This Week In Techdirt History: March 29th - April 4th

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Five Years AgoThis week in 2015, in what was not an April Fool's joke, President Obama signed a silly cybersecurity executive order that amounted to little more than an empty threat, while raising some concerning questions. Meanwhile, in the TV world, analysts were still happily pretending cord-cutting doesn't exist and doing their part for an entire industry in denial (to the point cable companies would throw tantrums when forced to offer a la carte channels). We also took a look at how the TPP could be used to undermine free speech, and a ridiculous ruling in Ireland that required ISPs to kick accused filesharers off the internet.Ten Years AgoThere were a couple of huge rulings this week in 2010. In one, the district court in the Myriad Genetics case ruled that patents on isolated genes are invalid, in a decision that would have a widespread impact. In another unrelated but equally monumental ruling, a court said the Bush administration broke the law with warrantless wiretaps.Meanwhile, a huge wave of automated copyright shakedown lawsuits hit the US, the EU was putting the pressure on Canada to change its IP laws, the Olympic Committee was already hard at work securing its sweeping powers in Vancouver for 2012, and Sony made a lot of people very angry and ruined a lot of cool projects by removing the ability to install other operating systems on the PS3.Fifteen Years AgoFive years earlier in 2005, Sony was on the receiving end of a sudden disruption when a judge ruled that the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 infringed on patents and could not be sold in the US, while over on the Sony Music side, the boss was asking the Supreme Court to step in and stop piracy (the very real chilling effects of the entertainment industry's stance on Grokster weren't getting it done). Librarians and hobbyists were stepping up to oppose the broadcast flag, ISPs were practically begging to be regulated by blocking VoIP usage, and Verizon was blaming the entertainment industry for its decision to cripple Bluetooth on phones.

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