Fair Use Helps Economy More than Copyright
Here's an interesting take on the whole situation. According to Computer and Communications Industry Association, fair use of copyrighted materials adds more value to the US economy than the copyright holders themselves.
.... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Tags: Copyright, Fair UseWe Knew It Was Coming – Microsoft to Disable Suspected Pirated Copies of Vista
After one hour of use, a Vista machine that thinks it's illegitimate will go to a black screen with no functionality of any kind.
Remember the article about the activation servers failing and disabling thousands of computers a week or two ago? Combine that with this new policy and things should get pretty interesting. Does it seem to anyone .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Customer Abuse, Microsoft, VistaAsk for Non-RFID Credit Cards
The Consumerist reports that one of their readers asked for a non-RFID credit card from American Express. Granted, they only disabled contactless transactions in their database and did not issue him a spychip-free card, but one of the commenters said that they were able to do so with Washington Mutual.
It never hurts to ask, but it can .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Credit Cards, RFIDRIAA Fighting to Stay Away From A Jury Trial
From Ars Technica:
The over 20,000 file-sharing lawsuits that have been filed over the past few years share a single distinction: not one of them has made it to trial. The RIAA is trying to keep Virgin Records, et al v. Jammie Thomas from a jury trial, filing a motion for summary adjudication on some specific aspects .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
DRM Roundup by Cory Doctorow
Stolen from Schneier (but always credited), three articles by Cory Doctorow on DRM. My favorite tag line:
Digital rights management is a lie concocted to bilk the entertainment industry out of a fortune - it's time to wake up.
That is the truth. I could almost feel sorry for the industry, if .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: Cory Doctorow, DRMRARE! A Bill In Congress With No Drawbacks? Cell Phone Companies Cringe
From the Consumerist:
Early Termination Fees: FCC regulations would require companies to prorate ETFs, with the penalty for escaping a 2-year contract cut in half at the end of the first year.
Service Maps: Cellphone companies would be required to provide detailed maps showing call quality down to the street level. The maps would be augmented .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Customer Service Done Right – A DHL Story
It's nice to hear that sometimes, companies can still get it right. I wish Comcast were more like this.
.... [Click here to read the rest of this post]Tags: Customer Server, DHLRFID Implants May Be Linked to Cancer
From the Washington Post:
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients' medical records almost instantly. The FDA found "reasonable assurance" the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005's top .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
After 6 Years and Tons of False Posittives, the TSA No-Fly List Caught One! (OK, Not Really)
Reading the wikipedia page, you can find that the No-fly list was implemented on 9/11 2001 and ballooned from 16 names to over 40,000. There have been many false positives including children and some famous people (fortunately some of whom are congress members).
According to this story, all the millions of dollars, the time wasted, and the frustration cast .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: George Bush, No-Fly List, TSAFile-sharing Might Be a Bigger Risk than You Think
In case you didn't know already, if you don't set up your filesharing software right or if there's a coding error that allows the program to be exploited, random people on the Internet might be able to browse around on your computer. What would they want? Perhaps banking information, personal data, access to your tax records.
If you're .... [Click here to read the rest of this post]
Tags: P2P