24. February, 2002 - Copyright, trademarks, patents, news

High court to consider Internet-centered copyright challenge. Someone's actually fighting the continual extensions of copyright that seem mostly to benefit Disney (because they happen just about as the copyright on The Mouse is about to expire). [google news]
Give the Gift of Lawsuits. (Hasbro vs. Dinobot.org). Money talks. The guy's giving up his domain because it's too expensive to fight Hasbro. Now it might be possible for him to nail Hasbro's lawyers for a frivolous (or malicious) lawsuit, but again, that's gonna cost money. The bastards will probably win again. [fark!]
EU unveils new software patent proposal which actually requires an inventive step which is not obvious to people who are familiar with the field. I'm sure there are other problems with the system, but that one requirement is something that's been sorely lacking in the US patent system. [google news]
Enron's 2000 report on Corporate responsibility (in PDF format).
Media Reform Information Center: in 1983, fifty corporations controlled most of the (domestic) news reporting. Now it's six. Thankfully there are other media outlets and a lot of bloggers out there to find stories that might otherwise be missed. [fark!]