Subscribe to this blog in Radio:
Didn't find what you were looking for?
E-mail this blog's author, Bruce Umbaugh:  |
|
 |
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 |
Logging the details across the EU.
"The European Commission has adopted proposals to log details of all telephone, Internet, and e-mail traffic",the ABC reports."The Commission proposes storing data related to mobile and fixed telephone traffic for a year, to allow the police to trace the time, place, and numbers used.Internet data such as e-mails would be kept for six months.The Commission's text aims to harmonise the current patchwork of data retention practices across the bloc".
EU moves to log Internet, phone communication [Smart Mobs]
10:45:48 PM 
|
|
Nuclear Iran: Bombs or who controls them. Iran is determined to achieve complete nuclear technology and apparently nobody can stop them. I even think they should have nuclear bombs because of the potential long-term threats by Pakistan, Russia, China, and even Saudi Arabia. The world has long tried to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear expertise to make bombs. But ever since, a moderate government in Iran has been replaced by a fundamentalist administration that controls almost all institutions now. However, the problem is not the bombs, but who controls them. Pakistan is a good example for that. So why instead of changing the controller, the world is... [Editor: Myself (English)]
10:45:37 PM
|
|
- WWW now seeking volunteers, leaders. Calling volunteers of all skills. On Oct. 12, Webster volunteers will be off campus painting murals, landscaping, playing instruments and building houses, among other activities.
- Four worlds away, just rooms apart. In Building Four of the Webster Village Apartments, teaching assistants (TAs) from four different countries live together in a single apartment - four women with four different languages.
[The Journal]
10:44:45 PM
|
|
Scientific American: Crossroads for Planet Earth.
Run, don't walk, to the nearest magazine vendor carrying the September 2005 edition of Scientific American. (The October issue should be out soon, so go now. We'll wait.) The special issue, entitled "Crossroads for Planet Earth," is the closest one could get to WorldChanging ideas in magazine form without any articles by WorldChanging writers. Topics covered include poverty, public health around the world, biodiversity, efficiency as a source of profit, and prosperity as a function of sustainability. Many of the articles are freely available on the Scientific American website, so if you miss your chance to pick up the issue, all is not lost. But I have to say that this is probably the most impressive copy of Scientific American I've seen in awhile, and I'm very glad I grabbed up the print edition.
[WorldChanging: Another World Is Here]
10:38:26 PM
|
|
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents.
 Reporters Without Borders has produced an excellent Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents (pdf), reviewed at Global Voices Online by Rebecca MacKinnon, who says it "is the first truly useful book I’ve seen aimed at the kinds of bloggers featured here at Global Voices every day: People who have views and information that they want to share with the world beyond their own national borders." Rebecca and her Global Voices colleague Ethan Zuckerman, who is also - full disclosure - Chairman of Worldchanging.com's Board of Directors, are aggregating content from the growing numbers of bloggers worldwide who will welcome this book as a helpful guide and a support for bringing others into the "second superpower." The handbook includes a piece by Ethan on anonymous blogging, which he discusses on his blog today. He explores whether concern that terrorists will benefit from the guide to anonymity and, if so, is there an argument for suppressing the information? Ethan says "obscuring these techniques in the hopes that the dumber terrorists don’t find them means that they’re difficult to find for the people who need them: independent journalists, human rights activists and dissidents in nations that restrict speech....predict that more than a few readers of RSF’s guide will disagree and I’m preparing for articles and blogposts that question whether RSF made the right move in publishing this guide. They did, and I’m proud to be a part of it."
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here]
10:37:33 PM
|
|
Automobile Identity Theft.
This scam was uncovered in Israel:
- Thief rents a car.
- An identical car, legitimately owned, is found and its "identity" stolen.
- The stolen identity is applied to the rented car and is then offered for sale in a newspaper ad.
- Innocent buyer purchases the car from the thief as a regular private party sale.
- After a few days the thief steals the car back from the buyer and returns it to the rental shop.
What ended up happening is that the "new" owners claimed compensation for the theft and most of the damage was absorbed by the insurers.
Clever. [Schneier on Security]
10:18:31 AM
|
|
Opera Is Now Free.
Opera has announced that the Opera browser, once available in ad-supported free and premium versions, is now totally free. Yippee! Now is your chance to try Opera without worrying about banner ads. Getcher download at http://www.opera.com/.
[ResearchBuzz]
7:44:22 AM
|
|
Brandy Karl Stole the Tarts (Donna Wentworth).
A Mad Tea Party is a blog that featured the anonymous musings of an especially sharp law student with a keen interest in restoring and preserving balance in copyright law. The bad news: the author graduated from law school, and "A Mad Tea Party," which has often gone quiet, is now officially retired. The excellent news: the anonymous blogger has finally stepped forward to reveal her identity. It turns out she is Brandy Karl, the author of outstanding FindLaw columns on copyright law and policy that we've featured here @ Copyfight. Even more excellent: she has just launched a brand new weblog where she'll offer her musings as she builds her private intellectual property practice in Boston.
Here's a taste of said musings: a post reacting to the news that Universal Music Group is working to squeeze a $7,500 yearly fee from a small local music venue for videos that serve to promote its artists and music:
As I mentioned previously, the music industry appears to be more than a little confused about what's marketing and what's distribution. I'm of the persuasion that although there is much overlap between the two items, it's very difficult to monetize every single output.
Jon Whitney, who runs Brainwashed, and The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow (a music video night at River Gods in Cambridge highlighting independent artists), just received this letter from Universal Music Group. Jon has done an amazing amount of work promoting independent artists and is more than a little baffled at this particular ploy (language warning). Universal is asking for $7500 for him to continue receiving videos from them (which, I might add, it's unlikely he receives any now).
I'll refrain from any legal comment on the matter, but it seriously makes you wonder how many small and medium sized outlets will continue playing UMG videos. I'm sure that there are other labels absolutely willing to promote their artists through (free) video. A reasonable fee - perhaps a nominal one that helps shift some of the shipping or replication costs to the entities that display the videos - might be a different matter. But putting the screws onto small outfits really doesn't make any sense, and in the end, it's a disservice to the artists that UMG represents.
Amen.
Brandy tells me she won't always be able to write on the latest copyright news, but you can be sure that whatever she tackles will be worth the wrestle. Check out bk! and pass the word along. [Copyfight]
7:44:17 AM
|
|
does iTunes have to respect angrefristloven?.
It had to happen sooner or later: I got carried away on iTunes and bought a whole album that I thought I used to own on LP, but five minutes later I realised I own it on CD as well and had already ripped the CD and added it to my library. What a waste. Paid for the same music twice.
Luckily, in Norway we have angrefristloven, “the regrets deadline law” (that sounds weird), a law that protects consumers from impulsive purchases outside of a shop, and allows us to return goods bought, no questions asked, within ten days of purchase. I wrote to iTunes, citing this, and explaining the circumstances, and received this answer:
We have issued a refund for 88.00 Kr for this accidental/duplicate purchase. The credit will be posted to your account shortly. Note: We are only able to provide a refund for an accidental purchase once. This is an exception to our terms of sale.
Which is lovely — except that they appear to think their sales aren’t covered by angrefristloven. There’s no doubt that post order sales and internet sales are covered by this, and such outlets are required to send information about the law with the goods they sell. Perhaps iTunes’ sale of intangibles would exempt them from this, though I doubt it.
Anyway, I wrote to forbrukerrÃ¥det (the consumers ombudsman) and asked. Hopefully they’ll add it to their F.A.Q. I can’t be the only person to have made a stupid purchase at iTunes. [jill/txt]
7:43:43 AM
|
|
|
