Sunday, April 13, 2003

More from the 1970-1973 teen girl blogTeen Blog: Hilary to Kathy, November 4, 1971, Arlington, VA. Monday, Nov. 4, 1971 Dear Kathy, today I am at home with a cold. BLAH, the winter weather arrived last week with a cold slap! We didn’t have a very good autumn – the weather was okay until all the leaves began to fall and it rained. All the leaves were pulled into wet, brown clumps. So we missed all the glorious changing colors. Alex smashed his Instamatics with a sledgehammer. Last Friday was the big Homecoming game. I actually worked on the sophomore float! Mr. Franklin is our class sponsor – He’s really nice – Quinton Randolph Franklin – from the South – divorced too – Anyway, he was driving the convertible which was pulling the float and he told Shauna and me to get in and ride around the track with it. Mike M. (Pres. Of the soph. Class, no less – very typical!) was in front. It was quite humiliating…. After the game we went to a party – the first party I’ve been to since school started. It was much different from Alex’s parties – overflowing with Booze & Sex! At any rate it was a shock to me – but fun. I grabbed a senior named David G. – he’s a basketball player (tall!) kind of dumb but very sweet. All the seniors are grabbing soph. Girls – the senior girls just sit around killing time – I tremble to think of being a has-been at 17 – . . . . . . More to come.... 8:23:15 PM    comment []

The Spoils of War Coverage. In the battle for cable news viewers, patriotism has become the winning marketing ploy. [New York Times: Business] 8:17:30 PM    comment []

Larry Lessig has a respectful quibble with the Doc. Doc has a great post pushing public domain dedications of content. But on the way to his valuable recommendation, Doc writes, "I believe what Userland and the Creative Commons people have made here is, literally, a DRM — digital rights management — system, in the best possible sense of the acronym." I think it is useful and important to distinguish between DRM and DRE -- digital rights management vs. digital rights expression. DRE is a technology simply (1) to express rights. The "management" in DRM implies a technology -- code -- both (1) to express rights and (2) to enforce it. But for all of the reasons that the DMCA debate has made clear, there are lots of problems with DRM systems precisely because code is used to enforce copyright rights. Code can never accurately map fair use, it can never reserve a right to criticize the existing expanse of control, etc. DRE is therefore DRM minus the management. A DRE system simply enables an efficient way for people to say what freedoms they are enabling. In a world where the default is "all rights reserved," CC DRE enables a simple way for people to say "My content is free in the following ways." That CC freedom is of course in addition to the freedoms guaranteed by "fair use." But "fair use" is not, in our view, enough. The Commons needs a richer range of freedoms than the freedoms guaranteed by "fair use." CC thus enables people voluntarily to increase the freedom around their content. We believe saying CC-free is an important step for many reasons. But we also think it is importantly different from technologies that would make computers the enforcers of the limits on that freedom. DRE is therefore not DRM. Finally, one technical point: Our CC licenses expressly state that you can't use our technology with a DRM system that does not adequately protect "fair use." As I've not seen a DRM system that adequately protects "fair use" yet, imho, that means you are not allowed to use a CC licenses with a DRM system yet. At least that is so if you take seriously the commitments the CC license imposes. [Lessig Blog] 2:01:39 PM    comment []

Doc Searls: DMCA vs. Free Speech, cont'd. I just heard from folks at the InterZOne conference in Atlanta, where, apparently, conference organizers and two scheduled speakers have been served with cease-and-desist requests. At issue are the "intellectual property rights" of Blackboard Inc. Here's an excerpt from Blackboard's attorney's letter: It recently has come to Blackboard's attention that Billy Hoffman and Virgil Griffith are intending to speak as co-panelists in your upcoming InterzOne II conference on April 11, 2003. The website located at www.yak.net/acidus, Mr. Hoffman's website, states that, "The signals to and from several Blackboard readers have been captured, as well as how data is stored on the cards. Using this knowledge Virgil and I have created a drop-in compatible reader, that will work with an existing RS-485 network. Computer code to emulate any reader made as well as hardware specs to wire the readers and control circuits will be launched." Explaining, Mr. Hoffman's website states that "This will show not only did we hack the system, but we hacked it so far we could build functional readers from scratch." The website states that he intends at this conference to "release code to make a computer emulate any Blackboard reader, as well as the hardware designs ... to make a drop in replacement for any Blackboard reader." The website also threatens that, because "Blackboard wouldn't make their system more secure, or tell people how to secure it, I'll simply make compatible ones myself and give them away." Please be advised that the actions described on Mr. Hoffman's website, including the hacking of Blackboard's system, are illegal, and that any effort by either Mr. Hoffman or Mr. Griffith to convey to others at your Conference any information gleaned in whole or in part from such actions, particularly in an effort to cause Blackboard economic harm, would be improper. Please be advised of our view that it would be actionable for you or your conference to facilitate Mr. Hoffman's and Mr. Griffith's announced plans for, among other things, the disclosure of signals captured, the releasing of code, the description of development of functional readers, and the hardware specs to wire the readers and/or control circuits. Please be advised further that the www.yak.net/acidus website's use of the Blackboard name and the Blackboard logo is unauthorized and far exceeds the parameters of any nominative fair use, constituting a false designation of origin in violation of the federal Lanham Act, and we caution that we have not authorized Blackboard's name or logo to be used in any seminar or conference materials or in any presentation. We are also examining whether the actions of Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Griffin may have violated other federal laws, including (among others) the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the Economic Espionage Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Wiretap Act, and the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as Georgia's Computer Systems Protection Act. My correspondent writes, We're trying to get the word out as fast as possible because this is most definitely not cool. [The Doc Searls Weblog] 8:05:12 AM    comment []

Digital Rights Management Continues to Divide Content. Video DRM Security integrates into Set-Top. DRM Patent And Technology Promote Interoperability In Japan. [News Is Free] 8:02:27 AM    comment []