Category Archives: Polemics

Why Apple’s new iTunes Match service cannot be used to chase down music pirates

Ars Technica has an article about whether iTunes’ new iCloud features will be used to chase down music pirates. Some lawyers and academics writing about this might hedge their comments with conditions and exceptions. I won’t. No, iTunes’ new iCloud match features cannot and will not be used to chase down music pirates. (And Ars …

July 5, 2011 – 4:09 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright, Polemics | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Can you steal the idea for a product or service?

The Telegraph has an article about claims that the founders of the Huffington Post ‘stole’ the blueprint for the popular website.  Can you ‘steal’ an idea, be it for a product or a service? On some level this questions appears to ridiculous.  The Huffington Post, for example, is modeled after many community sites before it, …

May 26, 2011 – 2:02 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright, Economics & Commerce, Polemics, Trade Secret, Trademark | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The problem of viewing Copyrights as property

I.  There is no Property in Intellectual Property Slashdot used to have a contributor/user who went by the name “I Don’t Believe In Imaginary Property.”  This user seemed most interested in issues surrounding copyright and patent law.  The implication was always that he, or she, didn’t believe copyrights should be viewed as property. I agree. …

January 26, 2010 – 7:39 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Polemics, The Future of Law | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

How Technology Changes Everything, Yet Changes Nothing

Technology makes travel faster.  Farther.  Safer, and more dangerous. Technology brings us closer.  It allows more communication.  It places us farther away.  It makes communication more difficult. Technology brings revolution.  Writing.  The printing press.  The internet.  Epochs of man measured by technology. Technology changes everything. Yet, nothing changes. Man still communicates with man.  There is …

November 4, 2009 – 10:30 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Polemics | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)