By Mike Masnick (TechDirt) So, late Friday, we reported on how the Republican Study Committee (the conservative caucus of House Republicans) had put out a surprisingly awesome report about copyright reform. The MPAA and RIAA apparently went ballistic and hit the phones hard, demanding that the RSC take down the report. They succeeded.
By Noe Torres (Reuters) A leftist Mexican lawmaker on Thursday presented a bill to legalize the production, sale and use of marijuana, adding to a growing chorus of Latin American politicians who are rejecting the prohibitionist policies of the United States.
The bill is unlikely to win much support in Congress since a strong majority of Mexicans are firmly against legalizing drugs, but may spur a broader debate in Mexico after two U.S. states voted to allow recreational use of marijuana last week. U.S. officials have said it remains illegal and that they are reviewing the state actions.
“The prohibitionist paradigm is a complete failure,” said Fernando Belaunzaran, the author of the bill from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), who presented the proposal in Mexico’s lower house of Congress.
via Mexico lawmaker introduces bill to legalize marijuana | Reuters.
(TorrentFreak) A ruling handed down yesterday by Germany’s highest court represents a blow to rightsholders in their quest to clamp down on illicit file-sharing. The court ruled that the parents of a teenager who had made available more than 1,100 songs on file-sharing networks can not be held responsible for their son’s infringements, nor be required to monitor or hinder his online activities.
via Parents Not Responsible For Their Teenager’s Music Piracy | TorrentFreak.
By Claudia Meléndez Salinas (Herald) A former teacher at the Carmelo School has filed a lawsuit against the school and the Carmel Unified School District for discrimination and wrongful termination for the school’s failure to accommodate her needs as a new mother.
In the lawsuit filed Oct. 30, Sarah Ann Lewis Boyle of Pacific Grove said her troubles with the Child Development Center began in September 2011. Boyle was due to come back to work on Oct. 3, 2011, and she told manager Laura Dunn she would need about 15 minutes between 9 and 11 a.m. every day to pump her breasts. Dunn reportedly told Boyle to start “training my breast not to make milk between the hours of 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.” so that she would not need to pump.
via Ex-Carmel teacher claims discrimination over breast feeding in lawsuit – MontereyHerald.com :.
By Louis Goddard (The Verge) The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ordered Apple to pay the legal fees of competitor Samsung on an ‘indemnity basis’ after the company published a “false and misleading” notice in the wake of a patent lawsuit over the iPad. The judgement, intended to humiliate Apple, will require the company to pay a majority of the expenses associated with Samsung’s legal defense, with any disputes over the exact amount likely to be resolved in the latter firm’s favor.