Who Owns The Facts?

windowpain writes "With all of the furor over the Patriot Act a truly scary bill that expands the rights of corporations at the expense of individuals was quietly introduced into congress in October. In Feist v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co. the Supreme Court ruled that a mere collection of facts can't be copyrighted. But H.R. 3261, the Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act neatly sidesteps the copyright question and allows treble damages to be levied against anyone who uses information that's in a database that a corporation asserts it owns. This is an issue that crosses the political spectrum. Left-leaning organizations like the American Library Association oppose the bill and so do arch-conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly, who wrote an impassioned column exposing the bill for what it is the week after it was introduced."

I'm guessing...

[plnrtrvlr]

...that most of the people who post to slashdot don't need to worry about being in violation if this bill passes. Facts have never stopped anyone here yet!

my db

[erikdotla]

insert into facts (object,property) values ('sky','blue')

There we go.

the copywrite laws...

[maxdamage]

are starting to make me seriosly consider living inside a cardboard box... unless ofcouse it would be a copywire violation to use the word cardboard or box, maybe a coragated cube... then again apple could sue me for using the word cube...

Re:Sigh...

[vwjeff]

Not all information can be released to the public. I point to nuclear weapons as an example. If the plans for nuclear weapons ever got on the internet...bad example.

I don't get it...

[ninejaguar]

If the Left is against this, and the Right is against this, who's pushing it? The Middle?

= 9J =

Legislation so bad and so unpopular..

[Anonymous Coward]

You just know it'll pass.

I came up with this idea a couple of years ago...

[Parsa]

Kinda anyway.

I wanted to copyright my demographic information then charge company's to use it to send me junkmail. Now someone else is goign to own my info. I wonder if they would sell me, or license me, the right to use my info.

J

Ma Bell has her hands in this one too

[sysopd]

Sec 6 (c) Nothing in this Act shall [...] restrict any person from making available in commerce or extracting subscriber list information [...]

Yea! Thank God they thought of the poor telemarketers!

Incorporate!

[cspenn]

Here's an idea - why not incorporate yourself? Filing fees aren't that terrible - at least not if you file in the state of Delaware - and then you can enjoy all the rights and privileges of fellow corporations like Enron, Worldcom, and SCO! File abhorrently incorrect taxes! "Restate" your earnings to the IRS!

In all seriousness... if you're not a corporation or affiliated with one, you might be in a bit of trouble as the current pro-business administration continues its legislative agendae.

Chris Inc. [slconsolidation.com]

Re:In that case

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, we would have, but we heard that BSD was dying.

Re:I came up with this idea a couple of years ago.

[BiggerIsBetter]

I wonder if they would sell me, or license me, the right to use my info.

Probably not. I'm sure they'll happily license the right to use your info to a marketing company though.

So who owns the Fact to end all facts?

[bersl2]

In other words, who owns "*BSD is dying!"?

Hyperlinking.

[Trejkaz]

(c) HYPERLINKING- Nothing in this Act shall restrict the act of hyperlinking of one online location to another. [goatse.cx]

Hmm....

[Rick Zeman]

Does this mean that Google now owns the world?

Re:my db

[AntiOrganic]

This comment is a ridiculous overexaggeration of the point. Ownership of the sky, sun and moon has been traced back to a group of individuals from an area of Scandinavia now known as Norway, circa 700 A.D., when they filed an international accord stating that Valkyries under their dominion had claimed the sky in their name. Interestingly enough, they did not claim ownership of any stars or planets, so it will be interesting to look back through the archives and see who did.

To this day, all countries utilizing airborne vehicles flying in excess of 20,000 feet must pay royalties to Norway for the commercial use of their property.

Check for yourself

[sbszine]

if( print "Hello\n" )
{
print "True!\n";
}
else
{
print "False!\n";
}

Re:Who's really looses out here?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you mad? Everyone knows drug users are addicts and are all sociopaths that will kill you in your sleep and rape your wife and sell your tv for crack (unless that drug addict is White & wealthy, in wich case He's just misunderstood victim of what's really a desiease and we should support him as he works through rehab and returns to the AM airwaves). Besides, it's not like those taxes are coming out of their pockets, most of it comes from those they're throwing in jail for non-violent crimes. Fucking hypocrytes to the core.

*disclaimer: I don't do any illiceit drugs, hell, don't even drink. I'm not a real doctor, but I do play one of TV. Do not taunt happy fun ball. Supositories should not be taken orally.

Re:my db

[Idarubicin]

To this day, all countries utilizing airborne vehicles flying in excess of 20,000 feet must pay royalties to Norway for the commercial use of their property.

Since the most recent surveys of Mount Everest place its altitude at 29,035 feet (8850 metres), the Nepalese have applied for an exemption from this policy for Sherpas working commercially below 30,000 feet.

Negotiations are ongoing. There is no word yet on the legal status of climbers who become inadvertantly airborne while still above the 20,000 foot mark.