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Posts from the ‘General’ Category

May 16

win 8 pic

WIN8: Microsoft’s Misstep?

The author runs the table on OSes:  I have a Linux-laptop, a Windows XP laptop and desktop, a Windows Vista laptop, a Windows 7 laptop, and a Windows 8 laptop.  To call Windows 8 a “disappointment” is like calling the Atlantic Ocean a puddle…  You may be wondering what Windows 8 has to do with business law.  The fact of the matter is that Windows, in its various versions, is the most popular software ever, and the migration (or failure to migrate) to a new version is a major business concern.

More importantly, Windows XP, sometimes billed as “the most popular operating system ever,” is set to reach “End of Life” less than a year from now, on April 8, 2014.  This might not seem like an issue, but millions of users, particularly businesses, continue to use the venerable Microsoft XP operating system.  For those of you who are visual, consider the following data from Netmarketshare:

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Jan 31

Cell phone with lock on it.

How Your Cell Phone Became a Perching Felony: About the Recent DMCA Transition to Making Cell Phone Unlocking Illegal

Before you read any further, go read and take note of this petition.  You may want to sign it (I did), but context will help in reading this blog post.  In case you’ve been studying really, really hard for the Bar Exam, or were suffering from a surprise case of “dead” over the last week, you inevitably heard that the process of “unlocking” cell phones, previously legal, is now illegal because of government fiat.  For those who may not have understood or thought to ask, “unlocking” is not the same as “jailbreaking.”  In a nutshell, jailbreaking involves making it possible for a device to run code either from sources the manufacturer did not intend the device to be able to use or to run code the manufacturer did not intend it to be able to run (though most people talk about Apple IOS devices, Sony, for example, will note that other devices can also be “jailbroken”).  Unlocking, however, involves making it possible for a device intended for use on one wireless network to be used on a different network – wireless devices sold by a particular wireless company are generally, but not always, sold programmed so that they can only use that company’s network.

Regular readers of Internetbizlaw and the Centre Knowledge blog know that I am pro technology consumer, and very cynical about the “graying” of property rights.  I am not going to spend a lot of time in this post discussing the “right and wrong” of legalizing unlocking, or not, but everyone should understand a few facts:

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Dec 27

Speed Limit 6.7 MBPS

If You Can Read This, You Might Just Have to Sue Someone…

How long did it take for this page to load?  Not fast enough for you?  Well you might just have a potential lawsuit on your hands.

While my cynical humor may seem funny to some and sad to others, it also has grains of truth.  In this age of digital consumer sophistication and the debate over net neutrality some consumers have taken to the Courts to enforce ISP speed and bandwidth claims.

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Dec 19

Instagram Logo

Another Lesson Learned: Instagram Quickly Backtracks After Angering Its Users

This week, users of Instagram scored a victory with the company’s management over a plan to amend Instagram’s terms of service that would allow the third-party use of users’ photos without their permission or any form of compensation.  This change, which was scheduled to take effect in mid January, caused an uproar among Instagram’s user base.

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Dec 5

Waterfall

Breaking: John McAfee Arrested

The AP is reporting that John McAfee has been arrested by Guatemalan police for entering the country illegally.  More details…

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Dec 5

Waterfall

John McAfee Seeking Asylum in Guatemala

On his blog, John McAfee announced that he is seeking asylum in Guatemala.  Mr. McAfee will be holding a press conference this afternoon when he will take questions.  Mr. McAfee’s latest string of posts on his blog gives more information about his whereabouts over the last few days, contains a messages to the family of Gregory Faull (who was murdered), and details what Ms. McAfee’s planned next steps.  Finally, Mr. McAfee posts a pictures and information about two of his friends he says are wrongfully being held by Belize authorities.  Read more

Dec 4

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2280

Eric Crusius to Speak at Affiliate Summit West 2012

Some good news to report: I will be speaking at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas next month.

For more information on Affiliate Summit (which will be January 13-15, 2013), go here and for more information on my session (entitled “How Affiliate Marketers Can Avoid Legal Pitfalls”) go here.

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Dec 3

CDs

Digital Rights Management Issues Continue to Tangle Consumers

There was a time, long ago, when we bought something and it was ours.  We could use it, give it away, light it on fire… whatever, but it was ours.  Recently it came to be that something that was ours was also sort of somebody else’s (the recent Supreme Court Kelo case) – or something that was somebody else’s was kind of ours (the more venerable Supreme Court Sony Betamax case) (confused yet?).  Today, things that are ours, aren’t really ours at all.

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Dec 2

Waterfall

Breaking: John McAfee May Have Been Captured (Or Maybe Not)

John McAfee’s blog continues to be an interesting read.  Just last night, his blog reported that he may have been capture near the border with Mexico and Belize.  Now, Belize police deny these reports (or at least the police station closest to his home). More details…

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Nov 25

Logo for MegaUpload

MegaUpload Previously Assisted Prosecutors

We have previously blogged about the Megaupload saga which has affected all its 50 million users with possible data loss and some with prosecution.  And who could forget its larger than life founder Kim Dotcom?  Now comes word that before MegaUpload was being prosecuted by the US Government, it helped the Government prosecute a smaller file sharing service that used MegaUpload’s servers.

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