In April 2007, as part of our Patent Busting Project, we asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to revisit its decision to grant NeoMedia a patent that broadly claimed to cover database lookups using things like barcodes. In October 2007, the PTO agreed to take...

A David and Goliath-type battle erupted this weekend when the public realized that Facebook had changed the rules governing their use of the popular social networking site. In the end, the users prevailed in a victory that reflects the power of social networking as a tool for change.The controversy...

Last week, we told you about our efforts to ensure the White House makes good on its commitment to a more transparent government. Among other things, we've asked courts to postpone or “stay” several of our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases until the Attorney General releases guidelines...

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds that a clear majority of Americans favor at least some kind of investigation into whether Bush administration officials and policies violated the law.
Respondents were asked about whether there should be a criminal investigation, an investigation by independent panel — or neither...

Fans of the Sci Fi channel's "reimagined" version of Battlestar Galactica (BSG) all know that the only reason the human warship Galactica survived the initial attack by the Cylons was that it was an old ship using old technology. The Cylon attack crippled the modern systems of the rest of...

Beware, iPhone unlockers who defected from AT&T to T-Mobile, because America's wireless phone giants think you're a copyright infringer, a DMCA circumventor, a contract breacher, and a trademark violator. You committed all these offenses simply because you want to use your phone (yes, the one you own) on another network...

When President Obama, in one of his first official acts, issued directives committing his new administration to creating “an unprecedented level of openness in Government,” we joined with other transparency advocates in welcoming the announcement of a new direction. After eight long years of the most secretive administration in...