MU has been accused of copyright infringement! Oh no!!! But have we committed copyright infringement, or are we in the clear? Today we will go over the issue of copyrights in the digital age.
What is Copyright?
Disney and Copyright
When Copyright goes bad
Copying isn’t theft
Remixing
Creative Commons
Fan Fiction:
Hey Undergrounders! Time to finally reunite for another meeting. And with some recent complaints about “copyright” plaguing our humble club, we figured that discussing the nature of copyright and the internet was a good topic to cover.
This is a long article, but if you want to familiarize yourself with the topic, it’s pretty good.
The Challenge of Copyright in the Digital Age
Already a lot of people have told us that they won’t be able to attend, so we expect a low attendance tonight. But the discussion should be really interesting, so please come out and invite your friends. See you there!
Sorry the article for this week’s discussion wasn’t posted on wordpress. If you’re on our listserv you probably got the article, but for those who didn’t, here it is: Georgia State Lawmaker Seeks To Redefine Rape Victims As ‘Accusers’.
This topic goes along with Republican proposed legislation (which was quickly denounced) that would redefine abortions or healthcare provided to rape victims to only be used for “forcible rape” victims. The theory of the bill is that many Americans are against government funding (aka their tax dollars) of any kind. To help stop government overspending, it was proposed to redefine rape so as to limit what kinds of abortions the government would cover. However, making the term “forcible rape” implies that there is a type of rape that isn’t forcible. When that didn’t fly, in Georgia they are proposing to relabel rape victims as “accusers.” A very slippery slope. Continue reading
Religion has always, to some extent, played a role in America society. While there is a “separation of church and state,” religion and religious views have always influenced politics, people, media, and culture. Different groups, specifically the religious right and secular left, are claiming that America is growing more religious or more atheist. These groups, in response to these perceived threats to their beliefs and values, are advocating harder and more fiercely their beliefs and calling for politicians and people push policies through Congress that will help to create the “America” they want to live in. But what kind of America is that? Should religious/atheist factions be allowed to dictate what policies or laws everyone must live by? Is America under threat of becoming too religious or too secular? Is that even an issue if it’s true?
We’re looking forward to seeing the Underground come out for our first meeting of the semester. The start things out right, we thought we’d bring up something a little more controversial than normal: the role of religion in American society. Continue reading
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 21, 2011 3:47 PM |
CONTACT: National Organization for Women (NOW) Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906 |
By Michael Filozof, republished from The American Thinker
Imagine for a moment that you were ticketed for speeding by the state police. Suppose that you lied to the cop about why you were driving so fast. Then imagine that a group of special-interest lawyers contacted you and told you they wanted to appeal your ticket to the Supreme Court, and they gave you a legal pseudonym to hide your identity. Now imagine that the Court ruled that the ancient Romans had no speed limit on the Appian Way, that the Germans have no speed limits on the autobahn, and that speed limits are a violation of the Constitution and must be struck down.
Sound crazy? Well, the hypothetical scenario above pretty much describes the logic used by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Actually, “logic” is much too strong a word. The Court’s opinion in Roe is pure sophistry — and very bad sophistry at that. Continue reading
Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the supreme court case that legalized abortion in America. Whether you agree with the ruling or not, it was certainly a landmark case that changed women’s rights. As a blog that is very dedicated to civil rights, freedom, and liberty, most of us at MU are pretty pro-choice, but we can’t deny that some pro-life points make a lot of sense. As a mark of goodwill towards both sides of the issue, we will republish two articles from different sources, one pro-life and one pro-choice.
Either way you lean on this issue, MU wants to wish you a happy Saturday!
The results of the Fall elections are as follows:
President: Brittany Weissler
Vice President: Kelli Wiedinger
Secretary: Dannalie Diaz
Treasurer and Court Jester: David Skirvin
So basically, all the same officers were re-elected. But that doesn’t mean that everything is going to be exactly the same. We’ll be trying to have more events, more fundraisers, and even more alternative topics and meetings and overall fun-happenings. See you guys in January!!! Happy holidays and a great break.
Tonight we will be talking about the controversy that surrounds the organization Wikileaks. Wikileaks is a news media site that publishes material with often hidden or confidential information that anonymous sources leave in their electronic “drop-box.” Wikileaks writes a piece summarizing the information and its implications with the original documents so that readers can analyze the content for themselves.
Brittany
themediaunderground
