Wednesday, November 26, 2003

the worst part of Sonny Bono lives. Ok, this is very cool. AISO GrepLaw, Detritus as set up a "Sonny Bono is Dead" site, collecting samples from the works that would have passed into the public domain, but for the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Sonny Bono, I am told, was a sweet man and great friend. I'm sure that's true, and his untimely death certainly robbed the world of the very best of this man. It's therefore very sad that the worst of Sonny Bono continues to echo -- this indiscriminate extension of copyrights. Congresswoman Mary Bono had some great ideas about how to make Congresswoman Lofgren's Public Domain Enhancement Act "better," as she put it. Is there a possible Sonny Bono Public Domain Act in the works? [Lessig Blog] 6:21:06 PM    comment []

Cyberspace Dissident Silenced in Viet Nam 3:33:46 PM    comment []

Get 2 Salon Premium subscriptions for the price of 1. One to enjoy, one to give as a gift. Hurry, offer ends December 15th. 2:34:54 PM    comment []

Jan Johansen's at it again: Program points way to iTunes DRM hack, by John Borland, CNET News.com. Late last week, programmer Jon Johansen posted a small program called QTFairUse to his Web site, with little in the way of instruction and even less explanation. But during the next few days, it became clear that the program served as a demonstration of how to evade, if not exactly break, the anticopying technology wrapped around the songs sold by Apple in its iTunes store. Johansen's software isn't for technology novices. In its current form, it requires several complicated steps to create a working program from source code, and it doesn't create a working song file that can be immediately or simply played from a digital music program like Winamp or Microsoft's Windows Media Player. But if other developers--or Johansen himself--pursue the project, it could herald the arrival of simple ripping programs that could create unprotected music files from iTunes songs as simply as from an ordinary compact disc. Apple representatives did not return calls for comment. 2:34:39 PM    comment []

Zimbabwe: Arrests for e-mail criticizing President Mugabe 2:33:43 PM    comment []

UAE Government ISP Blocks Access to AOL 1:33:07 PM    comment []

Alternative to Copyright proposed. The Center for Economic and Policy Research has published a thought-provoking essay on a mechanism for compensating artists and authors as an alternative to copyright. Basically anyone gets to donate up to $100 to the creator of their choice, tax-free. Could this be a Whuffie precursor? Thanks, Wally! [Smart Mobs] 7:08:05 AM    comment []

Bruce Sterling and "Tech Nouveau" design examples [bOing bOing] 7:05:10 AM    comment []

Pilgrims, No Thanks in Mohawk Country. Thanksgiving is important at a public school in upstate New York where all 450 students are Mohawk. But it is not the same Thanksgiving that most of America will celebrate. By Michael Winerip. [New York Times: Education] 6:58:31 AM    comment []

Dust-Up Over E-Vote Paper Trail. A decision by California's secretary of state to require a paper audit trail for electronic voting machines angers county election officials, who may be considering steps to fight the move. By Kim Zetter. [Wired News] 6:56:22 AM    comment []