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Sponsor of online piracy bill voices concerns over censorship issues

donal brown November 17, 2011

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith R-Texas, expressed concerns over the scope of the Stop Online Piracy Act by saying that he was uncertain whether the Justice Department should be allowed to obtain court orders demanding that ISPs prevent users from visiting blacklisted websites, websites accused of infringing on intellectual property. Under intense fire from the technology sector, it now appears that the bill will be amended. -db From a commentary in

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Report: U.S. corporations joining with tyrants to curb Internet freedom

donal brown September 22, 2011

Current laws and codes of conduct aren’t enough to prevent United States companies from helping repressive regimes censor the Internet and control information that have abetted human right abuses, according to a report from a Canadian security firm. The Global Online Freedom Act, a law under consideration, would prohibit U.S. companies from helping governments restrict the Internet. -db From the National Journal, September 20, 2011, by Josh Smith. Full story

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Google’s purchase of Motorola shows dangers of out-of-control patent litigation

Peter Scheer August 16, 2011

BY PETER SCHEER—Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola is a sign of serious problems for the US economy. Motorola’s strategic appeal to Google is its portfolio of thousands of patents covering mobile phone technologies. But the acquisition of these patents creates no real value for Google. They are in the nature of a massive  premium payment for insurance against suits by competitors and others for alleged patent infringement. Google is at risk for such suits

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Should there be a right to privacy on the Web?

FAC August 15, 2011

Europe is pursuing a “right to be forgotten” on the Web as privacy advocates argue that the lifetime of certain postings ought to be curtailed. According to the New York Times, Spain has ordered Google to stop indexing Web files related to 90 people who complained to the country’s Data Protection Agency. Among the complainants: a victim of domestic violence whose address was readily available through Google. The Times said the European Union is expected

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EFF director argues for use of online pseudonyms

donal brown August 1, 2011

With advent of the Google+ policy requiring users to identify by “the name your friend, family or do-workers usually call you,” Jillian York, a director for the Electronic Freedom Foundation argues that the benefits of pseudonyms outweigh the negatives, particularly for gays and other people subject to violence or harassment such as victims of domestic violence and particularly those opposing oppressive political regimes. York writes, “Those in favor of the use of ‘real names’ on

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