EU Liberals To Vote Against ACTA; Conservatives Want To 'Fix' It

We reported last week that the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament had decided to vote against the ratification of ACTA; now the Liberals and Democrats are following suit: 

On Techdirt.

'Almost Anybody Can Have An Idea' -- Linus Torvalds

A constant theme here on Techdirt is that it's not the idea that's crucial, but the execution. Here's someone who seems to agree: 

On Techdirt.

ACTA Update XIV

Even though most of the focus around here has been on the UK government's Open Standards consultation (I do hope you've managed to reply by now - time is running out), the ACTA monster is still slouching towards Bethlehem. Things have gone better than I expected, with the ACTA rapporteur recommending against ratification, the socialists confirming they will vote against it, and rumours that the liberals will also vote against it. But it's important to emphasise that it's not dead yet.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Norwegian Security Service Wants Details Of Citizens' Web Comments Retained For Six Months

Governments around the world are seeking to monitor more and more of their citizens' online activities -- and it's not just the most obviously repressive regimes doing this. In the US, there is CISPA, while the UK is drawing up the Communications Capability Development Programme. Thomas Steen alerts us to a further escalation of this desire to spy on the public, in Norway. The secret service there (known by the acronym PST) want details about comments posted on all Web sites retained (via Google Translate): 

On Techdirt.

ACTA 'May Interfere With Fundamental Freedoms' -- EU Data Protection Supervisor

The dramatic announcement that the EU's rapporteur on ACTA, David Martin, would be recommending that the European Parliament should reject the treaty was made at the end of a morning conference on the subject organized by Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. One of those speaking in favor of ACTA at that meeting was Helienne Lindvall, a professional songwriter and musician, who has now blogged about it: 

On Techdirt.

Interview with Charles-H. Schulz on Open Standards

As you may have noticed, open standards are a hot topic currently. One person who deals with them all the time in a variety of ways is Charles-H. Schulz.

That's because he's one of the leaders of The Document Foundation, home to the LibreOffice fork of the ODF-based OpenOffice.org, and he's also on the board of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). The following is an interview exploring his views about standards - open and not so open.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Kenya's High Court Rules Anti-Counterfeiting Law Is Unconstitutional Because It Threatens Access To Generic Drugs

Back in 2009, Techdirt wrote about an interesting challenge to a then-new law against counterfeits in Kenya, on the grounds that it might be used to stop perfectly legal generic variants of drugs being imported into the country. That matters, because around 90% of drugs used in Kenya are generics, which means that blocking them would have serious implications for healthcare in that country. 

On Techdirt.

The Serious Business of Open Source, Inc.

One of open source's great strengths is that it is not a company. This means that traditional methods of nullifying its threat – such as buying it or causing it to go bankrupt – simply don't work. This is one reason why traditional software companies have had such a hard time getting their heads around free software and coming up with a sensible response.

On The H Open.

Open Access And The Art Of Contract Hacking

Open Access continues to gain momentum, as more and more researchers seek to make their work freely available online. One way of doing that is by modifying the contract that academic publishers routinely send to potential authors, inserting a clause that allows digital copies to be distributed. 

On Techdirt.

London 2012 Olympics Win Gold Medal For Cluelessness By Banning Video And Photo Uploads To Social Media During Games

As Techdirt has reported, the London 2012 Olympics bring with them a range of "special" measures guaranteed to make London a place for lovers of freedom to avoid this summer. But it seems that the organizers wish to ensure that anyone attending will also have a rather miserable time: 

On Techdirt.

Does Microsoft Office Lock-in Cost the UK Government £500 Million?

In may last column, I wrote about Microsoft's efforts last year to derail any possible adoption of ODF. That's very telling, because in a way it's quite separate from the issue of open standards, and it shows that one of Microsoft's chief fears is losing the extremely lucrative office suite business. But just how lucrative is it? An email from Microsoft that is apparently circulating around the Treasury department sheds some interesting light on this. Here's what it says:

On Open Enterprise blog.

Tim Berners-Lee Says UK's Net Spying Plans Would Be 'Destruction Of Human Rights'

Not content with inventing the Web and then giving it away, Tim Berners-Lee remains highly active in warning about the threats the Internet and its users face. Most recently he has taken on the British government's disproportionate plans to store information about every email sent and Web page visited in the UK: 

On Techdirt.

Italian 'Blog Killer' Law Rises From the Grave

As if Italians didn't have enough problems, it seems that their government is trying to sneak through a proposal supposedly designed to provide those who are libelled online with an automatic recourse, which activists thought they had managed to kill off five months ago. Here's the plan: 

On Techdirt.

Chinese Copyright Proposal Would Allow Compulsory Licensing Of Music After Three Months

As China continues to climb up the economic rankings (it became number two last year, in case you missed it) its domestic policy begins to have wider implications for the rest of the world. A case in point is this news from Slashdot about proposed changes to China's copyright laws. Two sections in particular are proving controversial: 

On Techdirt.

How Microsoft Fought True Open Standards II

In yesterday's post about Microsoft's lobbying of the Cabinet Office against truly open standards based on RF licensing, I spent some time examining the first part of a letter sent by the company on 20 May last year. The second part concentrates on the issue of open standards for document exchange. This touches on one of the most brutal episodes in recent computing history - the submission of Microsoft's OOXML file format to ISO for approval. 

On Open Enterprise blog.

Is TPP To Blame For The Continuing Delay In Passing New Zealand's 2008 Bill That Excludes Software Patents?

As Techdirt reported a couple of years ago, a hard-fought campaign in New Zealand to prevent software patents being granted there seemed to have paid off, with a Patents Bill explicitly excluding them that came with the following commentary: 

On Techdirt.

BSA Wants Business Software Licences To Be Checked in VAT Audits

In my last post, I wrote about my Freedom of Information request to find out how Microsoft had been lobbying against true open standards that mandated RF licensing. In fact, I made another at the same time, asking a similar question about the Business Software Alliance's contacts with the Cabinet Office. There turned out to be only two meetings, and one email, so clearly the BSA played less of a role than Microsoft in this area.

On Open Enterprise blog.

ACTA Rapporteur's Recommendations: Reject Treaty, But Ask European Commission To Come Up With Replacement

Last week, the EU Rapporteur on ACTA, David Martin, announced he would recommend that the European Parliament reject the treaty. He has now made good on that promise in his report, available in draft form (pdf): 

On Techdirt.

What One Line of Code can Teach Us

Light Blue Touchpaper is a blog written by researchers in the Security Group at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory (don't miss the explanation of the blog's rather witty name). It's normally full of deep stuff about computer security and vulnerabilities, and is well worth reading for that reason.

On The H Open.

How Microsoft Fought True Open Standards I

Regular readers may recall that I was not a little taken aback by an astonishing U-turn performed by the Cabinet Office on the matter of open standards. As I pointed out in a follow-up article, this seemed to bear the hallmarks of a Microsoft intervention, but I didn't have any proof of that. 

On Open Enterprise blog.

ACTA Closer To Death: Remaining EU Supporters Contemplate Rejecting It

Last week we saw the Socialists and Democrats, the second-largest bloc in the European Parliament, turn against ACTA. Combined with the stated position of the Green party there, that means ACTA is closer to being thrown out when the vote for ratification takes place in Brussels this summer. 

On Techdirt.

US Judge Forbids Motorola From Using German Injunction Against Microsoft

Here's an interesting development in the legal battle between Microsoft and Motorola in Germany that we discussed recently. It seems that Microsoft is worried that the German court might award Motorola an injunction against it, and so has asked a US judge to stop Motorola from using it in that case -- and he agreed: 

On Techdirt.

As ACTA 1.0 Lies Dying, Are G8 Countries Already Working On ACTA 2.0?

As we recently reported, ACTA has been dealt a serious blow by the EU Rapporteur's recommendation that the European Parliament should reject the treaty. In a fascinating leaked document (pdf) obtained by EDRI, it seems that even the G8 countries have accepted that ACTA is probably dead -- and have started working on a successor. 

On Techdirt.

Another Reason Why DRM Is Bad -- For Publishers

As a way of fighting unauthorized sharing of digital files, DRM is particularly stupid. It not only doesn't work -- DRM is always broken, and DRM-less versions quickly produced -- it also makes the official versions less valuable than the pirated ones, since they are less convenient to use in multiple ways. As a result, DRM actually makes piracy more attractive, which is probably why most of the music industry eventually decided to drop it. 

On Techdirt.

Russia Takes SOPA-Like Approach In Encouraging ISPs To Spy On Their Users

Something that's proving popular with politicians running out of ideas for tackling unauthorized sharing of copyright materials online is to make ISPs and Web sites responsible for the actions of their users -- even though nobody would think of doing the same for telephone companies. SOPA was one of the best-known examples of this approach, and now it looks like Russia wants to join the club: 

On Techdirt.