March 31st 2008
There’s a reason superheroes wear masks. Nobody wants to be perpetually liable for saving the world. Plus, such heroes would be attacked, lobbied, and ultimately reviled when they can’t be everything to everyone. This week, Craiglist enjoyed the benefits of not being a censorship hero. The 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Craigslist […]
March 28th 2008
In December, the World Trade Organization settled a complaint that the US blocked online gambling from Antigua while allowing domestic online gambling. The WTO took the unusual step of allowing the nation the right to violate US copyright protections of software, films, and music. Now Antigua and Barbuda say they’re ready to start ignoring US copyright law. However, […]
March 26th 2008
The cable company Comcast is experimenting with a new cable set-top box that uses a camera and recognition techniques to see who is in the room, bring up their “viewer profile,” and tailor ads to them. Although Winston Smith would shudder, the Department of Homeland Security is probably giddy with excitement. Gerard Kunkel, Senior VP […]
March 25th 2008
Over the last few months I’ve written about the scale of China’s Golden Shield, also known as the Great Firewall of China. I’ve also posted a link to a site for testing which sites are blocked from several large cities in China. As the web is increasingly used to organize protests, Chinese censorship in advance of […]
March 23rd 2008
At this year’s SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, an idea was floated that was supposed to “monetize anarchy” found in the music industry vis-à-vis illegal copying. The idea: a five dollar monthly surcharge on broadband internet service as a royalty for downloading music illegally. This is also known as a “utility model.” But […]
March 22nd 2008
Penn Jillette is the taller, louder half of the magic and comedy act Penn and Teller. He is also a research fellow at the Cato Institute and has lectured at Oxford and MIT. Somewhere along the path of being a magician, writer of best-selling books, and producer of a film about a single dirty joke, he developed […]
March 20th 2008
Change in Congressional IP legislation is in the air as Hollywood’s Congressman, Howard Berman, prepares to depart his role as Chair of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property. However, IP Law visionary Larry Lessig won’t be adding to this wave of change by running for Congress. Instead he will launch a national […]
March 18th 2008
You rate restaurants with online reviews. Same with contractors, professors, even blogs. Now a new web services allows the public to rate and comment on the work of uniformed law enforcement officers. Some sites already provide aggregate data for neighborhoods, but let’s face it, sometimes you may want to discuss the work of a particular officer. […]
March 17th 2008
Where have all the protests gone? Many of the most interesting and successful are making creative use of new online environments. And they’re winning concessions from the powers that be.
March 16th 2008
Large scale spammer Robert Soloway, age 28, whose criminal trial was scheduled to start in a week, is facing a possible 26-year jail sentence after pleading guilty in Seattle on Friday to charges of fraud and tax evasion. Soloway is set to be sentenced on June 20, 2008. The indictment included an array of charges:
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