Patent trolls, open source, do not track, SOPA, PIPA and much, much more: Facebook’s IPO filing has a real zoo of issues. The securities laws require that companies going public identify risk factors that could adversely affect the company’s stock. Facebook’s S-1 filing, which it sent to the SEC today, identified almost 40 such factors. [...]
The 2012 presidential election cycle is already giving internet law enthusiasts things to talk about. Last week it was Ron Paul’s grumblings about an unauthorized campaign ad on YouTube. Now NBC is moaning about a Mitt Romney ad comprised almost entirely of Tom Brokaw on the Nightly News in 1997. NBC has asked the ad [...]
If I left my coat in a taxi that was later impounded because, unknown to me, the driver was transporting heroin in the trunk, would I be left out in the cold? People who used Megaupload to lawfully store and transfer files are rightfully upset that their stuff is unavailable after last week’s raid. Some [...]
Kashmir Hill pointed out that at least one erstwhile file sharing service has changed its business model in response to the federal government’s action against Megaupload. She observes that: FileSonic users can’t be too happy to have one of the main features of the site taken away. But the company must be less worried about [...]
Earlier this week Eriq Gardner speculated in a tweet that less than one tenth of one percent of folks have actually read the SOPA legislation. I bet he’s right. It’s good to read the statute. But what might be worse than not reading it is reading it wrongly and thereafter propagating misunderstanding. One of the [...]
It has been an exceptionally busy week for copyright policy. We heard from all three branches of the US Federal Government in one way or another, while the citizens of the Internet flexed their muscles in response.
The most covered story of the week w…
The day of protest against the now (hopefully) infamous "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011" (PROTECT IP Act, or PIPA) has ended….
This list is a work in progress. Newer additions are at the top of the list. Porn Sites Black Out For SOPA (WebProNews) The Internet at its Best (EFF) Anti-piracy battle reveals dysfunctional thinking (The Hill) A SOPA/PIPA Blackout Explainer (Wired Threat Level) SOPA, PIPA won’t break the Internet (Washington Post) SOPA Outrage Is Breaking [...]
In light of today’s internet blackouts, we have received numerous requests for information about the Stop Online Piracy Act ("SOPA") and the Protect IP Act ("PIPA"), as well as the reasons for today’s protest of these two bills. …
That’s the title of my Slaw post for today. It reads as follows. Here are some of the sites that are going dark today, or changing their home pages in protest over the proposed US legislation. For more information on why this legislation is so bad, check out these sites, or search for “SOPA” on [...]