This is insane.

Wiretapping for suspected IP theft? Ten years in jail for just trying to infringe copyright? On-the-spot knee-capping for humming a copyrighted tune in public ( Read more... )

Sun’s open source Deliberately Retarded Media project, DReaM (read NIghtmarE), turns out not to be quite so "open" after all (yeah, big surprise). According to ZDNet's David Berlind the new DRM software must run as signed code on the new Trusted Computing platform. The compiled application is digitally signed by a trusted third party which can then ( Read more... )

Lawrence Lessig offers this qualification on his blog for his recent positive statement on DRM.

Sun has made recent announcements about their openDRM project. In my view, they've made some commitments that are important for any DRM project. E.g., as I've seen it described, it would be implemented to allow individuals to assert "fair use," and ( Read more... )

There's been a suggestion that Windows Vista could see the end of anti-spyware companies [c|net ( Read more... )

Loose lips sink ships... and allow the enemy to develop better IEDs (improvised explosive devices) according to Prez. Dubya and the Pentagon who are attempting to dissuade the media from reporting on technical developments in ant-IED technology.

Reporter and blogger Noah Shachtman has been told by a U.S. Colonel that his reporting on the ( Read more... )

It looks like TV downloads are the next target for the IP delusionals:

Software such as BitTorrent makes pirated material easy to download, episodic TV ensures a fresh supply of content and the popularity of devices such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod creates an appetite for video ( Read more... )

No one has to pay for numbers anymore. No one is threatened for merely experiencing the development of their own culture. No one is sued for participating in its creation or propagation. The old media business models are gone, burned away by their total inability to adapt to the reality of new technology. In the end they simply failed to comprehend ( Read more... )

Perhaps such religions should register their significant figures as trademarks.

Ironically, raising your voice against the presentation of an idea that you find offensive, or even illegal, is the best way to guarantee its fastest and furthest dissemination. Hence Don Stewart, the 'VW Bug' artist, could not have bought a better promotion package ( Read more... )

Going to the movies is not what it used to be. Security at the studio-owned theatres is heavy, it's not a trip to be taken lightly. But if you want to see the film everyone is talking about without waiting a year for the home release, you have little choice. When you enter the lobby the first thing you see are long ranks of tiny, thumbprint ( Read more... )

Full body scanner trail at London's Paddington station (BBC via GizmodoI want someone to explain to me exactly how this is supposed work. Oh, I know about the technology, I remember seeing a demonstration years ago. But how, precisely, is this going to stop something like the July 7th London bombings ( Read more... )