In a presentation about SOPA and PIPA, author and media theorist Clay Shirky starts with an anecdote about a mom-and-pop bakery in his old neighborhood that made custom birthday cakes for children. What does that have to do with piracy? More than you might think. Read More »
Tech
A growing problem as the web becomes more central to how we share and work is that an average person doesn’t know how abstract laws can affect their lives and the media doesn’t expose how well (or poorly) politicians understand technology. These questions are a start. Read More »
The case of “investigative blogger” Crystal Cox reinforces that some governments are lagging behind when it comes to extending freedom-of-the-press protections to non-traditional journalists like bloggers. When anyone can be a journalist, how do we decide who gets protection and who doesn’t? Read More »
A new copyright bill proposed in the House would give governments and private corporations unprecedented powers to remove websites from the internet completely, on the flimsiest of grounds, and would also force internet service providers to play the role of copyright police or face penalties. Read More »
Britain’s copyright laws have always been byzantine, but the digital age has put them under more pressure than ever. Now the news that the government plans a major makeover has sent rights holders into a spiral, but could be great news for startups. Read More »
The surprise death of London’s much-loved Tower Bridge Twitter account over a trademark claim has upset its fans. But with the service facing increasing demands from litigious trademark owners and well-funded businesses, should we really expect Twitter to hold a higher standard? Read More »
A string of libel lawsuits in the U.K. have put Twitter’s approach to user privacy on the stand — the company is getting a bashing for its treatment of “Mr Monkey.” But should it be applauded for its approach to privacy, rather than pilloried by the… Read More »
Just like the media industry, the legal system is being disrupted by social media and the democratization of information distribution — in the latest example, a British court has issued an injunction that bans any mention of the details of a case on Twitter or Facebook. Read More »
The fact that the Google Books settlement has been rejected puts the spotlight back where it should be: on the fact that Google is doing nothing wrong, legally or morally, in scanning books without the permission of the authors or the publishers of those books. Read More »
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