Tag Archives: filtering

How copyright enforcement robots killed the Hugo Awards

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Last night, robots shut down the live broadcast of one of science fiction’s most prestigious award ceremonies. No, you’re not reading a science fiction story. In the middle of the annual Hugo Awards event at Worldcon, which thousands of people tuned into via video streaming service UStream, the feed cut off – just as Neil Gaiman was giving an acceptance speech for his Doctor Who script, “The Doctor’s Wife.” Where Gaiman’s face had been were the words, “Worldcon banned due to copyright infringement.” What the hell?

via io9.com

How apt.

SABAM Knocked Out at the ECJ

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43. The protection of the right to intellectual property is indeed enshrined in Article 17(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (???the Charter???). There is, however, nothing whatsoever in the wording of that provision or in the Court???s case-law to suggest that that right is inviolable and must for that reason be absolutely protected.

via knowfuture.wordpress.com

Filter that.

Pakistan Stalls on Ban of Obscene Words in Text Messages | Geekosystem

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Pakistan recently announced a bold plan to start filtering text messages and censoring them for obscene words. In addition to censoring the obscene words, it seemed like it was part of the plan to censor words that might be obscene in a weird parallel universe, filthy slurs like ???mango,??? ???athlete???s foot,??? and the dreaded ???kmart.??? Of course, in addition to the funny ones, Pakistan intended to ban some more truly controversial (but understandble) words such as ???Jesus Christ??? and any reference to sexual orientation or sex in general. That includes ???deeper.???

via geekosystem.com

>>> There’s always someone stupid enough to propose this “solution.” From schools to sovereign states. Pathetic.