Month: April 2014

MsLods’ news round-up: law + technology

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Copyright

Why we filed an amicus brief in Garcia v Google: blaming 3rd parties has a serious impact on free speech. | Techdirt | http://bit.ly/1hBX0z

  • Last week was the much-anticipated oral argument before the Supreme Court in the Aereo case. Here’s some commentary from folk who camped out overnight to get a seat in the courtroom:

Ali Sternburg: 8 takeaways from the Aereo supreme court oral argument. | Project DisCo | http://bit.ly/PFwnm4

Sarah Jeong: Supreme court justices are not  good with computers. | Five Tweet Thoughts | http://bit.ly/1ffOdIX  

Parker Higgins: Every mention of the “cloud” in the Aereo Supreme Court argument. | http://bit.ly/1k6Xosi | Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ_eX7HFTbQ

Defamation & media law

Australian, Thai journalists to face court on Thai navy defamation charges. | Australia Network News | http://ab.co/1lhxqoI

Twibel ruling: Tweeting that someone is “f**** crazy” is not defamatory. | Technology & Marketing Law | http://bit.ly/1lU0GVf

Google gagged: A public fight against a secret order. | LinkTV World News | http://bit.ly/1ry3MgR

Privacy & information security

All sent and received emails in Gmail will be analysed, says Google. | Ars Technica | http://bit.ly/1hyZCSI

Don’t share your location with your friends on WhatsApp. | Naked Security | http://bit.ly/1j0Jn1h

We asked Five Eyes what they were up to. Here’s what they said (updated post). | Privacy International | http://bit.ly/1ioOWXK

  • This past week I closely watched the hearings of the Senate Committee considering the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act – #TIAInquiry:

Legal community has ‘grave concerns’ over new push for mass data collection. | The Guardian | http://bit.ly/1nQFtIS

My storify posts of tweets and commentary concerning the Senate  Committee hearings: http://bit.ly/1k6WZWS + http://bit.ly/1ioPRHx

Technology

Etsy, home of the handmade, takes on a wholesaler’s role. | New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1fjNi9Y

This guy hunts down the men behind revenge porn websites. |  Forbes | http://onforb.es/1j0K0b2

Tim Wu: The many deceptions at the heart of the Internet. | New Yorker | http://nyr.kr/1lTZOQE

Joss Whedon will make new movie available immediately online. | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1hz3bZj

Social media

Twitter suspends @JamesDean account: an impersonation rebel with(out) a cause? | The IPKat | http://bit.ly/1ffJVBa

Meet the man behind’s Twitter’s most infamous phrase. | Buzzfeed | http://bzfd.it/1ioP0qq

5 LinkedIn tips every lawyer should know. | Kevin O’Keefe | http://bit.ly/1ioP61f

Big data: Don’t let the billions of data points blind you to the problem of too few sources to check the results. | Brookings | http://bit.ly/1lUx5Xz

27 April 2014

MsLods’ news round-up: law + technology

MsLods’ news round-up: law + technology

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Copyright

‘Copyright troll’ Prenda Law completely bombs at appeal court. | Ars Technica | http://bit.ly/1n5UbhC

Hollywood studios launch action against Megaupload. | The Hollywood Reporter | http://bit.ly/Qll6bo

Singapore decides ‘three-strikes laws’ are too intrusive. | The Register | http://bit.ly/1g3KGLH

ISPs line up for fresh piracy negotiations. | Australian Financial Review | http://bit.ly/1ezXfQN

Costs must be fixed first in piracy solution: Comms Alliance | ZDNet | http://zd.net/1ko08no

Film lobby emails detail persistence for copyright crackdown. | ZDNet | http://zd.net/QllgiV

Defamation & media law

Mamamia faces contempt of court probe following Robert Hughes case report. | Mumbrella | http://bit.ly/P06cq1

UK laws set to give Attorney-General power to online news archives in the run-up to trials. | Press Gazette | http://bit.ly/1p2HpSN

Russia: A book too far. | The Economist | http://econ.st/1kQLisr

Privacy & information security

SANs warns end users against Heartbleed patch panic. | ZDNet | http://zd.net/1qWyiPh

Snowden, Greenwald urge caution of wider government monitoring. | Reuters | http://reut.rs/Qll3fE

Europe says no to data retention, so why is it an option in Australia? | The Conversation | http://bit.ly/1qWzyBZ

Four of Sweden’s telcos stop storing customer data after EU data directive is overthrown. | ZDNet | http://zd.net/1n5YnxZ

Technology

Yahoo rolls the dice on TV. | New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1eDKJdk

Why the government should provide internet access. | Vox | http://bit.ly/1sZBc9R

Social media

Social media dobbing on public servants could breach the Privacy Act. | SBS News |  http://bit.ly/1hAjDsz

Coming soon a whole new you, in your Twitter profile. | Twitter | http://bit.ly/1guTydp

Nothing to ‘like’ about social media gag. | The Drum | http://ab.co/Q64g0k

Government cyber snoops scour social media. | The Age | http://bit.ly/1guUOxi

Parody accounts re-emerge ahead of election.  | Brisbane Times | http://bit.ly/1p2H4Q8

14 April 2014

MsLods’ news round-up: law + technology

We can do something: #MITAdonate #JusticeforRefugees

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As some of you may have read in the past, my Mum, Margaret regularly travels from Ballarat to visit people seeking asylum at MITA, a detention centre in Broadmeadows.

Yesterday, my parents and I joined thousands of people around Australia who walked for Justice for Refugees. On their way home to Ballarat, Mum visited MITA and gave clothes and other items to 7 families. (I donated my Richmond scarf to a boy who is a keen supporter. He and his family have been in MITA for nearly a year.)

Mum has given me some further suggestions for donations for those who’d like to help those at MITA. Any assistance would be very much appreciated. Items can be either new or good quality second-hand.

Men, women and children

  • Jeans (straight or narrow legs only
  • T-shirts
  • Warm tops, jackets, night wear etc for winter
  • Hats, scarfs and glove
  • Shoes (no high heels)

Women and girls

  • Leggings
  • Headbands, hair clips, necklaces, bracelets

Children

  • Colouring, activity, and sticker books
  • Pencil cases, coloured pencils, textas

Other

  • Large pieces of material (about 2 metres) for making tops and dresses
  • Backpacks for children
  • Soft travel bags or sport bags for adults
  • Large handbags or bags to carry nappies etc.

If you are able to assist (and live in Melbourne or Ballarat), please get in contact with me.

——————————————

There are also a number of practical actions we can all take to both advocate for more humane refugee policy and to assist those refugees & asylum seekers in Australia.

* The wonderful Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has a list of ways you can get involved and also produce excellent fact sheets & mythbusters­ to assist you in discussing these issues.   *Amnesty International also has useful resources on refugee issues if you’d like to learn more.

* Write to your federal Member of Parliament: Oxfam have some tips on how to do this.

*Spread the word: host a screening or encourage friends, family and colleagues to watch Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea film. Doco is available to buy for $20 here: http://deepblueseafilm.com/­ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/deepblueseafilm

*Volunteer: there are a range of organisations that work to support asylum seekers and refugees. For example, you could tutor refugees in homework programs.  See Refugee Council’s list of organisations in your community.


We can do something: #MITAdonate #JusticeforRefugees

MsLods’ news round-up: law + technology

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Copyright

Voluntary copyright alert program could be operational by end of 2014, says UK government. | Out-Law | http://bit.ly/1fL4aoc

European court allows website blocking. | Technollama | http://bit.ly/1q3FgBG

Aereo gets support from cable operators, law professors, tech industry.  | The Hollywood Reporter | http://bit.ly/1q3FBUV

Forget suing filesharers: in 2014, anti-piracy efforts follow the money. | The Guardian | http://bit.ly/1skjHRh

Defamation & media law

Lawyer files $1.2 million defamation claim against Campbell Newman, Jarrod Bleijie. | Brisbane Times | http://bit.ly/1gYKRc3

Supreme Court to hear internet defamation dispute. | The Irish Times | http://bit.ly/1ilIDks

The story behind the Rob Ford story.  | The Walrus | http://bit.ly/1qc9Nix

Privacy & information security

Deputy leader is happy to see telcos collect metadata for the intelligence community. | The Guardian |  http://bit.ly/1e02zMu

Australian Law Reform Commission seeks input into Proposals for Reforms to address Serious Invasions of Privacy. | ALRC | http://bit.ly/1hfhbIL

Privacy: rationales government use to claim mass snooping is legal – Ken Roth. | The Age | http://bit.ly/1jNyobv

PM: iiNet attacks the ‘fallacy’ of metadata and mandatory data retention. |  ABC Radio | http://ab.co/1mRmIXX

Technology

A tech CEO’s passion for pinballs. | Forbes | http://onforb.es/1e02RDf

XBox password flaw exposed by 5-year old boy.  | BBC News | http://bbc.in/QObPJC

Social media

USAID’s boneheaded idea to secretly make a “Cuban Twitter” just put Internet activists all over the world in danger. | Politico |  http://politi.co/1mRn9lj

How Twitter has changed over the years in 12 charts. | The Atlantic | http://bit.ly/1lH7dlk

Context and the digital divide.  | Paul Wallbank  | http://bit.ly/OjYfeZ

5 April 2014

MsLods’ news round-up: law + technology