Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Mydentity update from Doc: Home off the range. Here's the big topic pair for me right now, traveler that I am: Identity and Wi-Fi. Let's call it I-Fi, for ID-WiFi I want to create and maintain a Tier 1 Mydentity that has relationships, and the willingness to have relationships, with providers of wi-fi wherever I go. I want it to live on my laptop or PDA, and show up — ready to shake hands — with any WISP, anyhere I go, on mutually agreeable (or already agreed-upon) terms ranging from free-for-all in public parks to highly restricted and/or costly arrangements in corporate or hotel environments. Whatever. I would like to be able to syndicate my intentions as a potential customer when I establish and update my I-Fi profile. 9:33:44 PM    comment []

Power Mac G5 not as open to Windows. Apple's new Power Mac G5 may be the fastest Macintosh around, but it doesn't work as well as its predecessors with Microsoft Windows software. [CNET News.com] 6:48:47 PM    comment []

FBI hunts down worm writers, by Robert Lemos, CNET News.com. Companies and home computer users have had to deal with the MSBlast worm--also known as W32/Blaster and W32.Lovsan--which started spreading Aug. 11; a worm that attempted to plug the hole exploited by the MSBlast worm; and the Sobig.F virus, which spread through e-mail attachments opened by unsuspecting people. We are working with the Department of Homeland Security and with state and local law enforcement on our Cyber Task Forces to track down the perpetrators of Sobig and the recent W32/Blaster worm, FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a statement. We employ the latest technology and code analysis to direct us to potential sources, and I am confident that we will find the culprits. 1:09:27 PM    comment []

RIAA Will Issue Second Subpoena For Identity of Music Distributor, by Keith J. Winstein, The Tech (MIT). The Recording Industry Association of America will send MIT a second subpoena seeking the identity of a network user alleged to have been illegally “offering hundreds of copyrighted works to the world-at-large” from MIT’s network through the KaZaA file-sharing system, an RIAA spokesman said last night. This time, the RIAA will file the subpoena the way MIT has asked: through the federal district court in Boston, instead of Washington, D.C. MIT says it will comply with a subpoena issued through the Boston court. . . . Once you have identified a person and tied the person to the machine, there is the question, ‘Was that individual in control of the machine at the time that the incident occurred?’ the [MIT] official said. Our hope is that the person is going to make an appearance at [Information Systems] or the senior counsel’s office so that we can have a conversation, the official said. MIT has not yet heard from the person identified as the owner. 12:08:58 PM    comment []

Lessig on the changing tune of the record producers. The recording industry has been strongly opposed to a statutory or compulsory license for digital music (not the Internet radio kind, but a reasonable kind that would enable the spread of digital content). They object that "the market" should set the rate for music, not a federal statute. (Of course, they have no hesitation appealing to the statutory rate for damages, as opposed to the ordinary market measure for damages, when it comes to a breach, but that's a separate matter). But the history here is fun. Here's a quote from a 1967 House Judiciary Report, considering a modification to the law as it existed then: [T]he record producers argued vigorously that the compulsory license system must be retained. They asserted that the record industry is a half-billion-dollar business of great economic importance in the United States and throughout the world; records today are the principal means of disseminating music, and this creates special problems, since performers need unhampered access to musical material on nondiscriminatory terms. Historically, the record producers pointed out, there were no recording rights before 1909 and the 1909 statute adopted the compulsory license as a deliberate anti-monopoly condition on the grant of these rights. They argue that the result has been an outpouring of recorded music, with the public being given lower prices, improved quality, and a greater choice. Copyright Law Revision, Committee on the Judiciary, 90th Cong. 1st, Sess., Rep. No. 83 66 (March 8, 1967). The result has been an outpouring of recorded music, with the public being given lower prices, improved quality, and a greater choice. Nicely put. (Thanks to Glenn Brown for drawing my attention to this report). 7:39:41 AM    comment []

"God chose me to write this book". An excerpt from Al Franken's new book. [Salon Headlines] 7:35:47 AM    comment []

Cyborgs unite!. Professor Steve Mann just may be the world's first cyborg rights activist. It is a future, he says, that is no longer the exclusive preserve of science fiction. [CNET News.com] 7:34:11 AM    comment []

Truncat. What if you could file-share someone's consciousness? Would it be a violation, or the ultimate communication therapy? A short story by Cory Doctorow. [Salon.com] 7:30:03 AM    comment []

High School Seniors Get Highest SAT Math Scores in 35 Years. Experts tied the gain to the growing number of students learning algebra in the eighth grade and taking more advanced courses in math after reaching high school. By Diana Jean Schemo. [New York Times: Education] 7:25:30 AM    comment []

"They can dish it out, but they can't take it". Al Franken talks about his big victory over the Fox News bullies, why Bush can be thrown out in 2004, and comedy as a political weapon. [Salon Headlines] 7:19:59 AM    comment []

Learning to Play the Prying Game. Privacy Activism seeks to illustrate the pitfalls awaiting newly minted college students through a new Flash game. Will Carabella be hounded by identity thieves and data aggregators? Play and find out. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News] 7:15:53 AM    comment []