copyfight

The Government's Horrifying Censorship of a Music Blog

Ryan Tate · 12/08/11 06:39PM

More than a year ago, the music blog Dajaz1.com was shut down for supposedly abetting online piracy. The feds gave no warning, no due process, no trial, and kept all supposed court orders under seal. But that's not the even the most fucked up part.

Facebook Defeated by Lamebook

Ryan Tate · 08/31/11 05:48PM

Facebook might call it a settlement, but there's no question that the gigantic social network is effectively surrendering to scrappy Austin, Texas mockery hub Lamebook. The two sides have ended a federal lawsuit with Lamebook keeping its name and Facebook-like logo, and Facebook slinking back to California.

Busted For Exploiting Hipsters

Ryan Tate · 11/16/10 04:45PM

A scrappy Chinese-speaking teenager sold $130,000 in parts for the white iPhone 4. Now he's being slapped with legal threats. Won't anyone defend Fei Lam's right to exploit fashion-obsessed gadgeteers?

Your Porn Habits Could Go Public

Ryan Tate · 09/29/10 06:26PM

It happened in Britain, and now it looks like the porn privacy invasion might reach American shores: U.S. companies are tracking porn downloads from networks like BitTorrent, and experts say they are easy prey for hackers.

Cocktail Godfather Wants a Bar Fight

Ryan Tate · 08/31/10 05:38PM

Eben Freeman has had it with the injustice done to bartenders. "Someone needs to get sued," the "molecular mixologist" tells The Atlantic. Cocktails used to be intoxicating fun, but now they could land you in legal trouble.

Facebook: No One Else Can Be a 'Book'

Ryan Tate · 08/25/10 03:03PM

If you're planning on setting up any kind of online community for your business — and who isn't these days? — know that Facebook has begun suing to protect "the distinctive BOOK portion" of its trademark, starting with Teachbook.com.

Media Company Abuses Self on YouTube

Ryan Tate · 03/18/10 03:54PM

YouTube's big court fight with Viacom is unearthing some fun stories, like this one: Viacom secretly doctored its content to look stolen, uploaded it to YouTube, and then promptly reported itself for copyright abuse, having forgotten about its own ruse.

More Evidence 'iPad' Is the Apple Tablet's Name

Ryan Tate · 01/20/10 02:01PM

Deep in the bowels of the Trademark Office is some fresh evidence that Steve Jobs intends to name his messiah machine the "iPad": the company is in a fight with Fujitsu over the trademark.

Meet the Sad Sack Facing Jail for a Wolverine Bootleg

Ryan Tate · 01/12/10 03:01PM

If Gilberto Sanchez is the new face of movie piracy, the studios should be worried. He's a 47-year-old motivational speaker from the Bronx who was trying to entertain his three grandkids on the cheap. Now he faces prison time.

Code Theft Allegations Can't Stop iPhone Bubble

Ryan Tate · 09/08/09 12:12PM

Foursquare has raised its first venture capital investment, and it couldn't have been easy: There are persistent rumors the social networking company stole its code from Google. Plus, it wanted to invest the money in a domain name. Ooof.

Reuters Implores AP to 'Stop Whining'

Ryan Tate · 08/05/09 08:34PM

Huzzah: A president at newswire operator Thomson Reuters says traditional journalism is not actually being strangled by Google, blogs and the rest of the internet. And that anyone who thinks so — *cough* AP *cough* — should get a grip.