Once you’ve got data collected, the temptation to use it for anything and everything is just too great to resist. For the German Police anyway. Since a highway toll system for lorries was recently introduced, I have been asking myself when the calls to use the data for “hunting down terrorists” will start. They finally Read more »
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) was supposed to protect especially the entertainment industry from the changes in the world around it. But hastily crafted legislation has a tendency to turn ugly: While the supporters of the DMCA have claimed that abuse happens only occasionally, according to a study done at the universities of Berkeley Read more »
The entertainment industry is trying to hijack the EU Data Retention directive, as ZDnet reports. Industry lobbyists are attempting to have the directive amended, so that it would allow the data retained by ISPs to be used to prosecute all kinds of crimes, not just serious offences such as terrorism. In combination with the proposed Read more »
Netzpolitik.org has an interview with Richard Stallman (.ogg, 16 MB) by Markus Beckedahl, recorded in Tunis. Stallman talks about his criticism of the term “intellectual property”, software patents, copyright and his experiences with wrapping tinfoil around evil RFID badges at the WSIS.
The new EDRI-gram is out. Unsurprisingly, it’s a WSIS special edition. Looks like a good way to catch up with the oodles of things that happened there. Contents are: Urgent call for support for EDRI-gram 1. General disappointment in WSIS-host Tunisia 2. Tunisian government blocks citizens counter summit 3. Agreement on internet governance issue 4. Read more »
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a class action lawsuit against Sony, demanding that the company fix the damage done to millions of computers by two pieces of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) software included in its audio CDs. While we have the music giant to thank for teaching everyone what a rootkit is with Read more »
Linux Journal has an article about the Free Software Foundation India by Frederick Noronha. It has lots of quotes by their central figure Nagarjuna G, and nicely portraits their work.
Markus Beckedahl has done a lot of writing, interviewing and podcasting from Tunis, which was great for everyone interested (not only those of us who did not have the funds to make it there). Now he has a real goody on his blog: Four videos (1,2,3,4) of Richard Stallman and Gilberto Gil performing songs together. Read more »
The Guardian has an Essay by Andrew Brown titled “Owning ideas”. While not going into great detail, the text covers many problems that arise from treating ideas as if they were spare parts for cars. It starts: The difference between ideas and things is obvious as soon as someone hits you over the head with Read more »
While everyone was digging into their Windows machines to check if they had been hit by one of Sony’s rootkits (no, no link here; you can’t go online these days without stumbling about five stories on the topic), the EFF people took the pains of actually reading the EULA (end user license agreement) on those Read more »