The last few months have seen several leaks that suggest the next Xbox will require an "always on" broadband connection as a way to counter both piracy and used game sales. Microsoft isn't commenting, but the news -- if true -- is angering a lot of possible customers with they botched launches of Diablo 3 and SimCity (both requiring always-on connections) freshly in mind. Another source this week told gaming blog Kotaku that the next Box will indeed need a persistent connection to run games and apps, and that a troubleshooter launches if a user is offline for a set amount of time:As already noted, it remains unclear if Microsoft intends to ban used games, but demanding an always-on broadband connection to play games you own presents all manner of obvious issues. In addition to the leaks to news outlets, developers seem to be strongly hinting that the always-on requirement is a done deal.

To make matters worse for itself, Microsoft Studios creative director Adam Orth took to Twitter this week to mock those concerned about the always-on demand. Orth stated he "doesn't get the drama" about devices simply not working without connectivity, and that "those people should definitely get with the times and get the Internet." The comments seem to suggest a certain tone deafness to the issue, though Microsoft's certain to be less glib in May when the console is officially announced and -- assuming the rumors are true -- the backlash begins in earnest.

Update Orth has since proclaimed that he was just trolling a friend, though that doesn't make Microsoft's idea any less problematic -- and he wasn't quite quick enough to prevent himself from becoming a meme.

Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Google; there have been no limit of companies eager to disrupt the pay TV ecosystem, though every one of them have run face first into licensing restrictions imposed by a pay TV sector that very much doesn't want to be disrupted. That doesn't seem to stop the tech press from getting blindly bubbly and enthusiastic every time another company says they're going to try.

While the oft-criticized Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it illegal to bypass DRM, when the law was based back in 1998 a provision allowed the Librarian of Congress to grant certain exemptions. As Ars Technica notes, the latest triennial review of DMCA exemptions (pdf) again highlights how arbitrary and bizarre the DMCA can be.

Numerous groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Free Press have today made a Declaration of Internet Freedom, taking a stand against any and all apparent attempts to throttle, filter or otherwise censor the Internet -- particularly without an open conversation among the Internet's most important stake holders (that would be you). This is just the beginning of a process aimed at starting an open and transparent discussion on how advocates, users, consumers and other interested organizations can work together to limit censorship, improve availability of low-cost connectivity, protect innovation, and protect user privacy.

Just like a new six strikes plan set to go into effect here in the States later this year, the UK is still working on their own three strikes effort. According to a new draft proposal by UK regulator Ofcom (required by the Digital Economy Act), UK ISPs will need to start sending warning letters to broadband subscribers starting by early 2014.

• Carrier IQ: The real story [vulnfactory.org]
• FCC to set standard for mass disruption of American communications [rawstory.com]
• Should online companies policebthe Internet? [techdirt.com]
• EC Opens Formal Antitrust Proceedings To Investigate E-book Sales ‘Cartel’, Apple [techcrunch.com]
• Cleawire to offer $300mil in stock, Sprint to match [wirelessweek.com]
• Amazon may own half of tablet market next year [bgr.com]
• Xbox Live is the first gig step towards true video convergence [gigaom.com]
• Oregon coujty's $11mil broadband project halted in fees dispute [oregonlive.com]
• Should mobil operators give up on voice mail? [gigaom]
• Verizon blocks Google Wallet on Galaxy Nexus [cnet.com]

• Disconnect Between U.S. Wireless Demand and Infrastructure Capacity[tmcnet.com]
• Democrats call for investigation into bankrupt Open Range federal loans [washingtonpost.com]
• BT given 14 days to comply with filtering access to NewzBin2 [thinkbroadband.com]
• FCC set to unveil rules for rural broadband fund [ap.org]
• Spectrum refarming presents challenges for LTE in the Americas [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• Sprint needs $7 billion in new funding due to iPhone costs [telecomengine.com]
• AT&T backs another panicky report on data capacity [cnet.com]
• French LTE trials disrupting digital TV [fiercewireless.com]
• Sprint CEO: iPhone Will Help Us Keep Unlimited Data Plans [forbes.com]
• Surprise! RIM facing class action suit over BlackBerry outage [financialpost.com]
• Google report reveals YouTube takedown requests by country [theregister.co.uk/]
• Tsunami Trojan: First Mac attack based on Linux crack [theregister.co.uk]
• Hollywood's Kinder, Gentler DRM: UltraViolet, Getting Slammed In Reviews [techdirt.com]
• PROTECT IP would effectively create Great Firewall of America [techdirt.com]
• Netflix bandwidth consumption jumps 10% from May [fiercecable.com]

• Broadband Providers Add 350,000 Subs In Q2; Top MSOs Account For 77% Of New High-Speed Customers In Period [multichannel.com]
• Mobile operators: US quake proves we need more spectrum. (though no networks actually failed...) [theregister.co.uk]
• China Mobile becomes worlds largest mobile operator - and it didn't even need the iPhone to do it [theregister.co.uk]
• Surprise! NCTA joins ACA in accusing telcos of an unacceptable USF plan [multichannel.com]
• Wash. Post 'Editorial' claims piracy costs companies millions, believes Protect-IP won't be more sweeping g than is necessary [techdirt.com]
• SF's BART directors agree to limit wireless system shutdowns [fiercewireless.com]
• Cablevision snuggles up closer to Sprint [lightreading.com]
• Hulu bid deadline extended to end of week [totaltele.com]
• MIT researchers craft defense against wireless man-in-the-middle attacks [computerworld.com]
• NJ lab, Shanghai demo center and Connected car share TD-LTE call [gomonews.com]
• Analyst: Google should win Hulu [multichannel.com]
• "The Expendables" makers dismiss massive bittorrent lawsuit [torrentfreak.com]
• ICE Homeland Security agents arrest 19 year-old streaming site admin [torrentfreak.com]
• Facebook kills Places' check-in feature [MSNBC.com]
• AT&T, T-Mobile, & Sprint to offer Samsung Galaxy S II [fiercewireless.com]

• Whoopsie! Groupon leaks entire Indian user database [risky.biz]
• ISP Survey: Three Strikes Won’t Deter Pirates [torrentfreak.com]
• Capcom's Resident Evil DRM Is Evil: You Get To Play The Game Once And That's It [techdirt.com]
• Net neutrality process back on track [fiercecable.com]
• Researchers triple battery life with metal foam [theregister.co.uk]
• Facebook’s Zuckerberg Is Now Richer Than The Google Guys [forbes.com]
• RIM scraps 10-inch PlayBook to focus on QNX-powered superphone? [engadget.com]
• Ads watchdog slams Virgin over call for honest advertising [pcpro.co.uk]
• LulzSec’s last lulz: Malware for all those who downloaded hackers’ final plunder [bgr.com]
• Fring Tops Facetime On iPad [informationweek.com]
• First tweets over white space spectrum achieved [eetimes.com]
• FBI Raids Iowa Woman’s Home in Lulz Security Hacker Investigation [wired.com]

• Ofcom reports surge in UK mobile broadband take-up [mobileeurope.co.uk]
• Residents "own" last-mile in Canadian broadband trial [computerworld.com.au]
• Mobile Operators Must Get Mobile Broadband Strategy Right, Says AdaptiveMobile [techwhack.com]
• World’s First Solution for Targeted Advertising over Mobile TV on display at IBC 2008 [itbsoftware.com]
• 'Immature' Infineon chip blamed for iPhone woes [pcadvisor.co.uk]
• India to Account for Nearly 20 Percent of Global WiMAX Subscribers by 2012 [techwhack.com]
• The International Olympic Committee Joins the DMCA Censorship Club [techdirt.com]
• "Tested Virus Free" seals mean nothing as AVG, Avast ring alarms [theinquirer.net]

Say the phrase “Swedish BitTorrent” and people will automatically assume that you’re talking about The Pirate Bay. However, a new company in the country (called Headweb) is aiming to take business away from the big giant by providing legal, DRM-free movie downloads.

Given that bands make the majority of their money from touring and merchandising, it's not too surprising to see many of them interested in using broadband to deliver their music directly to fans. British rockers Radiohead tomorrow will release their new album In Rainbows, and have e-mailed customers to note that the tracks will be in MP3 format and DRM free.

Users in our security forum discuss how Sony's latest attempt at DRM prevents some DVDs from being played -- even on some Sony DVD players. Several new Sony DVDs come with the protection, which Wired News suggests is a rehash of an old (and already compromised) DRM system named ARccOS. This blogger was told by Sony that it's up to the end-user to upgrade the firmware on their DVD players.

Techdirt chimes in on the DRM Panel at this week's Tech Policy Summit. The panel was apparently stacked against consumers (and common sense), much like the FTC's recent broadband workshop (Gigi Sohn representing consumers at both events). Though scattered reports keep insisting that there's an anti-DRM sea change occurring, the same stale rhetoric seems to indicate otherwise (ex: DRM "opens up new business models"). "Pretty much the entire industry has simply decided that DRM is the only way to make money -- even with repeated examples of why that's simply not true," notes Techdirt's Masnick.

Long before Sony's rootkit DRM there was Starforce, a stealth driver installing copy-protection scheme we discussed at length after our users began to complain about it. Since then, some users have decided to Boycott any games that use the controversial protection scheme. While writing about the boycott yesterday, Boing Boing called the software "Anti-copying malware."

That apparently didn't sit well with the software's makers, who wrote Boing Boing to inform them they planned to sue the blog for harassment, and had filed a complaint with the FBI. A Dennis Zhidkov, PR-manager for the company, writes the following:

"Dear Sir, calling StarForce "Anti-copying malware" is a good enough cause to press charges and that is what our corporate lawyer is busy doing right now.