After a disastrous attempt to pass a copyright reform bill last year, the Canadian government is back. This time, though, it has launched town halls and a website to hear from the public before even drafting the law, and the public has a lot to say.

A new lawsuit from the EFF seeks to shed light on the mysterious "Other Intelligence Activities" that the NSA was engaged in after 9/11, and that the DoJ eventually found to be illegal. Based Ars' reporting of the government's datamining efforts, we suggest that it probably looks a lot like social network crawling.

Japanese researchers demonstrate the missing link in laser display technology: true green diode lasers.

Redmond sees revenues drop both quarterly and year-over-year. But its earnings per share are up a bit from last quarter, suggesting it has found a way to manage the pain. Online Services and Entertainment both felt serious hurt.

A Dutch antipiracy tried to sue The Pirate Bay admins in a Dutch court, notifying them by "mail, e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook." But the antipirates got more than they bargained for—a Swedish defamation lawsuit from The Pirate Bay crew. The entire saga could only get stranger if Ewoks were somehow involved.

British musician Calvin Harris was none too pleased to see that one of his original music videos, which he posted to YouTube, was removed due to a copyright complaint from the British Phonographic Industry. The phenomenon isn't new, but it continues to show why takedown notices have gotten out of hand.

A carrier in the United Arab Emirates, home to the (recently, at least) booming financial center of Dubai, sent a message to its users, recommending they install an update that would ostensibly improve 3G performance. Instead, it appears to contain a payload from an electronic surveillance specialist.

Leland Yee, the Senator who sponsored the twice-failed California gaming law, has filed an amicus brief in support of Governor Schwarzenegger's appeal to the Supreme Court. Violent video games are apparently a very pressing issue in California.

FCC Chair Julius Genachowski says that he wants to revisit a tabled Commission proposal, making interactive TV ads directed at children off-limits without parental opt-in.

A diverse coalition of open source software vendors, universities, and nonprofit groups have come together to encourage broader adoption of open source software in government IT.

Net neutrality has largely died down as an issue in Congress, but the war over the idea has resumed at the FCC as the agency drafts its national broadband plan. Is it just a new "price control" or a precious part of the "public interest"?

A majority of sysadmins are concerned about employees sharing too much information online. This could not only result in personal identity theft, but corporate data theft or worse. Security firm Sophos says this fear is justified; users are just plain stupid sometimes when it comes to using social networks.

This fall, Disney Japan will sell DVDs that include copies of the film on microSD cards for use in mobile devices. This extra format will cost $11 more, exactly the sort of premium that rightsholders would love to see from format-shifting.

It's no surprise that Intel is appealing the over €1 billion antitrust fine from the European Commission. One of the grounds for appeal is a bit unusual, however.

Apple has decided that it no longer has an issue with some of its iTunesDB code being discussed on BluWiki and has decided to withdraw its legal threats. However, it's not as much of a First Amendment victory as some might think.