Amazing, yes. Scientifically feasible? Certainly not right now, and maybe not ever. “I understand these are some very big challenges for scientists,” Itskov acknowledges. “But I believe in something you call ‘The American Dream.’ If you put all your energy and time into something, you can make it a reality.”
Archive for 2012/02/29
Russian Mogul Plans to Plant Our Brains in Robots and Keep Them Alive Forever
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, Future Developments?, Tech EvolutionDisney debuts storybook apps for Lion King, Tangled
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsWhy wait? Six ways that Congress could fix copyright, now
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Public PolicySpotify: Staggering music releases (like movies) won’t work
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsNetflix Wants to Be Part of Your Cable Package
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsWho Cares If Piracy Is ‘Wrong’ If Stopping It Is Impossible And Innovating Provides Better Solutions?
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Illegal File Sharing, LegislationIf stopping it is impossible, then who cares if anti-piracy laws are wrong?
Dutch Research Reveals Wide Scope For Copyright Flexibilities In EU Laws
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Legislation, Public PolicyA Member State desiring to take full advantage of all policy space available under the Information Society Directive, and thus maximize flexibilities available at the EU level, might achieve this by literal transposition of the Directive’s entire catalogue of exception prototypes into national law. In combination with the [Information Society Directive's] three-step test, this would effectively lead to a semi-open norm almost as flexible as the fair use rule of the United States. For less ambitious Member States seeking to enhance flexibility while keeping its existing structure of limitations and exceptions largely intact, we recommend exploring the policy space left by distinct exception prototypes.
Member States aspiring to introduce flexible copyright norms are advised to take advantage of the policy space that presently exists in EU law, and not wait until initiatives to introduce flexibilities at the EU level materialize — a process that could easily take ten years. In this way, national models can be developed and tested in practice that may serve as a basis for more flexible future law making at EU level.
The hope there seems to be that forward-thinking countries like the Netherlands might be able to set an example for Europe’s future copyright legislation, and move it towards greater flexibility.
Millions of China’s tweeters ‘silenced by real names decree’
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, Public PolicyHacking scandal: James Murdoch quits UK newspaper biz
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Cybercrime, Education / AwarenessUS government IT services firm ManTech International has bought HBGary
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / AwarenessFrance: All your books are belong to us
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, Legislation, Public PolicyLast week France passed a law that permits the state to seize authors’ rights on books published before 2001. Scribes have just six months to opt-out, or lose their moral rights and the ability to determine a price for their work.
It’s essentially a Compulsory Purchase Order for intellectual property – the author’s work is no longer their own. Ownership is instead transferred to a quango answering to the French Ministry of Culture, which is authorised to make it digitally available. Publishers are the big beneficiaries.
The law has united copyright groups with the free software movement and Pirate Party in opposition.
More:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/29/france_authors_rights_compulsory_acquisition/
‘Ransomware’ Says It Represents Collecting Society BUMA STEMRA
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data ProtectionPay 50 EUR if you want the files on your PC to be unlocked, you naughty downloader
Dutch language news article:
http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/109696/nieuwe-ransomware–van-buma-stemra-.html
Darpa Warns: Your iPhone Is a Military Threat
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, Tech Evolution‘Cloud’ Data Center Closes Because Federal Agencies Prefer Earth
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, The CloudEspionage malware with ties to RSA hack snags scores of government PCs
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data ProtectionAs many as 200 computers belonging to government ministries, a nuclear safety agency and a regional petroleum company are under the control of sophisticated espionage software that has ties to attackers who have previously penetrated RSA, the Dalai Lama’s network, and dozens of high-level government systems, researchers said.
Free version of Killzone 3 available for Playstation 3
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsECJ clarifies EU law on transfer of film exploitation rights
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, JurisprudenceRecord Labels Threaten the Open Internet, isoHunt Tells Court
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, LitigationIn its case against 26 major record labels at the Supreme Court in Canada, BitTorrent index isoHunt has submitted a response to the copyright infringement allegations. The BitTorrent site argues that not only do they pose no threat to the music industry, it’s the copyright industry itself that’s threatening the freedom of expression of millions of people on the Internet.
http://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-threaten-the-open-internet-isohunt-tells-court-120229/
Foundation For Online Gaming: Dutch Foreign Gambling Site Blocking Verdict Will Be Ignored And Verdict Of Supreme Court Is Old-Fashioned
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Blocking, Education / Awareness, Jurisprudence, Public PolicyQuite a comment coming from a former State Secretary. Robin Linschoten is now lobbying on behalf of the Dutch Foundation for Online Gaming and like any baby boomer nowadays, it’s either his way or the highway. He would also bet a bottle of wine on the fact that no gambling site has rendered its site inaccessible to Dutch internet users as a result of the verdict.
Lately it seems to have become a trend in The Netherlands to simply ignore or reject Court verdicts. That phenomenon even applies to government organizations themselves.
Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2752679/buitenlandse-goksites-gaan-ondanks-verbod.html
Previously:
Dutch Supreme Court: Websites And Phone Services Of Foreign Gambling Companies Have To Be Blocked In The Netherlands
http://vrritti.com/2012/02/28/dutch-supreme-court-websites-and-phone-services-of-foreign-gambling-companies-have-to-be-blocked-in-the-netherlands/
E-book deal’s the steal of the century; 4000 pirated books
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Litigation, New Business ModelsAn Australian group-buying site owned by Microsoft and Nine sold e-book readers bundled with a treasure trove of thousands of pirated books including the full Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series.
The matter has prompted a rebuke from the NSW Fair Trading Minister, Anthony Roberts, who claims group-buying sites cannot simply blame vendors when they are caught running dodgy deals.
The book industry has reacted angrily and HarperCollins, publisher of some of the major titles contained on the CD including those by J.R.R Tolkien, said its corporate solicitor ”will be ringing them today”.
The site, Cudo.com.au, this week advertised a $99 e-book reader that came with ”4000 e-books you can load from a CD”. Thousands of people signed up for the deal, but the company claims it discovered the books were pirated before orders were shipped.
Cudo’s advertisement originally linked directly to a list of books that came on the bonus CD, and the list contained thousands of books that were still under copyright and available in stores. The site later removed this link from the advertisement, but the original ad is still visible in Google’s cache.
”It’s extraordinary … there’s piracy taking place on a grand scale,” said Australian Booksellers Association chief executive Joel Becker when shown the list of books.
”It’s deeply concerning to see Channel Nine and Microsoft involved … two organisations where copyright protection is a major issue to them.”
Spain Hosts Inaugural Virtual Book Fair, March 6-11
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Tech EvolutionThe fair, conceived as a virtual marketplace where authors, readers and professionals of the industry can meet, will have “stands” open to the general public. Among the exhibitors will be publishing start-up 24Symbols, the social media platform Entrelectores, the e-distributor Libranda and associations like CEDRO, and the confederation of booksellers, CEGAL. Publishers participating in the experimental fair include Planeta, Vicens Vives and Santillana.
Fair-goers will need to register to watch video conferences or participate in the interactive activity, but if your plans are just to toddle around or peep into the news that exhibitors offer, there’s no need to abandon your anonymity.
Readers will be lured by best-selling authors Juan Gómez-Jurado and Manuel Loureiro, while professionals — worried by the digital shift in publishing — will want to log on for conferences being offered by digital strategists, including Silvano Gozzer and Javier Celaya.
More:
http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/02/spain-hosts-inaugural-virtual-book-fair-march-6-11/
Belgian Court: 65,651 EUR Fine For Uploading Illegally Copied Movies And Music
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, JurisprudenceUploaded pre-release material of British band ‘Kaiser Chiefs’
Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2752401/belg-krijgt-65000-euro-boete-illegaal-uploaden.html
Previously:
Wait A Minute, If Everyone Is Filtering And Blocking Uploaded Spam, Malware And Phishing (Without A Court Order), Then What About Uploads Of Pirated Content If That’s Illegal Too In A Particular Country?
http://vrritti.com/2012/02/26/wait-a-minute-if-everyone-is-filtering-and-blocking-uploaded-spam-malware-and-phishing-without-a-court-order-then-what-about-uploads-of-pirated-content-if-thats-illegal-in-a-particular-country/
Megaupload Founder Defeats US Govt Attempts To Put Him Back In Prison. US Authorities Now Also Investigating Mona Dotcom
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, LitigationAlso in court today, Dotcom and his wife had asked for access to around NZ $220,000 (US $185,130) to cover their living costs including rent of their mansion, security guards and other household staff. The amount would also cover substantial telephone costs incurred as Dotcom prepares his defense, fuel and tutoring for Dotcom’s children.
Previously, Judge Judith Potter agreed to release NZ $74,000 from one of Dotcom’s seized bank accounts to pay creditors left out of pocket after the shutdown of his companies.
It also emerged that US authorities are now investigating Mona Dotcom on suspicion of being involved in Megaupload.
The idea that we can smooth transitions through economic difficulties so that 9 billion people can live in 2050 a life of abundance and digital downloads is dangerously wrong
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Education / AwarenessThe system will break down, it will stop working for us, and we’re not doing enough to prepare for that. And it’s not like we haven’t seen it coming. We’ve had 50 years of warnings from scientific analyses. And, if that weren’t enough, we’ve had economic studies showing us that it would be better for us to not to wait—that it will ultimately be even more profitably for us to act sooner—but we’re doing very, very little. Our eyes are still on the short term, whether it’s food, water, or waste.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/02/getting-ready-for-the-end-of-growth-on-earth.ars
25 alleged Anonymous members arrested internationally; hacker group retaliates
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, EnforcementTuesday afternoon, the international police organization Interpol announced the arrest of 25 alleged members of Anonymous by officials in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain. Shortly after the announcement, Interpol’s website was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack. At the time this story was posted, the website remained unavailable.
Interpol announced that the arrests were made as part of “Operation Unmask”, an international effort launched in mid-February to grab the perpetrators of attacks on websites in Columbia and Chile, including the Colombian Defense Ministry and presidential websites, a Chilean electricity company, and Chile’s national library. Officials also seized 250 pieces of equipment, including computers and mobile phones, during a search of 40 locations in 15 cities.
The Guardian reports Interpol’s acting executive director of police services Bernd Rossbach said, “This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity.”
More:
Dutch MPs debate with government on supervision of collecting societies
Posted: 2012/02/29 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public PolicyThe MPs propose to introduce a fairness test with regard to the royalty rates calculated by collecting societies and tools to establish stricter oversight by supervisory authorities. According to the initiating MPs, such a mechanism would increase fairness and transparency in the system and makes sure collecting societies set up reasonable tariffs and pricing for the use of copyright protected work.
