Friday, September 3, 2010

(AP) – 7 hours ago
BERLIN — A German court ruled Friday that Google Inc.'s subsidiary YouTube LLC must pay compensation after users uploaded several videos of performances by singer Sarah Brightman in violation of copyright laws.
Simple solution for countries that fail to get the internet, deny them access Google, the people will quickly realize the courts have gone to far, basically tell them to go screw them selves.    


Posted by rorybaust at 6:16 PM

AP: Yeah, we'd better cite pajama-wearing bloggers, too

By Nate Anderson
Flickr user thestarmama
The Associated Press didn't need any help from a bunch of unshowered bloggers pecking away at their keyboards from the basement offices in which they play "reporter," thank you very much. Now it knows better.
At the AP's 2009 annual meeting, Chairman Dean Singleton reminded his audience (read the speech) that the AP and its members "are the source of most of the news content being created in the world today." The collective remains "the gold standard of newsgathering and reporting throughout the world." And with 62 journalists killed, beaten, or detained in 2008, journalism "is not a profession for the fainthearted, or those who work in their pajamas."

Posted by rorybaust at 4:17 PM

Survivor contract, rule book are back online

reality blurred »  
by Andy Dehnart /  
After a challenge from CBS, the Survivor cast contract, which includes the show’s rule book, are back online on reality blurred.
In late July, almost eight weeks after I first published my analysis of an annotated version of the contract cast members sign, a CBS lawyer in New York sent a DMCA takedown notice toScribd, the document hosting service I used to present the files in an easy-to-use reader that was embedded in my stories. CBS’ letter claimed that “[s]uch copying and use of this material constitutes clear infringement of the Rights Owner’s copyrights under the Copyright Act, including the DMCA, and its counterpart laws around the world.”



Posted by rorybaust at 4:06 PM

iTunes Ping’s Latest Problem: Spam

iTunes Ping is apparently full of spam, yet another hiccup in Apple’s road to establishing a legitimate social network.
As Sophos notes on its blog, a barrage of spam links are hitting the music-themed social network. Many of these links are to offers promising free iPad, iPhone or iPod touch devices.
Apple released iTunes 10 and iTunes Ping earlier this week and the rollout has been a little bit rocky. Beyond the latest spam attacks, issues with Facebook Connect, international access issues and unclear policies for musicians have plagued the service.

Posted by rorybaust at 3:18 PM
French ISPs and French Government Locking Horns Over HADOPI Costs

There’s a major battle brewing between the French government and the French ISPs. A line is being drawn and it’s about the money. While this was foreseeable thanks to our earlier reports, it will be very interesting to see how far the battle will escalate. One report suggests that ISPs may even opt to not honor their end of the anti-piracy effort.
HADOPI, the three strikes law in France, may have been passed nearly a year ago, the war is far from over and it could very well be one of the several smaller battles that could be the downfall of the law.

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/90536/french-isps-and-french-government-locking-horns-over-hadopi-costs/
Posted by rorybaust at 3:14 PM

Netgear offers 500Mbps powerline networking via next-gen standard

By Chris Foresman
Even as the IEEE P1901 working group was set to meet this week to recommend its draft standard for broadband over powerline networks for official status, Netgear announced its line of Powerline AV 500 adapters that incorporate the HomePlug-compatible flavor of the standard. The new devices theoretically promise up to gigabit Ethernet speeds over home electrical wiring, and are the first to incorporate the newest standard.
The Powerline AV 500 comes in either standard or power pass-through versions, and are available in two-adapter "kits" to set up a source and destination point for your network. While hardcore geeks won't settle for anything less than running Cat 6 cable all throughout the house, powerline adapters have the benefit of being able to utilize existing electrical wiring to move data from point to point, and could be convenient for homes or apartments where running new cable would be impractical, prohibitively expensive, or just not allowed by your landlord.
Posted by rorybaust at 2:38 PM