Featured Articles
A biologist reviews an evolution textbook from the ID camp
What happens when a group dedicated to the overthrow of modern science writes a science textbook? Ars reviews Explore Evolution, a textbook written by members of the pro-Intelligent Design Discovery Institute, which is generally convinced there's not much about evolution worth exploring.
Analysis: new spying lawsuit asks "can computers eavesdrop?"
Ars analyzes EFF's lawsuit against President Bush and Bush administration officials who approved warrantless NSA wiretaps. EFF's chances for success hinge on a single question: can computers eavesdrop?
Congress's copyright fight puts open access science in peril
The US House of Representatives is considering legislation that will roll back a policy that provides the public access to the research it has funded via the National Institutes of Health. In hearings on the new bill, references to Napster and overseas piracy make it clear that the fight over copyrights may drag science policy down into the mud with it.
Ars Book Review: "Intellectual Property and Open Source"
Van Lindberg's book provides software developers with a solid introduction to the legal issues affecting their work. But it doesn't offer much guidance for developing new technologies that push the boundaries of the law.
RIAA v. U: the state of P2P file sharing on campus
As the kids go back to school, Ars takes a look at the state of P2P on campus. Sure, Big Content is still sending out letters and serving up lawsuits, but how some schools are responding to P2P's legal and technical impact on their networks may surprise you.
Over-driven: why our cars guzzle gas, what to do about it
Gas prices are at an all time high, but fuel economy in the US is lower than it was in the 1990s? Ars takes a look at the tech behind America's most costly addiction, and at what we can do about it.
The new FISA compromise: it's worse than you think
With the Senate set to vote on FISA amendments this week, Ars examines the legislation's key provisions and finds that it would undermine judicial oversight of foreign-to-domestic communications.
Any lawful device: 40 years after the Carterfone decision
Forty years ago today the Federal Communications Commission started a revolution by standing up to AT&T. Without it, we wouldn't get to buy our set-top boxes or a wireless broadband network where we will be able to attach any lawful device and use any lawful application.
Cram this: a firsthand account of my recent cramming
When my phone and Internet bill mysteriously doubled in a single month, I found myself on the wrong side of a good "cramming." Semi-shocking true story inside.
Analysis: appeals court unlikely to fix software patent mess
Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in In Re Bilski, a crucial case relating to patents on business methods, software, and other abstract "inventions." The hour-long discussion highlighted the Federal Circuit's incoherent jurisprudence on the patentability of abstract concepts.
Verizon employees fired after peeping Obama cell records
Several Verizon Wireless employees have been suspended after the company learned that some had accessed Barack Obama's cell phone records without authorization. Whether they'll face criminal charges is not clear.
November 21, 2008 - 04:50PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
IBM antes $3 million bond to pursue case against Papermaster
Pursuant to a judge's order, IBM has posted a $3 million dollar bond should its injunction barring Mark Papermaster from working at Apple prove unwarranted.
November 21, 2008 - 12:24PM CT - by Chris Foresman
Inaction on disconnect pleas at root of Aussie ISP lawsuit
Major movie studios aren't happy that Australian ISP iiNet won't disconnect users after receiving evidence that they have been sharing movies over BitTorrent. iiNet doesn't want to play traffic cop, but Australian law does demand it have (and act on) a disconnection policy for copyright infringers.
November 21, 2008 - 12:21PM CT - by Nate Anderson
Coupons, Inc. drops DMCA lawsuit against coupon hacker
A copyright lawsuit against a man who posted instructions on how to print unlimited coupons online has finally been dropped after he argued that he didn't circumvent anyone's copyright protection in order to produce his "hack."
November 21, 2008 - 11:45AM CT - by Jacqui Cheng
Apple lawyers hand iPod hash cracking site a DMCA notice
Apple has served the "iPodhash" project with a DMCA takedown notice and is claiming that the project's attempts to reverse engineer the iTunesDB file found on iPods circumvents Apple's FairPlay DRM.
November 21, 2008 - 09:49AM CT - by Justin Berka
CTA bans violent game ads following GTA IV debacle
The Chicago Transit Authority, following the conclusion of a drawn-out law suit with Take-Two over Grand Theft Auto IV ads, has banned all ads for violent video games from its buses and facilities.
November 20, 2008 - 10:07AM CT - by Frank Caron
Antipiracy group pushes 10 years jail time for UK infringers
The Federation Against Software Theft is miffed at the UK Intellectual Property Office for not considering "recommended" changes to the copyright law that would punish online copyright infringers with 10 years of imprisonment in order to "bring parity with commercial dealing in pirated works."
November 19, 2008 - 11:00AM CT - by Jacqui Cheng
Tennessee anti-P2P law to cost colleges over $13 million
Big Content got an early Christmas present from the state of Tennessee. A new law will force Tennessee colleges and universities to pay in excess of $13 million over the next two years in what is likely to be a futile attempt to stamp out campus copyright infringement.
November 18, 2008 - 08:42PM CT - by Eric Bangeman
Judge slaps down Psystar's antitrust claims against Apple
US District Judge William Alsup has dismissed Psystar's legal counterclaims against Apple, saying that Apple has not violated various antitrust laws by tying its OS to its hardware, and that Psystar failed to provide sufficient legal support for its claims. With Apple's suit against Psystar still going strong, the clone-maker looks to be on thin ice.
November 18, 2008 - 04:39PM CT - by Jacqui Cheng
Conceptual Art and IP
Some ruminations on copyright in the age of conceptual art.
November 18, 2008 - 04:20PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
Kodak sues LG and Samsung over alleged patent violations
Kodak has filed suit against LG and Samsung in New York district court, alleging that both companies are infringing on two of its patents related to digital imaging. The company has also filed a complaint with the International Trade Organization to bar the companies form importing infringing products into the US.
November 18, 2008 - 01:31PM CT - by Chris Foresman
Crowdsourcing patent startup could use dose of own medicine
Article One Partners wants to use crowdsourcing—and the promise of handsome payoffs—to uncover invalid patent applications. They could start with their own.
November 18, 2008 - 01:00PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
Internet, IP legislation gets promoted to House big leagues
In recognition of the growing importance and influence of Internet- and IP-related legislation, House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers is taking over IP issues from the body's Courts subcommittee—and giving it discretion over antitrust issues (including net neutrality) instead.
November 17, 2008 - 08:05PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
Cuban a little too maverick for SEC
Mark Cuban faces insider trading charges
November 17, 2008 - 02:13PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
French court green lights lawsuits against P2P vendors
Limewire, Vuze, Shareaza, and Morpheus can all be sued on French soil, a court has ruled. Recent copyright law changes in France mean that creators and distributors of software "manifestly" designed to swap content illegally can be prosecuted, fined, and even tossed in jail.
November 17, 2008 - 01:06PM CT - by Nate Anderson
Papermaster's counterclaim: IBM and Apple are not competitors
Ex-IBM exec Mark Papermaster has filed a response to IBM's complaint, and included a counterclaim of his own arguing that Apple and IBM are not competitors and that his noncompete from IBM is too broad.
November 17, 2008 - 08:50AM CT - by Justin Berka
FOIA docs show feds can lojack mobiles without telco help
Documents obtained by civil liberties groups suggest the feds can track cell phone locations without the help of providers.
November 16, 2008 - 10:45PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
Analysis: Duke's new P2P policy won't stop RIAA lawsuits
Duke University says it's not going to cough up any student info to the RIAA without proof of illegal behavior. It sounds good in theory, but it's not going to slow down the RIAA's legal juggernaut.
November 16, 2008 - 03:02PM CT - by Eric Bangeman
Don't call me "hacker," not fair to me
The trial of David Kernell, the student charged with hacking Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail, has been pushed to next spring, as lawyers ask
November 14, 2008 - 02:53PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
This message will not self destruct: NSA internal history released
The NSA's internal history is published online. Well, parts, anyway.
November 14, 2008 - 02:27PM CT - by Julian Sanchez
App Store Lessons: Try and try again
Ars explains why you shouldn't always accept your App Store rejection and just walk away.
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