Supreme Court rejects Sony’s attempt to kick music pirates off the Internet
Sony’s 1984 Betamax win helps Cox beat Sony in important online piracy case.
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Jon Brodkin
Senior IT Reporter
jon.brodkin@meincmagazine.com
Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. Jon graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism and has been a full-time journalist since 2000. He joined Ars in 2011 and previously worked for the Sentinel & Enterprise, MetroWest Daily News, and IDG's Network World. Jon lives in Massachusetts and likes to play beach volleyball. To send Jon encrypted email, his public key is here; he can also be reached securely on Keybase.
Recent stories by
Jon Brodkin
FCC imposes sweeping ban on foreign-made routers, affecting all new models
Trump admin to decide which router makers get exemptions from FCC import ban.
Jon Brodkin
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200
Intuit beats FTC in court, ending restrictions on “free” TurboTax ads
Biden-era punishment tossed; Intuit now has more friendly regulators under Trump.
Jon Brodkin
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71
Trump FCC lets Nexstar buy Tegna and blow way past 39% TV ownership cap
Brendan Carr lets Trump-favorite Nexstar exceed national station ownership limit.
Jon Brodkin
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106
FBI started buying Americans’ location data again, Kash Patel confirms
Tom Cotton supports FBI data purchasing, compares it to searching people’s trash.
Jon Brodkin
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96
Cloudflare appeals Piracy Shield fine, hopes to kill Italy’s site-blocking law
Firm says requiring site blocks within 30 minutes breaks core Internet architecture.
Jon Brodkin
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Apple can delist apps “with or without cause,” judge says in loss for Musi app
Judge tosses Musi case against Apple, sanctions lawyers for “mak[ing] up facts.”
Jon Brodkin
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147
Trump and his FCC chair demand more positive news coverage of Iran war
Carr makes evidence-free claim of “hoaxes and news distortions.” Trump is thrilled.
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Most Read
Google Fiber will be sold to private equity firm and merge with cable company
GFiber and Astound to merge with Alphabet, selling majority stake to Stonepeak.
Jon Brodkin
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Another AT&T FirstNet user gets shocking $6,200 bill, at $2 per megabyte
Bizarre FirstNet charge nearly identical to one that hit different user in 2024.
Jon Brodkin
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57
Live Nation director boasted of gouging ticket buyers, “robbing them blind”
Unsealed messages add wrinkle to trial after US agreed to settle with Live Nation.
Jon Brodkin
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131
“Use a gun” or “beat the crap out of him”: AI chatbot urged violence, study finds
Character.AI deemed “uniquely unsafe” among 10 chatbots tested by CCDH.
Jon Brodkin
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75
Anthropic sues US over blacklisting; White House calls firm “radical left, woke”
Anthropic says it was blacklisted for opposing autonomous weapons, mass surveillance.
Jon Brodkin
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185
US blindsides states with surprise settlement in Live Nation/Ticketmaster trial
States seek mistrial, saying “sudden disappearance” of US will influence jury.
Jon Brodkin
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Lawsuit: Google Gemini sent man on violent missions, set suicide “countdown”
Gemini allegedly called man its “husband,” said they could be together in death.
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FCC chair calls Paramount/WBD merger “a lot cleaner” than defunct Netflix deal
FCC to review foreign debt, but Carr indicates it will be a formality.
Jon Brodkin
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121
Charter gets FCC permission to buy Cox and become largest ISP in the US
FCC rejects protests because Charter and Cox don’t compete directly in most places.
Jon Brodkin
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182
Trump FCC’s equal-time crackdown doesn’t apply equally—or at all—to talk radio
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s unequal enforcement of the equal-time rule.
Jon Brodkin
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101
Whoops: US military laser strike takes down CBP drone near Mexican border
Trump admin “incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies,” Duckworth says.
Jon Brodkin
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222
Judge doesn’t trust DOJ with search of devices seized from Wash. Post reporter
Court to search devices itself instead of letting government have full access.
Jon Brodkin
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72
UK fines Reddit for not checking user ages aggressively enough
UK agency alleges “Reddit failed to apply any robust age assurance mechanism.”
Jon Brodkin
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104
FCC asks stations for “pro-America” programming, like daily Pledge of Allegiance
Brendan Carr wants “patriotic” shows for Trump’s yearlong America 250 celebration.
Jon Brodkin
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312
Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today, starts removing 695,000 archive links
If DDoSing a blog wasn’t bad enough, archive site also tampered with web snapshots.
Jon Brodkin
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116
Verizon acknowledges “pain” of new unlock policy, suggests change is coming
Report: Verizon’s goal is “immediate unlock for all payment methods really soon.”
Jon Brodkin
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Stephen Colbert says CBS forbid interview of Democrat because of FCC threat
Colbert: “I want to assure you this decision is for purely financial reasons.”
Jon Brodkin
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244
Warner Bros. rejects Paramount again but asks for “best and final offer”
WB board officially recommends Netflix deal but asks Paramount to increase price.
Jon Brodkin
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42
Verizon imposes new roadblock on users trying to unlock paid-off phones
Verizon unlocks have 35-day waiting period after paying off device plan online.
Jon Brodkin
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109
Trump FTC wants Apple News to promote more Fox News and Breitbart stories
FTC claims Apple News suppresses conservatives, cites study by pro-Trump group.
Jon Brodkin
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216
US decides SpaceX is like an airline, exempting it from Labor Relations Act
US labels SpaceX a common carrier by air, will regulate firm under railway law.
Jon Brodkin
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134
Archive.today CAPTCHA page executes DDoS; Wikipedia considers banning site
DDoS hit blog that tried to uncover Archive.today founder’s identity in 2023.
Jon Brodkin
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107
Trump FCC investigates The View, reportedly says “fake news” will be punished
FCC recently issued equal-time warning to late-night and daytime talk shows.
Jon Brodkin
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174
“ICE Out of Our Faces Act” would ban ICE and CBP use of facial recognition
Senator: ICE and CBP “have built an arsenal of surveillance technologies.”
Jon Brodkin
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153
FBI stymied by Apple’s Lockdown Mode after seizing journalist’s iPhone
Post reporter was compelled to unlock MacBook Pro with fingerprint, however.
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284
“Capture it all”: ICE urged to explain memo about collecting info on protesters
Sen. Markey: Database of peaceful protesters, if it exists, should be shut down.
Jon Brodkin
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216
X office raided in France’s Grok probe; Elon Musk summoned for questioning
Paris prosecutor: Illegal content probe includes pornographic images of minors.
Jon Brodkin
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172
Russian drones use Starlink, but Ukraine has plan to block their Internet access
Defense chief: “No Ukrainians have been killed by Russian drones using Starlink.”
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