machine-envy

Over Christmas, this story broke, and it made me laugh so hard I couldn’t let it pass without commenting. From the Guardian:
Egypt is planning to pass a law that would exact royalty payments from anyone found making copies of the country’s ancient monuments or museum pieces, including the pyramids.
Although the story is clearly barmy, it’s […]

In an extraordinary move the WTO has ruled with Antigua that it was illegal for the US to block online gambling. What makes this extra bizzare is that the compensation is to be claimed by allowing Antigua to violate American intellectual property.
The reaction of the US is to rewrite the rules: “In May, the […]

A few weeks ago, I was having tea and cakes with a friend, talking about the usual stuff - Second Life, DRM, the BBC’s iPlayer. Together we came up with a rather implausible train of thought, which said friend dared me to turn into a piece for my New Statesman column. I think it’s turned […]

Our conference packs here in Buenos Aires included a map I had not seen before - showing the distribution of royalty fees paid in 2002. From the site, creator, Worldmapper:
Over half (53%) of the value of all royalty and license fees paid in 2002 were received in one territory: the United States. Large proportions of […]

Two items of copyright geekery in this morning’s Guardian. Firstly. Alice Gould gives the legal 101 on hijacking”user-generated content” for a traditional media setting (well done Media Guardian for removing that nasty subscription barrier, by the way). Her conclusion:
The law may appear antiquated in the fast-changing world of the internet, but in most cases citizen […]

(originally published on openDemocracy)
American free speech is being squeezed by bad case law and the disproportionate power of intellectual property owners. US citizens must be vigilant, says Becky Hogge.
While the Bush administration stands accused of complicity in torture, corrupting the political process, and spying on its own citizens, the average American may find it hard […]

(originally published on openDemocracy)
The Open Rights Group campaign for online freedom of information, individual liberty and the integrity of the public domain is a new stage in the defence of digital rights, says Becky Hogge.
Tonight, I am following in the footsteps of a Grateful Dead lyricist, Sun Microsystems’ fifth employee and the inventor of the […]

(originally published on openDemocracy)
On World Intellectual Property Day, Becky Hogge speaks to Cory Doctorow, who has been campaigning for reform at the World Intellectual Property Organisation for two years, about the strains put on the democratic process by the arrival of dissenting voices.
Today, 26 April 2005, is World Intellectual Property Day, a celebration of the […]