UK judge grants girl’s dying wish to be cryogenically frozen

In what's thought to be the first case of its kind, a UK judge granted a dying girl's last wish to be cryogenically frozen. The 14-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last year, but as of this August was switched from active treatment t...

Man acquitted as #TwitterJokeTrial appeal ends in victory

Paul Chambers is acquitted as #TwitterJokeTrial appeal ends in victory

Paul Chambers, who was previously found guilty of sending a "menacing tweet," has been acquitted by the High Court after two-and-a-half years trapped in legal limbo. On hearing of the closure of his local airport, the 27-year-old had sent out a facetious tweet to his 600 followers that mentioned "blowing the airport sky high!" However, despite airport authorities realizing the message was a joke, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service took the man to court and won. The social network quickly rallied around, with many repeating the tweet with the hashtag #IAmSpartacus and involving celebrities such as Stephen Fry, who helped raise funds to launch an appeal. The court today found that its joking nature was "obvious" and that it was sent by someone who did not hide their identity -- clearing Mr. Chambers name once and for all. For the record, here was the original tweet with expletives removed:

"C**p! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your s**t together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!"

Man acquitted as #TwitterJokeTrial appeal ends in victory originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 05:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDavid Allen Green (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom’s pointless patent posturing

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Nokia has had its appeal dismissed in the UK High Court in its Europe-wide patent battle against IPCom. The court found that the handset maker had infringed the German firm's 3G patent, but only on the Nokia N96 -- a phone the company no longer sells. IPCom can now request a ban on all British sales of the 2008 handset, a move that will probably affect tens of people. We've got an official response from Nokia's Mark Durrant after the break.

[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]

Continue reading Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom's pointless patent posturing

Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom's pointless patent posturing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 06:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashgear  |  sourceReuters  | Email this | Comments

UK High Court rules ISPs to block Pirate Bay, forgets it ain’t the boss anymore

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The High Court has ruled that British ISPs must block web-browsing citizens from accessing the infamous Pirate Bay. The controversial ruling comes just six months after the European Court of Justice (a superior court) declared that companies like Sky and TalkTalk were protected against injunctions to block, filter or monitor internet traffic for that purpose. Virgin Media told the BBC that it would comply, before sensibly adding that censorship measures like this are ineffective in the long term.

UK High Court rules ISPs to block Pirate Bay, forgets it ain't the boss anymore originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBBC News  | Email this | Comments