Andrew Moshirnia's blog

Keeping an Eye on ACTA

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is slowly inching its way towards implementation, but obstacles still remain.

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A Tale of Two Breyers

So, the video game case came down today, Brown v. EMA. First off, a tip of the hat to SCOTUS for A) coming out the right way and declaring California's violent video games for minors ban unconstitutional and B) reaching the actual merits, rather than settling on the fairly obvious vagueness concerns.

UN Disapproves of Three Strikes Digital Executions

I am not a very big fan of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). In essence, the secret agreement looks like an attempt to institute a wide swath of changes related to intellectual property without all that pesky legislation, public comment, etc.

Some Say the World Will End in MAFIAAFire: Why Domain Seizures Don't Work

And boom goes the dynamite. Last month I wrote about the looming disaster that is COICA – the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.  Thanks to a brewing fight between a United States government agency and web advocate and Firefox distributor Mozilla, we're getting a preview of the conflicts that COICA would cause if enacted.

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Hey, When Did This Slope Get so Slippery? The Danger of Self-Surveillance in Three-Strikes Internet Laws

I recall a Twilight Zone episode with a great twist: a man, in order to win a bet that he could stay quiet for an entire year, has had his vocal cords severed. The idea being, it is particularly gruesome to imagine a human being rendered mute for money.

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The Giving ISP: White House Wants to Ensure Quick and Easy Warrantless FBI Snooping

I love reading Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, but it always makes me a little bit sad. Commenting on need, devotion, and mortality, the story revolves around a tree that gives up everything to please a boy. I’ve always kept my eye out for a similar book.

The Killing Joke: We Debate Broadband Access Definitions as Library Hours Plummet

"Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says 'Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.' Man bursts into tears. Says 'But, doctor...I am Pagliacci.'" - Rorchach's Journal, Oct.

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Won't Someone Think of the Children! Massachusetts' Unconstitutional Attempt to Break the Internet

It is a good thing to want to protect children from the vulgarity of the world. Accordingly, states have adopted prohibitions on exhibiting or selling harmful material to minors. These laws make sense, in that we usually don’t want sex shops selling pornography to kids. But occasionally the legislature goes a bit insane and decides that, in order to fully protect the children, we need to criminalize or block off whole sections of the Internet.

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Louisiana Joins Unconstitutional Cyber-Bullying Statute Club

The first rule of Unconstitutional Cyber-Bullying Statute Club is you do not talk about Unconstitutional Cyber-Bullying Statute Club.

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Right for the Wrong Reasons: DC Court of Appeals Vacates 30-Year Computer Ban

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomicIt is hard to know how to feel when a court does the right thing for the wrong reasons.  On April 2, in United States v. Russell, the D.C. Court of Appeals vacated an immutable 30-year computer and Internet ban as a condition for the supervised release of a sex offender.

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Paving Hell: ACTA Encourages Oppression from Friend and Foe Alike

The drafting of the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA) isn’t going so well.

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I Feel Like I’m Taking Crazy Pills: EU’s Latest ACTA Proposal Outlaws the Internet

Sometimes a story is so insane that you can’t help but wonder if someone has slipped you some crazy pills.  See, for example, the Google prosecution in Italy.

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The Persian Version: Why Support for ACTA Undermines U.S. Promotion of Internet Freedom

"To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it . . ." –Definition of Doublethink from 1984, George Orwell

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Why Are Bloggers Still Sitting at the Kids' Table? The Popularity of Online News and the Federal Shield Law

Well, it turns out this whole Internet thing is getting pretty popular. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more Americans now get their news from the Internet than from old-fashioned newspapers.

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The Rhythm Method: Sinking U-boats and Online Anonymity Through Typing Tendencies

"If we walk without rhythm, we won't attract the worm.” – Dune; see also Weapon of Choice, Fat Boy Slim

Corporations are resurrecting a blast from the past in order to identify online users. And unlike earlier attempts to trace users, this method is behavioral. Get ready to go back to finger-pecking.

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Hello Gorgeous! The Streisand Effect Survives Assassination Attempt

I have written plenty of posts in which I have opined that sue-happy entities simply do not understand the Streisand Effect.

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