Here’s a novel idea for Hollywood: Instead of forcing other countries to adopt ever tougher copyright laws, help services like Netflix and Hulu to launch operations overseas. And forcing U.S. consumers to authenticate before they can watch TV online might not be the smartest idea either. Read more »
Only a handful of very large software and entertainment associations are permitted to use the official FBI logo to warn consumers about the perils of piracy. Until now, that is. Read more at paidContent »
July celebrations this week were marked by hot dogs, fireworks and three proclamations to preserve the revolutionary spirit of the interent. Here’s a guide to what’s going on. Read more at paidContent »
The U.S. government continues to try and extradite British college student Richard O’Dwyer for simply linking to copyright-infringing files, on a site located in the UK. If they are successful, it could change the way we think about some of the fundamental underpinnings of the web. Read more »
As general counsel for Avvo, Josh King has responded to hundreds of lawsuit threats — all for activity that is soundly protected by the First Amendment. Here, King outlines three areas where he believes companies can take a stand to protect free speech on the Internet. Read more »
The launch of a think tank to educate Congress about disruptive technologies is just one of several new efforts proposed by the Internet and startup community. Conversations between Silicon Valley and D.C. will no longer rely on big tech firms. The Internet can disrupt politics too, Read more »
An arm of the United Nations says that because the Internet is a global entity, it should be controlled and managed by the UN. But critics say turning over control to the agency could put the openness and freedom of the Internet in jeopardy. Read more »
Brand owners are howling for new laws to help them crush “rogue” websites. But why? New powers don’t seem necessary when courts are already forcing internet companies to delete websites from the internet. Read more »
Founded on an agenda of copyfighting and radical transparency, Pirate parties are making political ground across Europe. Now its possible that the German offshoot could become the third party in the nation’s politics. So what do the pirates really want? Read more »
In January, America’s great tech companies joined everyday internet users to break the back of a reviled law called SOPA. Months later, Washington is brewing a new law that alarms many SOPA opponents — but this time the same companies have been quiet as church mice. Read more »
Critics say that a bill called CISPA, which has been passed by the House of Representatives and is on its way to the Senate, is just as bad as SOPA — but others, including Facebook, support the legislation. Should you be concerned about it? Read more »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a major cyber-security bill that would change how companies like Facebook can share personal information. Privacy advocates are in uproar and the Obama Administration is threatening a veto. What’s going on? Read more at paidContent »
The latest tech policy debate, over CISPA has put Facebook, a supporter of the law, in the web’s crosshairs. Today it has responded with a PR-friendly argument that illustrates a level of cynicism about how our government works and who holds the power in negotiating legislation. Read more »
It’s hard to be a web user, especially since the government has gotten so interested in what we’re doing online. It’s even worse when we can’t figure out who — if anyone — is actually on our side, and what terms we’re willing to live with. Read more »
The EFF and Anonymous might have overblown the ramifications of the proposed Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 — calling it SOPA 2.0 — but that doesn’t mean the bill is well-written. However, strong support means it might be hard to stop. Read more »
Google announced a new project – Take Action – that asks you to tell your story about the Internet and share it with the social web. Its motive: build grassroots momentum and keep check on widely reviled legislations such as SOPA, PIPA and their new variants. Read more »
SOPA sponsor and defender Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) just can’t let the ideas that led him to sponsor the Stop Online Piracy Act die. In an interview in a community paper he pledged to deal with online piracy, and called SOPA supporters misinformed. Read more »
We’ve gotten used to the content industries arguing that what happens when people download or make copies is “theft.” But using that term muddies the waters when it comes to what copyright is supposed to be about, and lends support to irrational laws and court decisions. Read more »
Y Combinator founder Paul Graham is right when he says that the continued push for legislation like SOPA and PIPA is a result of a failure to adapt to the changing environment the internet has created when it comes to intellectual property and the content industries. Read more »
After the Court of Appeal in London told Britain’s two biggest Internet providers they must abide the controversial antipiracy rules brought in by the Digital Economy Act, some experts suggest it could spark a SOPA-style protest. Is it likely? Read more »
Update: Andi Sporkin of the Association of American Publishers contacted me shortly after this story was published. She says the publishers… Read more at paidContent »
At just 2.5 years old, Andreessen Horowitz, the VC firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, has become a tech industry institution with holdings in Facebook, Twitter, and more. GigaOM talked with Andreessen to get his thoughts on Silicon Valley and the larger tech landscape. Read more »
This year’s CES was the biggest in the show’s 44-year history. It boasted 15 miles of exhibit hall aisles, 3,100 booths and 153,000 attendees. It is easy to be jaded by the endlessly repetitive products, but the thousands of innovations point toward a future of connectivity. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
If you’re like many of us, you’re already thinking over some New Year’s resolutions that will make you a better “you” in 2012. But how are the tech industries’ thought leaders approaching the new year? We asked 12 of them for their resolutions. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The activists fighting for less-draconian copyright laws have seized the opportunity afforded to them by the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act in the U.S. Congress to go after a bigger topic, the exportation of SOPA-style laws abroad. Read more »
Author Neil Gaiman said in an interview this week that the media industry is trying to “put genies back in bottles” with laws like SOPA and PIPA, and the Internet has fundamentally changed the landscape, just as Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press did. Read more »
SOPA and PIPA supporters still have faith in their shelved bills, citing the jobs they’ll save as making the bills worthy of salvage. However, the Internet economy is a potential job creator the likes of which Hollywood — already its own worst enemy — could ever be. Read more »
SOPA is too extreme to be a practical solution, according to Tom Gimbel of Austin City Limits, but he believes we need a policy that encourages online creativity and economic growth while also protecting intellectual property. It’s not as exciting to advocate for a compromise, but that’s what’s needed. Read more »
The push for controversial legislation known as SOPA and PIPA appears to have unraveled completely after leaders in both the House and Senat… Read more at paidContent »
From SOPA to Microsoft’s expanded Xbox live platform to cloud-based content storage from Apple and Google, the fourth quarter in consumer electronics and media was all about the continued battle for digital living room dominance. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The FBI today unsealed an indictment that charges file-sharing site Megaupload and its executives with a list of criminal charges, including… Read more at paidContent »
On Wednesday the web went wild (or dark) and more than 13 million people protested the potential passage of SOPA and PIPA. Fight for the Future offered some stats today to show exactly how wild things got. Read on for the nitty gritty details. Read more »
The impending SOPA and PIPA bills have the Internet in a tizzy, but Congress has a lot more to think about than just intellectual property. The issues at play in the SOPA debate have broad effects that span everything from the digital divide to international commerce. Read more »
Want the short course on why SOPA is getting such blowback? Clay Shirky breaks it down in this 13-minute talk at the TED offices, explaining… Read more at paidContent »
The furor over controversial anti-piracy legislation reached a climax on Wednesday as Republican lawmakers began disavowing the Stop Online… Read more at paidContent »
Numerous sites went black Wednesday to protest the SOPA and PIPA bills. Participants included Wikipedia, Google, Craigslist, Greenpeace, Reddit, 4Chan and others, and many didn’t just stop at adding a black background. Check out our website gallery to take a look at some of the sites. Read more »
If you’re just hearing about SOPA and PIPA, the complexity of these controversial bills can seem daunting. Here’s your quick guide to the proposed pieces of legislation and a one-stop shop of resources that can help you learn much, much more. Read more »
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 »
More than perhaps anyone else in Silicon Valley, SV Angel’s Ron Conway knows how important free expression on the Internet can be for fledgling technology companies to grow and prosper. So it’s probably not a surprise he’s against the proposed PIPA and SOPA bills. Read more »
Members of New York’s tech community, a couple thousand strong, braved the winter chill and gathered outside the offices of New York senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to protest the PIPA and SOPA legislation Wednesday, calling it a potentially crippling set of bills. Read more »
