April 3rd 2008
Today’s conference kicked off with Chuck Scothon, General Manager and SVP , Girls Mattel Brands, and Rosie O’Neill, who is Sr. Brand Manager and “Chief Barbie Girl.” That means she manages development of initiatives including the BarbieGirls.com virtual world. Social critics suggest such toy centered worlds provide a pedagogy of consumerism, and make products and […]
April 2nd 2008
California Representative Howard Berman, whose Congressional district is near Hollywood, claims the PRO-IP Act is on track to be enacted by the end of this year. In addition to his prognosis, Berman notes, “I don’t think there’s a lot of controversy.” No more than the 1765 Stamp Act, surely. First among the greatest flaws in […]
April 1st 2008
Back in November, I wrote about Facebook facing a huge privacy slapdown over social advertising. Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, is obliging us by attempting just such an action — and, as in professional wrestling, for him it’s all about the timing. In his excellent public explanation, Mr. Arrington cites a California law which […]
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 […]
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