February 08, 2012 (Press-News.org) On January 24, 2012, Congress was scheduled to vote on whether to debate two controversial bills regarding Internet privacy and intellectual property. The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) were meant to limit online piracy and stem copyright infringement. However, they were met with fervent opposition from civil liberties advocates, privacy groups, online search engines and millions of consumers. Congressional offices were swamped with phone calls, letters and emails calling for legislators not to support the bill.
In fact, a week before the vote was to take place, a highly publicized online blackout was staged. Nearly 115,000 websites, including popular search engines Google and Wikipedia staged protests by blacking out their sites. Essentially, they asked the public: Imagine a world without innovation and free flowing knowledge?
Congress eventually ceded to public pressure and cancelled the vote; a move that essentially shelved the bill for the remainder of the legislative session. However, what was hailed as a dramatic and convincing victory against censorship may only be temporary. In previous years, Congress has considered a number of similar bills intent on controlling information disseminated online, including the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004, the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation (PIRATE) Act, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (Pro-IP Act), and the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act (COICA). While all of these were not signed into law, it shows that when one bill fails, another will soon be introduced to take its place.
While it was interesting to see so many groups come together for a common cause, it is not likely that they will be engaged on every issue and every proposal that affects the Internet. Policy makers may understand this already, and may rely more on consultants who specialize in harnessing the views and interests of Internet users. However, lawmakers will have to make several changes in future proposals in order to reach their goals.
Specifically, they will have to modify the message behind future bills to reflect what is important to consumers; and even that may be a tall order. The proponents of SOPA and PIPA believed that the simple message of "piracy is bad" would gain public support when consumers actually viewed it as another means of Orwellian control of ideas and information. Also, they will have to combat the overarching concern that such legislation is simply another backroom deal between lobbyists, industry executives and legislators. Further, they will have to accept input from opposing views in order to create concise, narrowly construed regulations that do not punish lawful Internet use.
It remains to be seen whether future intellectual property proposals will follow these ideals. In the meantime, the next Internet regulation bill will be on the horizon soon.
Article provided by Erik S. Syverson
Visit us at www.syversonlaw.com
The Future of Internet Policy Bills
The recent defeat of two controversial bills, PIPA and SOPA, showed how Internet users can rally together to challenge controversial laws. What does it say about future Internet laws? Learn more in the following article.
2012-02-08
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Why the middle finger has such a slow connection
2012-02-08
The fingers on the outside – i.e. the thumb and little finger - therefore react faster than the middle finger, which is exposed to the "cross fire" of two neighbours on each side. Through targeted learning, this speed handicap can be compensated. The working group led by PD Dr. Hubert Dinse (Neural Plasticity Lab at the Institute for Neuroral Computation) report in the current issue of PNAS.
Thumb and little finger are the quickest
The researchers set subjects a simple task to measure the speed of decision: they showed them an image on a monitor that represented all ...
An electronic green thumb
2012-02-08
A green thumb is required where plants are to grow abundantly – that also applies to watering them in dry areas. If they are watered too much, then the soil becomes saline; if the plants receive too little moisture, they let their leaves droop and, in the worst case, they wither. In the future, sensors in the soil, a central unit and an associated app will supplement the green thumb: one look at the smart phone and the farmer will know what moisture content the soil has. Which plants need water, which do not? If the plants get too dry, the farmer is alerted by SMS; the ...
Engineers boost computer processor performance by over 20 percent
2012-02-08
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique that allows graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) on a single chip to collaborate – boosting processor performance by an average of more than 20 percent.
"Chip manufacturers are now creating processors that have a 'fused architecture,' meaning that they include CPUs and GPUs on a single chip," says Dr. Huiyang Zhou, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who co-authored a paper on the research. "This approach decreases manufacturing costs ...
Entire genome of extinct human decoded from fossil
2012-02-08
In 2010, Dr. Svante Pääbo and his colleagues presented a draft version of the genome from a small fragment of a human finger bone discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. The DNA sequences showed that this individual came from a previously unknown group of extinct humans that have become known as Denisovans. Together with their sister group the Neandertals, Denisovans are the closest extinct relatives of currently living humans.
The Leipzig team has now developed sensitive novel techniques which have allowed them to sequence every position in the Denisovan genome ...
New Federal Regulations for Truckers in 2012: Do They Go Far Enough?
2012-02-08
At the end of 2011, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) set forth a new set of rules pertaining to truckers' work schedules. The updated FMCSA hours-of-service regulations for commercial vehicle operators were officially published on December 27.
Some advocates are now applauding the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for tightening certain requirements, but are questioning whether hours-of-service regulations could be doing more to protect motorists. In the end, the FMCSA declined to reduce the daily driving time maximum from the ...
Comparing yourself to others can have health impacts
2012-02-08
Comparing yourself to others with the same health problem can influence your physical and emotional health, according to researchers who conducted a qualitative synthesis of over 30 studies focusing on the relationship between social comparisons and health.
"If you've ever looked at another person and thought, 'Well, at least I'm doing better than he is,' or 'Wow, I wish I could be doing as well as she is,' you're not alone," said Josh Smyth, professor of biobehavioral health and of medicine, Penn State. "This phenomenon -- first proposed in the 1950s -- is common in ...
MIT: New tool for analyzing solar-cell materials
2012-02-08
To make a silicon solar cell, you start with a slice of highly purified silicon crystal, and then process it through several stages involving gradual heating and cooling. But figuring out the tradeoffs involved in selecting the purity level of the starting silicon wafer — and then exactly how much to heat it, how fast, for how long, and so on through each of several steps — has largely been a matter of trial and error, guided by intuition and experience.
Now, MIT researchers think they have found a better way.
An online tool called "Impurities to Efficiency" (known ...
New insights into how to correct false knowledge
2012-02-08
DURHAM, N.C. -- The abundance of false information available on the Internet, in movies and on TV has created a big challenge for educators.
Students sometimes arrive in classrooms filled with inaccurate knowledge they are confident is correct, indicating it is deeply entrenched in their memory.
According to Duke University researchers, educators might be able to help students overcome their misconceptions by correcting inaccurate information then having the students practice retrieving it from memory.
"Errors that are deeply entrenched in memory are notoriously ...
Competitive soccer linked to increased injuries and menstrual dysfunction in girls
2012-02-08
In the U.S., there are nearly three million youth soccer players, and half of them are female. New research presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that despite reporting appropriate body perception and attitudes toward eating, elite youth soccer athletes (club level or higher) face an increased risk for delayed or irregular menstruation. In addition, female soccer players are more likely to suffer a stress fracture or ligament injury. A separate study found that a consistent 15-minute warm-up substantially ...
EARTH: Unearthing Antarctica's mysterious mountains
2012-02-08
Alexandria, VA – Buried more than a kilometer beneath the East Antarctica Ice sheet, the Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains have proven to be a geological puzzle for more than 5 decades. How did these mountains form? When did they form? And what makes this ancient mountain range one of the least-understood tectonic features on Earth?
The Gamburstevs lie under the highest point in Antarctica: the 4,000-meter-high Dome Argus Plateau. The mountain range, in the middle of an ancient continental craton, has a thick, crustal root and high topography. Locked under the ice, frozen ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue
UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’
New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening
Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas
Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition
CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam
Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch
New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed
New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations
Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency
How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads
Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids
Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation
Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria
Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers
Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time
‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’
Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible
Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound
American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care
Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential
Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research
Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration
Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce
Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care
Resident physician intentions regarding unionization
[Press-News.org] The Future of Internet Policy BillsThe recent defeat of two controversial bills, PIPA and SOPA, showed how Internet users can rally together to challenge controversial laws. What does it say about future Internet laws? Learn more in the following article.