Monday, October 18, 2004

Filmmaking Where Acting Natural Comes With the Turf. Montana State University in Bozeman houses the nation's only film school dedicated to science and natural history. By By KIRK JOHNSON. [The New York Times > Education] 8:40:52 PM    comment []

Woo hoo! Diebold Coughs Up Cash in Copyright Case: False Accusation of Infringement Results in Hefty Payment of Legal Fees, Damages The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) capped its historic victory in a copyright abuse case against electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold today. The corporation agreed to pay $125,000 in damages and fees. The settlement, a win for free speech advocates, comes after a California district court found that Diebold had knowingly misrepresented that online commentators, including Indymedia and two Swarthmore college students, had infringed the company's copyrights. "It makes me happy that students in this situation in the future won't have to worry about big corporations breathing down their necks," said Nelson Pavlosky, one of the students. Diebold is the first company to be held liable for violating section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it unlawful to use DMCA takedown threats when the copyright holder knows that infringement has not actually occurred. The section also stipulates that anyone who issues such frivolous threats must pay damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, to those harmed by the misrepresentations. EFF and the Center for Internet and Society Cyberlaw Clinic at Stanford Law School sued on behalf of nonprofit Internet Service Provider (ISP) Online Policy Group (OPG) and the two students to prevent Diebold's abusive copyright claims from silencing public debate about voting. Diebold sent dozens of cease-and-desist letters to ISPs hosting leaked internal documents revealing flaws in Diebold's e-voting machines. The company claimed copyright violations and used the DMCA to demand that the documents be taken down. OPG refused to remove them in the name of free speech. "The risk of substantial damages and fees should make companies pause before sending unfounded copyright threats," said EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer. "Plus ISPs can fight back against these false claims without taking a financial hit." "As a nonprofit ISP it's great to have legal recourse when a company threatens us or our clients with frivolous lawsuits," added OPG Executive Director Will Doherty. EFF is a member-supported nonprofit which represented OPG and the Swarthmore students pro bono. Thanks to the settlement, Diebold will pay the costs of the case. 5:05:52 PM    comment []

Applications for your future TV... These are businesses I would be looking at starting, and software I would look at writing if i were so inclined. Instead, I decided to throw them out free for all. Maybe someone has already thought of the idea, maybe someone hasnt. DOesnt matter.  If I were a patent terrorist like some, I could probably even patent these ideas. Isnt it a shame that in this country today, you can have nothing more than an idea, and do nothing with it, but still have a chance to make money ? All you have to do is be the first to file and get approved on a patent for your idea or process. , Then send it to the lawyers to steal money from companies that have enough brains to come up with the idea independently of you, with no idea of who you are , or what you did.  They are able to do what the patent terrorists couldnt. Turn an idea into a product or service and make a business out of it. Thats a crime in and of itself.  But I digress. Here are the ideas. Patent away.  . . . [Blog Maverick] 6:25:37 AM    comment []

Former Total Information leader heads offshore. Slashdot points us to this story about Ben Bell III, a former leader in last year's Total Information Awareness plan. He's headed out of the United States, apparently, to do more infoveillance for an international consulting firm, the well-named Global Information Group. Bell's new employer, the Bahamas-based Global Information Group Ltd., intends to amass large databases of international records and analyze them in the coming years for corporations, government agencies and other information services. One of the first customers is information giant LexisNexis Group, one of the main contractors on the government system that was known until recently as the second generation of the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening Program, or CAPPS II. The program is now known as Secure Flight. The company plans to do such things as assess foreign job candidates for risk, conduct background checks on cargo ship crews or take stock of people who want to open bank accounts in the United States, documents and interviews show. It also will provide something the company calls "terrorist risk identity assessment," a company document shows. [Smart Mobs] 6:16:12 AM    comment []

I Love Bees Game a Surprise Hit. An alternate-reality game conceived as a marketing ploy is gaining a huge and obsessive following. Fans of I Love Bees stalk pay phones, organize mass salutes and even use the presidential debate to connect with each other. By Daniel Terdiman. [Wired News] 6:15:42 AM    comment []