Foursquare Surpasses 3 Million User Registrations

by  Lauren Indvik

Foursquare now has more than 3 million users, if the site’s public user registration numbers are correct.

The 3 millionth member appears to be Brian S. from St. Louis, Missouri, who has yet to check in to any venues via the mobile-based social network.

Foursquare’s growth has been accelerating rapidly lately. The service hit 2.6 million users on August 2, up from725,000 in March. The launch of Facebook Places, which many thought would bring about the startup’s demise, instead resulted in the biggest day of signups ever, CEO Dennis Crowley recently revealed.

http://mashable.com/2010/08/29/foursquare-3-million-users/

Legal Threat Demands TechDirt Shuts Down 
By Thomas Mennecke

One has to wonder what is going on with libel laws in the UK. Tech Dirt, a very popular online blog and community forum, has received a legal threat from the UK law firm Addlestone Keane. Apparently, a community member published an anti-Semitic post directed towards a Mr. Jeffrey Morris, who then stuck his lawyers on Tech Dirt. Did they ask to remove the offending post? Perhaps the offending thread? Nope - they demanded that the entire site be taken offline. All of it.

From the legal threat, "We have therefore been instructed by our client that unless we receive your written undertaking by 31 August 2010 you will take immediate steps to close down this site, we will be instructed to institute Court proceeding against you and your company without further notice."

http://www.slyck.com/story2034_New_Wank_Plan_Legal_Threat_Demands_TechDirt_Shuts_Down

Legal Threat Demands We Shut Down Techdirt

from the first-test-of-the-SPEECH-Act? dept

Here at Techdirt, unfortunately, we get an average of about one legal threat per month. The threats are almost always frivolous -- and often made in anger without the individual realizing why the threats are frivolous. While some sites take the position that they will publish any and all legal threats, we have always tried to give the threatening party the benefit of the doubt, and to recognize that they made their demands in a moment of excess anger and misunderstanding. As such, we generally explain our position as to why any legal action would be a mistake -- and in nearly every case, we never hear back from the person who threatened us.

However, we have recently received a legal threat that we feel deserves attention and airing for a variety of reasons.

http://techdirt.com/articles/20100825/02002110771.shtm

A Method For Encumbering Progress By Patenting Other People’s Ideas
by Devin Coldewey

Inventor: Paul Allen
Filed: August 27, 2010
Abstract: A method for preventing innovation, specifically in the tech sector, by way of a dangerous misconception of what is patentable and a sadly overtaxed intellectual property regulatory system.
Summary of the Invention: During a period of change and invention, ideas may occur to a person, and a few possible ways of manifesting those ideas. By instantly submitting a patent request, the person can secure as their own property not only the methods they have actually invented, but all possible derivatives and independent creations resembling said methods. After waiting a suitable period of time, during which the entire landscape of the industry may change, the patent holder then can exchange these patents for riches, while simultaneously nullifying the gains of a decentralized, idea-powered economy.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/08/27/a-method-for-encumbering-progress-by-patenting-other-peoples-ideas/

Top Technology Sites 

BRAD PITT PHOTO PUTS FOX NEWS ON 'FAIR USE' HOT SEAT

By Eriq Gardner

EXCLUSIVE: How many times will Rupert Murdoch's gripes about "fair use" come back to bite him in the rear?

Fox News is now being sued for showing unauthorized video of Brad Pitt failing to control his motorcycle as he drives slowly in Hollywood. The footage aired during Bill O'Reilly's show, where he used it to criticize paparazzi.

The owner of the footage, Media2Air, says it licensed use of the video to various media outlets but Fox News just took it "as part of its continuing coverage of the Pitt family."

Fox News claimed "fair use." 

As you'll recall, News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch has been vocal in his belief that courts would eventually bar "fair use." The comments have made their way into Media2Air's new lawsuit against Fox News.

http://thresq.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/08/fox-news-brad-pitt-photo-lawsuit.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

FTC Ends Investigation Into P2P Site LimeWire

By: Chloe Albanesius

The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation into peer-to-peer site LimeWire, though the agency said it remained concerned about the security implications of users running legacy versions of the company's software.

"Upon review of the matter, including non-public information submitted to the staff, we have determined not to recommend any further action by the commission at this time," Mary Koelbel Engle, associate director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, wrote in an Aug. 19 letter to LimeWire chief executive George Searle.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368388,00.asp

Sony obtains Australia ban

on PS3 hack chip

Sony has won a temporary ban to prevent Australian distributors selling a hardware hack for the PlayStation 3 (PS3).

The PS3Jailbreak "dongle" allows gamers to play homemade and pirated games on the game's console.

The ban prevents OzModChips, Mod Supplier and Quantronics from importing, distributing or selling the device. Sony has until August 31 to makes its case to the court for a permanent ban. If it fails, the chips could go on sale on 1 September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11116416

Facebook’s Not So Neutral Ad Policy

By Michael Klurfeld 

Yesterday BoingBoing posted about how the “Just Say Now” campaign to legalize marijuana had its ad pulled from Facebook. After 38 million impressions, Facebook’s staff pulled the advertisement (pictured in this post) because it contained an image of a marijuana leaf, despite the interests group’s argument that it did not advocate smoking pot, only its legalization.

http://thenextweb.com/us/2010/08/25/facebooks-not-so-neutral-ad-policy/

Paul Allen's Interval Licensing patent complaint takes aim at Google, Apple, others

By Larry Dignan

Paul Allen’s Interval Licensing sued a bevy of technology companies including AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix and others for patent infringement.

Interval Licensing, a research firm hatched in 1992, is suing those aforementioned Internet companies for patent 6,263,507 among others. The patent was issued for an invention revolving around browser navigation in a body of information and audiovisual data.

In a nutshell, the patent goes to the core of what these companies do. 

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/paul-allens-interval-licensing-patent-complaint-takes-aim-at-google-apple-others/38544?tag=nl.e589

Turkey and Russia Feature the World’s Riskiest Web Surfers

AVG study looks at the safest and most dangerous places to surf the Internet - Australia No. 37th and New Zealand No. 63rd riskiest

Melbourne and Amsterdam, 24 August 2010. Where in the world are you most likely to be hit by a malicious computer attack or virus? According to Internet Security company AVG Technologies, it’s the Caucasus region, with web surfers in Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan all being the most likely to face threats while online.

However, at the other end of the scale, some of the world’s safest surfers can be found in Japan and Taiwan, while seven of the 10 safest countries in which to surf the Internet are in Africa. As a continent, South America was ‘safest’, and North America ‘riskiest’. Meanwhile, globally your chances of being attacked while online on any given day are 1 in 73.

By compiling data for 144 countries (including Australia and New Zealand), involving 127 million PCs, AVG was able to look at the incidence of security threats that its software had to deal with in the last week of July 2010. From these figures, AVG was able to average out the likelihood of the average web user facing a web security attack. Key results are as follows:

More: http://www.avg.com.au/news/avg_turkey_and_russia_the_worlds_riskiest_web_surfers/#ixzz0xqRE2PtV