united
The poor don’t care about broadband? Of course they do
By now most Ars readers have been saturated with statistical data about broadband adoption in the United States: who has access, who doesn’t, where, why, and how we compare with the rest of the world. One of the conundrums with which all these surveys grapple is that allegedly stubborn portion of the population—mostly poor, rural, and older—who don’t use the Internet at all, because they supposedly don’t care to do so. But a new study suggests that this community of broadband outsiders is rapidly disappearing from the landscape, particularly among low income Americans.
Continue reading »Big Content condemns foreign governments that endorse FOSS
In accordance with US trade law, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) is required to conduct an annual review of the status of foreign intellectual property laws. This review, which is referred to as Special 301, is typically used to denounce countries that have less restrictive copyright policies than the United States. The review process is increasingly dominated by content industry lobbyists who want to subvert US trade policy and make it more favorable to their own interests.
Continue reading »Add billions of mobile phones to the world’s e-waste problem
With the great global surge of mobile gadget use has come a tsunami of cell phone garbage, the United Nations warned on Monday—especially in India and China. And that’s on top of tidal waves of computer, video receiver, and kitchen electronics junk skewing about the planet in all the wrong places. All in all, global e-waste is growing by 40 million tons a year, a study by the UN’s Environmental Programme concludes.
Continue reading »RIAA Rejects Reduced File-Sharing Judgment
After having offered to settle the case with Jammie Thomas for as little as $25,000, down from the $1.92 million original verdict, and from the most recent $54,000 judgment reduction on appeal. Last Friday the case of accused file-sharer Jammie Thomas grew more complex after Judge Davis of the United States District Court lowered the original $1.92 million verdict against Jammie Thomas, the first person convicted of illegal file-sharing in the US, from $80,000 per song to $2,250 per song, saying “statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages.” If you recall, back in June 2009, the jury awarded the recording industry $1.92 million in statutory damages as a punishment for using the KaZaA file-sharing program to download 24 songs which amounted to $80,000 per song. “The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music,” reads the ruling .
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