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Vote on US Internet sales tax bill nears: Marketplace Fairness Act
- The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act -- an innocuously named piece of legislation which is actually an initiative to implement a nation-wide sales tax. Essentially, the MFA doesn't create a federal sales tax, but…
CISPA passes House (again), White House threatens veto (again)
- The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is once again making the rounds. The bill passed the House on Thursday with a 288-127 vote. Although there appears to be a fair amount of bi-partisan support for the bill, it may…
Phone-unlocking petition author launches "Fix the DMCA" campaign
- Sina Khanifar, co-found of OpenSignal, has launched a campaign to "fix" the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Interestingly, Khanifar is also the same person who authored a recent petition to legalize cellphone unlocking. His "We the People" submission was subsequently blessed…
Iceland drafts Internet porn ban, EU considers "self-regulated" approach
- The European Parliament is mulling over a proposal brought forth by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality which, amongst other things, calls for a self-regulating ban on all forms of pornography in the "media". Parliamentary member Christian Engstrom…
White House: It's time to legalize cell phone unlocking
- In February, a petition calling for an end to the ban on unlocking cell phones was introduced. In a short amount of time, the petition received the requisite 100,000 signatures needed to elicit a possible White House responsible. Today, the…
FCC will investigate phone unlocking ban, cites innovation, competition concerns
- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says the FCC will be investigating whether or not a ban on cellphone unlocking is a sensible demand. The government communications body will also be exploring its options to address the ban, assuming it determines the…
Nevada is first state to legalize online gambling
- Nevada's governor has signed into law a bill which legalizes Internet gambling. Consequently, Nevada has become the first U.S. state to legalize online gambling. The AB114 bill (pdf) also authorizes Nevada to make deals with other states, allowing them to…
Petition to legalize unlocking reaches 100K signatures, warrants White House response
- With over 100,000 signatures (and counting), an open petition asking the White House to legalize unlocking cell phones could elicit an official response from the Obama administration. Currently, 100,000 signatures within the first month of a petition's life is the…
Skype calls purportedly being tapped, Skype-based malware spreads
- In terms of security, privacy and trust, it looks like 2013 is shaping up to be a tough year for Skype. The latest ding against the Microsoft-owned company comes from Reporters Without Borders' online censorship project leader Grégoire Pouget, who…
Banning sex offenders from social media sites violates free speech, Federal court rules
- Due to First Amendment concerns, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has invalidated an Indiana law barring registered sex offenders from using social network sites. "The Indiana law targets substantially more activity than the evil it seeks to redress,"…
Congress passes resolution condemning U.N. Internet "takeover"
- In response to a set of Internet eavesdropping standards recently adopted by the International Telecommunications Union, Congress has voted unanimously(!) in favor of a resolution which opposes any sort of U.N. Internet "takeover". Finally, something which American legislators seem to…
Me.ga is new home for MegaUpload, launches 01/19/13
- Kim Dotcom and friends are making good on their promise to revive MegaUpload. The popular file sharing destination was abruptly shut down by U.S. officials earlier this year and Kim Dotcom's New Zealand mansion raided by American and New Zealand…
Jailbreaking smartphones remains legal. Tablets? Not so much.
- The U.S. Copyright Office has performed its triennial review of exceptions to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). Officials have most notably determined jailbreaking smartphones (but not tablets) remains legal, unlocking phones is legal -- but only with your carrier's…
Hulu sued over 24-year old video privacy law
- Due to a 1988 video rental privacy law, media streaming outfit Hulu has found itself in a jeopardous position. An anonymous group of individuals are suing Hulu for purported violations of privacy, a charge brought about by sharing users' video watching history…
Former MPAA CTO speaks out against laws like SOPA
- Former Motion Picture Association’s Chief Technology Officer Paul Brigner has offered a level-headed rundown regarding the perils of using DNS as a means of Internet enforcement. Once controversial legislation, SOPA relied upon DNS-blocking techniques to essentially take down undesirable websites -- a…
Internet "Bill of Rights" proposed by anti-SOPA lawmakers
- Congress critter and California republican Darrell Issa is working on the first draft of what may eventually become the "Digital Bill of Rights" -- legislation which could possibly shape online freedoms and the expectations afforded to citizens of the Internet.…
Nevada embraces driverless cars, issues autonomous vehicle licenses
- Nevada -- a gambler's paradise where shotgun weddings run rampant and brothels are legal in half the state -- has added yet another unique attraction under its belt: autonomous vehicles. Nevada is the first state to issue driverless vehicle licenses on public…
House approves CISPA cybersecurity bill, Microsoft backpedals support
- Despite the administration's threat to veto the bill, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the controverisal cyber-survellience legislation late last week by a vote of 248 to 168. CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, encourages companies to freely share…
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