Sunday, July 04, 2004

Comic: Sure, We Listen. Sure, We Listen [OK/Cancel] 11:25:23 PM    comment []

Moore on filesharing of F9/11: No prob Michael Moore was quoted in the Sunday Herald today as welcoming the free copying and distribution of his film on the 'Net for noncommercial use. The activist, author and director told the Sunday Herald that, as long as pirated copies of his film were not being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded. "I don't agree with the copyright laws and I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they're not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose that," he said. "I do well enough already and I made this film because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I'm happy this is happening." Significant words, to be sure, but reading these comments -- made after the film's unprecedented big bang opening -- how amazing it would be for a director of Moore's stature to release work under a Creative Commons license, or to make comments of that nature before the movie comes out? That's not going to happen any time soon, for a variety of reasons. . . . . Quentin Tarantino made similar "laissez-faire" comments about unauthorized copying and distribution of Kill Bill v.2 a few weeks ago. All of this is interesting stuff, but it points to how confused we are as a society about the economic and cultural role of filesharing. . . . . Isn't saying that we're sort of okay with noncommercial P2P filesharing some of the time, but not others, like being a little bit pregnant? The position of Lions Gate Films, F9/11's distributor, isn't vague. Some of Moore's detractors have been posting copies of the film online for free download. In response, Lions Gate Films Releasing president Tom Ortenberg told CNN: "I think it's deplorable what enemies of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' are doing. We are currently looking into our legal options. We are not going to tolerate anybody trying to infringe on (this film's release)." Link (Thanks, Boris, and Jean-Luc) Update: An American BoingBoing reader who's a military man in Afghanistan (requesting anonymity) writes, "Every other week here in Kabul, a bazaar is held on our base where local products are sold. Some of those "local products" are pirated movies. I just thought you'd like to know that Fahrenheit 9/11 was the big seller here this Friday." [bOing bOing] (Related earlier coverage here and here on A blog doesn't need a clever name.) 6:49:41 PM    comment []

BBC: Universities get wi-fi access. [Scripting News] Wireless internet service provider SUBzone is to install high-speed wireless net services to more than 55 student unions in Britain. 6:42:01 PM    comment []

Does Kazaa Matter? By John Borland, CNET News.com. At heart, most of these peer-to-peer users are lazy, said Chris Hedgecock, president of Zeropaid, a popular portal site dedicated to file-swapping services. Kazaa was simply the easiest way to get things they were looking for. Now they're being frustrated. It's taking longer to get files, so they're looking elsewhere. Having traded billions of files over Kazaa, file swappers are trading in the popular peer-to-peer client for a new generation of software, throwing a monkey wrench into Sharman's plans to turn its network into a legal and profitable media distribution channel. It's not clear how many people have jumped ship so far, but one recent study estimated that the service lost some 5 million users between November 2003 and February. 11:34:38 AM    comment []

Their George and Ours. The bulk of the Declaration of Independence is devoted to a list of charges against King George III, several of which have an eerie relevance today. By By BARBARA EHRENREICH. [The New York Times > Opinion] 8:11:21 AM    comment []

The revolution will be televised, dammit. Terry Heaton: TV News in a Postmodern World. A sample... The broadcast metrics of reach and frequency are bound for the grave. A study released this week by InsightExpress finds that people (with DVRs) are most inclined to view ads they have not seen before, and consequently are most likely to zap ads they've already seen. Joe Mandese of MediaDailyNews wrote, "it suggests that the economics of a business based on serving redundant commercial impressions to a mass audience in order to reach an impressionable few will no longer work in the future." Bonus link: Why young people don't watch local news. [The Doc Searls Weblog] 8:09:46 AM    comment []

ACTU calls for Net guidelines, by Libby Sutherland, Australian IT. AN increase in workplace disputes over internet use has sparked a call for clear and consistent guidelines to deal with the problem from Australia's peak union body. ACTU president Sharan Burrow addressed a forum on the issue in Hobart, organised by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commission. She said while disputes over privacy in the workplace were not new, they had changed with the rapid rise of technology. The locker search, and going through workers' desks, is matched by employers' surveillance of telephone calls, email and internet monitoring, Ms Burrow said. It is amazing to see the disputes that come over our desk in relation to this area. . . . She said the ACTU also supported a call by the Labour Council of NSW for legislation dealing with email monitoring along the same lines as the state's Video Surveillance Act. The act prohibits convert video surveillance unless authorised by a magistrate, while overt surveillance requires notification of employees, visible equipment and signs in the areas under surveillance, Ms Burrow said. the original url 5:33:42 AM    comment []

China begins policing of mobile text messages (AFP) 2:31:42 AM    comment []