Law and Ochlocracy Digest for October 6th through October 8th:
- Winny Developer gets fined $12,500 USD for aiding copyright infringement – The creator of Winny, the Japanese P2P file-sharing program, has been convicted in Kyoto District Court of assisting in copyright infringement.
It is the first time that a software developer in Japan has been held responsible for the illegal activities of others.
- Toyota Hybrids Face Potential U.S. Import Ban on Patent Probe – Bloomberg.com – Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest maker of hybrid vehicles, faces a potential U.S. import ban on Prius and other hybrid models as trade officials begin a patent-infringement investigation.
- The criticism that Ralph Lauren doesn’t want you to see! – Boing Boing – Ralph Lauren's marketing arm and its law firm don't see it that way. According to them, this is an "infringing image," and they thoughtfully took the time to send a DMCA takedown notice to our awesome ISP, Canada's Priority Colo. One of the things that makes Priority Colo so awesome is that they don't automatically act on DMCA takedowns.
- IBM faces DOJ antitrust inquiry on mainframes – Network World – CCIA's complaint against IBM alleges that the company has refused to issue licenses for IBM's mainframe OS to competitors, as required in a series of actions the DOJ took against IBM dating back to the 1970s
- Police Force in New Orleans Continues to Face Chaos – Four years after the department was accused of acting lawlessly in suppressing violence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, dozens of officers, some from an elite unit, have been interviewed by the F.B.I. or faced subpoenas to testify before federal grand juries. F.B.I. agents seized files from the department’s homicide division.
- US court says software is owned, not licensed – claim of ownership allows resale of licensed software
- Wanted by the FBI (Aaron Swartz’s Raw Thought) – FOIA for legal case
- Attorney: Info sent to G-20 protesters via Twitter was public – "it could form a test of whether new communications technologies are instruments of free speech — or of illegality."
