couple of things...

[the_future_modernes]

AUSTRALIA: iiTrial: ISPs not responsible for users’ copyright infringement

Film industry claims that iiNet, Australia’s third-largest internet service provider, was responsible for its users’ illegal file sharing were dismissed.
Justice Cowdroy also provided one of the clearest legal statements ever of an ISP’s role:

An ISP such as iiNet provides a legitimate communication facility which is neither intended nor designed to infringe copyright. It is only by means of the application of the BitTorrent system that copyright infringements are enabled, although it must be recognised that the BitTorrent system can be used for legitimate purposes as well. iiNet is not responsible if an iiNet user chooses to make use of that system to bring about copyright infringement.

Justice Cowdroy acknowledged the widespread public interest in the trial both in Australia and abroad, believing it to be the first trial of its kind to proceed to hearing and judgement. As Crikey has previous explained, this case has global importance.MORE

Pioneering alternative development program at risk

ECUADOR: President Rafael Correa´s double about-face on an intrepid plan to preserve one of the most biodiverse corners of the Amazon rain forest has put the initiative at risk.

Correa had invited the international community for donations of US$3.50 billion over 10 years if Ecuador did not drill in the oil-rich fields located in the Yasuní National Park, the country´s largest.

The Ishpingo Tiputini Tambococha, or ITT fields, sit within the park, which is also home to a number of indigenous communities, and hold 856 million barrels of crude, which could generate US$7 billion for the cash-strapped government.

The diversity of plant and animal life in Yasuní is one of the most dramatic in the world, and the park is constitutionally protected from extractive industry.

Correa´s broad social programs, including universal health care and education, as outlined in the country´s new constitution, requires a constant injection of cash, which the ITT fields could provide.

But in April 2009, nearly two years after the proposal was first announced, Correa formally asked the international community for $3.5 billion, half the amount he said the government could earn if it drilled in the ITT.

Ecuador planned to sign an agreement with a group of donor countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands and Hungary, represented by the United Nations Development Fund, during the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December, but Correa refused, calling it an interference in Ecuador´s sovereignty.MORE

ARGENTINA:Has mining infiltrated universities?

Three Argentine universities last year rejected the use of public funds generated by mining, sparking a nationwide debate on whether to use money stemming from the lucrative, but environmentally questionable industry.

Opponents of using these funds argue that mining companies could try to play a role in curricula, while others say the money could help cushion school budgets.

Throughout 2009, 26 departments at the state-run National Universities of Córdoba, Río Cuarto and Luján rejected the use of mining funds. The calls were initiated a year earlier by the Esquel site of the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia “San Juan Bosco,” which turned down these funds.

When doing so, the advising council of this university, a public institution, highlighted that Esquel had rejected large-scale mining because of reported environmental damage, which it first signaled in 2003, when more than 80 percent of the community rejected gold mining at a nearby pit. The council added that the university was not alien to the local population´s will.MORE