Campus LAN Piracy

As I always thought. If they close of one venue, if their is high enough demand, they'll find away around it. The RIAA and MPAA will never win this arms race.

RIAA MPAA Tackle Campus LAN Piracy

Campus piracy is heating up on LAN networks, and the RIAA and MPAA are
powerless to stop it. In the past, the RIAA and MPAA have threatened,
sued, and litigated their way to victory. Today, they can do little
more than write letters. Read more from Original article

Technorati Tags: P2P, MPAA, RIAA, Networks, Universities, File Sharing

Screwing with the wrong guy

I came across this story from digg:MPAA Screwing The Wrong Guy - One Who Won't Be Extorted were this guy (Shawn Hogan), whom I've never heard of before, is not going to talk this and is hoping to take it all the way to trial, and go down in history as one of the cases to take down the MPAA and RIAA for the racketeering & extortion methods of intimidation.

Check it out on his site: MPAA Offers To Settle (Again)

Technorati Tags: MPAA, file sharing, Lawsuit, Copy Right, LAw

New EFF Campaign

Who Are You Calling "Pirate"?

Technorati Tags: Consumer Advocates, Fair Use, anti-RIAA, Anti-MPAA

Illegal Alien Who Crashed Gate at U.S. Military Base

If this is how are system of security works around the country we are in big trouble. This is frightening on so many levels. Bush Co. keep saying the Homeland Security is the number one priority, but at every turn something comes up that just proves that they are liars.

Illegal Alien Who Crashed Gate at U.S. Military Base Allowed to “Walk”

The driver of a pick-up who ran a checkpoint at a military base in Arizona and had to be stopped by a special barrier, who is in this country illegally, who was carrying a loaded handgun and “possibly cocaine,” was actually driven back to Mexico in an ambulance without being charged...Read More

Technorati Tags: Base Security, Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, Illegal Alien

Law vs. New Technology

I keep on hearing that the FISA Law is old and out of date from people on the web.; And that is one of the reasons that Bush gave his order, well that is a bunch of BullS**T. If he truly felt that the law had problems then why didn't he go to congress. The answer is he did and was told no way by congress. Bush and Company could not except that and did an end run around congress and any oversight. One of the major papers last week said something about how this operation had to be reauthorized every 40 day by the Attorney General and how one of the Deputy Attorney generals refuse to on legel question at one point. When you have so may people thinking that this operation has serious oversight problems the President and his political cronies should not have the final say. He keeps say we couldn't because that would have gone into classified matters that congress couldn't or shouldn't be advise of and/ or could keep a lid on. And the courts were either to slow or held him to, to high of a standard. It also comes out that what few; briefings that had occurred may have mislead congress as to the true nature of his Domestic spying.

Which brings use back to the problem of this President acting as if nothing other than his opinion is required to change the law. This matter more than meets the definition of High Crimes and Misdemeanors to impeach this President. Anyone who cannot see that are constitutional protections at steak here and that without action, are rights are meaningless and only exist at the whim and pleasure of the President needs to do a reality check. The constitution does give great power to the Executive in times of war. But there are legal limits to it's use, congress to this point has not done their jobs under the constitution to balance the power of the Executive branch when it over reaches and endangers are rights.

Related
Wiretaps and Data Mining: Old Law vs. New Technology
Justice Deputy Resisted Parts of Spy Program


Technorati Tags: President, Congress, FISA, Wiretapping, Scandal, Law

Denied wiretaps, So Bypassed them updated

Daily Kos is showing slightly different numbers than the upi story that I sighted earlier in the day.

Daily Kos: FISA Court Modified Inadequate Warrant Requests

Technorati Tags: FISACourt, Courts, Wiretaps, SCOTUS

Denied wiretaps, So Bypassed them

UPI has a short blurb that Bush decided to skip the FISA Court because they had questioned and modified 179 warrants out of 5,645 requests by the Administration. Apparently that is more than all of the previous Administrations combined. They had done that only twice out of the 13,102 applications approved over the first 22 years of the court's operation. Further more this court, which I feel was doing its job correctly, had rejected six warrants flat out.

So because the court questioned 3% of these warrants that is to much interference for this Administration. Sure this is quite a jump in oversight from it's historic level of .015% disapproval. But you would think that now that we are in a state of war more questionable request would reach the court. So to this administration a 97% approval rate for these warrants makes this court an activist and out of control court that he need to bypass for the good of the country.

To me that just doesn't pass the smell test.

Related
Bush was denied wiretaps, bypassed them


Technorati Tags: SCOTUS, Courts, FISA, Wiretaps, President

And the Punches keep on coming

Just when you think that things can't get any weirder Think Progress has this story on his website: Conservative Judge Argues Bush Adminstration Can’t Be Trusted With Power I just am at a loss as to how everything that this administration has touched is coming apart at the seams all at once. All having to deal with how it welds its power in a dictatorial manner.

Take the time and read this story which revolves around Padilla's detention.

Did the Justice Dept. Commit Purgery?

The Washington Post is reporting that one of the eleven Judges, a James Robertson, that sits on the FISA Court has resigned from the court in protest to the Presidents action. But what makes this all the more interesting is the statement further in the article that he had said to colleagues in recent conversations that

he was concerned that information gained from warrantless NSA surveillance could have then been used to obtain FISA warrants. FISA court Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who had been briefed on the spying program by the administration, raised the same concern in 2004 and insisted that the Justice Department certify in writing that it was not occurring.

The more that I hear the more that I think that Bush has created a constitutional crisis.

Related:
Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest
White House Elaborates on Authority for Eavesdropping

Bushes Domistic Spying

This site has one of the most complete analysis of the legal issues involved with Bush's decision to do the warrant less spying on American citizens.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Legal Analysis of the NSA Domestic Surveillance Program:

MGM vs Grokster lawyers on C-span

C-span's Washington Journal had the lawyers in this case give a preview of their oral arguments.

Washington Journal Entire Program
Fred Von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Senior Staff Attorney
Theodore Olson, Representing Recording Industry & Motion Pictures Assn.
Briefs: MGM v Grokster | Grokster Amici
Robert Veatch, Georgetown University, Medical Ethics Professor
3/29/2005: WASHINGTON, DC: : C-SPAN

MGM vs Grokster

The New York Times has a good piece on this case also.

A Supreme Court Showdown for File Sharing

Supreme Court: MGM vs Grokster

Things just got more interesting in this P2P case going to the Supreme Court. Mark Cuban dot com Billionaire and owner of the Mavericks is throwing his support behind the defendents in the MPAA and RIAA lawsuit(MGM vs Grokster). He gives an explanation of his feeling off of his blog that is well worth a look.

Also check out BetaNews:
Supreme Court to Decide P2P Legality

Supreme Court Battle over P2P

On Tuesday March 29th a case, that I plan on following, starts in the Supreme Court dealing with the possible future of P2P networks. The real questions seems to be whether the court will reverse it's Betamax decision that created the home video market over the objection of the movie and record industries. At the time they argued pretty much the same thing as now, that these new technologies threaten them with illegal piracy. Like then and at every other point that these industries have faced new challenges, they have jumped to the wrong conclusions. Instead of adapting they are trying to kill it and dragged their feet in adoption, but even if they do win, they loses. By not adapting to what their customers want, and giving them poor substitutes. They are forcing their potential customers to illegal means. The industry has been living in a bubble, thinking that they can force people to their point of view. But this case could once again change what is constituted as "Fair Use".


Article in the Economist