The morning reboot:
- Norway's consumer ombudsman has declared iTunes illegal. Norway says that because iTunes does not allow downloaded songs to be played on rival devices, it violates Norway's consumer protection laws. The ombudsman has set a deadline of October 1 for the Apple to make its codes available to other technology companies or face closure orders. I'm all for getting rid of DRM, but by this logic wouldn't OS X be illegal as well since it only runs on Apple hardware?
- Fox has subpoenaed YouTube seeking the names of users who uploaded “24” and “Simpsons” episodes to the popular video sharing site. While some networks like CBS have come to realize that YouTube videos actually increase the viewing audience of TV shows, Fox apparently hasn't gotten that memo and continues its long standing run as the red-headed stepchild of TV networks (no offense to red-headed stepchildren intended).
- In possibly related news, Americans are smarter than I thought. Despite the efforts of the RIAA, MPAA and others, most Americans do not equate downloading with theft (the Supreme Court has repeated ruled that copyright infringement does not equate to theft). Solutions Research Group reports that only 40 percent of Americans think downloading is a serious offense on par with shoplifting a CD.
- Slyck, a tech news site I was previously unaware of, has posted a great interview with muslix64 the hacker who cracked the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray encryption schemes. Muslix64 calls his (her?) efforts “fair use enforcement.”
