"legal" tag (sorted by SiNergy)

A bill is expected to be introduced to U.S. Congress that would eliminate a "loophole" that allows many Americans to shop online without paying sales taxes. Now I have to admit that I am a total Amazon whore and it’s mostly due to the fact I don’t have to pay sales tax, especially since California has jacked theirs up to 9.25%.

A Cairo court has issued a ruling to ban porn sites saying "freedoms and public rights are not absolute; they are limited by the respect of the family which is the base of the society." Whatever that means… The case was filed by an Islamic lawyer who argued that adult websites corrupt and destroy Egyptian morals.

Craigslist announced this week that they are dropping the erotic service section on all US sites. Craigslist has been under a lot of pressure to remove this category from several state officials and law enforcement, even more so after the Craigslist killings.

The DOJ has sided with a Recording Industry Association of America lawsuit, giving the OK to high fines per music track downloaded. The DOJ is defending their decision by stating it’s the public who suffers from piracy (lost jobs & wages, lost tax revenue, etc.) However, I find this decision to side with the RIAA a little fishy since two of the top DOJ lawyers are former RIAA attorneys.

I’m all for protecting children, but this is just lame… Iowa manga collector Christopher Handley pleaded guilty to importing and possessing Japanese comic books that included images of child sex abuse and bestiality. They are freaking comics! Handley is the first person convicted under the 2003 PROTECT act, which makes it illegal to buy or own cartoons, drawings, etc.

While this story was not featured on this week’s WTF portion on the podcast, it’s definitely a WTF story! Five representatives of the Spanish music rights/anti-piracy group SGAE took it upon themselves to conduct a search of Juan Colonel’s home in Bonar, Spain without a valid warrant.

As I’m sure most of you remember, Hardcore Max was sentences last year to 46 month in prison and was ordered to forfeit three domains. Well it looks like the government finally moved to condemn these sites and there is speculation as to what will happen to them going forward. Typically when the government seizes a domain they will later turn around and sell it.

With all fighting going on between copyright holders, pirates and ISPs, it’s refreshing to hear that New Zealand is considering throwing out their copyright law and starting again from scratch. As is the case with every other country, the original Kiwi legislation was drafted long before there was a need for protecting intellectual property online.

Internet traffic dropped significantly in Sweden after a new law went into effect that cracks down on online copyright violations. Sweden had made a name for itself as a hub of illegal file-sharing, but now, thanks to the new law, ISPs are required to disclose personal information about suspected violators to copyright owners. As a result daily online activity dropped more than 40%.

This has to be one of the stupidest things I have read! Amanda Madison, 18, and Joshua Sizemore, 23, were arrested after a stripping game lead to throwing rocks off an interstate bridge. The act resulted in 14 damaged cars (including a Washington State Patrol cruiser), one injured person and 14 charges of second-degree assault against the two.