Although the imagery of the article from which this post takes it’s title, is hilarious; turn our movie theatres into war zones, with metal detectors, pat-downs, and night-vision goggles, while security at our schools and universities remains lax, I believe that despite the movie industry’s use of James Bond-esque technology, this may not be the […]
Admittedly, I cannot recall the last time I purchased a music CD but I do have a half empty box of blank CDs on my bookcase. I also have an iPod that I use regularly to stave off the monotony of my commute. The current Private Copying Levy allows people like me to actively download […]
The private copying levy is enforced by the Copyright Board of Canada where a levy is imposed on purchases of audio recording medium within the meaning of Section 79 of the Copyright Act. The Canadian recording industry strongly pushed for this levy to be extended to the MP3 player devices and in 2004 legislation was […]
The issue in dispute deals with a user of the popular online game, Second Life, who exploited a flaw in Linden Lab’s online auctions. Marc Bragg used the flaw to purchase virtual land at well below market value and as a response Linden Lab seized his virtual land and shut down his account. This case […]
Advertising plays an ever-increasing part in promoting competition and education for consumers. In such an era, web advertising has gained unprecedented popularity. By web-ad we mean ad forming the part of the web page itself and so is different from the pop-up ads populating like electronic billboards on our computer screen when we visit some […]
Warner Music Group Corp. announced a larger than expected third-quarter loss and attributed the larger loss to more consumers purchasing digital music instead of CDs. While digital revenue increased seven percent from the previous quarter, revenue from recorded music fell four percent. This example provides an opportunity to examine the current business model employed by […]
AllofMP3, a music-download site, announced that it will reopen after a Russian court acquitted the site’s former owner of violating IP law. The site was originally forced to close following pressure from the US administration over Russia’s poor protection of IP rights. This case immediately reminds me of the controversial Napster site which was forced […]
Intuitively it feels strange to ask whether consumers have a legal right to unlock iPhones, their own personal property. We don’t ask whether someone has a right to change Internet providers while keeping the same computer. Yet Apple and AT&T are trying to convince the American public that there is something wrong with unlocking the […]
The YouTube phenomenon has swept the Internet in a relatively short period of time, but with this popularity has also come an onslaught of copyright infringement litigation. The most significant of this litigation is the1 billion-dollar lawsuit initiated by Viacom in March 2007. Since then, a number of other major media companies and publishers have […]
In August 2007, an unnamed 16 year old from Aix-en-Provence, France, was arrested, detained, and subsequently released for posting his own unauthorised French translation of The Deathly Hallows (the seventh and last chapter in the lucrative Harry Potter series). The book was released at midnight on July 21, and the teen translated the 784 pages […]