Politics

When Apple launched iTunes in 2003 the major record companies missed a trick. They never imagined a computer firm would change the shape of the music business. iTunes is now the largest music retailer in the world with 575 million customers and annual sales of $23bn. It is the main source of income for every Continue Reading →

The legal saga of Aereo, a start-up that offers an $8-per-month TV streaming service, entered a new chapter last week as a California court heard arguments over whether to lift a ban preventing Aereo-style technology from going live in the western United States. The California hearing was just the latest twist in a complex series Continue Reading →

Bradley Manning has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison for turning over hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks. Handed down by Colonel Denise Lind on Wednesday, the sentence follows the court’s verdict on July 30 that found Manning guilty of nearly all charges against him, though not guilty of the Continue Reading →

At a news conference on Friday, President Obama said he was making plans to improve government oversight of surveillance programs in an effort to ensure the protection of civil rights and restore the public’s trust in the government. “Given the history of abuse by governments, it’s right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology Continue Reading →

Apparently Apple isn’t the only company thinking the US Department of Justice’s recently imposed remedies against it were “draconian.” US publishers HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and others have also ganged up on the DOJ with a legal brief opposing the punitive restrictions. In it, they say the watchdog is “attempting to impose a specific Continue Reading →

The Obama administration on Saturday issued a veto on a proposed potential ban on a number of Apple products in the U.S., including some iPhones and iPad devices. “After extensive consultations with the agencies of the Trade Policy Staff Committee and the Trade Policy Review Group … I have decided to disapprove the USITC’s determination Continue Reading →

The tragicomedy that is Anthony Weiner’s life has made everyone a comedian. There is seemingly no end to the puns, double-entendres, and schoolyard humor that his recent behavior has inspired. At this very moment, I am doing everything I can to restrain myself. That said, there is something very important missing from the coverage of Continue Reading →

Politicians likely fall at the bottom of your list of must-follow personalities on Instagram, which perhaps explains why the Facebook-owned app for sharing photos and videos is looking to hire someone to assist these public figures with image-crafting techniques. The social network is hiring a “Political Outreach Manager” specifically to teach Washington D.C. officials about Continue Reading →

Cellphone users have a reasonable expectation of privacy of their cellphone location information, and police must obtain a search warrant before accessing that information, the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled Thursday. “When people make disclosures to phone companies and other providers to use their services, they are not promoting the release of personal information Continue Reading →

They are far more servants to political power than adversarial watchdogs over it, and what provokes their rage most is not corruption on the part of those in power (they don’t care about that) but rather those who expose that corruption, especially when the ones bringing transparency are outside of, even hostile to, their incestuous Continue Reading →