Category Information and Communications Technology/ Broadcasting

Government Anti-Piracy Measures Working, Music Industry Says

Industry profits from digital music are on the rise as industry-owned music download services expand and gain acceptance, anti-piracy efforts take hold in some countries, and internet intermediaries join in, music industry representatives said today.

SOPA, Piracy, Pharmaceuticals May Dominate US IP Policy Discussions In 2012

Online piracy, patent reform and intellectual property issues relating to pharmaceuticals are among the top legislative and regulatory priorities for many stakeholder groups in the United States this year, but given that 2012 is an election year, chances are slim that Congress will push through anything that isn’t a top priority or that could cause too much partisan rancour.

US Senate Postpones PIPA Vote; EU Commissioner Joined Opposition

The new age of lobbying through online public engagement showed its effectiveness today as the Senate announced the postponement of next week's vote on controversial anti-piracy legislation that led to unprecedented protests on the internet.

FAQ: What SOPA Would Mean To You

A list of answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the much-disputed anti-piracy legislation before the United States Congress has been published by CNET News. It also reported that some 4.5 million people signed the petition on Google during the blackout protest yesterday.

Websites Everywhere Dark In Protest Of US Anti-Piracy Legislation

In an unprecedented action suggesting intellectual property rights have bumped up against an access threshold, thousands of websites have gone "dark" today in protest against two draft anti-piracy and counterfeiting bills in the US Congress that the protestors say would harm freedoms online. The protest includes major technology firms like Google, Mozilla, Wikipedia, Flickr, Reddit, Vimeo and WordPress.

ICANN Announces New TLD Program Start

On the eve of the start of the application period for new generic top level domains (gTLDs) on the internet, the chair of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Steve Crocker, described the program as a "major step in the globalisation of the internet." For the first time there will be equal access and an equal invitation to users from all over the world to have generic domain names, Crocker said at the National Press Club in Washington, DC today.

NTIA Supports New Domains – Phased In, With Protection

The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has announced its support for additional policies for new generic top-level domains on the internet, with conditions. The Commerce Department agency will stick to the 12 January start of the application period for new domains, but it has requested that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) take additional precautions when opening up the process.