Since Lessig’s book The Code came out in 1999 the discussion of Internet regulation has been increasingly popular. Its not that Lessig started the field but by the popularity of his work he made it a topic worthy of discussion – and it shows not sign of stopping. Breifly stated Lessig’s point was that there [...]

The three strikes approach to internet-regulation is a misguided approach to the problem. Read David Canton‘s arguments on the topic: The three-strikes law is misguided, even if you believe such activity should be controlled. Whether someone has violated copyright is often not a black-or-white issue. Copyright law is complex, and knowing in any given instance [...]

Regulating technology is (almost) hopeless. When giving a speech to the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre Symposium on ‘Meeting Privacy Challenges’ in 2008 Senator John Faulkner  said Trying to legislate to control technological development or the ways people use technology is not perhaps ordering the tide to not come in, but it is certainly like [...]

Gunther von Hagens has lost an appeal to display his more sexually explicit plastinated corpses – the court in Augsburg, Germany, say the exhibit in his Body Worlds (freak) show would breach public decency. It’s not the fact that he displays dead people stripped of their skin in strange poses. The indecent part is that [...]

It’s soon time for the Gikii 4 conference which will be held in Amsterdam during 18-19 September – this year it is organized by the Institute for Information Law (IViR). I am particularly happy since I will be attending with a paper of my own. The program for the conference is here. Just to give [...]

In case anyone missed it President Sarkozy recently decided to attack the Burka In our country we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Mr Sarkozy said to applause in the parliament’s ceremonial Versailles home. The burka is not a religious sign. It [...]

Buying a good beer has never been this complicated! Check out the instructions and the promises you have to make if you would like to buy beer from The abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren. Amongst the instructions and warnings: Our beer is sold in limited quantities and the reservations which we accept are always [...]

Can you feel the excitment in the air? It’s happening tomorrow. Yes it is Friday and the weekend weather is looking great but thats not what I am talking about. Tomorrow the courts will present their ruling for the Pirate Bay Case. It promises to be an interesting read.

Presentation is everything. Shame that the truth may interupt an otherwise nice story. The Guardian was not alone among international media commenting on the implementation of IPRED (Directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights) in Sweden. The article entitled Swedish internet use plummets after filesharing curb introduced began: Internet traffic in Sweden – previously [...]

Today is a busy day! In another Swedish newspaper there is an article that claims, already in it’s title, that copyright gave us diversity (Upphovsrätten gav oss mångfald). The article is a short burst of twaddle that attempts to state that copyright is necessary for litterature and ends with the bombastic but incredibly false statement [...]

On Thursday last week a group of Swedish artists and writers spoke up in an op-ed on the topic of file sharing. Their motives and point of view are clear. Their timing is also to act out in support of the coming parliamentary vote that will create a harsher environment around illegal file sharing. The [...]