Techdirt Podcast Episode 128: Patent Trolls, With Cloudflare's General Counsel

from the reporting-from-the-front-lines dept

As we reported last month, CDN provider Cloudflare has decided to hit back against patent troll Blackbird Technologies with an aggressive strategy. Leading this charge is Doug Kramer, Cloudflare's General Counsel, who joins us this week to discuss the current situation with Blackbird and the broader patent landscape.

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Filed Under: doug kramer, patent trolls, patents, podcast
Companies: cloudflare

Techdirt Podcast Episode 127: Copyright, Music & 'Theft'

from the a-legacy-of-copying dept

This week's episode is all about copyright and culture, with a pair of the best guests you could ask for on the subject. Almost ten years ago, law professors Keith Aoki, James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins released a comic book about copyright called Bound By Law, and now they are back with a sequel: Theft: A History of Music. This week, James and Jennifer join us to discuss the new comic and the history of copyright and music (with lots of fair use music snippets to demonstrate the legacy of 'theft')!

You should also be sure to check out the comic itself! You can download a digital copy for free of course, but for those who want to get their hands on the beautiful paperback edition, we've got a limited time offer for Techdirt fans: you can get it for only $8.99 at Createspace (that's 40% off!) when you use the discount code 2FESBPRQ within the next two weeks. It's also available on Amazon with a free Kindle edition included when you buy.

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Filed Under: copyright, fair use, james boyle, jennifer jenkins, music, podcast, remix

Techdirt Podcast Episode 125: Re-Decentralizing The Web

from the listen-up dept

One of the fundamental strengths of the internet has always been its decentralization, but over time we've seen a bunch of different forces start to distort this setup. This week, we're joined by Jamie King, director of Steal This Film and host of the Steal This Show podcast to discuss the ongoing efforts to restore the decentralization of the web.

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Filed Under: decentralization, internet, jamie king, podcast, web

Techdirt Podcast Episode 124: The Future Of Internet Copyright, With TechFreedom

from the copywrong dept

This week we've got a special crossover episode with our friends at TechFreedom. Mike joined their Tech Policy Podcast recently to discuss notice and takedown systems and the future of internet copyright, and we're cross-posting the conversation as an episode of the Techdirt Podcast too.

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Filed Under: copyright, podcast, policy, techfreedom

Techdirt Podcast Episode 123: No, The MP3 Isn't Dead

from the seriously,-damnit dept

When the "death of the MP3" started being reported, we were among the very few blogs that said umm, no — but the deluge of eulogies for the still-thriving format has been overwhelming and quite surprising. This week I join the podcast to discuss why the MP3 isn't dead, and how so much of the tech press got it so wrong.

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Filed Under: blogging, mp3, open source, patents, podcast

Techdirt Podcast Episode 122: Truth And Fiction With Cory Doctorow

from the don't-walkaway-from-this-one dept

Most Techdirt readers are already familiar with Cory Doctorow, whether via his EFF work, the BoingBoing blog, his novels, or all of the above. This week, he joins us on the podcast for an in-depth discussion about his new book Walkaway and much, much more.

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Filed Under: boingboing, cory doctorow, eff, podcast, walkaway

Techdirt Podcast Episode 121: The Crypto Wars May Never End

from the decrypt-this dept

The current instalment of the crypto wars hit full stride with the clash between Apple and the FBI, but in truth the tension over encryption has been around for a long time — and it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. As our readers know, Tim Cushing has been following these developments closely, and this week he joins the podcast for a discussion about encryption, law enforcement and "going dark".

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Filed Under: crypto wars, encryption, fbi, podcast, privacy

Techdirt Podcast Episode 120: The Surveillance State

from the american-spies dept

In the post-Snowden era, we don't have to tell you how important it is to stay engaged with (and vigilant about) the surveillance state in America. Jennifer Granick is the Director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, and author of the new book American Spies — and this week she joins us for an in-depth discussion about the surveillance state today. Of course, shortly after we recorded this podcast, the NSA made major changes to one of its surveillance programs, so Jennifer returned to record an addendum examining this latest news, so make sure you listen to the end!

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Filed Under: intelligence community, jennifer granick, nsa, podcast, privacy, surveillance

Techdirt Podcast Episode 119: Does Pharma Really Need Patents?

from the let's-dig-in dept

It doesn't take many stories of people suffering due to unaffordable medicine to make you question the state of pharmaceutical patents, but the arguments in their defense are loud and frequent. Most are variations on the same theme: without the promise of a monopoly, important drugs would never be researched and developed. But does this argument truly hold up? It's come up as a tangent in previous episodes of the podcast, but this week we're dedicating a full episode to questioning the popular defenses of pharma patents and looking for a better way forward.

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Filed Under: patents, pharma, podcast, research

Techdirt Podcast Episode 118: The Evolution Of The Office

from the the-way-we-work dept

We've talked before about how the very nature of work is changing thanks to technology, with telecommuting being an obvious trend — but despite some early predictions about the death of the physical office, the reality is offices have been evolving and changing thanks to technology and innovation too. This week, we discuss co-working spaces and other trends in the evolution of offices.

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Filed Under: offices, podcast, work