Thursday, October 14, 2004

UK servers returned to media group by US feds. Independent Media Center (Indymedia), the U.K.-based group responsible for running about 20 independent news Web sites, said that U.S. authorities returned its servers on Wednesday, but the group is still looking for answers as to why the two servers were seized last week. [InfoWorld: Top News] 10:14:22 PM    comment []

Where debates leave rest of race. Kerry got a boost. Now, a range of analysts consider what might break the deadlock. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] (Sorry to be doing horse race stuff.) 6:10:42 PM    comment []

Passing the JibJab presidential test. Gregg Spiridellis, who founded Flash satirist JibJab with his brother Evan, details the process behind their humorous work. [CNET News.com] 7:42:18 AM    comment []

What Derrida Really Meant. What makes Jacques Derrida's work so significant is the way he brought insights of major philosophers, writers, artists and theologians to bear on contemporary problems. By By MARK C. TAYLOR. [The New York Times > Opinion] Taylor puts Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Derrida as the three most important philosophers of the century (not necessarily in that order). I can't say I agree at all. Derrida acheived great fame, but I have to count his work as just one of a whole host of advances on Saussure -- so much so that he, rather than one of the others, is at least as much a candidate for the "three best" list (in just the way Heidegger wins over any of his intellectual descendents or respondents). Though I'm not his greatest fan by a long shot, Quine's absence cries out, too. Derrida? Non. 7:42:13 AM    comment []

Senator McCain shows spine on IP; defends controlling your own TV/DVR (Jason Schultz). STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN McCAIN CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION OCTOBER 11, 2004 THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION ACT • Mr. President, I wish to briefly remark on H.R. 2391 and H.R. 4077, a package of bills referred to as the “Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2004.” I have objected to the further consideration or passage of these bills by unanimous consent. • From the text of the bills that have been available to date for Senators to review, I believe that one part of this broad legislation, the Family Movie Act, may actually harm consumers while appearing to help them. To be clear, I support the stated goal of the Act’s authors: immunizing from legal challenges a technology that enables parents to skip offensive material from prerecorded copies of films and television. While I applaud the merits of their stated intent, I fear that the very exemption designed to achieve this laudable goal simultaneously creates an implication that certain basic practices that consumers have enjoyed for years -- like fast-forwarding through advertisements -- would constitute criminal copyright infringement. I note that Consumers Union and Public Knowledge, as well as a host of others parties interested in protecting consumers, share my concerns. • Americans have been recording TV shows and fast-forwarding through commercials for more than thirty years. Do we really expect to throw people in jail in 2004 for behavior they've been engaged in for more than a quarter century? • I look forward to working with my colleagues in this chamber to address not only these concerns, but also the uncertain liability created for manufacturers that bring other innovative and pro-family products to market in the face of continual threats of extinction from powerful interests who seek to thwart their entry. • Mr. President, for these reasons, I do not intend to remove my hold on these bills until I am satisfied that consumer interests have been protected in this legislation. [Copyfight] 7:39:00 AM    comment []

Addicted to 9/11. The president has exploited the terrorism issue for political ends - trying to make it into another wedge issue like abortion, guns or gay rights. By By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN. [The New York Times > Opinion] 7:38:25 AM    comment []

IndyMedia Gets Its Servers Back. Critical hardware is back in hand, but websites run by the collective news organization remain offline after a mysterious seizure. Nobody seems to know who confiscated the servers or why. By Wendy M. Grossman. [Wired News] 7:38:09 AM    comment []

DoJ Endorses PDEA, Induce Act (Donna Wentworth). As most of you are no doubt aware, the Department of Justice yesterday issued a lengthy report (PDF) outlining its plans for taking the war against intellectual property "theft" to the next level. So what is John Ashcroft's answer to our copyright infringement problems? As Declan McCullagh writes, "more spending, more FBI agents and more power for prosecutors." Meaning, of course, H.R. 4077/PDEA, which among other things threatens to make automatically skipping commercials illegal, and the widely reviled Induce Act, which would put technological innovation into a deep chill and/or send it overseas. Ah, but that's not all. The plan also includes: Wiretaps for some IP crimes; "Updating" the law so we can charge intellectual property criminals under US law anywhere in the world, no matter what the local regulations say; and Education programs to teach children "respect" for copyright law, so they can "Just Say No to Copyright Infringement." The DoJ is evidently claiming that the new "war" will be as "forceful and aggressive" as the war on drugs. And no doubt just as effective. [Copyfight] 7:28:52 AM    comment []

1,100 volunteer for Webster Works. Depending on which site students were at, Webster Works Worldwide (WWW) was filled with dogs barking, children laughing or leaves rustling. This year was the 10th anniversary of WWW, which is the day set aside to give everyone at the university a chance to volunteer. [The Journal] 7:25:38 AM    comment []