After all-out assaults on the web presences of the MPAA, RIAA and later the BPI, last night a new company was targeted in a new 4chan DDoS attack. Anti-piracy lawyers ACS:Law, one of the most despised and complained about law firms in Britain, had their website taken offline last night and it remains down “Account Suspended” this morning. TorrentFreak has spoken to one of the key figures in Operation Payback for the lowdown — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The European Commission (EC) has told UK telco giant BT that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will not force internet service providers (ISPs) to police their networks for copyright infringement — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The folks over at Open Acta Mexico sent over their report on an open information meeting at the Ministry of the Economy in Mexico about ACTA last week. There were two oddities that they called attention to. The first is that there was an MPAA representative at the meeting, who apparently asked whether or not ACTA could be used to block access to damaging
sites like Wikileaks. As the Open Acta Mexico people asked, what does Wikileaks have to do with movies? It seems like an interesting question, though, and I’m assuming that the MPAA is using Wikileaks as an example of a site they deem “dangerous” to get the idea across, so that later when they designate other sites (say… The Pirate Bay….) as dangerous, they can use this to make the — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The US government asked Google for user information 4,287 times during the first six months of 2010.
During the same timeframe the UK government put in over 1,000 such requests.
This is just two snippets from Google’s new Transparency Report, a set of tools designed to show censorship levels around the globe — via redwolf.newsvine.com
It’s no secret that many people are quite confused about how patents, trademark and copyright law work at times. In fact, we’ve frequently pointed out that it’s rather unfair to lump trademarks in with copyright and patents, because trademarks are so different. Whereas copyright and patents are all about a right to exclude via a monopoly privilege, trademark is about consumer protection, and is under an entirely different part of the constitution. Unfortunately, those who favor the “intellectual property” terminology have lumped the three together, leading many people to falsely believe that trademarks are effectively similar to patents and copyright — especially with respect to the right to demand no one else can use a trademark in any way without permission. As folks like Leo Stoller have learned the hard way, that’s simply not true.
However, it doesn’t stop some of the more amusing claims from folks who do think that they have extreme control over a trademarked term. Reader darus67 points us to the the website of one Dr. Ann De Wees Allen, who makes it quite clear she has a trademark on her name, and anyone using it without permission will be in trouble — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A secretive group of online investigators says it has identified more than 100 imposters who are blatantly posing as Australian war veterans, despite severe penalties for such activities — via ABC News
Consumer groups want the communications watchdog to regulate the prices charged for so-called ‘free-call’ numbers when they are dialled from mobile phones — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Over the last 36 hours or so, the ‘Anonymous’ masses and many unaffiliated sympathizers joined forces to attack the MPAA’s website. Continuing with ‘Operation Payback’, today an attack will be launched on the RIAA — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Several hundred dog lovers and their four-legged friends gathered on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament on Sunday to try to shut down puppy farms — via redwolf.newsvine.com
In a major victory for the Australian environmental movement, Tasmanian timber company Gunns Limited announced on Thursday that it will no longer engage in native forest logging — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The latest scandal about the NSW Government disgusts me. It doesn’t disgust me that someone was using public resources to look (or not look) at porn, but rather because that technology was used in exactly the way most citizens don’t want it used — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Harper government has tightened the muzzle on federal scientists, going so far as to control when and what they can say about floods at the end of the last ice age — via redwolf.newsvine.com
New Zealand retailers are selling synthetic urine to help people beat workplace drug tests for substances such as cannabis and ecstasy, a New Zealand newspaper says — via redwolf.newsvine.com
France remains opposed to a plan by the European Union’s executive to let each member country decide on whether to approve the growing of genetically modified (GM) crops, the French farm minister said on Thursday — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A 14-year-old Melbourne girl has been saved from an arranged marriage by a court’s ban on her leaving Australia — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The treatment of WikiLeaks‘ spokesperson Julian Assange, facing investigations of harassment and rape, has been disgraceful, leading international human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson has said from London, and the Australian government should make a formal protest to the Swedish ambassador on behalf of Assange, an Australian citizen — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Administrators at Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club suspended a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday because his eyes were bloodshot and they thought he might have been smoking marijuana — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Microsoft announced sweeping changes on Monday to ensure that the authorities in Russia and elsewhere do not use crackdowns on software piracy as an excuse to suppress advocacy or opposition groups, effectively prohibiting its lawyers from taking part in such cases — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A British teenager has been banned from the United States for life after sending an abusive email to president Barack Obama — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The home of Carol and Laura Stutte on County Road 320 in Vonore was destroyed by fire last Saturday.
The word “queers” was also spray painted in large letters on their garage.
The couple feels they’re victims of a hate crime, and were targeted because they’re gay. They’ve been together for more than 15 years — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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