This Week In Techdirt History: September 4th – 10th
Five Years Ago
This week in 2017, Apple sort of threw its support behind net neutrality, while the CEOs of large ISPs and tech companies were absent from a round of public hearings, and Senators were blasting the FCC for weakening its definition of broadband. A court found the FBI's malware deployments to be perfectly constitutional, while cops in Canada were belatedly seeking authorization for the Stingray devices they'd been using for years. Meanwhile, the world was rocked by a massive security breach at Equifax. And in perhaps the most memorable news for us, this was the week that the district court tossed out the defamation lawsuit against Techdirt.
Ten Years Ago
This week in 2012, the CEO of Universal Music offered up the telling admission that the company is not in the business of making art. We noted how both major US parties were in denial about the need for copyright and patent reform, though The Economist was a bit more optimistic about the global state of copyright. Of course, copyright holders were still sending lots of ridiculous DMCA takedowns, and we watched as design patents hit the fashion world when Lululemon sued Calvin Klein.
Fifteen Years Ago
This week in 2007, we took a look at how record labels were ten years behind in their business model thinking, while Bertelsmann was agreeing to one more payout to settle things over Napster, and Universal Music was responding to Veoh's pre-emptive legal strike by not waiting and suing Veoh back. The RIAA finally paid up some legal fees on a misfiled suit, though still ignored several requirements, while the MPAA was drumming up fear about the threat" of camcording in the UK. Meanwhile, the 10th Circuit offered up a positive ruling in Larry Lessig's famous Golan case, though we were still several years away from the less-positive final ruling from the Supreme Court.
In The Beginning...
Twenty-five years ago, the original newsletters that would become Techdirt weren't always on a consistent schedule, so this week there are two to look back on! One edition went out on September 6th, 1997 and was followed up by a special extra edition on September 10th. Both are fun to look back on, especially the second which opens with a brief reference to an amusing (and confusing) fiasco involving Kurt Vonnegut and an MIT commencement address.