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Posts Tagged “

Law

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oops

Legal Snafu Makes Thousands of Patent Rulings Since 2000 Invalid

Oops! According to a law professor at George Washington University, all patent judges appointed after the year 2000 have been done so unconstitutionally, making thousands of patent rulings made by said judges null and void. This will have ramifications on patents worth billions and billions of dollars, and it's not clear exactly what's going to happen. More »

12:50 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Adam Frucci
18,147 views, 63 comments

Latest by VakeroRokero: @photophile: Chinese grey companies doesn't care about patents. They don't even care for your brand! more »

cellphones

How to Cover Your Text Message Tracks

It's Friday, so the mass of stupid and regrettable (and maybe criminal) text messages you wished you never sent is about explode exponentially, as it does every weekend. Google, as you know, keeps your embarrassing search history for "AZN Squirrels Pooping on Bananas" or "Iron Man upskirt" for 18 months. But how long do Verizon and AT&T hang on to your shameful SMSes? Thankfully, not long at all. Sprint hangs on to your textual diarrhea the longest, for about two weeks, while AT&T dumps them after 48 hours, according to Slate's Explainer. We hit up Verizon, who said a "couple days, tops." There are a couple catches, though. More »

7:30 PM on Fri May 2 2008
By matt buchanan
16,768 views, 28 comments

Latest by The Lab: Just saying, it is probably way easier for NSA spying software to scan text messages for suspicious content than phone calls. Oh you think they aren't scanning? Well, they are. more »

to catch a predator

Microsoft COFEE Won't Perk You Up, But It Will Instamagically Hack Your Computer

You know how in cop shows they seize deviants' computers and bring them back to the lab for some good ol' latex gloved analysis to prove how obviously guilty or sick the suspect is? That's old hat. Microsoft's latest treat for law enforcement is COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), a USB drive that'll cut through whatever flimsy security miscreants have slapped on their computer in a flash, and then automatically analyze the dirty bits the cops need to bust their ass, from internet activity to stored data, no pwnage skillz or trips to the lab needed. Microsoft's giving the wonder tube to lawmen for free, and 2,000 officers in 15 countries are already using it. But will it work on Macs? [Seattle Times, Thanks M]

8:30 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By matt buchanan
13,973 views, 98 comments

Latest by archpope: This is where steganography comes in. Use something like TrueCrypt, and call the file corel.dat or something like that. I'm sure M$ doesn't have a backdoor on third-party software. more »

legalese

Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader Locked Up: Why Your Books Are No Longer Yours

If you buy a regular old book, CD or DVD, you can turn around and loan it to a friend, or sell it again. The right to pass it along is called the "first sale" doctrine. Digital books, music and movies are a different story though. Four students at Columbia Law School's Science and Technology Law Review looked at the particular issue of reselling and copying e-books downloaded to Amazon's Kindle or the Sony Reader, and came up with answers to a fundamental question: Are you buying a crippled license to intellectual property when you download, or are you buying an honest-to-God book? More »

1:00 PM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By matt buchanan
30,499 views, 62 comments

Latest by zc2009: the kindle is way overhyped more »

do not call

Do Not Call (Ever) Improvement Act Signed Into Law

The bill to make the Do-Not-Call registry everlasting—so you never have to remind the government that you hate telemarketers—has been made into a real live law by President Bush. [Consumerist]

2:00 PM on Wed Feb 20 2008
By matt buchanan
5,243 views, 68 comments

government

House Bill Mandates Colleges Make Plans for Network Filtering

I bet you were feeling pretty happy with Congress a little bit ago. Get ready to go back to normal! The College Opportunity and Affordability passed the House today (sounds good so far, right?), but it carries a provision that forces schools to make plans for network filtering mojo and a legal alternative to P2P file-sharing. More »

7:30 PM on Fri Feb 8 2008
By matt buchanan
3,656 views, 28 comments

do not call

Hey Telemarketers, Don't Call Me. Like, Ever.

With the bill Congress just approved and sent to the Bush-in-Chief, I won't ever have to say that again, since it'll pretty much be the freakin' law. The old version Do-Not-Call registry required you to remind the gov't every couple years you still don't wanna chat w/ telemarketers, but the updated bills from the House and Senate make it pretty much permanent. Conspicuously still missing from banned phone spammers are the ones telling you to vote for Hillary 'cause Obama is a Muslim or McCain because Mitt Romney has too much hair. [Ars Technica]

5:50 PM on Fri Feb 8 2008
By matt buchanan
6,448 views, 32 comments

Latest by mtopper: @orionburch: Because his middle name is Hussein? more »

law

Italian Parliament Legalizes P2P Music Downloads?

In what appears to be an embarrassing error, the Italian parliament may have accidentally legalized P2P music downloads. The new law allows Italians to legally share music over the internet, just as long as it is done for non-commercial gain and the music is degraded. The controversy arises from the definition of the word "degraded." More »

11:00 PM on Sat Feb 2 2008
By Haroon Malik
8,712 views, 39 comments

legal eagle

Justice Department Says $222,000 Damages Awarded to RIAA in File-Sharing Suit Not "Obviously Unreasonable"

The Department of Justice says that the $222,000 verdict—over $9,000 a song—Jammie Thomas got slapped with for file-sharing when she (somewhat feebly via her weak evidence) went up against the recording industry lawsuit machine is not unconstitutionally excessive. More »

6:20 PM on Tue Dec 4 2007
By Matt Buchanan
7,454 views, 52 comments

cellphones

Senators Rabble-Rousing for Mobile Bill of Rights

It looks like Verizon and AT&T's recent "Hey, we're not total assholes" moves might've been to preempt such "fairness" from getting some legal teeth, as a bunch of rowdy Senators are looking to make the mobile industry play just a bit nicer with a mobile bill of rights for consumers. More »

6:40 PM on Wed Oct 17 2007
By Matt Buchanan
2,559 views, 13 comments

law

The EFF'd Up Patent Hit List (10 Sleaziest Patents Ever?)

The EFF is getting ready to battle tech patents that they'd argue should be revoked and are in many cases being used to the extent of abuse. The list has a number of vague patents I'd previously never seen before, but they've also got some big names like Nintendo (emulator patents) and Clear Channel (live recordings of concerts) on the list. The EFF hopes to have some of these patents revoked or altered to more fair effect. [Wired]

2:08 PM on Wed Oct 17 2007
By Brian Lam
5,681 views, 7 comments

Latest by NeoPolticus: The US Patent Office apparently consists of one senile old guy with an "Approved" rubber stamp and nothing else. more »

unfunded mandates

Senate Bill Could Compel "Top 25 Piracy Schools" to Use Anti-P2P Technology

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (pictured) has a fun summer vacation souvenir for institutes of higher education: His latest amendment to the Higher Education Reauthorization Act would require a college named to the list of "top 25" worst file-sharing schools to implement anti-p2p technology into its network, or risk losing some of its governmental funding. (Ohio University, natch.) More »

10:30 AM on Tue Jul 24 2007
By Matt Buchanan
5,076 views, 25 comments

gadgets

Electronic License Plate Blurry-izer for Bullrun Cars


Johnny Law won't be too happy about this, but some honest, hard-working citizens have created an electronic license plate blurring device. At the flick of a switch, the gadget will obfuscate the numbers and letters of a license plate, making it nigh impossible for the long arm of the law to identify you. It was produced for a team in the Bullrun, which is a cross-country race that's currently ongoing. Granted, this is probably not looked upon too kindly by law enforcement, perhaps it's even illegal, but laws are silly things anyway. – Nicholas Deleon More »

12:05 PM on Mon Jul 24 2006
By Gizloco
5,938 views, 5 comments

Latest by Worf: Those things are not only illegal, but I believe there are severe penalties if you're caught using one. Of course, they're really only useful for those speed cameras - if you're doing this to run red lights, well, I have no more »

home entertainment

Federal Judge: Sanitizing Movies is Illegal

We Gizmodians like our gadgets shiny and our movies uncut, but lots of folks want to censor movies, cutting them up the way they see fit. But a federal judge in Colorado sided with the Directors Guild of America, saying no, third parties can't edit and then re-release movies with the naughty words removed. He chewed up and spit out prude-infested companies such as CleanFlicks, CleanFilms and Family Flix USA, telling them they can't sell or rent these "cleaned-up" movies any more. More »

11:34 AM on Tue Jul 11 2006
By Charlie White
1,104 views, 41 comments

Latest by amandahugnkiss (ΑΞΔ): What school were you at? more »

home entertainment

French Lawmakers Approve Softened iTunes Bill

Good news for French iPod fans as lawmakers in France approved a softened copyright law that allows a workaround for Apple to keep their iTunes and iPod in the market. The law still tries to make Apple open up their online music service to other MP3 players, but also has a loophole that allows companies like Apple to make a deal with copyright holders—the record companies—to keep the iTunes/iPod bundling intact. More »

6:50 PM on Thu Jun 22 2006
By Jason Chen
72 views, 2 comments

Latest by selcouth14: Wait a second here, are you telling me the French backed down? Again?? Man, this wasn't even a war... more »

home entertainment

TiVo Sends Cease and Desist to SmugMug for their "Thumbs Up" and "Thumbs Down" Feature

Gene Siskel must be rolling over in his grave, and Roger Ebert must be rolling over in his hospital bed for not trademarking the "Thumbs Up" and "Thumbs Down" all those years ago. SmugMug received some nasty correspondence from TiVo asking it to stop using the thumbs up and down icons because TiVo has actually trademarked these two. More »

4:05 PM on Mon Jun 12 2006
By Jason Chen
304 views, 10 comments

cellphones

Kansas Town Proposes Complete Ban of Cellphones While Driving

Kansas may seem like the pit stain of the country, but one town is proposing a complete ban on cellphones while driving. This ordinance is more hardcore than any of the other conversational driving laws throughout the states. Most of the conversational driving laws require the use of hands-free devices while driving and using a cellphone but the proposed Kansas ordinance would ban both hand-held cell phones and hands-free cellphone devices by motorists completely. More »

1:44 PM on Fri Jun 2 2006
By Travis Hudson
254 views, 14 comments

portable media

Creative Sues Apple Over iPod Patents

Creative Technology, Ltd., feeling the flop sweat creeping up from the back of its neck to the top of its head, apparently decided since it couldn't beat Apple at its own game, it was going to sue the company into submission. Creative asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt sales of all iPods and investigate whether Apple infringed on its Singapore-based patent covering Creative Zen multimedia players. Creative says it filed a patent on August 9, 2005, "for its invention of its user interface used by most portable digital media players." More »

10:48 AM on Tue May 16 2006
By Charlie White
408 views, 16 comments

Latest by Tintin: Deperate times call for desperate measures, and obviously Creative is getting desperate. Product after product gets released and sales go nowhere. They may get their pound of flesh, and perhaps there is a real competitor to the iPod on the more »