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The information on Groklaw is not intended to constitute legal advice. While Mark is a lawyer and he has asked other lawyers and law students to contribute articles, all of these articles are offered to help educate, not to provide specific legal advice. They are not your lawyers.

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Recruiting honest shills
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 09:30 AM EDT
It appears to me that, given a skilled team of lawyers, creating shills would be as easy as giving them advance access to one's own briefs.

At least it occured to me when reading the Oracle brief, "ok, you could see it like that". It is just when reading the no-nonsense Google brief that you realize all the holes that the Oracle argument has skillfully been spun around.

But give someone just access to your presentation of the facts, and he'll get biased more than reasonable.

Of course, having to realise the amount to which one is susceptible to manipulation of that kind is somewhat depressing: it means that practiced justice likely depends more on the balance of lawyer quality than one would like to think.

In the address of the jury in "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch states:

But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honourable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal.
It is sobering to realise by the effects on oneself that this equality of men does bend under the hands of lawyers who are experts in their job.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

NY Teen was suspended for idea to fight bullying
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 12:23 PM EDT
Jessica Barba was suspended from her New York school over a fictional video character who commits suicide as a result of bullying.

A US teenager suspended from school for creating a fictional character who committed suicide to lift awareness of bullying should have been commended.

That is the view of anti-bullying expert, Adjunct Professor Ken Rigby, from the University of South Australia.

It would be good to get all the details on this incident. Sadly I don't have time to track them down as it as I am in the middle of planting season here on the farm. It sure sounds like a case of overreaction from the school.

Article: Teen punished for idea to fight bullying

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Networks, Dish Network clash over ‘Auto-Hop’ feature
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 01:51 PM EDT
It's legal armageddon as NBC, CBS and Fox sue Dish Network over its new DVR feature allowing users to automatically skip ads, and in response, Dish sues them right back - and adds in ABC for good measure.
Graeme McMillan, Digital Trends

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Is Facebook about to buy Opera to create own Facebook browser?
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 03:07 PM EDT
linky

Personally, I think Amazon would be a better fit for the technology Opera has developed.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Microsoft's 500.000 links removal request
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 03:38 PM EDT

Google has revealed that Microsoft has asked it to remove 500.000 links Microsoft deems infringing.

link

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

No-cost desktop software development is dead on Windows 8
Authored by: Ed L. on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 05:00 PM EDT
Charging developers for Visual Studio is, in effect, making developers pay money for the privilege of making Windows worth buying. And yet, without third-party software, Windows itself has next to no value; it doesn't seem right to make programmers pay just to be able to make Microsoft's operating system valuable...

There is no upside to this decision. It is immensely bad.

---
Real Programmers mangle their own memory.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Reddit's Alexis Ohanian And Activists Aim To Build A 'Bat-Signal For The Internet'
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, May 25 2012 @ 10:57 PM EDT
The “blackout” of Web sites to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in January was an unprecedented show of Internet solidarity against bad legislation.

But with new net-threatening measures like ACTA and CISPA popping out of Congress on a practically monthly basis, one online entrepreneur and a group of net activists want to enable regular SOPA-style mass protests at the push of a button.

Alexis Ohanian, the 29-year old founder of social news site Reddit, has partnered with the online advocacy group Fight for the Future to create what they’re calling the “Internet Defense League.”

Andy Greenberg, Forbes

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

xkcd
Authored by: Ed L. on Saturday, May 26 2012 @ 03:19 AM EDT
So grant them their patent already.

---
Real Programmers mangle their own memory.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

David Elliott launches lawsuit to have Google’s trademark on its own name undone
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, May 26 2012 @ 11:35 AM EDT
When is a trademark not a trademark? According to a new lawsuit, the answer may
be when it becomes so well-known, it ceases to be a name and becomes a verb...

http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/25/man-sues-to-have-google-declared-a-generic-wor
d/

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

FB IPO debacle caused by a trade delay of 5 ms instead of expected 3 ms.
Authored by: Gringo_ on Saturday, May 26 2012 @ 12:52 PM EDT

It is hard to understand how the NASDAQ could screw up FaceBook's IPO so badly...

The turmoil caused the four big market-makers for Facebook's stock, Knight Capital Group, Citigroup's Automated Trading Desk, Citadel Securities, and UBS AG to lose around $115 million between them.

The Reuter's article details the confusion, but as yet there is no clear explanation forthcoming from NASDAQ. However, anecdotal reports yield some insights...

Orders that were supposed to be processed in 3 milliseconds were taking 5 milliseconds, said one person familiar with exchange operations. This proved to be a major problem: In the extra two milliseconds new orders flooded in, thwarting the system's ability to establish an opening price for the stock and leading to a backup in unprocessed orders.

It is hard to understand how it could all boil down to a difference in processing times that either way are a fraction of the time it takes to blink your eyes.

What kind of hardware is NASDAQ using? We know their computers are insecure. Perhaps this is an indication they use Windows? Maybe an unreported intrusion was at the heart of their problems? Back in February the WSJ reported...

Hackers have repeatedly penetrated the computer network of the company that runs the Nasdaq Stock Market during the past year, and federal investigators are trying to identify the perpetrators and their purpose, according to people familiar with the matter.

For sure, we will hear more about this in the days to come, and undoubtedly there will be some law suites launched by companies short-changed by NASDAQ's screw up, unless NASDAQ willingly accepts all liability for losses.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

OT here
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, May 26 2012 @ 01:47 PM EDT
From www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/jury-google-did-not-infringe-oracle-p atents-with-android:
Oracle: "Oracle presented overwhelming evidence at trial that Google knew it would fragment and damage Java. We plan to continue to defend and uphold Java’s core write once run anywhere principle and ensure it is protected for the nine million Java developers and the community that depend on Java compatibility."
Knowing that one would would fragment and damage an unwanted competitor. This is what the software market has been about all the time. Yes, even long before Microsoft entered. Yes, it has been around for a very long time. Even before Apple blatantly copied Xerox gui; no not in a copy-machine.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Facebook to buy Opera?
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, May 26 2012 @ 05:40 PM EDT
"A new report indicates that Facebook, fresh off its initial public offering, is in talks to acquire Web browser maker Opera Software" link

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

19yo Egyptian Student Patents New Quantum Propulsion Method
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, May 26 2012 @ 08:10 PM EDT
Aisha Mustafa, who has entered the active research area of spacecraft propulsion by her newly invented device, told the governmental EGYNews agency that she patented her invention last February in the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT).

Mustafa’s propelling device is based upon a scientific mix between quantum physics, space technology, chemical reactions and electrical sciences.

Islam Mitsraym, OnIslam.net

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Why software can be patented
Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, May 27 2012 @ 04:15 AM EDT
OK, here's "Legal Match" referral service on patenting software. This is the conventional wisdom. No case law, no statutes cited. This is what we're up against.

Can I Patent Software?

Although software functions by using algorithms and mathematics, it may be patentable if it produces some concrete and useful result. However, what cannot be patented is software whose only purpose is to perform mathematical operations. Thus, software that converts one set of numbers to another will not be patentable; but software that converts one set of numbers to another to make rubber will be patentable.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

With Personal Data in Hand, Thieves File Early and Often
Authored by: artp on Sunday, May 27 2012 @ 12:06 PM EDT

The New York Times has an article entitled With Personal Data in Hand, Thieves File Early and Often that is an absolute hoot. The IRS is sending refund checks for fraudulent returns based on identity theft to addresses that do not match the address of the person being defrauded.

OK, got that firmly in mind? Now lets switch over to a Techdirt article on cybersecurity efforts in Congress: Senator Ron Wyden Slams Cybersecurity Legislation Proposals For Eroding Trust & Privacy.

Do you really want the people who can't even mail the check to the right address making rules on how we secure our own domains? Does the government really know so little about its citizens that it doesn't even know where they live, let alone how to verify that they are really the person who should be getting that check. These checks add up to billions, by the way. Yet they want to keep track of every little detail about us. Perhaps to send off to their corporate friends who can't be bothered to do due diligence or research who to sue for copyright infringement?

Did your brain explode when you tried to reconcile those two articles? It should have.

Don't forget to remind your CongressCritter about this mismatch when you talk to them. If this were a political post, which it is not. After those two articles, the space-time fabric should be out of commission for at least a millenium.

---
Userfriendly on WGA server outage:
When you're chained to an oar you don't think you should go down when the galley sinks ?

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Today is Memorial Dayin the US - The Real War 1939-1945
Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, May 27 2012 @ 02:25 PM EDT
Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. (Southern ladies' organizations and southern schoolchildren had decorated Confederate graves in Richmond and other cities during the Civil War, but each region had its own date. Most dates were in May.) By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. - Wikipedia

The Real War 1939-1945
As originally published in The Atlantic Monthly August 1989
by Paul Fussell
On its fiftieth anniversary, how should we think of the Second World War? What is its contemporary meaning? One possible meaning, reflected in every line of what follows, is obscured by that oddly minimizing term "conventional war." With our fears focused on nuclear destruction, we tend to be less mindful of just what conventional war between modern industrial powers is like. This article describes such war, in a stark, unromantic manner

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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