Via Grinding.be comes a New Scientist article over a new type of coating for bullets. The pollen like coating will adhere to the bullet, the casing, and the hands and the clothing of whoever fires them.
It is an interesting idea, without all of the baggage of microstamping. I’m not sure how I feel about; it avoids the massive invasion of privacy that a central registry of ballistic fingerprints would create, since theoretically at least this would only become active in the sense of being used when a bullet was fired in the commission of a crime. The identifier would be located on the bullet or the shell, and then matched to the shooter; no reference to any central database. Possible problems; the drive to make a central registry, where the bullets are linked to a person at point of sale, the problem of cross contamination during storage/handling/sale/firing, and the fact that there is plentiful ammunition out there right now.
Posted in
Misc. Tags:
Guns,
Technology
These two links go hand in hand, certain governments are examining the possibility of searching media players at customs for pirated video at the behest of major media companies, and an Arizona federal court has ruled that if the End User License Agreement of software says it is License, even if you think you bought it and it appears to an outside observer you bought it, then it is a license and you don’t own it. The former leads directly to the latter; media companies believe that after you have paid them, they still control the product. Notice, crucially, that “piracy” is defined by these companies as doing things like ripping CDs on to an MP3 player, or copying a DVD on to your computer to watch on the plane. It is irrelevant, at least to these companies, whether you bought the CD or DVD first, the act of doing something they disapprove of is piracy.
Maybe we should be worried about Terrorist iPods.
Posted in
Law Tags:
Future Law,
Law,
Technology
Empire strikes back as Star Wars Creator Sues (CNN).
Throwing away promo CD is illegal distribution of copyrighted material (EFF).
Insurance industry racking up the wins (WSJ Law Blog).
Denmark, Sweden, lead list of nations that have network-enabled economy (BBC). I’m heartened that the U.S. is fourth on the list, but it is worth noting that countries where government regulates telecoms lead the list.
California feels that a guilty plea, given by an innocent man, means he is partly culpable in his wrongful conviction (Reason).
Lawyer sanction over suit based on opponents question in deposition (Law.com).
Corporations break the law, replace trial with “defered prosecutions) (NY Times).
The FDA is moving closer to gaining the ability to regulate the tobacco industry and Reason opines on the protectionist, anti-consumer bent of the legislation. I’m a little curious, would FDA regulation of the tobacco industry preclude state regulation and preempt any litigation?
Posted in
Law Tags:
Guilt and Innocence,
Liability,
Litigation,
Sanctions,
Technology
