OWNI.eu

Academics & researchers are harnessing our human love of games to crowdsource vast and complex tasks. And when the capacity of the human brain is combined with digital computing power, the possibilities appear truly staggering.

A proposed new EU directive would criminalise "possessing or distributing hacking software and tools", and introduce 2-year prison sentences for cyber-attacks. Information security experts are staggered by the "moronic" and "draconian" draft law.

OWNI spent the weekend at the Pirate Party International conference in Prague, where members reflected on progress that has outstripped even their own expectations. More electoral success in Germany and Austria is expected in the coming weeks.

Want to understand what the Facebook deal really means for Instagram users? The answer, as always, lies in the small print of the Terms of Service.

Maker Faire's decision to accept DARPA funding has reawoken the debate around the hacker/maker community's ambigous relationship with the Pentagon's controversial research and development agency. Respected figures such as Mitch Altman have spoken out against taking the money.

For the past three months, an anonymous Twitter account - @Mujtahidd - has been tweeting remarkably well-informed revelations about those in power in Saudi Arabia. OWNI spoke with the anonymous whistleblower dubbed the 'Saudi WikiLeaks'.

Throughout history artists have given up intellectual property rights over their works. In arguing for a voluntary public domain, they have contributed to the project of rethinking copyright in the digital age.

Drones are everywhere. Originally used by the military, these devices have now been adopted by hacktivists, conservationists, human rights activists, artists and even journalists.

What the latest social media craze says about women, technology and feminist theory.

The dramatic shuttering of Megaupload exposed the weaknesses in a streaming system that stored information in one place. After the panic, users have begun to return to an old favourite, peer-to-peer sharing, and its robust, decentralized structure.