The federal government rarely hands fair use proponents cheerful news – usually it’s quite the opposite. But a judge of the 5th Circuit Appeals Court has ruled that circumventing DRM for non-infringing purposes isn’t illegal, contrary to years of precedent.
This has come rather unexpectedly, and very early in the morning/late at night. Microsoft and HTC’s relationship goes back years, but just what this new patent agreement for Android phones refers to, no one knows. Exchange? Full Office support?
The RIAA and MPAA have submitted a plan to the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement. It’s basically a plan that they want the government to enact, and it’s terrifying.
Courts ruled that Chinese language editions of Windows 98 SE, 2000, XP and Server 2003 will be banned from being sold in China due to Microsoft infringing on the intellectual property of a Beijing-based software company. By using two Chinese fonts.
President Bush signed into law today a bill that will create a centralised position in the executive branch, appointed by the president, to head up the fight against piracy and intellectual property violations. The Prioritising Resources and Organisation for Intellectual Property Act (PRO-IP) is backed strongly by the usuals–MPAA, RIAA, etc.–and yet faced some pushback from the Justice Department and the Bush administration itself as it made its way through the House and Senate. So what does it all mean?
