A new research report suggests that those who download music online are also likely to cheat at schools/universities and to shoplift. Not only does music file-swapping harm artists, but it also points to an erosion of respect for intellectual property that threatens Canada’s economy and values at the core of our society,
said Graham Henderson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, which commissioned the polls. I’m sure paying for your own research project makes for wonderfully objective data
The minefields in the Falkland Islands are the breeding and nesting ground for thousands of penguins and other animals that fortunately are too light to trigger any explosions — via BoingBoing
Australia’s IT research flagship, National ICT Australia, is confident it is on pace in an international race to deliver data wirelessly at up to 10Gbps — enough bandwidth to download a DVD in 30 seconds. The project aims to produce technologies to move data over short ranges using the 60GHz spectrum. Dr Stan Skafidas said his team was about two years away from producing a working prototype using the technology, which promises to provide small, inexpensive wireless units that can work together to form a mesh
network
Around 1250 buildings in Tasmanian cities Hobart and Devonport will have 100Mbps fibre broadband piped to their front door in a two-year trial due to start late November. The trial — dubbed the Tasmanian Collaborative Optical Leading Testbed (TasCOLT) and initially announced back in January — is similar to a trial of broadband over powerline technology in Tasmania announced several weeks ago in that it is being carried out by a partnership between government and private industry
The leader of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives, Tom DeLay, has been indicted on a criminal conspiracy charge over an illegal campaign finance scheme. A Texas grand jury has charged DeLay and two associates with orchestrating political donations to local Republicans, knowing the donations were illegal
One of the biggest problems with the Fasttrack network has been poisoning. This is the practice of sharing a file on a P2P network that looks like the real thing, but isn’t. Bittorrent until recently has been largely immune to this. Now a new type of torrent is tricking bittorrent sites to rising to the top of the download lists
Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts who have studied the US navy’s cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying toxic dart
guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet‚Äôs smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing. Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea — via Warren Ellis
IFPI — the international equivalent of the RIAA — has released a piece of software (Digital File Check) that will delete your P2P software, strongly implying that P2P is itself illegal and using ridiculous, non-legal terms like copyright theft
. So much for 17,000,000 freely shareable CC-licensed works, so much for the public domain, so much for everything except for content from giant publishing organisations. No word on whether this malware also deletes your web-browser, e-mail client and IM software, since all these, too, are sometimes used to infringe on copyright — via BoingBoing
LimeWire is working on new code that will block non-licenced material. The new code checks to see if shared material is licensed, if it is not, the LimeWire client will politely inform the user, LimeWire can’t determine if one or more files have been published under a suitable license. These files will not be shared
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has urged the Commonwealth to rewrite its proposed new anti-terrorism laws, saying the laws could undermine basic rights. Prime Minister John Howard will meet state and territory leaders on Tuesday to discuss the 12-point anti-terrorism package that would give police extra powers to stop and search people, and allow suspects to be held for up to 14 days without being charged. Civil libertarians and academics says the measures will unfairly target the nation’s Muslim community
The International Monetary Fund is to wipe out the debt of 18 of the world’s poorest nations after rich countries bridged differences that had threatened a pact first signed in July
A 60m long pink toy rabbit lies on the side of the 1,500m high Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Viennese art group Gelatin designed the giant soft toy and say it was knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool
. The bunny is not just for walking around, the artists are expecting hikers to climb its 20 foot sides and relax on its belly. The giant rabbit is expected to remain on the mountain side until 2025 — via lucie
An hilarious cartoon from Jared Purrington explains how to convert your pet hamster to a mean, lean pit-fighting machine, and stage hamster deathmatches with your pals — via boingboing
David Mery is a London geek who was going down into the tube one night in July when he was arrested on suspicion of terrorism. He was held, his flat was searched, his computers and phones were confiscated, his data was copied, and his photo, DNA and fingerprints were taken. He was released the next day, but his computers were not returned, nor was his record expunged — via BoingBoing
Optus has announced a AU$150 million rollout of its own DSL equipment to hundreds of exchanges around Australia. Telstra claims this is bollocks, as Optus is only piggybacking on Telstra’s network and cherry picking the most lucrative exchanges
The city that never sleeps will darken the lights of the famed Manhattan skyline after midnight to help save migrating birds. New York civic leaders said the lights of buildings above the 40th floor will be turned off after midnight in the fall and spring migration seasons to save birds. Since 1997, more than 4,000 migratory birds have been killed or injured from colliding into skyscrapers
The Authors Guild has filed a class action lawsuit against Google. The lawsuit claims that Google’s scanning and digitising of library books as a part of the Google Print Project constitutes massive copyright infringement
. In addition to the lawsuit The Authors Guild has also issued a press release to explain its actions. Google has responded, pointing out that the Library Project is fully consistent with both the fair use doctrine under US copyright law and the principles underlying copyright law itself, which allow everything from parodies to excerpts in book reviews
Copyright terms have been continually extended since they were passed into English law by the Statute of Queen Anne. As these monopoly rights have grown, so the public domain has shrunk, greatly reducing our access to creative works, condemning vast quantities of our culture to obscurity and disappearance, and limiting the opportunities for future creators to build upon the works of the past. The 14+14 campaign has a simple goal: to restore a balance long lost by returning copyright to its original term as laid down in the Statute of 14 years with the option of a 14 year renewal — via BoingBoing
Edmonton police deliberately used a restricted database to gather information on a journalist who wrote anti-camera columns. With the information, cops tried to set up a sting to arrest him for drunk driving. Except some pesky journalists happened to have police scanners and blew the lid off of the operation — via Politech
Reporters Sans Frontieres with the backing of the French government, identifies bloggers as the new heralds of free expression
and offers advice on how to set up a blog and run it anonymously. Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure,
RSF Internet Freedom Desk Julien Pain said. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.
The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents can be downloaded from the RSF web site in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi
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