Read the Chapter 4 material on software patents, and also the essays (linked to in the patent notes) by:
The EU votes tomorrow on Directive 13: the requirement that sites implement mandatory content blocking of copyrighted material, using automatic filters.
This cannot end well. I have no idea who is supporting it, or why. Clearly large content producers are in favor of it, but historically there has been considerable pushback in the EU from content consumers. Maybe they all hate Google and Facebook? But (ironically?) Google and Facebook can afford the new rules; newcomers cannot. Google's Content ID system (which is not open-source!) cost an estimated $60 million. That's now the price of entry to be a European website with user-posted content.
France's far-right Front National has supported the proposed directive in the past. But then YouTube's filters blocked their channel. It remains to be seen whether this will change anything. See boingboing.net/2018/06/17/three-days-left.html. Two members of the European Parliament are from Front National.
Spanish Soccer League La Liga phone app listens to the background sound,
to determine if the bar you're in is playing a soccer game illegally. This
requires microphone and GPS access. See www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/06/12/spanish-football-app-spied-users-phone-microphones.