Tag: slacktivists
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Panorama on the Digital Economy Bill
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Andrew Orlowski
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BBC1’s flagship current affairs program was devoted to file sharing last night, and contained something to piss off a range of lobbyists. Usually when this happens, BBC producers often conclude “they’re doing something right”, and pour themselves a large, congratulatory drink. They shouldn’t, because while the program succeeded in trying to be “fair”, it failed…
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LibDems drop net blocking, blame activists
by
Andrew Orlowski
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LibDem peers agreed to drop their controversial net-blocking clause from the Digital Economy Bill after the government advised that the proposal would be legally unenforceable. It means the Bill now heads for the Commons with one of the key copyright infringement countermeasures up in the air, although it’s likely to be a return to Plan…
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LibDems back copyright takedowns
by
Andrew Orlowski
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Two LibDem peers have tabled an amendment allowing the Courts to grant injunctions against ISPs – blocking off sections of the internet found to host infringing material. It’s similar to the DMCA-style proposal punted by the BPI in the new year, which we exclusively revealed. Injunctions are already a legal tool against infringement, but the…
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Obama plagiarist has a legal posse
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Andrew Orlowski
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Artist Shepard Fairey is facing a Grand Jury probe for falsifying evidence in a copyright case. Fairey was suing Associated Press over the use of an copyright image Fairey had used as the basis for a popular Obama election poster. To the dismay of the Boing Boing crowd, Fairey turned out not to be a…
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Lords mull Hail Mary penances for file-sharers
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Andrew Orlowski
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Lucas is a self-styled libertarian, so he must realise the inherent contradiction of the state acting in this way. The Lords this week discussed new compensation for copyright holders this week – including a voluntary ‘Hail Mary fine’ payable by file sharers, instead of suspension – but nobody noticed. It was late on Wednesday night,…
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The Digital Economy Bill: the story so far
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Andrew Orlowski
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Pelted from all sides by amendments, the Digital Economy Bill continues to plough its way through Parliament. This week, the Lords lined up to have their say, but since there are so many (300) Amendments, they’ll be at it again on Monday. Of course, out of the ten subject areas, the one labelled ‘online copyright…