BSA Piracy Study: Mere Shadow Boxing?

So, once again, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has come out with its annual report on software piracy around the world, entitled "Shadow Market" [.pdf]. And, once again, it makes all the same methodological mistakes - it's almost as if the BSA hasn't been reading my critiques of last year and the year before....

On Open Enterprise blog.

Should People Learn To Code? Yes – If They Are Judges Ruling On Cases Involving Software

Recently Techdirt wrote about the heated debate on the subject of whether people should learn to code. We pointed out that some knowledge of that subject could be particularly useful in helping people understand why copyrighting APIs or patenting software is just crazy -- whatever the abstract legal arguments, in practice both make programming much, much harder. 

On Techdirt.

One Area Where China Should Definitely Stop Ripping Off The West: Copyright Law

When it comes to ACTA and TPP, China is the elephant in the room -- or maybe that should be the dragon in the room. For without China's participation, these treaties designed to reduce counterfeiting will have little effect. And despite rather desperate optimism on the part of some that China will rush to sign up, itscomments so far suggest otherwise.

On Techdirt.

London Police To Extract Data From Suspects' Mobile Phones -- And Keep It Even If No Charges Are Brought

As the mobile phone moves closer to the center of daily life in many parts of the world, combining phone, computer, camera, diary, music player, and much else all in one, it becomes a concentrated store of the digital DNA that defines us -- who we talk to, what we search for, who we meet, what we listen to. However convenient that may be for us as users, it's also extremely dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands.

On Techdirt.

Poland Betrays Its Past, Moves Closer To Allowing Software Patents

Earlier this year, Poland played a crucial role in igniting street protests that pretty much stopped ACTA in its tracks. That's not the first time it has had a major impact on European tech policy. Half a decade earlier, it derailed a proposed EU software patent directive, which had sought to make software patentable in Europe -- something that Article 52 of the European Patent Convention had appeared to rule out. That led to a later vote in the European Parliament wheresoftware patents were decisively rejected.

On Techdirt.

ACTA Update XVI

On Monday I posted my talk "Before and After SOPA". In it, there's a reference to "country club" treaties (slide 17) that may have intrigued some people. It's a term I came across recently, and I think provides us with a useful way of thinking about ACTA (and TPP).

On Open Enterprise blog.

The Sky Continues To Rise: EU Gross Box Office Returns And EU Film Production Both Hit Record Highs In 2011

Even though just about every objective statistic suggests otherwise, the copyright industries still take turns bemoaning the terrible toll that piracy is supposedly taking on their markets. So it's good to come across some official figures that suggest the contrary, particularly because in this case they come from the European Audiovisual Observatory—not a market research company, but a public service body. Here are the latest numbers for the European film industry:

On Techdirt.

UK ISPs Are Already Planning To Offer Porn Filters -- So Who Needs New Legislation?

Last week Techdirt wrote about the possible introduction of an "opt-in" license to view porn online in the UK. As we noted then, there is nothing to stop parents from installing their own filters to block access to certain kinds of Web sites now. But it seems that soon, they won't even have to do that:

On Techdirt.

How Microsoft Fought True Open Standards V

Ten years ago, people were saying that open source would never be able to best proprietary software. But what they overlooked was the fact that Apache had already beaten Microsoft's IIS Web server offering back in the mid-1990s, and had never lost that leadership once. 

On Open Enterprise blog.

They're Not 'Orphan Works', They're 'Hostage Works'

Words matter -- just think of the number of times flame wars have broken out in Techdirt's comments over whether you can "steal" music or films. But one phrase that nobody really questions is "orphan work". And yet, as Lydia Pallas Loren points out in a brilliant paper, this is a loaded term with a very particular agenda:

On Techdirt.

Harvard And MIT Back Open Education With $60 Million Online Learning Project

News that Harvard University is the latest to join the growing revolt against the exorbitant pricing of academic journals caused something of a stir recently -- although it has been pointed out that its case would be stronger if it followed its own advice and made the Harvard Business Review open access, or at least cheaper.

On Techdirt.

Before and After SOPA

A few weeks ago, I gave a talk at the Reykjavik Digital Freedoms Conference with the title "Before and After SOPA". Much of it will be familiar to readers of this blog, since it was reviewing the events around the extraordinary anti-SOPA Internet Blackout Day on January 18, which has now emerged as a turning-point in Net activism, and exploring what might happen now. As usual, I've embedded my slides below, and they may also be viewed online and downloaded.

On Open Enterprise blog.

After the German Pirate Party's String Of Successes, Here Comes The Backlash

Over the last few months, Techdirt has been reporting on the amazing rise of the German Pirate Party, with win after win after win. Politicians in the other parties have looked on aghast, powerless to halt the rise of something they clearly can't fathom. Inevitably, the fightback has finally begun, but packaged as an artists' revolt, not simply that of the copyright industries worried about their profit margins. 

On Techdirt.

Now It's Switzerland's Turn To Call ACTA Into Question

When discussing ACTA, there's a natural tendency to concentrate on the bigger players -- the US or the EU -- but it's important to remember that there are many other countries involved. One of those is Switzerland, which has just joined the doubters' club by holding off from signing ACTA. Here's why (French original): 

On Techdirt.

Why Patent Injunctions Are Even Worse For Open Source

The damage that software patents cause to innovation in the computer world is a constant theme here on Techdirt. But as a fascinating new paper by James Boyle explains, the threat to open source, particularly from patent injunctions, is even greater because of the special characteristics of that software development methodology: 

On Techdirt.

South Korea Still Paying The Price For Embracing Internet Explorer A Decade Ago

The problems of monopolies arising through network effects, and the negative effects of the lock-in that results, are familiar enough. But it's rare to come across an entire nation suffering the consequences of both quite so clearly as South Korea, which finds itself in this situation thanks to a really unfortunate decision made by its government some years back: 

On Techdirt.

What Does The Election Of France's New President Mean For European Copyright?

Whatever you might have thought of his policies, Nicolas Sarkozy probably had more impact on European copyright policy than any other EU politician. He consciously tried to the lead the way in bringing in more extreme copyright enforcement, most notably with the "three strikes" HADOPI law. 

On Techdirt.

ACTA Update XV

Since my last ACTA update, plenty has been happening - there's really never a dull moment in this area. 

On Open Enterprise blog.

Why Microsoft Loves The Rise of (Some) Openness

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how businesses based around giving stuff away were able to make money by replacing far more expensive options. One aspect of that is that open source leaves money in people's wallets. The other side, of course, is that purveyors of more expensive options tend to lose out. That's a pattern that is being repeated across different industries - not just in the software world.

On Open Enterprise blog.

After SOPA And ACTA, Now TPP Starts To Fall Apart

What an extraordinary year this has been for Net activism. After the great SOPA blackout led to SOPA and PIPA being withdrawn, and the anti-ACTA street demonstrations triggered a complete rethink by the European Parliament that may well result in a rejection of the treaty, now it seems that the Trans Pacific Partnership is falling to pieces. 

On Techdirt.

UK Consumer Ebook Sales Increase by 366%: Publishers Association Calls For Digital Piracy To Be 'Tackled'

One of the beloved tropes of the copyright industries is that they are being destroyed by online piracy. Superficially, it's a plausible claim, not least because of the false equation of copyright infringement with "theft", and the lingering suggestion that every time something is shared online, a sale is lost. Of course, as Techdirt's report, "The Sky is Rising", demonstrated from publicly-available figures, the facts are very different: all of the creative industries are thriving. 

On Techdirt.

EU Commissioner Kroes: 'We Are Now Likely To Be In A World Without SOPA And Without ACTA'

Neelie Kroes gave a keynote speech at this year's re:publica conference in Berlin (disclosure: I spoke there too) that brought together many of the themes she has touched on recently -- the open Web, copyright licensing, the potential of open data, and the need to provide enhanced Internet safety for children. Interesting and important as all those are, they pale into insignificance beside the following comment she made: 

On Techdirt.

Re-Inventing Public Libraries For The Digital Age

It would be something of an understatement to say that the world of public libraries is undergoing rapid change at the moment. On the one hand, the rise of open access means that people are increasingly able to find information online that was formerly held in serried ranks of volumes stored on library stacks. On the other, publishers' reluctance to allow ebooks to be lent out puts a key traditional function of libraries under threat. So what exactly should public libraries being doing in the digital age? Eric F. Van de Velde has written a a fascinating exploration of that question, along with a few suggestions. 

On Techdirt.

Even Harvard Can't Afford Subscriptions To Academic Journals; Pushes For Open Access

Techdirt has published several posts recently about the growing anger among scholars over the way their work is exploited by academic publishers. But there's another angle to the story, that of the academic institutions who have to pay for the journals needed by their professors and students. Via a number of people, we learn that the scholars' revolt has spread there, too: 

On Techdirt.

How Microsoft Fought True Open Standards IV

Yesterday I looked at the first part of a long document that Microsoft sent the Cabinet Office in October last year. Here I'd like to explore one of the other sections, which is headed as follows:

On Open Enterprise blog.