p2pnet World Headlines: Nov 11, 2009
UK.gov denies innocent will be hit by filesharing regime The Register
Forthcoming laws to reduce the level of peer-to-peer copyright infringement with threats of disconnection will affect “hardly anybody, other than the most serious and egregious recidivistic offenders”, according to culture minister Sion Simon. The Digital Economy Bill, to be announced in the Queen’s Speech next week, will mandate a regime of notifications warning against illegal filesharing, followed by restrictions on bandwidth and possible suspension of the broadband accounts of those who do not stop. The plans have attracted claims by consumer groups and ISPs that innocent people could lose internet access, an increasingly vital service. Mistakes are inevitable given many poorly secured Wi-Fi networks and flawed infringement detection procedures, they argue.
EFF to Represent Yes Men in Court Battle Over Chamber of Commerce Action EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, will defend the Yes Men and other activists in a lawsuit filed against them by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over political criticism of the Chamber’s stance on climate change legislation. In mid-October, the activists staged a “press conference” in which the Chamber of Commerce ostensibly reversed its position and promised to stop lobbying against strong climate change legislation — a stance that has caused numerous Chamber members to leave the organization. As has been widely reported, before the press conference was even completed, a Chamber of Commerce representative rushed into the room and revealed that the Chamber’s position on climate change legislation had not in fact changed.
Pirates navigate around Windows 7 activation again Ars Technica
Pirates have put together tools to remove and disable Windows Activation Technologies (WAT) in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and also take care of all the side effects.
Supreme Court skeptical of patents for hedging Reuters
Supreme Court Justices seemed reluctant to allow hedging methods to be patented as it heard arguments on Monday that were closely watched by software, biotech firms and other industries. Some software and biotechnology companies want the definition of what can be patented to be as broad as possible because they license those processes. Others, like some financial institutions, want restrictions on business method patents to avoid getting sued. One of the best-known examples of a business method patent is Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) one-click process to buy goods on the Internet.
Teens sign up for jihad at Stockholm youth centre The Local
Swedish taxpayers helped fund a youth recreation centre in the north Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby which served as a recruiting station for the Somalia-based Islamist group al-Shabaab. More than ten young people from the predominantly immigrant neighbourhood who spoke with Sveriges Radio (SR), said that the recruitment drive was led by a youth leader at the Kreativitetshuset recreation centre. The recreation centre was started by a mosque and received a total of 480,000 kronor ($70,400) from the Stockholm city sports and recreation administration over four years before closing down in 2008. “It’s horrible. There was no suggestion of this when we had contact with the association when it was created,” Per Johansson, head of the city’s department for clubs and associations, told SR.
ASA turns beady eye on web content The Register
An industry rule-book for marketing communications in the UK is being amended to cover website content for the first time. Statements on websites could face sanctions from an industry body as soon as next summer even if they don’t break any laws. The plans involve extending the remit and sanctions of the CAP Code, a set of rules for adverts created by the Committee of Advertising Practice, a self-regulatory body.
Deal to Buy Sun Meets Opposition From EU Wall Street Journal
European antitrust authorities formally objected to Oracle Corp.’s proposed purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc., complicating a $7.4 billion deal that U.S. officials had already blessed. The companies said Monday that the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, issued a statement of objections regarding the deal, which they said focuses on whether Oracle’s takeover of Sun’s MySQL database software would reduce competition in the database market.
Creationists to distribute Charles Darwin books for free. What’s the catch? LA Times
Evangelical Christians plan to distribute more than 100,000 free copies of Charles Darwin’s seminal work on the theory of evolution, “On the Origin of Species,” on college campuses this month. Are the evangelists affiliated with the religious organization Living Waters really spreading the word of Charles Darwin? Yes — but. “All we want to do is present the opposing and correct view,” says actor Kirk Cameron, a supporter, in a video on the website. That view, which both precedes and counters Darwin’s theory in the copies of the book they will distribute, has been penned by the organization’s leader, Ray Comfort. In a 50-page introduction, no less.
Oscars get record 20 animated submissions Associated Press
A record 20 films have been submitted for best animated feature at the Academy Awards. As long as at least 16 films qualify, there will be five nominees in the feature-length animation category. The category has had only three nominees most years, but 2009 has been a prolific year for animation. The only previous year when there were five nominees came in 2002, when 17 animated films were submitted. Submissions include a wide variety of styles, including the computer animation of such hits as “Up,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and “Monsters vs. Aliens”; the stop-motion animation of “Coraline,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Mary and Max”; and the hand-drawn animation of “The Princess and the Frog” and “Ponyo.”
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
November, 2009
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November 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
What does Google know about you?
Google has launched a new service that allows you to manage some of the information that is associated with your account.
However, it doesn’t show you information on server logs, cookies, and most importantly, internet based advertising.
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=162743
Until they give you a way to manage things like the gmail messages that they keep forever to scan for advertising purposes and any tracked browsing behavior……
What’s the point?