Management, Education / Awareness, Stats / reportsEA blocks user from game after alleged forum outburst
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, EnforcementApple sells 500,000 iPads, runs out of stock
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reportsNext month, Iceland startup Greenqloud plans to publicly debut an Amazon EC2-compatible service it claims will be the world’s first truly green cloud: its servers are powered using nothing but renewable energy sources, have been customized to reduce the amount of power they consume, and are chilled in a data center that’s cooled using Iceland’s nippy air
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Tech EvolutionAmerican “4G*” wireless carrier Clearwire has been hit with a customer class action over speeds that don’t meet its marketing, and over the weekend, found three new empty offices in the “C-suite” with the departure of its CEO Bill Morrow. Chief commercial officer Mike Sievert, and CIO Kevin Hart, also announced their resignations
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Bandwidth Management, Education / Awareness, LitigationThe combination of behavioral and personal information enables Google to generate consumer data that is unprecedented in scale and scope. These activities raise serious privacy concerns and may be indicative of an important market that is largely unconstrained by competition. Antitrust enforcement may unlock beneficial competition for the protection of user privacy and avert the need for additional privacy regulation
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, Google, Public PolicyRep. Lofgren: Where do I start? First, I think that they [ICE] don’t even have the authority to do what they’re doing. Their effort to essentially seize—I think illegally—these domain names lacks due process, in some cases has violated the First Amendment rights of individuals
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Public PolicyRep. Lofgren: It’s not my job to be the prosecutor, but there are substantial, large-scale, company-to-company theft situations going on that basically they don’t do anything about. And the reason why is that they have to spend some money. The big companies can go hire lawyers; these little mom and pops, they don’t have the ability to contest this or go hire lawyers. It’s easy to go after the small fry. It’s not very important, but it’s easy.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/ars-interviews-rep-zoe-lofgren.ars
Here’s something we don’t see very often: an ISP dropping its usage caps and telling subscribers to download away. United Kingdom subscribers to BT’s Total Broadband and Infinity fiber services will soon be able to download as much data as they want, the company claims
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Stats / reportsStart drooling, slowpokes: Internet2 ramps up to 8.8Tbps
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech EvolutionThe pair corresponded on the internet 16 months before the allegations were made against Mr Assange, Miss A commented on a Facebook update on the police officer’s page as recently as February 10 and Miss A links to the officer’s private blog from her personal page.
The woman officer is also alleged to have posted negative comments on Facebook about Mr Assange, and had voiced support for the lawyer representing the two women
http://www.smh.com.au/world/assange-case-in-turmoil-as-accuser-linked-to-police-20110311-1br48.html
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley resigns after criticizing the treatment in prison of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with stealing documents posted by WikiLeaks
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, Public PolicyPresident Obama defended the Pentagon at a news conference Friday, when ABC television reporter Jake Tapper pressed him about Crowley’s comments. Obama said he had been assured that Manning’s treatment was “appropriate and was meeting our standards.”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement Sunday afternoon that she had accepted Crowley’s resignation “with regret” and praised him for his three decades of service to the government.
Crowley released his own statement, saying he took “full responsibility” for his remarks but not apologizing for them.
More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-crowley-state-20110314,0,7425256.story
The WSJ is reporting that many banks are thinking about creating a limit on how much you can spend on your debit card. For example, banks like JP Morgan Chase & Co are thinking about setting a $100 maximum per transaction
Posted: 2011/03/14 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsWhy the hell would they do this? Well, the new debit card rules, known as the Durbin Amendment, which will take effect in July are going to make debit-cards extremely unprofitable for the banks. The new rules basically reduce the fees associated with debit card usage, which is good for small businesses, but terrible for the banking industry. In fact, with the new rules in effect, the entire industry could lose $15.2 billion a year in revenue
More: http://gizmodo.com/#!5781321/banks-are-planning-to-cap-debit-card-purchases
