Morning tech tip sheet: Thurs., May 13 — LimeWire ruling released, China talks on tap

More tech news:

Court rules Web site infringed copyrights (NYT) —
Joseph Plambeck reports on the ruling: A federal judge ruld on Wednesday that LimeWire, the popular file-sharing service, was liable for copyright infringement, the latest in a growing list of decisions against services that allow users to easily distribute music and videos around the Internet at no cost. … Judge Kimba M. Wood of United States District Court in Manhattan said in summary judgments that LimeWire and its creator, Mark Gorton, had committed copyright infringement, engaged in unfair competition and induced others to commit copyright infringement. … The suit had been brought by a coalition of the nation’s largest record companies in 2006. A hearing is scheduled for June 1 to discuss outstanding issues in the case, including damages.”

Confessions of a tech apostate (Newsweek) — From Daniel Lyons: “President Obama has been taking some heat in techie circles over comments he made at a commencement address over the weekend about iPods and iPads and other digital distractions. Because of these things, he said, “information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” To his critics, it made him sound, well, like a Luddite, not the cool, tech-friendly, BlackBerry-carrying president they thought he was. … I hate to say this, but he’s right. In fact I’d expand his list of distractions to include Web sites like Facebook and Twitter. And I’d go further on the notion of emancipation and say that in many ways our digital tools serve only to enslave us. This may sound like heresy coming from a technology editor but hear me out.”

U.S., China set for human rights talk resumption (Reuters) —
From the wire: “The United States and China will resume a formal dialogue on human rights on Thursday after a two-year hiatus during which the countries have worked to keep ties stable amid disputes over Tibet, Taiwan, Internet freedom and the value of the yuan currency.”

The cybersecurity boom (WaPo) — Marjorie Censer and Tom Temin look at the reasons why the cybersecurity market is growing exponentially:
“There’s plenty of reason for the surge. The increasing number and intensity of cyberattacks has attracted the attention of the Obama administration and Congress, which have begun steering new dollars to the problem. And much of that new spending is focused on the Washington region, as the federal government consolidates many of its cybersecurity-focused agencies in the area.”

TECH
EVENTS
THIS WEEK:

THURSDAY 

Computer
& Communication Industry Association
Annual Washington
Caucus
Where: Newseum
When: All day Thursday; Invite/RSVP required
Note:

A score of lawmakers — including Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Zoe
Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mark Begich
(D-Alaska) — as well as top White House officials will deliver speeches
on technology and job creation at the event. Hillicon Valley will blog the event.

House
subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the
Internet
Hearing on “The National Broadband Plan: Promoting
Adoption”
Where: Rayburn 2123
When: 10 a.m.

FRIDAY

DC 10 Summit
Teresa Carlson, VP ofMicrosoft’s Federal Public Sector, addresses gender disparity in IT, other industries
Where: JW Mariott
When: About 4 p.m.; must RSVP to attend