Sunday, February 01, 2004

Tyranny of Copyright. Do read the great piece in the New York Times Magazine by Gary Boynton on the emerging opposition to corporate hegemony over Western culture. [Smart Mobs] Yes. Do. 11:31:21 PM    comment []

How to get spyware-free RealPlayer through the BBC [bOing bOing] 9:09:54 PM    comment []

MyDoom downs SCO site. The computer virus knocks out SCO Group's Web site, and the company expects the massive denial-of-service attack to continue until Feb. 12. [CNET News.com - Front Door] 6:28:07 PM    comment []

Microsoft equipping Chinese human rights violators?. A new story reports that Amnesty International has linked Microsoft and other major technology companies with Chinese human rights violations, by supplying devices and software used for surveillance and imprisonment. Cory Doctorow makes a DRM observation. (via BoingBoing) [Smart Mobs] 4:30:37 PM    comment []

Andrew seems to have convinced Rachel to drink the Kool Aid. 4:25:45 PM    comment []

In Shared Reading, Collective Confidence. Business has always been done while it looks like you are doing something else playing golf, drinking martinis over lunch. One book club was built on that paradigm. By Lisa Belkin. [New York Times: Business] 4:22:43 PM    comment []

The Coming Search Wars. Microsoft and Google are eyeing each other like wary prizefighters entering the ring. By John Markoff. [New York Times: Business] 10:35:51 AM    comment []

SUNDAY COMICS [Begging To Differ] 10:32:15 AM    comment []

A Negativland-produced indie film coming to the San Francisco Indie festival features nothing but product-placement shots from other movies. (thanks, Cory (who thanks Steve)!) 10:29:52 AM    comment []

"States and Internet Enforcement," by Joel Reidenberg, Fordham University School of Law (Fordham School of Law, Pub-Law Research Paper No. 41 and University of Ottawa Law & Technology Journal, Vol. 1, 2004) This essay addresses the enforcement of decisions through Internet instruments. Traditionally, a state's enforcement power was bounded by territorial limits. However, for the online environment, the lack of local assets and the assistance of foreign courts no longer constrain state enforcement powers. States can enforce their decisions and policies through Internet instruments. Online mechanisms are available and can be developed for such pursuits. The starting point is a brief justification of Internet enforcement as the obligation of democratic states. Next, the essay describes the movement to re-engineer the Internet infrastructure by public and private actions and argues that the re-engineering facilitates state enforcement of legal and policy decisions. The essay maintains that states will increasingly try to use network intermediaries such as payment systems and Internet service providers as enforcement instruments. Finally and most importantly, the essay focuses on ways that states may harness the power of technological instruments such as worms, filters and packet interceptors to enforce decisions and sanction malfeasance. with a Tiny url: abstract PDF to download (Without Tiny url, but possibly broken links, the abstract would be papers.cfm ? abstract_id = 487965 and the download would be .pdf?abstractid equals 487965) 3:32:17 AM    comment []