All Things Digital

Skip to main content.

Digital Daily

Thursday, July 2, 2009

DOJ Confirms Antitrust Investigation Into Google Book Settlement

googfireworksLooks like the fireworks have begun early in Mountain View. On Thursday afternoon, the Department of Justice officially notified Google that it is investigating its book deal for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The notification after the jump.

Read More »

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Google Book Search for “Antitrust Law” Ought to Come in Handy Here…

googbooksGoogle’s gone and run afoul of the Department of Justice again. Its interest piqued by the growing outcry over the company’s proposed book-search settlement with authors and publishers, the agency has opened an inquiry.

Read More »

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Swedish File-Sharers Mull VPN (Virtual Pirate Network)

piratecassetteIf Sweden’s Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive was crafted to scare the hell out of the country’s Internet population, it seems to have had the desired affect. Swedish Internet traffic dropped by a third on Wednesday after the law, which allows copyright holders to force ISPs to divulge the IP addresses of computers sharing copyrighted material, was implemented.

Read More »

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It Was Hard Enough to Take You Seriously With the Word “Phonograph” in Your Name…

piratebayYou’ve got to love the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry–if not for its hopelessly antediluvian moniker, then for its we’re-on-a-mission-from-God attitude toward its criminal case against torrent index The Pirate Bay. Just two days into the trial–apparently the hottest ticket in Stockholm right now–and already, half the charges against the Swedish site have been dropped because of the prosecution’s fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the torrent-distributed protocol.

Read More »

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Psyonara, Pt. III

In its last legal salvo against Psystar, Apple suggested the Mac clone maker was backed by a silent third party or two. And at this point it better be, because there’s going to be hell to pay when Apple legal is through with it, regardless of how Psystar revises its original complaint.

Read More »

Monday, November 3, 2008

Nevermind the Baallocks, Here’s the Econolypse

Read More »

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Motorola to Layoff Staff, Operating Systems

Read More »

Friday, August 29, 2008

Speaking of “Destroying Competition,” Meet Our Legal Team From Mortify, Debase and Demolish LLP

Apple legal has some interesting weekend reading ahead of it. Mac clone maker Psystar filed its 54-page countersuit against Apple late Thursday and, as expected, it accuses the company of restraint of trade, unfair competition, and other violations of antitrust law.

Read More »

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Internet Explorer’s Extreme Makeover

Read More »

YouTube: Muahaha–My Master Plan Is Coming to Fruition!

Given the option to pull copyrighted material posted to YouTube without their permission or to monetize it with YouTube’s new Content ID system, some 90 percent of copyright owners are choosing the latter. Since it was first announced, Content ID–which allows rights owners to block an infringing clip, leave it be, or grant YouTube permission to sell ads against it–has won some impressive partners, including such media companies as CBS, Universal Music and Electronic Arts.

Read More »

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

YouTube to Mediaset SpA: Va’ All’Inferno!

Looks like Google has updated its arrogance algorithm again. Having dismissed Viacom’s $1 billion copyright infringement suit over video clips on YouTube as a “mistake,” the company is taking the same tack with a similar suit brought against it by Italian TV company Mediaset SpA.

Read More »

Thursday, June 5, 2008

U2: The Unforgettable Ire

mcguinness.jpgIf Bono is U2’s geopolitical pragmatist, the band’s manager, Paul McGuinness, is its neo-Luddite. At the Music Matters confab in Hong Kong, McGuinness slagged broadband Internet service providers, accusing them of aiding and abetting music piracy while CD sales and royalty payments to musicians plunge.

Read More »

Monday, May 19, 2008

Hi “Lonelyterroris15” JLieberman Has Subscribed to Your Videos!

lieberman.jpgAdd Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) to the list of folks who complain YouTube is neither thorough or expedient in removing objectionable content from its servers, whether it be in violation of copyright or “good taste.”

Read More »

Friday, May 2, 2008

NBC Universal CEO: I Can Has Pro-IP Act?

If there was an Emmy Award for legislation production, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker would surely win it. Last October he called upon Congress to pass a bill that would create a dedicated intellectual-property enforcement bureau and today it’s looking more and more like he’s going to get it.
This week members of the House [...]

Read More »

Thursday, March 27, 2008

TorrentSpy Takes a Dirt Nap

If the Motion Picture Association of America is so intent on shuttering BitTorrent trackers, perhaps it should set its sites on the really big offenders, like say … Google. It’s going to have to sooner or later, because some day there won’t be any smaller operations left for it to sue.

Read More »

Latest Digital Daily Videos

More Videos »

About John

John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.

Read more »

Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

Read more »

alt.misc

  • 10 Best Uses Of Classical Music In Classic Cartoons

    Includes “Pigs in a Polka,” “Rabbit of Seville” and, of course, “What’s Opera, Doc?”

  • Web Site Story

    Take the famous ballads and duets of West Side Story, insert a dozen mentions of famous social media sites like twitter and facebook, and this is what you get.

  • Wooden iPod

    An iPod mini rebuilt with a wooden case

  • Han Solo, P.I.

    Star Wars meets Magnum, P.I.

  • The “literal video” collection

    Music videos recreated with new lyrics based on what’s actually happening in them. Daydream Believer and Total Eclipse of the Heart are particularly good.

  • E-Mail From Your Facilities Department

    In response to numerous e-mails, I have no idea what planet the giant alien creature is from. Judging from its enormous gills, I’d have to guess it’s from a watery planet. Reminder: please let me know if you plan to be in the office on Memorial Day so I can request HVAC for your floor.

  • Amazon Customer Reviews: Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt

    For those of you who mock the wolf shirt beware. There is an old Navajo story about a young man who made fun of another man for wearing a wolf trio shirt. Legend has it that in his sleep, the wolves on the other man’s shirt came to life and tore his body to shreds. They never found any part of that man’s body. The Wolf is something to be respected and feared, not treated like a novelty.

  • Nice Muscle!

    Hands down the most inexplicably bizarre game for Wii I’ve ever seen

  • Respectful Yo Mama Jokes

    Yo mama is so attractive she could be on the cover of Prevention.

  • Introduction to Microcontroller Programming: The Flatulometer

    The inspiration for this project was to determine who could generate the worst flatulence measurable in a personally unbiased manner.

Older at alt.misc »