40Tech

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a treaty being negotiated among several countries in secret, in order to bring copyright rules to the world.  The scary part about this treaty is that we’re only learning about the specifics of it through leaks, yet it will influence copyright law greatly throughout the world.  While some treaties certainly require secrecy, a treaty like this reeks of our government doing the bidding of corporate interests (specifically, Hollywood and the recording industry).  Do you trust government and corporate American to do the right thing behind closed doors?

We don’t often cover news stories here at 40Tech, but this one bears mentioning. A recent FCC decision now allows the movie industry to disable analog outputs on your equipment in certain situations. Say what? Yes, you heard that right- in some cases, a content provider can reach in and mess with your gear. What is the practical effect of this? It really has three ramifications, two of which are bad.

Major League Baseball was handed a viral video opportunity on a silver platter on Tuesday night.  In a Philadelphia Phillies game, a fan made a tremendous catch of a foul ball from his seat near the railing in the upper deck, leaning over the railing.  After high-fiving nearby fans, he handed the ball to his [...]