It’s confirmed: Leaked iPhone is the real deal.

If you had any doubts whether or not the leaked iPhone 4.0 hardware was legit or not, a new letter sent compliments of Apple’s Bruce Sewell goes to show what we’ve all pretty much suspected but just needed formal confirmation — the leaked iPhone hardware Giz picked up is the real deal.

Score one for common sense: Uk Court rules linking to infringing content isn’t infringing in and of itself…

Score one for common sense today.

The basis of the internet is that the flow of information should be unencumbered and open to all. As more and more businesses finally get around to making the move online however, paywalls, false restrictions, and other types of anti-consumer/greed driven policies are being thrown up all over the place. Not only that, but common sense has been thrown out the window. In numerous cases over the last several years we’ve seen rather harmless and innocent actions such as merely linking to a page with copyrighted content getting the person doing the linking into hot water. One such case that perfectly illustrates this is the case involving tv-links.co.uk.

For several years now, tv-links has been fighting the UK courts and entertainment industry for being accused of aiding in copyright infringement by simply linking to YouTube videos of infringing content. To the you and I, individuals with at least some amount of common sense, drawing any correlation between a simple link to outright “theft” (as the entertainment industry would like to call it) is rather shortsighted.

Cooler heads have prevailed however as a UK court ruled in favor of tv-links, stating that they did not in fact, infringe on any content. While a happy ending for common sense and the general internet population as a whole, it’s still a shame that so much time (years) and countless dollars were wasted on such a frivolous and stupid lawsuit.

When will big media learn the ways of the web…

TechDirt

The real corporate workhouse: The bullet deflecting BlackBerry

I’m pretty sure when we hear how RIM’s popular BlackBerry handhelds are called corporate workhorses or “warriors”, actually living out that description isn’t necessarily implied. For one Anthony Holtvogt and girlfriend, her Berry lived up to that rough and tough image and then some by stopping a bullet.

It was dinning as usual for Mr. Holtvogt and his significant other until they went to go leave, at which point the .32 caliber handgun Mr. Holtvogt was carrying discharged and hit his gf square in the upper left leg. Thankfully, (depending on how you look at it) Holtvogt’s gf’s blackberry was in that same pocket and took the full brunt of the bullet’s fury.

In the end, the girl lived and the Berry died. Hopefully the girl can get a replacement and Mr. Holtvogt can escape any serious fines or prison time seeing as how he was breaking the law by carrying the concealed weapon in a liquor licensed establishment.

Thoughts?

CrackBerry > DaytonDailyNews

[Image Source]

“Guilty until proven innocent….no such thing as legal downloads”….So says U.S. Government

While the war against illegal downloads rages on between consumers and the organizations suing the pants off of everyone, one can easily see that this “war” will never end. It is and always will be a constant cat and mouse game. Many consumers however opt to avoid confrontations and instead go the legal route by paying for their digital downloads through the online media store of their choice. However, if you work for the U.S. government, prepare to sing a new song — a song that says any and all downloading, no matter if you pay or not, is illegal. Say what?

DMCA bullshit be dammed! Free Speech FTW!

Just because I can! To hell with Yahoo and Flickr! You may or may not know the controversy surrounding the whole Obama/Joker image and the removal of said image from Flickr. The last couple of days has seen an outpouring of angered individuals across the internet accusing Yahoo and Flickr of trying to sensor the internet and such. Yahoo has rebutted with a DMCA violation take-down notice they received saying that they cherish free speech but the law made them do it. But did they really? Why wasn’t a similar notice filed for the Jokerized image of Bush? Such double standards make one curious. Yahoo further added that any individual with a side of beef can file a counterclaim themselves. Wow. Way to rollover. Here’s a crazy idea…grow some balls people and stand up for yourself and your rights! If every company and individual was as spineless as Yahoo/Flickr God help us. Censorship is something that we usually hear about occurring outside of the US. But now it is coming from within.

The utter useless horseshit that is the DMCA is quickly killing any shred of common sense and fair use across the internet. DMCA notices are being unleashed in a flood to users all across the internet all over the world. Often times, such as the case with the Obama/Joker picture, the DMCA accusations are being grossly misused. The last couple of years copyright laws, policies, and DMCA non-sense has escalated to alarming levels. What does the future hold for us? Now I’m not trying to drum up fear and drama to get another post done. It is a legitimate concern. Now that the sensor/DMCA abuse ball is rolling, how/when is it going to stop? How about another dose of fair use and free speech! (See below)

Either way you look at it, either the DMCA and “copyright violation” are being abused, or we’re seeing the beginning of censorship. Which is it?

*I realize that Obama portrayed as the joker and the word socialism don’t go together (as noted by Tech Crunch) as the joker in his true form is an anarchist…still…the larger issue remains*

Source:TechCrunch, LA Times