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pro-ip act

VCs to Congress: Antipiracy bill will 'chill' tech investment

The people who are instrumental in getting technology start-ups off the ground are imploring Congress not to support a bill designed to give the government more freedom in combating Internet piracy and counterfeiting.

About 50 of some of tech's best-known venture capitalists, including Marc Andreessen, Fred Wilson, and Vinod Khosla, wrote an open letter to members of the U.S. Congress yesterday and outlined how the Protect IP Act would not only fail to achieve its goal of protecting intellectual property but would also "stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness."

The Protect … Read more

IP protection law would let feds sieze your PC

Some new intellectual property (IP) enforcement legislation passed the U.S. House yesterday by a wide margin. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has been against the proposal since its inception, put out a release highlighting the silliness of creating a new presidential appointee (complete with official seal) specifically to oversee IP policy. But reading through the coverage of the bill, and wading through most of the bill itself, there's another part that seemed more alarming to me.

I've never studied law, but it looks like the bill allows the government to seize any computer used in the process … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 721: Copy an MP3, lose your house

It's scary legal day today between the Pro-IP act and the Los Angeles County copyright laws. At least R2D2 can safely project legitimate DVD movies on our walls. Even if they're prison walls. Also, old Apple PowerBook power supplies are sparking up a storm. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 721

House overwhelmingly passes controversial Pro-IP Act http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080508-house-overwhelmingly-passes-controversial-pro-ip-act.html

Infringement ‘detrimental to the public health, safety’ http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/0029224

Windows XP SP3 sows havoc, users complain http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/ operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207600950… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 716: Hope for old people (like Tom)

There's still time for us to strike entrepreneurial gold, we talk "malicious circuits," and Microsoft blah blah blah blah. Also, Popcorn Hour starts shipping its magical streaming box of wonder and it looks like we're in store for some wiener whistles. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 716

Microsoft leans toward a hostile bid http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120966628366460063.html

Xbox 360 Blu-ray console shipping by September? http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/02/ xbox-360-blu-ray-console-by-september/

Researchers design “malicious circuits,” warn of potential risk http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/01/ researchers-design-malicious-circuits-warn-of-potential-risk/

Popcorn Hour’s … Read more