ACTA negotiations will continue it’s usual secrecy into 2009 after wrapping up in Paris. Reportedly, they will continue negotiations in Morocco. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) roared into headlines earlier this year over several provisions that were leaked onto Wikileaks. A follow-up leak was also leaked on the same website. Currently, Michael Geist notes that [...]

There is a growing trend to define the internet as little more than a “broadcaster”, but isn’t it a bad thing to start considering the internet little more than just another TV station? Many would argue that the internet has been one of mans greatest inventions, in part, because it gives citizens new-found freedoms and [...]

It seems that the French government wants to treat the internet like a broadcaster and tax it accordingly. French media website 01net is reporting (Google translation) that the French government has passed a first reading on legislation that would put a tax on the internet. The news follows France doing everything in their power to [...]

Australian digital rights organizations are applauding the high turnout in a country-wide demonstration against proposed Australian internet blacklists. The Electronic Frontiers Australia recently applauded the high turnout for protests against proposed censorship laws that would block access to websites deemed by the government as “inappropriate”. From the press release: “The forthcoming protests by the Digital [...]

The case where Hollywood is suing an Internet Service Provider for not deterring piracy is starting up tomorrow in court. We have been following the story where Hollywood is suing an ISP for allowing piracy to occur on their networks and today marks the final day before the battle in court. It’s already well known [...]

The network neutrality debate just got a little hotter recently over a story published on the Wall Street Journal. A report from The Wall Street Journal has gotten numerous people talking recently. The article says that network neutrality is losing major supporters. One of the prominent figures that the WSJ says is losing support for [...]

Last weeks announcement that Warner, one of the big four record labels, would set up a program to legalize campus file-sharing has had some technology reporters sending heated arguments to each other over whether it was a positive move or not. Last week, Warner Music announced a proposal to put a tax on college tuition [...]

The Recording Industry Association has reportedly sent 60 cease and desist letters to East Stroudsburg University. With the movement to legalize campus file-sharing with a blank tax, you’d think that the campus lawsuit campaign would be winding down. That appears to not be the case according to Pocono Record, a news site in Pennsylvania. The [...]

The administrator of OiNK, the once popular private BitTorrent website, as well as five others, have appeared before court recently. No plea has been entered by Ellis. If there’s anything that the arrest of the OiNK admin proved, it’s that making a BitTorrent website private won’t make it impenetrable to investigators. It was once thought [...]

There’s always the passing thought of getting raided for uploading copyrighted works, but over a viral video originally on YouTube? Controversy has taken hold in Australia recently over what happened to a 60 year old man now charged for child abuse. The report comes from the Sydney Morning Herald which says that Chris Illingworth liked [...]

Ever wanted to post something online anonymously for all to see? Tor2Web might be an application for you. Wired’s Threat Level has made an interesting find today – Tor2Web. The concept comes from the anonymizing concept of the Tor network (AKA the Union Router) which anonymizes web surfers and prevents information about them from being [...]

Says that it’s the economy stupid. A report today on Exclaim Magazine says that the Canadian Copyright Board has raised the levy on CDs up 40 percent. That means that the levy will be bumped up from 21 cents to 29 cents and that the price of a spindle of 100 CDs will cost an [...]

In a move that sent shock waves around the internet, Culture secretary Andy Burnham announced that he supports extending the UK copyright term from 50 to 70 years. It’s been a multi-year battle between the recording industry and Britain, but today, consumer rights advocates was dealt with a major blow. The report comes from Music [...]

Is it really legal to sell your DRM-free music files? Here’s the scenario: you have a hard drive full of MP3s you don’t really listen to anymore. The standard response would be to just delete the files. What about the value locked up in those particular digital bits? What about the idea of just selling [...]

It could negatively affect web developers this time. There’s an interesting report on Wired’s Threat Level which details Sony getting sued by the FTC for $1 million. While a previous lawsuit against the company proved to be hilarious over the hypocrisy of being sued for software piracy, this lawsuit may be of interest to many [...]

Says that the current telecoms package would violate basic civil rights in Europe. A little over a week ago, we reported on the French Prime Minister overruling democracy and vetoing provisions in the telecoms package that would stop any form of a “three strike provision” in the European Parliament. Recently, French digital rights advocates from [...]

Oh the things that sound good on paper… There’s a new lobbying paper posted on Change.gov that shows that the MPAA isn’t slowing down on dreaming big while lobbying the US government. The document (PDF) shows what appears to be a wish list from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) – just in time [...]

Says companies are allowed to put Digital Rights Management on their CDs, even if it doesn’t work on some devices. It may be a small setback to advocates who want to broaden their rights when they copy a CD. According to 01net (Google Translated), a French court has ruled that if a company puts Digital [...]

DavenPort Lyons appears to be at it again. It may be considered unthinkable that one could get sued for downloading porn, but from the BBC recently suggests otherwise now. The report says that hundreds of British citizens are being served up with legal threat letters demanding £500 in settlement money or else be taken to [...]

It may get a little harder for the MPAA to play the moral card – not to mention getting funding for movie production for it’s members. It is no secret that the copyright industry likes to talk about morals when it comes to unauthorized downloading. Unfortunately for members of the MPAA, morals might be playing [...]