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The internet without net neutrality
http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2010/mar/10/internet-without-net-neutrality/
Electronics Manufacturers Use US Legal System to Thwart Hardware âHacksâ
,----[ Quote ]
| In the United States, the First Amendment
| in the US Constitution protects free
| speech, even if the information
| communicated can be used to, among other
| things, cause harm or to commit illegal
| acts. These laws, for example, allowed
| author William Powell to write and publish
| âThe Anarchist Cookbook,â which gave
| instructions about how to make bombs and to
| commit other acts of mayhem in the early
| 1970s. Communicating how to hack OEMs
| devices and even how to steal services is
| thus protected under First Amendment laws,
| said Fred von Lohmann, staff attorney for
| the EFF.
|
| âUnder the DMCA [US Digital Millennium
| Copyright Act] and copyright law, users are
| entitled to reverse engineer and make
| interoperable products,â von Lohmann said.
| âAnd certainly the First Amendment applies
| if youâre talking about these subjects
| (even if youâre expressing yourself by
| writing and publishing software code),
| which is the point we made when squaring
| off against Apple on behalf of hobbyists
| who wanted to sync their iPods using
| software other than iTunes.â
|
| However, service agreements can preclude
| communicating how to hack devices,
| especially if they involve rented products,
| such as cable modems, said Bennett.
| âMost cable modem hardware is owned by
| network operators and leased to users. In
| the cases where users own their cable
| modems, theyâre sold with a licence
| agreement that prohibits reverse
| engineering,â he said. âReverse engineering
| is a predicate to distributing step-by-step
| hacking guides.â
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/03/09/electronics-manufacturers-use-us-legal-system-to-thwart-hardware-%e2%80%98hacks%e2%80%99/
Letter to the FT (Financial Times) â Amendment 120A Digital Economy Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| Endorsing a policy that would encourage the
| blocking of websites by UK broadband
| providers or other Internet companies is a
| very serious step for the UK to take. There
| are myriad legal, technical and practical
| issues to reconcile before this can be
| considered a proportionate and necessary
| public policy option. In some cases, these
| may never be reconciled. These issues have
| not even been considered in this case.
`----
http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2010/03/letter-to-the-ft-financial-times-amendment-120a-digital-economy-bill/
NSFW: Hey, America! Our draconian copyright law could kick your draconian copyright lawâs ass
,----[ Quote ]
| Iâve always had mixed feelings about the
| DMCA.
|
| On the one hand, as an author, I like that
| it gives me a way to stop illegal copies of
| my work being distributed in the US, so
| ensuring that I can continue to make a
| living without having to get a proper job.
| On the other hand, as an occasional
| journalist, I hate that it can also be used
| by trigger-happy lawyers to prevent certain
| embarrassing documents entering the public
| domain.
|
| [...]
|
| TechCrunchâs own Devin Coldewey notes that
| the âpersistent offendersâ list wonât just
| affect domestic file-sharers. Internet
| cafes, hotels and anywhere else that offers
| public wi-fi access could find themselves
| taken offline if their customers are found
| to be swapping copyright files. If
| anything, these public access points are
| even more at risk as it doesnât take many
| teenagers using your cafe to rack up 50
| copyright violations: this despite there
| being no way for the establishments to
| police what their customers are doing
| online. As Boing Boingâs Cory Doctorow put
| it, almost entirely without hyperbole, âUK
| Digital Economy Bill will wipe out indie
| WiFi hotspots in libraries, unis, cafesâ
`----
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/07/nsfw-hey-america-our-draconian-copyright-law-could-kick-your-draconian-copyright-laws-ass/
New amendment gives copyright owners a blank cheque for web censorship
,----[ Quote ]
| Imagine that, in the Summer of last year,
| you had been following the MP's expenses
| scandal and heard that The Telegraph was
| publishing a rather less redacted version
| that MP's were prepared to give us.
| Interested, you navigated your way to
| www.telegraph.co.uk only to find it was not
| responding. After some searching around and
| asking friends you discover that the
| website has been blocked by most major UK
| ISP's. It seems a junior official in
| Parliament had asked them to block The
| Telegraph for copyright violation.
`----
http://www.francisdavey.co.uk/2010/03/new-amendment-gives-copyright-owners.htm
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