Month: April 2016

DOJ Reopens Asset Forfeiture Sharing Program After Temporary, Budget-Related Shutdown | Techdirt

The Justice Department has announced that it is resuming a controversial practice that allows local police departments to funnel a large portion of assets seized from citizens into their own coffers under federal law.

The “Equitable Sharing Program” gives police the option of prosecuting some asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law, particularly in instances where local law enforcement officers have a relationship with federal authorities as part of a joint task force. Federal forfeiture policies are more permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep up to 80 percent of assets they seize.

Source: DOJ Reopens Asset Forfeiture Sharing Program After Temporary, Budget-Related Shutdown | Techdirt

Rightscorp Plans to Hijack Pirates’ Browsers Until a Fine is Paid – TorrentFreak


Anti-piracy outfit Rightscorp says that it’s working on a new method to extract cash settlements from suspected Internet pirates. The company says new technology will lock users’ browsers and prevent Internet access until they pay a fine. To encourage ISPs to play along, Rightscorp says the system could help to limit their copyright liability.

Source: Rightscorp Plans to Hijack Pirates’ Browsers Until a Fine is Paid – TorrentFreak

Reddit’s Warrant Canary On National Security Letters… Disappears | Techdirt

Well, here’s something to speculate about. On Thursday, Reddit posted its latest transparency report concerning government requests for user information or content removal. This is the second such report, following its 2014 report. As one Reddit user quickly noted, the 2014 transparency report had something of a “warrant canary” concerning National Security Letters (NSLs).
However, no such line is in the latest report.

Source: Reddit’s Warrant Canary On National Security Letters… Disappears | Techdirt

Stupid Patent Of The Month: Mega-Troll Intellectual Ventures Hits Florist With Do-It-On-A-Computer Scheduling Patent | Techdirt

When it comes to patent trolls, no one is bigger than Intellectual Ventures. The Washington State-based behemoth is at the center of both patent trolling and the debate around patent reform. Though it claims to promote innovation, Intellectual Ventures is behind some of the most outrageous troll campaigns in recent years. Famous for hiding behind thousands of shell companies, it spawned Lodsys, the troll that harassed small app developers, and the Oasis Research litigation featured in This American Life.
This month, Intellectual Ventures filed some fresh lawsuits against targets including JCPenney, Sally Beauty, and flower delivery service Florists’ Transworld Delivery. We checked out the asserted patents to see if any deserved our Stupid Patent of the Month award. All were worthy candidates, but one in particular stood out.

Source: Stupid Patent Of The Month: Mega-Troll Intellectual Ventures Hits Florist With Do-It-On-A-Computer Scheduling Patent | Techdirt