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Headlines from the Future

Woman Falls Up, Dies

Anna Reynolds of Kenosha, WI was killed Thursday when her car's antigravity system malfunctioned and propelled her to low-Earth orbit. The vehicle and Reynolds' body were recovered by a rescue team stationed at the new Global Space Dock (GSD).

According to mourning family members, Reynolds' had been having intermittent problems with the AnyGrav® unit in her automobile, a Toyota® Calypso GRX. Reynolds likely died from the combination of low oxygen levels, reduced air pressure, and extremely low temperatures experienced in the upper atmosphere.

Toyota North America representative Toby Almondson expressed his condolences and stated that such a malfunction should not happen. "The Calypso GRX, like all of Toyota's hovercars, is equipped with an altitude limiter. For this to happen, multiple components would have to fail simultaneously, which is highly unlikely." Kenosha Civil Security promised a full investigation as soon as Reynolds' body and vehicle are retrieved from the GSD.

Boy Injured Playing Video Game

Eric Martinson, 13, of Detroit-Ann Arbor, MI, fell down a flight of steps while playing a new retinal implant video game. The fall resulted in a concussion, a broken arm, and a sprained ankle. Martinson's doctor expects him to be able to leave the hospital in 2-3 days.

According to his mother, Martinson didn't see the first step at the top of the stairway because he was distracted by the video game. Martinson recently received the Nintendo EyeBoy retinal implant gaming system (see photo) for his birthday. The Nintendo EyeBoy is the first video game to be implanted in the player's retina. It relies on a microchip to project game images directly on the light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye.

Tina Hathaway, from Nintendo Marketing Relations, said the accident was unfortunate and that safety precautions are stressed to all consumers of its products. "The Nintendo EyeBoy was extensively tested. While accidents can, and sometimes do, occur, we highly recommend that all safety measures recommended in the product's literature be followed at all times." Hathaway mentioned that the EarBoy, a cochlear implant from Nintendo, will soon be available for unobtrusive and more convenient gaming and listening to music.

Medical experts still question the merit of these kinds of prosthetic devices. "While we know people are buying these, we still feel that the full impact of the technology has not yet been determined," said Dr. Manoj Ravibadrum of the Yale School of Medicine. "Distractions resulting from these implants can put both their wearers and those around them in potentially life-threatening situations. Since they are completely undetectable by a casual observer, enforcing their non-use is nearly impossible." Retinal implants have been employed in professional applications, such as Civil Security and even physicians, but the technology has only recently been extended to entertainment purposes and approved for use by minors.

Industry Group Passes New Copyright Legislation

Washington, D.C. -- The US Intellectual Property Protection Council (IPPC) authorized additional changes to US copyright laws today. The changes will extend copyright protection to 1,000 years past the life of the copyright owner. Additionally, "copyright owner" was more generally defined to now include corporations, business entities, or anyone with a "significant financial investment in the creation of the content."

Josh Reardon, Executive Director of the IPPC, was pleased by the change. "These new regulations will ensure that as long as a company or other content owner exists, either physically or legally, its bases for revenue and its incentive to innovate will remain protected and valuable. Furthermore, the changes to criminal penalties introduced by this legislation have been needed for a long time." The new law increases the maximum penalty for intellectual property infringement to life in prison and/or $100 billion in fines.

The IPPC was granted sole power to set US copyright, patent, and trademark law by the Cornyn-Powell Act. That act handed over legislative control to the quasi-governmental organization, which formed when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) joined together in 2008. Posted by Craig | Permalink | TrackBack