This Week In Techdirt History: January 22nd – 28th

Five Years Ago

This week in 2018, the FCC was backing off its plans to weaken the definition of broadband, but still couldn't admit that limited competition is a problem, and was apparently hoping that some phony dedication to rural broadband would distract people from how it just killed net neutrality. The State of Montana announced that it wouldn't do business with ISPs that violate net neutrality, while a new bill in congress aimed to prevent Comcast-loyal states from blocking broadband competition. Meanwhile, the GAO promised that it would eventually get around to investigating bogus FCC comments.

Ten Years Ago

This week in 2013, in the wake of Aaron Swartz's death, more people were paying attention to prosecutorial overreach, as it became clear that Swartz was unlikely to face conviction or jail time until the feds decided to send a message". A retired federal judge criticized US Attorney Carmen Ortiz's handling of the case, and we wrote about how the situation relates to other incidents that stem from authorities not understanding technology. Meanwhile, Charles Carreon was still futilely digging his hole while Prenda Law was trying out a new trick.

Fifteen Years Ago

This week in 2008, Turkey made its third attempt at a YouTube ban, content industry lobbyists in Canada were pushing for ISP liability, and officials in Japan used copyright law to arrest a computer virus writer. The MPAA actually admitted that some of its piracy stats are bogus, while Warner Music launched a dubious lawsuit against a music search engine. Vonage moved on to a new target in its VoIP patent offensive, while Sprint was ramping up its own patent attacks. And, in a case with widespread implications, the Supreme Court enforced Monsanto's licensing agreement on seeds.