Another Reason to Use Open Source: Sane Licensing

A couple of weeks ago, I pointed out how a decision in Norway involving cash registers emphasised one of the advantages of open source - its natural auditability. Here's another interesting situation that points out a further reason for choosing openness.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Australia's Spies Want To Put Members Of The Public At Risk By Using Them To Pass On Malware to Suspected Terrorists

Last year we wrote about the German police using malware to spy on members of the public. Now ASIO, Australia's national secret service, has come up with a new variant on the idea: 

On Techdirt.

Learning From Aaron Swartz: Content Must Not Be The End Game For Knowledge

In the wake of the suicide of Aaron Swartz, there have been many fine tributes to the man and his work. Another growing class of posts that have flowed from this unhappy event are people reflecting on the important lessons he taught them. Here, for instance, is Jeff Jarvis recounting his journey from a fairly traditional position on copyright to one that recognized how the Internet had reshaped that landscape. 

On Techdirt.

Pharma Companies Try 'DRM' For Drugs As A Ploy To Stymie Generics

One of the striking features of the drug world is how pharma companies become noticeably more inventive immediately before their patents are due to run out and their drugs are about to enter the public domain. That's because they need to find a way to differentiate themselves from the generic manufacturers that are then able to offer the same medicines for often vastly lower prices. 

On Techdirt.

Portuguese Government Capitulates On Copyright Levies, Despite Lack Of Support From Public And Artists

Back in February last year, Techdirt wrote about the rather pathetic attempts of the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA) to drum up some support among its members for a new copyright levy on storage devices in the face of a public outcry at the extra costs this would impose on consumer and professional products. This was a dismal failure, and so it's probably no surprise that the Portuguese government didn't move forward with the original plans. 

On Techdirt.

Will Neelie Kroes Defend or Destroy EU Net Neutrality?

I have a lot of time for Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission with responsibility for the Digital Agenda. She's easily the most tech-savvy of the European Commissioners - although cynics would point out that's setting a low bar. Sometimes, she's downright radical, as in this speech about copyright, delivered back in 2011:

On Open Enterprise blog.

Toxic Cloud Computing, and How Open Source Can Help

There are so many parts to the institutions running the European Union that it's easy to lose sight of them all and their varied activities. For example, one of the lesser-known European Parliament bodies is the Directorate-General for Internal Policies. You might expect the studies that it commissions to be deadly dull, but some turn out to be not just highly interesting but hugely important.

On Open Enterprise blog.

UK Mobile Operator 3UK Filtering New Class Of 'Mature Content', Including Political Satire

Smartphones have some big advantages: they offer considerable computing power in a highly-portable form, and are available at prices that allow a broad spectrum of users to get online easily. But as we reported last year, there's a big downside, too, one that's all-the-more dangerous for being invisible to most people: overblocking of sites caused by opt-out "child protection filters" applied by some mobile operators to their Internet feed. 

On Techdirt.

Beatles' First Single Enters Public Domain -- In Europe

The Beatles remain the iconic pop group, so news on VVN/Music that their very first single has now entered the public domain is something of a landmark moment in music: 

On Techdirt.

Fighting for Open Access

As you may have noticed, this weekend the online world has been filled with news of and responses to the suicide of the young American activist Aaron Swartz. Many excellent personal tributes have been written about the man and his achievements, but here I want to concentrate on the just one aspect: the incident that led to his arrest and probably to his suicide too. Here's how Techdirt explained the situation:

On Open Enterprise blog.

Another Reason to Use Open Source: Auditability

The Norwegian Ministry of Finance seems to be taking a bit of stick at the moment. It wants all the existing cash registers in the country thrown out and replaced with new ones, as the Norwegian site E24 reports (via Thomas Steen and Google Translate)

On Open Enterprise blog.

EU Data Protection and Open Standards

As happened for last year, 2013 will doubtless see plenty of battles in the domains of open standards, copyright and software patents, but there will also be a new theme: data protection. That's a consequence of an announcement made by the European Commission almost exactly a year ago:

On Open Enterprise.

OpenStreetMap: the Open Source of the Mobile Age

One of the themes of this blog has been the wider influence of open source. Everyone knows about open content projects like Wikipedia, but one open endeavour that still hasn't made the big breakthrough into the public's consciousness is OpenStreetMap. Here's how it describes itself:

On Open Enterprise blog.

World Economic Forum Warns That Patents Are Making Us Lose The Race Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Back in June last year, Techdirt reported on the warning from the World Health Organization's Director-General that we risked entering a "post-antibiotic era". That was in part because the current patent system was not encouraging the right kind of research by pharma companies in order to develop the new antibiotics that we desperately need. 

On Techdirt.

Study Shows Educational And Social Harm 'Three Strikes' Punishment Would Cause Young People

One of the extraordinary aspects of the "three strikes" approach to copyright enforcement is its blind vindictiveness. After three or so alleged acts of infringing on copyright, it's not one individual that's punished, but the entire household that depends on the family Internet connection in question, irrespective of the personal situation of those affected. This kind of collective punishment is something that is regarded as abhorrent in other contexts, but the power of the copyright industries is such that several governments around the world followed the French lead and introduced precisely this kind of scheme, and to hell with the damage it might cause to innocent and vulnerable people caught up in it. 

Techdirt.

Web Blocking's Slippery Slope: It's Never 'Just' One Site

Even against a background of repeated attempts to censor the Net, it's still possible to become a little complacent about some of the actions being taken by the copyright industries. For example, many people probably feel that blocking a site like The Pirate Bay isn't really a problem because, after all, it's just one site, right? 

On Techdirt.

Church Site Blocked By Mobile Networks, Classified Under 'Alcohol'

Against a background of the UK government teetering on the brink of imposing an opt-out Web filter "for the children", here's yet another example of how automatic categorization of sites for blacklists gets it wrong, as recounted by the UK's Open Rights Group (ORG): 

On Techdirt.

Pirated Buildings In China And The Rise Of Architectural Mashups

Although China is often glibly dismissed as little more than an imitator of others, yet another story about copying paradoxically shows it leading the way. That's because what's being cloned is an entire building complex that's still under construction: 

On Techdirt.

Move Over 'TacoCopter': Here Comes The 'Internet Of Drones'

As we know, the Internet works by breaking digital information up into IP packets which are then routed independently over the network, and then re-assembled at their destination. Anything made up of 0s and 1s can be sent anywhere with an Internet connection in this way, but that isn't much good for physical objects. 

On Techdirt.

Opera About Walt Disney Refused Permission To Use Disney Images

Techdirt has noted before the hypocrisy of Disney in refusing to allow others to draw on its creativity in the same way that it has drawn on the art and ideas of the past. Here's another example, but this time it's an opera that's had difficulties: 

On Techdirt.

The Main Problem With Patented GM Food Is The Patent, Not The Fact That It's GM

The acrimonious debate and serious lobbying that developed around California's Proposition 37, which would have required the labelling of genetically-modified ingredients in food products had it passed, is an indication that the subject inspires extreme views and involves big money. But an interesting post in Slate argues that GM labelling is really a minor issue compared to the main problem -- gene patents: 

On Techdirt.

Danish Court Orders Spanish Site Blocked Because It Uses Trademarked English Word 'Home' As Part Of Its Name

Daft trademarking stories are common enough, but it's always fun to come across new variations on the theme. Netzpolitik points us to this story from Denmark, where a Spanish-owned property site called HomelifeSpain.com ran into trouble because the word "home" was trademarked in Denmark by the Danish property site home.dk. This resulted in the rather incredible remedy of the website itself being banned entirely. As Netzpolitik notes, this is classic function creep: such web blocks were introduced to fight -- you guessed it -- child pornography, and yet here they are being applied in the rather less serious matter of trademark infringement. 

On Techdirt.

After ACTA: Trans-Atlantic Partnership Agreement

It's not often that trade agreements make it to the front page of the newspapers, but that's what happened on New Year's Day:

On Open Enterprise blog.

UK Interim Guidelines And Consultation On Prosecuting Cases Involving Social Networks

As we reported a few months back, Keir Starmer, the UK's Director of Public Prosecutions, made the remarkable suggestion that "the time has come for an informed debate about the boundaries of free speech in an age of social media." That debate has now arrived in the form of a UK consultation on "prosecutions involving social media communications," which takes as its starting point a series of interim guidelines for UK prosecutors when they are grappling with the freedom of speech issues raised by such cases. Here's how Starmer describes the initiative: 

On Techdirt.

How Neutral Can Kazakh-Language Wikipedians Be?

Although there has been some sniping about the quality of Wikipedia's entries from time to time, we generally take it for granted that when key articles are missing they will get written, and that if they are unbalanced, they will gradually get better -- all thanks to the open, collaborative editing process that sorts out such problems. But an interesting post on registan.net notes that these dynamics may not apply to some versions of Wikipedia -- for example, the one written in the Kazakh language: 

On Techdirt.