intellectual property

Pinterest is a social site for image sharing around themes that launched in closed beta in March 2010. As the site proceeded through an invite system and finally registration requests, it gained a considerable following and was one of Time's "50 Best Websites of 2011." In January 2012, it drove more referral traffic to retailers than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined and became the fastest site to ever break 10 million unique visitors. As its popularity increases, so have concerns about whether its users aren't just sharing their favorite things, but engaging one another in the web's largest copyright infringement platform. » Read more

Technology issues are now a matter for citizens of the internet and not just big corporations.

Now that the US bills SOPA and PIPA have been put on ice, attention has returned to their parent, an international treaty called ACTA. I've written extensively about ACTA before, but in summary it is an international treaty that has been secretly negotiated to ensure as little input as possible from the citizens of any country. » Read more

Here's one list purporting to be the "10 Major Companies Which Are Supporting SOPA/PIPA" – Philip Morris, Rolex, Dolce & Gabbana, Adidas, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Ford Motor Company, Sony, Wal-Mart, World Wrestling Entertainment, Electronic Art – Notice something about them? » Read more

Where does open source come from? » Read more

Proponents of the latest disastrous IP bill, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) insist it only targets the "worst of the worst:" so-called "rogue" foreign websites that profit from pirating U.S. intellectual property. But the broad definitions and vague language in the bill could place dangerous tools into the hands of IP rightsholders, with little opportunity for judicial oversight. One very possible outcome: many of the lawful sites you know and love will face new legal threats. » Read more

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I recently wrote about the $4.5 billion auction for Nortel's portfolio of 6,000 patents that went to a consortium that included Apple, Microsoft, and RIM (Blackberry) -- three of four smartphone platforms. In the wake of this sale, Interdigital has contemplated monetizing its portfolio of 8,500 patents, perhaps even putting the company up for sale. Google announced that it has bought over 1,000 patents from IBM for defensive purposes. Perennial investor Carl Icahn suggested that Motorola cash in on some of its immense portfolio of 18000 patents. » Read more

On April 26, the world lost Keith Aoki, author, artist, and distinguished professor at the UC Davis law school. You've seen his work on opensource.com in our Theft! A History of Music series of posts, which previewed the forthcoming comic book by the same name.

Aoki's colleague James Boyle summarized some of his most well-known work in a great memorial post to his friend: » Read more

I get it. Anything the Democrats want, Republicans oppose. If Democrats make concessions toward Republicans, Republicans reject the concessions and make new demands.

But this is absurd. » Read more