It's called the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), and it's a super secret trade pact being negotiated completely outside of law, with no congressional authority but with the aim of forcing nations around the world to ban GMO labeling...
Update: It looks like the Kickstarter project has hit a snag. According to the project's page:
"HOLOVISION: A Life Size Hologram is the subject of an intellectual property dispute and is currently unavailable."
On May 31, 1790, George Washington signed the first copyright law, Copyright Act of 1790, which extended copyright protection to “the author and authors of any map, chart, book or books ” who were citizens or residents of the United States “for the t
The Supreme Court on Monday for the first time backed patents for a self-replicating technology — Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” soybeans — along with its licensing agreement that allows farmers to use them only once.
Hi all, I put together my early thoughts on the intellectual property debate going on. Posting them here in the hope of keeping what I'm finding to be one of the most fascinating debates among libertarians going!
The steps announced by the big Internet firms include pop-ups, which force users to acknowledge warnings, and mechanisms to slow a user’s access to near-dialup speeds.
I spent much of Saturday trying to reconcile two very different approaches to justice meted out by the Obama Administration.
The first is old (mid-December) news: British bank HSBC launders money for at least a decade and is fined four weeks earn
The law and law enforcement around copyright has moved far beyond its purpose of promoting arts and sciences and has become a textbook case of collusion between big business and big government.
Senior German politicians have denounced as propaganda a campaign by Google to mobilize public opinion against proposed legislation to let publishers charge search engines for displaying newspaper articles.
There have always been criticisms of existing IP laws and policies and many calls for "reform." But I became opposed not just to "ridiculous" patents and "outrageous" IP lawsuits, but to patent and copyright per se. Patent and copyright law should be
After creating a free open source font to help benefit people with dyslexia, developer Abelardo Gonzalez was hit with a cease and desist letter from a fellow designer threatening a lawsuit. The letter was intended to end competition due to Gonzalez's
"The birth of open source software began with a simple thought process: I had an idea and created something from it. Now, I want to share it (in its entirety) with others who might like to use it. I want them to be able to modify it, enhance it, and
NASA is planning a fleet of small satellites to demonstrate the ability for Android Nexus smartphones to control spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Could open source software and consumer hardware change the way future spacecraft are designed, and help l
"Android’s meteoric rise in popularity is due, in no small part, to the fact it is an open source project."
"F-Droid is an Android repository designed to respect the privacy and rights of its users."
There's nothing new under the sun. In this fascinating talk, Kirby Ferguson explains how everything is a remix and how patent laws stifle collaboration and innovation.
The European Parliament has voted to reject the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta).
The proposed agreement sought to curb piracy, but internet campaigners said it posed a threat to online freedoms.
The rejection vote followed a failed a
The New York Court of Appeals just ruled that "viewing" child porn online is not the same as "possessing" it. But is the idea of "possessing" a digital file outdated?
Stephan Kinsella is a libertarian scholar and attorney in Houston. The Executive Editor of Libertarian Papers and Director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF), he is Counsel/Treasurer of the Property and Freedom Society
The seizure was conducted under U.S. civil law, not criminal law. That means the affected parties need to prove that the internet domains were not engaging in illegal activity to get them back — an ugly mirror image of the country's usual "innocent u
As Congress considered SOPA and PIPA, Obama’s “regulatory czar” Cass Sunstein wanted to shut down websites purporting conspiracy theories and rumors using the tools of copyright protection.
Huffington Post reports a small victory against SOPA (H.R. 3261 “Stop Online Piracy Act”) and it's counterpart in the Senate, PIPA (“Protect IP Act”), claiming that President Obama will not support the current legislation. A statement released on be
Hi,
I just wanted to
let you know -- though you probably already do -- that Occupy Canada appears to
be using your design. Is that by permission?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=281711148514142&set=a.278568382161752.74506.278550055