PEOPLE WHO buy a mobile phone may think that they own it, but they don't. Putting aside phones' role as surveillance devices (tracking the so-called 'owner'), phones are to be treated more like rented devices, especially after this new ban [1] which calls modification "unlocking" and then criminalises it. This unjust move is sheltered by some unjust laws previously passed against the people and for corporations. The same sorts of laws also ban circumvention of DRM, which based on reports [2] may actually be doing more harm than good to business.
The feds mandate fidelity between carriers and users: New rule under DMCA outlaws unlocking new handsets without carrier permission.
DRM was once praised as the ultimate tool to prevent music piracy, but new research shows that the opposite is true. Comparing album sales of four major labels before and after the removal of DRM reveals that digital music revenue increases by 10% when restrictions are removed. The effect goes up to 30% for long tail content, while top-selling albums show no significant jump. The findings suggest that dropping technical restrictions can benefit both artists and the major labels.
A judgment handed down by a German court against an open source software project is being described as “worrisome” by the company at the heart of the case. Appwork, the outfit behind the hugely popular JDownloader software, can be held liable for coding carried out by third-party contributors, even when they have no knowledge of its functionality. Appwork informs TorrentFreak that the judgment will be a burden on the open source creative process.