UK government issues advice on what makes ‘Kodi boxes’ illegal

While streaming services like Netflix and Spotify have provided easy (and affordable) ways for Britons to enjoy legal content in their homes, the UK government is still waging war against what it calls "illicit streaming devices." This week, the Inte...

Kodi boxes ‘threaten to undermine’ the UK’s anti-piracy efforts

Media centre software Kodi is once again taking flak for its role in facilitating digital piracy today. An announcement from the UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has praised "innovative" services like Netflix and Spotify for keeping Brits on t...

Apple can never release an ‘iWatch’ in the UK

Long before Apple actually launched its first wearable, a trademarking spree sent the rumour mill into overdrive. Understandably so, because what else could an "iWatch" be? The Swiss clocksmiths at Swatch weren't best pleased with this application, h...

UK offers long-awaited copyright reform that sanctions format shifting, remote education

UK offers longawaited copyright reform that sanctions format shifting, remote education

Believe it or not, it's still illegal in the UK to rip a favorite CD, or even to show copyrighted work in distance education -- both fair use permissions that many North Americans take for granted. Some sense is at last coming around now that the Intellectual Property Office is putting forward copyright reforms that accept a digital reality. The measures explicitly approve private copying for personal use, making it legal to shift formats as long as it's to play purchased content. Many of the reforms also clear up the murkiness surrounding institutional use: analysts, researchers and teachers should have access to copyrighted material over networks, as long as it's for non-commercial purposes. The fair use terms aren't as broadly outlined as they are in the US -- these are exceptions, not general rules -- but they go a long way towards legitimizing what many wanted all along. Or, let's be honest, were already doing.

[Image credit: Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Flickr]

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Via: GigaOM

Source: Dept. for Business Innovation and Skills