Tag Archives: liberty

The iBooks Author EULA: What does it really mean?

Apple has announced iBooks Author—a new program that makes it easy for anyone to create stunning and compelling eBooks. The End User License, however, restricts anything made with iBooks Author to distribution on Apple’s channels unless you give the book away for free. NOTE: You can read a follow-up to this post outlining in more …

January 21, 2012 – 6:18 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright, Economics & Commerce, Property | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (9)

How Auto-Tune the News made me look at the DMCA and copyright law

My 18-month old daughter and I watch Auto-Tune the News on our AppleTV in the mornings while her mother prepares her daycare bag and I try to function pre-coffee. One morning we clicked on AutoTune the News and nothing came up except an error. My lawyer brain immediately thought of fears that a DMCA takedown …

June 10, 2011 – 3:02 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

Open WIFI Access Points — Should you use them, or is that illegal?

You are away from home or you office yet you need the internet, and you need it fast.  Your smartphone has it, but your files and program are on your laptop.  No sweat, you’re downtown near a bunch of apartments.  You see there is an open WIFI access point called “linksys.” But should you use …

May 5, 2011 – 3:07 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Criminal Law | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

What’s the point of the DMCA if I have to keep taking down content?

Infringing copyright content isn’t always cut and dry. Sometimes people try and abuse copyright law to silence critics or competition. Sometimes there is a genuine dispute over what elements of a work are copyrightable. One of the complaints about the DMCA’s notice provisions is that it chills free speech and harms folks by reversing the …

January 26, 2011 – 2:33 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

TSA Scans & Patdowns: Do these violate the 4th Amendment? Maybe.

Searches performed at airports prior to boarding planes have just gotten more intrusive—both physically and pictorially.1   The TSA2 has implemented new rules requiring airplane passengers to submit to either a full-body scanner or an ‘enhanced’ pat-down procedure.  Janet Napolitano, head of the TSA’s parent Department, the Department of Homeland Security, has defended the new …

November 18, 2010 – 5:13 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in 4th Amendment Law, Criminal Law | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

Rivalrous and Non-Rivalrous ‘things’: Explained through song and illustration

I written multiple times about the difference between rivalrous and non-rivalrous things.  The basic difference is that only one person can ‘possess’ somethiing that is rivalrous; whereas more than one person can possess something non-rivalrous. Madisonian.net has a post by Jacqui Lipton that links to an illustrated music video that helps explain this concept.  It …

November 17, 2010 – 9:47 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright, Virtual Worlds | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Implied licenses: Why copyright and contract prevents North Country Gazette from suing you

The North Country Gazette has threatened to sue folks who read more than one article on their website.  Since the threat was unearthed by BoingBoing and Techdirt, and re-posted on Slashdot, the website has gone down, come back up, and added a username/password authentication requirement. The original threat, detailed by Techdirt, outlines the Gazette’s plans …

October 28, 2010 – 11:08 am | By John William Nelson | Posted in Copyright | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Cell Phones, the Fourth Amendment, and the Ohio Supreme Court

Arrested with an iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre, or some other smartphone on you?  Were you carrying your fancy new Netbook? Officers can search you upon arrest in order to protect themselves, inventory your stuff, and prevent evidence from disappearing.  All of these searches can be done without a warrant. What about your searching your electronic …

December 15, 2009 – 8:33 pm | By John William Nelson | Posted in Criminal Law | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)