Free Talk Live

A New Zealand court has ruled that search warrants used when 70 police raided the New Zealand mansion of the suspected kingpin of an internet copyright theft ring were illegal. German national Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, was one of four men arrested in January as part of an investigation into his Megaupload.com website led by the FBI. Prosecutors say Dotcom was the ringleader of a group that has netted $175m since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorisation.

Most Occupy activists are big fans of WikiLeaks and Anonymous. Pirates like Kim Dotcom are heroes to them. But Kim Dotcom made $42 million last year from MegaUpload, easily within the top 1%. I think it’s time these activists began to engage in more nuanced thinking when it comes to politics and economics.

What is ACTA?

ACTA is an international trade agreement currently being negotiated by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia as well as a few other countries, whose aim is to enforce copyright and tackle counterfeited goods (hence its acronym: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement).

A 15-year-old Harvey girl who is Jefferson Parish prosecutors' key witness in a second-degree murder case spent a night in jail after she refused to testify against the accused killer Wednesday, a silence apparently based in her fear of the defendant or his family.

The judge presiding over the Trayvon Martin shooting case on removed herself Wednesday after the attorney for defendant George Zimmerman argued she had a possible conflict of interest that related to her husband.

With ACTA Dead, TPP Shapes Up To Avoid The Same Fate

The internet is still rejoicing after last week’s win over ACTA. The European Parliament overwhelmingly voted down the treaty which effectively kills it for the time being. It will be back later, but the Internet can celebrate another win for now. While our friends in Europe our celebrating, the U.S. must still be on the offensive in regards to the ever elusive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

As courts and bureaucrats continue to assert that citizens have no fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice, we find Monsanto lurking nearby. The Wisconsin judge who recently ruled that we have no right to own a cow or drink its milk resigned to join one of Monsanto’s law firms.

U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi today released the FBI-recorded calls involving former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Bridget McCafferty, who was convicted last week of 10 counts of lying to authorities.

Judge in PA goes to trial for getting kick-backs. (FTL needs a 'courts' category.)