3 Count: We Are Back

Jonathan BaileyJanuary 4, 2012

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

Note: Due to the time away, today’s 3 Count will include stories from the past week, regular daily posting will resume tomorrow.

1: GoDaddy Bows to Boycott, Now ‘Opposes’ SOPA Copyright Bill

First off today, domain registrar and Web host GoDaddy was the subject of controversy after it was learned the company was a supporter of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The act, which would enable rightsholders to obtain court orders to block ISPs, payment processors and advertisers from providing access to or services for “rogue” websites primarily engaged in piracy, has been the subject of massive online protests. Those protests turned their focus on GoDaddy in the form of a boycott. GoDaddy eventually did bow to the pressure, removing its name from the list of official supporters and has now come out in opposition of the act.

2: Indie: Atari Claiming Copyright Infringement on ‘Hundreds’ of iOS games, Atari Responds

Next up today, video game maker Atari has filed potentially hundreds of takedown notices on games in the Apple App Store against games that it claims too closely resemble classic Atari games. The move has created controversy among many indie developers, including Black Powder games, who had their games, Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme, removed from the App Store. Atari has responded saying that it has “great respect for the indie developer community” but that it will “vigorously protect” its intellectual property.

3: Medical Diagnostic Test Taken Down By Copyright Claim

Finally today, for 30 years doctors have used the Mini�”Mental State Examination (MMSE), a short and simple but effective survey to diagnose patients. However, recently, a license was granted to the Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR) to sublicense the work, leading to widespread enforcement of its copyright. That, in turn, led other researchers to create the “Sweet 16” test, which functioned similarly but with different questions. However, now, due to a claim from PAR, that test too has been removed from the Web since it, according to PAR, uses portions from the original test. There is no word if there will be any action against the PAR over the test.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.