March 3rd 2010
The Hitler Downfall meme is everywhere (we’ve already covered copyright issues of the Hitler Downfall video). This weekend, the New York Times even published a primer on making your own version of the scene, in which der Führer’s fury at the collapse of his plans can be translated into the latest pop-culture news. Bob Battle’s Virginia […]
February 24th 2010
Do you remember conservative radio talk-show host Michael Savage? He sued a Muslim advocacy group for copyright infringement because it dared to quote what he said on the radio as part of an advertiser boycott. A U.S. District judge tossed the suit, and supported the doctrine of Fair Use, saying that anyone who listens to […]
February 22nd 2010
This week the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Boston Police Department for using “wiretapping” laws to prevent citizens from taking video footage of police arrests. Some would naively think such laws were passed to protect the people from the authorities, not vice versa. (details in Law.com) Following Training? Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll rejected […]
November 2nd 2009
Brad Templeton, chairman of the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has produced his own “Downfall” parody video, making fun of the fact that Constantin Films has issued DMCA notices to remove all of the “Downfall” parody videos from YouTube. This little-known film has become an Internet sensation and, as I note below, Constantin Film’s […]
September 10th 2009
Finding videos via search isn’t new, but playing them inside ad listings is. For example, if you enter the word “Fame” in Google, you may have the option to play the movie trailer, which will roll surrounded by all the other search results. Google expects increasing video in ad results. This gets searchers to video […]
September 9th 2009
1. Audience Reach According to research from the Pew Institute, the number of online users who have watched video in the last month has doubled from two years ago. That audience is now larger than the base of social media users. It’s three times larger than those who have listened to a podcast, and five […]
September 2nd 2009
Dave Wieneke’s mantra for consumer marketing: “Reading is for suckers” Nowhere is this more true than when lawyers sell their own expertise. By nature, lawyers write in legalese. It’s their training. I offer that legal writing and copy writing use opposite muscle groups. However, when lawyers speak, they phrase things in ways that connect with […]
July 4th 2009
We’ve seen governments monitor private citizens through video surveillance and increased access to electronic records. Here’s a proposal for citizens, and their media, to use some of these same tools to follow the work of their representatives in government. Massachusetts’ Open Meeting Law and Public Record Law may be expanded by S1458 to provided better access […]
February 19th 2009
Have you heard of blended search? (That’s “search,” not “scotch.”) It’s when a search engine presents your search results from more than just webpages. It can include things like images, books, news and video. In 2007, Google released Universal Search, their flavor of blended search. On top of Google’s search engine results page, you’ll see […]
November 24th 2008
Among the most downloaded of all YouTube videos are anything to do with Monty Python. Thank God. You can see clips from their TV show and movies, all for free. Free, you free-loading cheap bastards. Short on shekels, are we? Too skint to cough up the occasional fiver for quality senseless comedy? You make me sick, […]
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