Category: Intellectual Property
New US law makes it illegal to share passwords for premium online services
Lawmakers in the state of Tennessee have passed a measure which could potentially drastically change the way we use premium online services like Netflix and Rhapsody. The new law, awaiting the Tennessee governor's signature, would make it a crime to…
LimeWire get $105 million bill from record labels
The long-running court case between P2P file-sharing service LimeWire and a handful of record labels has concluded, resulting in a bill of $105 million worth of damages to be paid by LimeWire. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing…
Facebook granted "Face" trademark
After months of legal wranglings, it looks as though Facebook will soon own the trademark for the word "Face". Zuckerberg's empire have had their trademark application accepted by the US Patent and Trade Office, with the reins passing to them…
Poll: Should Nintendo DS R4 "homebrew" cards be illegal?
High-fives all around at Nintendo HQ today, as the High Court has ruled that importing, advertising or selling R4 cartridges in the UK is now illegal. R4 cards can be used to download and play illegally ripped versions of Nintendo…
File-sharing Brits come under fire from Ministry of Sound
UK dance music label Ministry of Sound have issued letters to thousands of UK based file-sharers, demanding compensation for copyright theft, or else have the accused face further legal action. As many as 2,000 people are thought to have been…
Prince predicts the death of the internet for musicians
Prince AKA The Artist Formerly Known as Prince AKA The Symbol AKA the little crazy dude with a preference for purple, has predicted the death of the internet as a viable way for musicians to make money. The singer, whose…
Pirate Bay to be given a lifeline through Swedish law loophole?
Pirate Bay, one of the world's largest and most controversial torrent/file-sharing websites could soon be given an unlikely lifeline through a loophole in Swedish law. The Pirate Party, a political group advocating file-sharing in Pirate Bay's native Sweden, are planning…
Digital Economy Bill will not be repealed
The Digital Economy Bill, the move rushed in during the last days of the Labour government that would see ISPs suspending the accounts of illegal file-sharers, will not be repealed. That is according to the New Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport…
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch applauds the iPad, defends paywalls, slams Google (again)
Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation chairman and massively rich media-maestro, has once again attacked Google in defence of his plans for paywalls on his news sites. "We are going to stop people like Google or Microsoft or whoever from taking…
Band financed through social-network pals at Slicethepie.com land major label deal
While illegal MP3 downloads may be giving the internet a bad name, here's a story proving it isn't all theft and piracy in the world of digital music. Scars on 45, a UK band funded by fans via the…
