$750/pill pharma company under investigation by Senate for price gouging | Ars Technica

Bipartisan committee to probe Turing and its ilk about pricing practices

Source: $750/pill pharma company under investigation by Senate for price gouging | Ars Technica

Exxon Sues Roxx Vodka Over Xs: Oil And Vodka Are Oh So Similar | Techdirt

“ExxonMobil is pursuing legal action against Nielsen Spirits for violating our trademark rights by using a three-stroke interlocking X design in the logo for its new ‘Roxx Vodka’ beverage, and using a three-stroke interlocking X design alone,” Holbrook said. “The public associates the three-stroke interlocking X design with ‘Exxon’ and ‘ExxonMobil,’ and they represent a valuable part of ExxonMobil’s branding. ExxonMobil has protected its three-stroke interlocking X design with numerous trademark registrations, and has been using its three-stroke interlocking X design both alone and as part of ExxonMobil’s distinctive family of ‘Exxon’ and ‘ExxonMobil’ marks for decades.”

Source: Exxon Sues Roxx Vodka Over Xs: Oil And Vodka Are Oh So Similar | Techdirt

TSA airport screeners’ ability to detect weapons declared “pitiful” | Ars Technica

Security measures under “full system review.” Agency considering using dogs.

Source: TSA airport screeners’ ability to detect weapons declared “pitiful” | Ars Technica

Dotcom: Copyright Charges Not Enough For Extradition – TorrentFreak

As Kim Dotcom’s extradition defense enters its second day, the court has heard that none of the 13 charges against the Megaupload founder are enough to extradite him to the United States. The U.S. is characterizing the alleged offenses as extraditable fraud but Dotcom’s team believes that copyright violations can not be prosecuted as such.

Source: Dotcom: Copyright Charges Not Enough For Extradition – TorrentFreak

Secret source code pronounces you guilty as charged [Updated] | Ars Technica

When a computer “spits out something, you’d like to know how it did it.”

Source: Secret source code pronounces you guilty as charged [Updated] | Ars Technica

Health Canada Threatens To Sue Doctor If He Reveals Whether Clinical Trials Data Shows A Drug Is Safe Or Effective | Techdirt

Dr. Navindra Persaud has been fighting for four years to get access to thousands of pages of drug industry documents being held by Health Canada.

He finally received the material a few weeks ago, but now he’s being prevented from revealing what he has discovered.

That’s because Health Canada required him to sign a confidentiality agreement, and has threatened him with legal action if he breaks it.

Source: Health Canada Threatens To Sue Doctor If He Reveals Whether Clinical Trials Data Shows A Drug Is Safe Or Effective | Techdirt

The Right Way To Stop Piracy | Techdirt

The story in Sweden is somewhat famous. Sweden was home to the Pirate Bay and had sky high piracy rates. And then Spotify — a company also born in Sweden — launched at home. And piracy rates fell off a cliff. But only for music. Piracy for other products such as TV and movies remained high. Under pressure from the US, Sweden passed a strict anti-piracy law, IPRED. And, when it went into effect, there was a notable decline in piracy rates… but, within months, those rates rebounded to where they had been before, as people quickly figured out new ways to do what they were doing before. And then Netflix launched in Sweden. And piracy rates for TV and movies dropped.

Source: The Right Way To Stop Piracy | Techdirt