Posts Tagged ‘Law’
Secret Copyright Treaty Leaks. It’s Bad, Very Bad
Many thanks to Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing for publicizing this. Certainly not change I can believe in:
The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama’s administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It’s bad. It says:
- That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn’t infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.
- That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet — and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications,…
Minneapolis Police Department Sued for Using Taser on Man with Hands on Car
Emily Kaiser writes in the Minneapolis / St. Paul City Pages:
The Minneapolis Police Department is dealing with yet another lawsuit, this time for allegedly using a Taser on a man’s neck while he is seen with his hands on the car and not resisting the officer. The lawsuit comes in a string of others in recent months that have video evidence of alleged police misconduct.
In this lawsuit, Rolando Ruiz is seen just seconds before the incident with his hands on top of the squad car. He appears calm and not resisting arrest. As the police officer approaches, he puts the Taser against his neck and continues using it until he is incapacitated on the ground, screaming.
His attorney, Albert Goins is suing the City of Minneapolis on behalf of Ruiz, asking for $75,000 and discipline against the officer for violating his civil rights. Goins said he hopes to settle out of court, but is willing to take the steps to do so if the city doesn’t cooperate.
WCCO spoke to a Minneapolis police spokesperson who said Chief Tim Dolan hasn’t reviewed the tape and won’t comment on legal matters.
Saudi Court Upholds Child Rapist Crucifixion Ruling
I have pretty strong feelings about this as a parent, so I can’t say I feel that the animal who was convicted deserves to be treated any better, but is crucifixion after beheading truly necessary, or is it just playing to bloodthirsty appetites? Story from Reuters:
RIYADH (Reuters) – A Saudi court of cassation upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a 22-year-old man convicted of raping five children and leaving one of them to die in the desert, newspapers reported on Tuesday.
The convict was arrested earlier this year after a seven-year old boy helped police in their investigation. The child left in the desert after the rape was three years old, Okaz newspaper said.
International rights groups have accused the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, of applying draconian justice, beheading murderers, rapists…
Islamic Countries Push A Global ‘Blasphemy’ Law
As reported in the Christian Science Monitor:
Remember the Danish “Muhammad cartoons” that set off riots by offended Muslims more than three years ago? The debate pitted freedom of press and speech against notions of freedom from insult of one’s religion. It rages still – but now in a forum with international legal implications.
For years, Islamic nations have succeeded in passing “blasphemy” resolutions at the United Nations (in the General Assembly and in its human rights body). The measures call on states to limit religiously offensive language or speech. No one wants their beliefs ridiculed, but the freedom to disagree over faith is what allows for the free practice of religion. The resolutions are misguided, but also only symbolic, because they’re nonbinding.
Symbolism no longer satisfies the sponsor of these resolutions –…
Machines Designed to Change Humans
I remember how my mom used to yell at my dad because he was always trying to explain how we’re being farmed.
The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab creates insight into how computing products — from websites to mobile phone software — can be designed to change what people believe and what they do.
Yes, this can be a scary topic: machines designed to influence human beliefs and behaviors. But there’s good news. We believe that much like human persuaders, persuasive technologies can bring about positive changes in many domains, including health, business, safety, and education. We also believe that new advances in technology can help promote world peace in 30 years. With such positive ends in mind, we are creating a body of expertise in the design, theory, and analysis of persuasive technologies,…
The Human Sacrifice Channel
David G. Savage reports in the L.A. Times:
Reporting from Washington – Could the government outlaw a hypothetical “Human Sacrifice Channel” on cable TV?
That question became the focus of a Supreme Court argument Tuesday on the reach of the 1st Amendment and whether Congress can outlaw videos showing dogs fighting or other small animals being tortured and killed.
Last year, a federal appeals court, citing freedom of speech, struck down a law against selling videos with scenes of animal cruelty.
The law applied only to illegal acts of torturing or killing animals, not legal hunting or fishing. It was intended to dry up the underground market in so-called crush videos, which show squealing animals being stomped by women in high heels. More recently, it has been used to prosecute people who sell videos…
A Remix Manifesto for Our New Copyright Czar
Jonathan Melber, Huffington Post:
President Obama just appointed Victoria A. Espinel to be the first U.S. copyright czar. The position sounds like one more unnecessary addition to Washington bureaucracy (and it probably will be), but Espinel actually has a real opportunity to help fix our profoundly broken copyright laws, which–rather than fostering creativity, as they were originally intended–now inhibit it at every turn.Over the last century our copyright system has been co-opted by large corporations whose profit motives often conflict with the fundamental goals of copyright policy. Indeed, the job of copyright czar was created as part of yet another industry-approved intellectual-property law that ratchets up enforcement and strengthens copyright protection despite any real evidence that such measures are necessary, let alone desirable. (Full legislation here.)
If she hasn’t seen it, the first thing Espinel should do is watch RiP: A remix manifesto, Brett Gaylor’s superb documentary about the serious social and economic damage caused by our overly aggressive copyright regime.
The film makes its point by focusing on the culture surrounding remixes: those multimedia, digital mashups that exemplify expression in the internet age. Its central character is the popular musician Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis), a remix artist whose songs are made entirely from digitally manipulated samples of other songs. Gillis’ instrument is his laptop. Given the history of music as one of influences, sampling and (analog) remixing, he doesn’t see what he does as any different from what Led Zeppelin did when they took “You Need Love” by Muddy Waters and turned it into “Whole Lotta Love.”
