http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c547 Fri, 24 May 2013 14:05:30 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c547
Your sense of the importance of this incident is way way out of proportion.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c240 Fri, 24 May 2013 14:01:31 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c240 The Internet could make all the worlds knowledge and culture available to whoever wants it at near zero cost. The fact this is being prevented by greedy middlemen is a tragedy. Not only does it leave people in ignorance, it also leaves them dependent on the west for solutions to their problems.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/12122823187/guy-sues-twitter-taking-away-his-twitter-handle.shtml#c119 Fri, 24 May 2013 14:00:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/12122823187/guy-sues-twitter-taking-away-his-twitter-handle.shtml#c119 Not liking something that a company does isn't a reason to sue.

I guess it is when your spouse is an attorney.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130315/15285222343/bad-move-google-removes-adblock-plus-google-play-store.shtml#c3430 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:56:25 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130315/15285222343/bad-move-google-removes-adblock-plus-google-play-store.shtml#c3430 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/21222323165/another-ca-cop-thinks-cell-phone-might-be-dangerous-weapon.shtml#c617 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:54:57 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/21222323165/another-ca-cop-thinks-cell-phone-might-be-dangerous-weapon.shtml#c617 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/10542823205/another-court-tells-prenda-to-pay-up-attorneys-fees.shtml#c25 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:53:40 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/10542823205/another-court-tells-prenda-to-pay-up-attorneys-fees.shtml#c25
Who is Prenda?
Who owns Ingenuity123?
Who owns AFHoldings?
Who is the actual plaintiff?
Who owns the copyright?
Who represents who?
Who controls what?
Who gets paid how much?

Oh, it's not me, your honor! It's someone else. I just show up in court, or collect checks, but I don't make any decisions. I take orders from someone else who also is not a decision maker. Ultimately this all happens by itself. There is no top. There is nobody who makes decisions, controls or is responsible for all of this. While the Alan Cooper signature may be a forgery to give us the ability to later claim fraudulent copyright transfer, nobody actually signed it. And that Salt Marsh thing? He signs things, but the documents are quantum -- they do not exist when a court wants to see them.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/18265123163/reporters-find-exposed-personal-data-via-google-threatened-with-cfaa-charges.shtml#c844 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:52:11 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/18265123163/reporters-find-exposed-personal-data-via-google-threatened-with-cfaa-charges.shtml#c844
For example - they proactively block sites their system detects that have malware or viruses. They don't have to. Its the responsibility of site owners to ensure their sites don't have malware or viruses baked in. Yet Google has chosen to help.

This is no different.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c219 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:51:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c219
If you think about Mickey Mouse, are you infringing Disney's copyright? What if you willfully memorize a copyrighted poem? Think hard; the answer could be worth $150,000 in court.
According to the law, copyright protects]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/01462423203/ex-prenda-lawyer-brett-gibbs-pleads-poverty-to-judge-wright.shtml#c473 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:51:43 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/01462423203/ex-prenda-lawyer-brett-gibbs-pleads-poverty-to-judge-wright.shtml#c473 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/18225323199/president-obama-is-troubled-about-chilling-effects-his-own-administration-is-causing-to-journalism.shtml#c754 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:50:30 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/18225323199/president-obama-is-troubled-about-chilling-effects-his-own-administration-is-causing-to-journalism.shtml#c754 Either Eric Holder and the DOJ have "gone rogue" or the President is hastily pretending that his administration is not doing what it clearly has been doing for years.

Fallacy of the excluded middle much? Really, those are the only two possible explanations?

Even if Obama knows, he is one man in charge of an impossible number of things and there are still just 24 hours in his day. Maybe he just can't find the time to deal with this shit right now. You assume so much malice when there are far more mundane explanations.

It also takes a special kind of arrogance and lack of empathy to sit around writing articles complaining about what the President is and isn't doing at micro-levels of detail with only the most minuscule understanding of what it is like to be the President, what powers he actually has, and the complex interpersonal and interagency conflicts that must exist.

Here is a tip, not just for this, but for life in general: if you observe something that doesn't make sense about a complex situation and you have almost no understanding of the details of that complexity, the likelihood is that it actually does make sense for reasons you don't appreciate. You may not like those reasons, but they are rarely simple. Maybe you should withhold your bile until you actually get it...if ever.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/10255023186/vermont-declares-war-patent-trolls-passes-new-law-sues-notorious-patent-troll.shtml#c163 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:49:02 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/10255023186/vermont-declares-war-patent-trolls-passes-new-law-sues-notorious-patent-troll.shtml#c163 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c537 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:44:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c537 Do you know the technical difference between burglary and robbery? Between murder and manslaughter? Which illegal actions are crimes and torts? Even if you do, do most people? Do they use those distinctions all the time?

In some cases yes. In other cases, I think I do, but there's an excellent chance that my knowledge is imperfect or wrong. In other cases, nope.

In all cases, I expect the damn newspaper to be using the correct terms.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/17515223193/riaa-copyright-reform-we-need-is-to-make-everyone-else-copyright-cops.shtml#c1151 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:43:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/17515223193/riaa-copyright-reform-we-need-is-to-make-everyone-else-copyright-cops.shtml#c1151 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/01462423203/ex-prenda-lawyer-brett-gibbs-pleads-poverty-to-judge-wright.shtml#c472 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:40:19 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/01462423203/ex-prenda-lawyer-brett-gibbs-pleads-poverty-to-judge-wright.shtml#c472
Let is remember that ACS:Law in the UK was making a good]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c197 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:40:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c197 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c196 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:39:24 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130524/00583723201/if-you-thought-copyright-was-mess-earth-what-does-it-look-like-space.shtml#c196 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c523 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:38:26 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c523 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/12122823187/guy-sues-twitter-taking-away-his-twitter-handle.shtml#c107 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:36:45 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/12122823187/guy-sues-twitter-taking-away-his-twitter-handle.shtml#c107
It makes no more sense than copyrighting numbers or single letters.

I live in rural Amana, Iowa. If I start a busimess, I can't call it Amana Widget Central, because The Amana Society has the word "Amana" trademarked. It was first used when their commune came to Iowa in 1856. The word itself comes from the Bible - Amana is a place in the Golan Heights in Lebanon. When the corporation was formed in 1932, it acquired all property, separate from the church.

Now that was fine as long as Amana's boundaries were coexistent with the land owned by the Society. But later on, the Post Office redistricted and gave my family's farm an address of Amana.

This has been tested in court by a business in the village of Amana. They lost.

The law needs to be loosened up. Who should be able to own a place name?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c508 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:36:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c508 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c490 Fri, 24 May 2013 13:35:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130523/19133923200/copyright-patent-its-all-same-to-worlds-third-largest-news-agency.shtml#c490
If you can't be bothered to do a quick search for intellectual property on FUCKING WIKIPEDIA as a quick reference check, especially since it identifies copyright and patents as two completely separate types of IP in the last sentence of the first paragraph on the wikipage, then you deserve to literally be thrown out on your ass from any respectable news organization for such a blatantly obvious screw-up.]]>