April 28th 2009
Recently, the people over at Wikipedia.org have had a bee in their bonnet about a site called WikipediaArt.org. Wikipedia doesn’t like this other site using its name in their domain name, and is threatening to pursue legal action against WikipediaArt.org for trademark infringement. According to WikipediaArt.org: This web site documents performance art work that promotes […]
March 18th 2009
The UK government wants to remove users’ rights to internet access, including applications and services, for people within the EU. This move comes in the form of amendments to the Telecoms Package being distributed at the EU seat of power in Brussels. The amendment replaces “user’s rights” with the “principle” that users can be told not […]
January 28th 2009
We’ve discussed how Brand Obama has been open to being appropriated by its supporters. Now other brands are jumping into what might be called the “O-conomy.” Here are some products drawing on Obama’s brand equity. In a Plea for Relevancy, Pepsi Steals Obama’s Logo Business Week‘s David Kiley writes, “This is a special time in America—difficult […]
January 26th 2009
Many have argued that the Internet put Obama over the victory threshold in the Presidential race. We’re starting to see this influence in the new administration’s policies and use of technology, which seem to recognize that people who use the web (and geeks) are a constituency. Change Geeks Can Believe In Jason Kottke notes the new […]
January 20th 2009
It seems that only natural disasters happen suddenly. Man-made ones begin small. The EU is adopting policies that secretly allow the police to hack into personal computers anywhere, at any time, for any reason – all without any judicial oversight, which would be the start of a man-made disaster. According to the TimesOnline: The hacking […]
December 15th 2008
My take on brands (which I hope someone will just once call “the Wieneke proposition“) is that brands are vessels that hold the good feelings generated by experiences created by staff or products. The implication is that those experiences have to be placed in front of the brand. Brands don’t create their own love; experiences do. […]
November 24th 2008
There has been plenty of discussion on Useful Arts about what ICANN describes as the “revolutionary” landscape it is set to unleash. Some examples include: Life on Earth to Continue Despite ICANN, and Why Does Telnic Think Anyone Wants a Domain Named After The Phone? Tuesday morning at 9AM you can hear an impressive group […]
November 3rd 2008
In the last days of the longest and most expensive presidential campaign ever, both sides are using email aggressively. And why not? Email is cheap, campaigns are desperate, and they are exempt from CAN-SPAM regulations. That’s right. Political and religious speech are explicitly made exempt within CAN-SPAM’s regulations. When this law was framed, the exemption […]
October 31st 2008
Simultaneously the most stupid and awesome thing about this election: political pumpkin carving. I’m not being snarky – go watch this video from “Yes, We Carve” and just try not to break out laughing. It’s terrific because of all the things we know beyond what the video says. Right after 9-11, one of my neighbors […]
October 30th 2008
Video your vote YouTube and PBS have teamed up to ask US voters to document their voting experiences. You’re invited to upload video of you voting to their site Video Your Vote. Our friends at the Berkman Center’s Citizen Media Law Project have even made a video about how to make a video while you […]
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