Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Did Nixon know?. The world just learned that "Deep Throat" was W. Mark Felt. Richard Nixon, John Dean and H.R. Haldeman had their suspicions long ago. [Salon.com] 8:35:37 PM    comment []

DHS Enforces Copyright. Why is the Department of Homeland Security involved in copyright issues? Agents shut down a popular Web site that allegedly had been distributing copyrighted music and movies, including versions of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Homeland Security agents from several divisions served search warrants on 10 people around the country suspected of being involved with the Elite Torrents site, and took over the group's main server. Shouldn't they be spending their resources on matters of national security instead of worrying about who is downloading the new Star Wars movie? (Here's the DHS's mission statement, in case anyone is unsure what they're supposed to be doing.) We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce. I simply don't believe that running down file sharers counts under "promote the free-flow of commerce." That's more along the lines of checking incoming shipping for smuggled nuclear bombs without shutting down our seaports. [Schneier on Security] 3:45:28 PM    comment []

Mark(et)ing Nondiscrimination. A little-known piece of intellectual property, the certification mark, provides a viable mechanism for employers to commit not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. With just a few clicks of the mouse, at www.fairemploymentmark.org any employer in the country can license the "Fair Employment Mark." It is an innocuous symbol, an "FE" inside a circle: There are lots of parallels to the Creative Commons. Both are reinventions of traditional intellectual property licenses to make the world a better place. Employers that are committed to the idea of employment equality for gay and lesbian workers don't have to wait for federal or state legislation. They can privately adopt the legislation themselves. You can learn more about the mark either in Chapter 4 of our new book or in this draft law review article. The idea is simple, really. By signing the licensing agreement, an employer gains the right (but not the obligation) to use the mark and in return promises to abide by the word-for-word strictures of ENDA (the proposed federal statute that would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation). Displaying the mark on a product or service signals to knowing consumers and employees that the company has committed itself not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Other certification marks (such as the Good Housekeeping Seal, the Underwriters Laboratory, and the Orthodox Union marks) require the mark holder to police the certification to insure compliance with the requirements of the licensing agreement. But the licensing agreement for the Fair Employment mark allows employees and applicants to enforce the ENDA duties directly as express third-party beneficiaries of the agreement. The Fair Employment mark thus replicates the core enforcement mechanism of ENDA by creating private causes of action in the same class of individuals who would gain protection under the statute. The license is also incredibly transparent. No need to worry that Ayres and Brown will be litigious or hold up licensees for money. We disclaim any personal right to sue for breach of the non-discrimination promise and licensees can terminate their license at anytime. It is clear we are not profiting from this venture because we charge no licensing fee. The substance of the licensees' duties is also clear. We did not try to improve on ENDA, just to copy it. Since ENDA requires a filing of claims within 180 days, so does our license. Since ENDA would allow arbitration agreements, our license would as well. The mark represents an incremental strategy in the struggle for equality. . . . . [Lessig Blog] 3:45:14 PM    comment []

Pop will eat itself (and why that's a good thing). This Wall Street Journal article (copied below the fold) about Asian pop music made me realize an obvious solution to the music industry's downloading woes: abandon the assumption that pop music is anything other than advertising and dissolve the music biz into the ad biz. That's essentially what has happened in Asia, where pop hits are commissioned by cell-phone makers and fast food chains. These "ad songs" are sold in stores and on company websites, like other pop songs, but money from those sales is just icing on the cake. The real payload comes from the widespread airplay and distribution... [Stay Free! Daily] 3:43:31 PM    comment []

Banking on Biology: Kathleen Sayce has a master's degree in botany. What's she doing working in finance? By Carol Milano, in The Scientist. Most banks examine a company's financial statements before approving a loan. ShoreBank Pacific is just as likely to check its pH levels. America's first commercial bank committed to improving customers' environmental performance is probably the only one employing a full-time bank scientist. . . . Kathleen's unique because she was raised in a rural community and is a real business[person] at heart, though she'd never admit it, says Shore Bank president and CEO David Williams, a former physicist. Blending the whole scientific process into a business setting is special. Her skills help make our bank distinctive, by helping customers identify ways to perform better – both economically and environmentally. 12:46:46 PM    comment []

Three from BNA News: JAPAN COURT RULES ID SYSTEM VIOLATES PRIVACY A Japanese court has ruled that the government's national computerized ID system "seriously violates" citizens' constitutional right to privacy and ordered a prefectural government in western Japan to remove data on dozens of residents from the system. Kanazawa District Court Justice Kenichi Ido ruled the Juki Net system unconstitutional because citizens have no control over their own personal data. GAO REPORT WARNS OF RFID MISUSE Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said. In a report published Friday, the Government Accountability Office said that 13 of the largest federal agencies are already using RFID or plan to use it. But only one of 23 agencies polled by the GAO had identified any legal or privacy issues--even though three admitted RFID would let them track employee movements. TIVO-LIKE DEVICES FOR RADIO RAISE COPYING FEARS Various devices that enable listeners to record Internet radio streams and then convert them into MP3 files are catching on and making Web radio and streaming services more appealing to the general public. Some legal experts say the recording software may violate digital copyright laws. 11:46:37 AM    comment []

Darknet: 'Darknet' tools. Tools for taking control of digital culture [unmediated] 6:11:06 AM    comment []

Greatest Philosopher?. Carrie Jenkins points to this BBC survey to work out who people think is the greatest philosopher of all time. The BBC site is taking nominations for the next 24 hours or so, with a vote to be held amongst the top 20 nominees. Right now Wittgenstein and Marx seem to be getting the most votes, with very little support for TAR’s favourites, especially Lewis and Grice. (And the reasons people give for voting for Wittgenstein seem awful. Apparently Wittgenstein showed that questions about right and wrong are meaningless … and this is a good thing.) So head over there and add some better names/reasons to the list. [Thoughts Arguments and Rants] 6:10:43 AM    comment []

Patriot Act Redux, and in the Dark. Rather than addressing the flaws of the Patriot Act, Senate Republicans seem to be planning to compound them, under cover of closed hearings. [NYT > Opinion] 6:10:37 AM    comment []

An Online NY Times Slugfest that Should Be in the Paper. In the NY Times Public Editor's blog, Paul Krugman takes strong exception to Daniel Okrent's parting shot in a final ombudsman column. Okrent fires back, Krugman responds to the response. Read it here.  The Times should put this in the paper. It probably won't. [Dan Gillmor's blog] 6:08:54 AM    comment []

NYPL event with Steven Johnson and Jeff Tweedy. The event I did with Johnson and Tweedy at the New York Public Library is now available in video and audio formats at Wilcoworld. Notice the license. [Lessig Blog] 6:08:47 AM    comment []

The Future of TV: Newsweek Cover. Newsweek's international edition has a series of stories on the future of TV, focusing on the digital revolution. -- Changing Channels: How TV is gettting reinvented, with broadband and mobile...IPTV, mobile video, DVR, SMS voting, the works. "Already, CBS has plans to post two or three separate endings for its popular "CSI" series on the Web, and the broadcaster is also looking into VOD over the Internet." Analysts like Sanford Bernstein's Tom Wolzien believe that content makers have a "once in a generation" opportunity right now to start distributing their products directly to consumers via the Internet. By cutting out the middleman, he believes companies like Disney, Viacom and Liberty could increase their revenues by as much as 50 percent over the next few years. Broadcasters who also own their own product, like News Corp., major commercial networks, public broadcasters like the BBC and other content makers, would also stand to gain..." -- Television Reloaded: Time-shifting, screen-shifting, space-shifting and everything else in between. Via PaidContent.org [unmediated] 6:08:40 AM    comment []

The History of Sampling. Jesse Kriss has a fantastic visualization of the History of Sampling. Does it mean what I think it means? Is (above the board) sampling dying? [Lessig Blog] 6:03:00 AM    comment []

Packing Light (Alan Wexelblat). Pioneering creators Kraftwerk talk to Richard Harrington of the Washington Post about the lightness and flexibility brought to their style by shrinking technology. The group now travel with four laptops and a big screen. Props to Harrington for noting how widely sampled Kraftwerk are, going all the way back to 1982 rap & DJ tracks. [Copyfight] 6:02:59 AM    comment []

Feynman and von Neumann stamps! [Hack the Planet] 6:01:29 AM    comment []

Following up on yesterday's posts: Identity of 'Deep Throat' Source Revealed. Breaking a silence of 30 years, former FBI official W. Mark Felt stepped forward Tuesday as Deep Throat, the secret Washington Post source that helped bring down President Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Within hours, the paper ratified his claim. [WNYC New York Public Radio] Deep Throat: America Owes Gratitude. Richard Nixon and his criminal administration might have gotten away it had it not been for what some people called an act of treachery -- the information "Deep Throat" gave to Bob Woodward as Woodward and Carl Bernstein, reporters for the Washington Post, unraveled the Watergate events and coverup. Now the Post has confirmed a Vanity Fair report that Mark Felt, then the number-two man at the FBI, is Deep Throat. And one of the great political and journalistic mysteries of the past half-century is out in the open air. Americans owe Felt a great deal. He helped save us from a corrupt government that was undermining the Constitution, and the republic itself. We also need to remember today another person who showed courage in those days. The late Katharine Graham, then publisher of the Post and chief executive of its parent company, did not let pressure from Nixon -- including a threat to the company's television licenses -- deter her paper's coverage. The Post and other newspapers have been bullwarks for freedom. I worry, in an age of unraveling business models for great journalism, that we may lose something crucial in coming years.As I wrote in my book, We the Media: Who will do big investigative projects, backed by deep pockets and the ability to pay expensive lawyers when powerful interests try to punish those who exposed them, if the business model collapses? Who would have exposed the Watergate crimes in the absence of powerful publishers, especially The Washington Post’s Katharine Graham, who had the financial and moral fortitude to stand up to Richard Nixon and his henchmen. I'm not normally a fan of unidentified sources. Deep Throat was an exception to the sound rule that we should use base journalism on such sources only with the greatest of care, and only in the most extreme circumstances. (I'd also favor outing such people if they lie to us.) Mark Felt was a the epitome of the confidential source who deserved the trust he got. Katharine Graham and her newspaper colleagues were the epitome of journalistic courage. They helped save the republic. I, for one, remain grateful. [Dan Gillmor's blog] 6:00:56 AM    comment []

She Told You So. NYTimes scorecard on the current state of pharmacists' "rights" concerning emergency contraception and birth control. Four states with laws allowing pharmacists to turn back ANY prescription they don't feel like filling for "moral" or "religious" reasons: South Dakota, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas. More on the way. This is your country ladies. Read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. NOW. Here's the rundown:  . . . [Girl in the Locker Room!] 6:00:52 AM    comment []