over-the-last
Michael Geist blog troubles
Michael Geist is at the same time Canada Research chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, and Canada’s foremost online reporter of government chicanery when it comes to internet affairs. His site, upon which many have come to depend, has been behaving in a peculiar manner over the last few days with long loading delays and white space where posts are normally found. Has he been hacked?
Continue reading »Big Content to FCC: don’t kill our ISP filtering dream!
In the debate over DRM and online copyright infringement, there may be no hoary chestnut hoarier than the claim that “no industry can compete with free.” This is such an old argument that we would be shocked (and a bit disappointed) if any of our readers made it this far without thinking, “But what about bottled water! Oxygen bars! The iTunes store!” Over the last decade, it has been addressed almost ad nauseum , the latest installment of the nauseum coming courtesy of the hugely promoted book Free! by Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson. But Big Content’s lobbyists either 1) haven’t gotten the memo or 2) don’t care about the memo, because the claim about competing with free remains one of the central talking points when lobbying government officials, as they did today.
Continue reading »Software patents: there’s no "baby" in this "bathwater"
Bilski v. Doll : it doesn’t sound exciting, but when the US Supreme Court hears the cast later this term, patent lawyers and software engineers around the country will scrutinize it closely. It’s one of the few patent cases that the justices have taken over the last decade, and it has the potential to put the smackdown on many kinds of “business method” and software patents.
Continue reading »It’s official: we’re hooked on broadband
Bummed by reports about digital divides or the United States ranking twentieth in broadband penetration? A new study released on Tuesday by the Internet Innovation Alliance presents a far more optimistic picture of high speed Internet use in the US. “The Substantial Consumer Benefits of Broadband Connectivity for U.S.
Continue reading »