companion-photo
BlueBeat Beatles tracks gone for good after judge’s beatdown
We now have the full legal theory behind BlueBeat.com’s attempt to sell remastered Beatles tracks online for a quarter each. It’s so odd that the federal judge overseeing a music industry lawsuit against the site decided he didn’t even need to hold the hearing scheduled for tomorrow. Instead, he blasted BlueBeat’s “psycho-acoustic modeling” defense and extended his temporary injunction into something more permanent.
Continue reading »FTC threatens fines, jail for online check service operators
The Federal Trade Commission has charged those behind the shady online check service Qchex with contempt, and wants daily fines imposed on them until they give up the ghost. The group has launched a new site—a Qchex clone—with the same questionable policies that made Qchex a “dinner bell for fraudsters.” This has left the FTC fuming, and it wants the site’s operators to quit helping criminals rip people off— now . You may remember Qchex from a court order earlier this year —in February, a US District Court ordered the company to halt its illegal operations and to cough up its ill-gotten gains.
Continue reading »Spurring IPv6 upgrades through "cash for (network) clunkers"
At the Internet Governance Forum meeting here in Egypt, a session on critical Internet resources started with yet another discussion of the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. This time, talk turned to paying for the upgrade to IPv6—a real issue in poorer countries. Rod Beckstrom, the head of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN), offered his own novel approach to the problem: a worldwide “cash for clunkers” program targeted at old networks.
Continue reading »Finland, Spain bringing 1Mbps broadband to everyone
While the US talks, other countries are acting. Both Finland and Spain have now decided to add “broadband” to their universal service requirements. By 2011, any Finn or Spaniard, no matter where they live, should be able to get a reliable 1Mbps connection at a reasonable price.
Continue reading »Ethics leaks spur House bill banning P2P apps on .gov PCs
Peer-to-peer filesharing applications have been wildly popular, especially among those interested in accessing pirated software, music, and media. But not everyone who operates a P2P client knows how to properly configure the software, and some clients may share entire directories unless explicitly directed not to. Apparently, some government employees have exhibited this sort of carelessness, as private and secret government documents have shown up on P2P networks.
Continue reading »