A federal judge has agreed to put the brakes on an investigation into Google by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood after the company complained…
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Google and Mississippi meet in court over secret MPAA lobbying
A devastating hack on Sony late last year exposed embarrassing details about Hollywood’s darker side, including a secret campaign by the movie industry to bring…
Read MoreDid NTIA just drive a stake through SOPA?
One interesting result of the NTIA's propsal to relinquish U.S. control over the DNS could be to drive a final stake through anti-piracy proposals like SOPA that rely on manipulating DNS queries as an enforcement mechanism.…
Read MoreTurkey passes draconian internet law, Turks say goodbye to their freedom of speech
The Turkish parliament has passed draconian new amendments to its internet law, which will allow the authorities to block content at the URL level without a court order, something critics of the new law say will effectively kill free speech…
Read MoreAaron Swartz documentary to debut at Sundance
The Kickstarter-funded film directed by Brian Knappenberger recounts Swartz's campaign against the Stop Internet Privacy Act (SOPA).…
Read MoreAnti-piracy pushback
Over the past three months, a new website reports, only 20 percent of the most pirated movies as ranked by TorrentFreak were available legally available for online rental or streaming.…
Read MoreHarvard maps the media’s response to SOPA
Remember SOPA and PIPA, the two copyright-protection bills that stirred the internet into a frenzy in in late 2011 and early 2012?…
Read MoreReforming copyright
A nine-page policy paper from the conservative Republican Study Committee purports to debunk what it calls three "myths" about copyright and offers a series of recommendation for reforming the current system, including dramatically shortening the length of copyright protection, expanding fair use and punishing "false" copyright claims.…
Read MoreHey Hollywood, forget SOPA, ACTA & TPP. Embrace Netflix instead
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 MoreJustice Dept allows FBI anti-piracy seal on books, photos, doodles
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 More3 new ‘free the internet’ movements: how to choose the one for you
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 MoreCriminalizing links: Why the Richard O’Dwyer case matters
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 MoreHow to protect free speech online
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 MoreIsolationist no more: The Internet goes to Washington
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 MoreIs the UN the next big threat to Internet freedom?
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 MoreLouis Vuitton asks for SOPA-like seizure of hundreds of websites
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 MoreHow Germany’s Pirate Party is hacking politics
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 MoreWhy is Silicon Valley silent on CISPA?
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 MoreShould we be as worried about CISPA as we were about SOPA?
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 MoreFAQ: What you need to know about CISPA (Update: bill passes House)
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 MoreFacebook clarifies its CISPA stance. Will the web care?
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 MoreThey can’t all be SOPA: Are webizens ready to fight with nuance?
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 MoreIt’s imperfect, but CISPA isn’t the devil in disguise
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 MoreGoogle launches the “power of the internet” campaign
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.…
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