Sunday, December 18, 2005

Murder charge to be redefined. The first comprehensive review of the law of murder for more than 50 years will recommend a change that would downgrade many killings to manslaughter, the Guardian learns. [Guardian Unlimited] 9:07:47 PM    comment []

Government Secrecy and Wiretaps. I'd like to respond to Dan Solove's article "How Much Government Secrecy Is Really Necessary" with the perspective of a veteran of the 1990s crypto wars, in which we fought the NSA for the practical right to build and use encryption to protect sensitive data. A central tenat of the government's position was that there were important things that the public did not know, and could not be told. This was the "if you knew what we knew" argument, and in its most effective form, was delivered in the form of "the brief," a theatrical presentation involving clearances, special bug-sweeping teams, and finally, details about how various forms of wiretaps had protected truth, justice, and the American way from evildoers. We called those bad guys the four horsemen of the infopocalypse, and they were terrorists, drug dealers, money launderers, and child-pornographers. They were sufficiently a stereotyped part of the debate that sometimes we even laughed at them. The claim that the debate couldn't be participated in by the public was a powerful appeal to anyone who trusted that the people in government had any shred of decency. Worse, most of the people on the other side were in fact decent folks, trying to do their banal jobs. Solove quotes President Bush as saying: "The existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk." That is an utter lie. Before I explain how it is a lie, I'd like to finish with my story from the crypto wars.  . . . .  . . . So, allow me to ask: what is the class of communication which may not be wiretapped? The NSA has broad legal authority under US law to snoop on those outside the United States without warrants. With warrants, it may assist on snooping on those inside the United States. Local police and the FBI both have the ability to obtain wiretap warrants. What's left? Nothing. What is secret about the previous statements? Certain details of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. But what of the President's claim "our enemies have learned information they should not have?" The ability of the United States to tap every communication is not secret. What is being debated is the need for a warrant and judicial oversight of the acts, not the acts themselves. Is the number of wiretaps a secret? Nominally. The numeric scale and capacity of the Echelon system was reported on in Nicky Hager's "Secret Power." (1996) The capacity and fail-over capabilities were disclosed to Congress and the press in the aftermath of the NSA year 2000 meltdown. The second half of the President's key sentence is: "and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk." That is also not so. Anyone fighting the United States will study our operational methods, and be aware of the Echelon system. They will be fully aware that we can listen to every phone call they make. There are claims that Bamford's revelation that we listened to bin Laden talking on his satellite phone caused operational changes in al Qaeda in the mid-1990s. It is possible that stories such as these call attention to the fact that we're listening, and cause a temporary uptick in the quality of al Qaeda tradecraft and operational security practices. If that is so, then the correct response would be to follow the law in wiretapping, because the government already has the authority to do it anywhere it has any reasonable reason to want to. If the law had been obeyed, there would be no news. The real core of this story is that the President is fond of his power to act unfettered, to use his vast power as he sees fit. Power really does tend to corrupt. The power to listen to anyone, anywhere is not enough. What the President is arguing for is that his powers to do so should be un-restrained and un-reviewed. That the trifecta of Executive, Legislative and Judicial is quaint, and that we should trust him to prosecute the war on terror without limits. I wish his administration would behave such that we could be comfortable with such trust. It has not, and their response to our questions further erodes such trust. [Emergent Chaos] 2:23:31 PM    comment []

Homeland Insecurity, Insanity. Standard-TImes (New Bedford, Mass.): Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior. A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book." Don't you feel safer now? Good grief. [Dan Gillmor's blog] 10:43:36 AM    comment []

Learning from Mark Cuban. The ink isn't dry yet on tomorrow's NY Times, but billionaire blogger Mark Cuban has already posted a reponse on his weblog to a piece critical (or, at least, dubious) of him in the business section of the Times. Among Mark's classic responses is his posting of the complete email interview the writer conducted with him. This email displays the cherry-picking of facts the writer had to perform to get to the "truth" he was trying to represent. Mark Cuban is displaying the rapid-response blogging approach possible when everyone in the world (not just someone who gets published in the NY Times) has a platform on which to instantly present their side of a story written about them. I'll give the NY Times credit for one thing: Very prominently displayed along side the column written about Cuban is a link to his blog. [rexblog: Rex Hammock's Weblog] See below for Mark Cuban's post. 10:43:20 AM    comment []

The NY Times does it again. Since it makes for an entertaining comparison,  I will post the email exchange here for the NY Times email interviews that I do. This is the column Randall Stross wrote for this Sunday. This is the email exchange: > >From: Randy Stross/NYT/New York Times [mailto:ddomain@nytimes.com] > >Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 11:44 PM I am preparing a Digital Domain column for this Sunday’s paper that features Mark Cuban and 2929 Entertainment. I am writing to see if Mr. Cuban would be free to chat by phone for twenty minutes tomorrow (Thursday) to permit me to obtain his most recent thoughts on his all-digital strategy. I see the great prospects for HDTV, but only dim ones for the theatrical exhibition business——even with 4K digital projection. I did listen to Mr. Cuban’s talk at Digimart in September but am open to hearing updates, elaborations, and adjustments. I’m afraid time is very short: the story will close tomorrow. Thank you for considering the request. Cheers, Randy Stross,Digital Domain columnist,New York Times SundayBusiness ************* At 06:04 AM 12/15/2005, you wrote: Randy Im happy to answer any questions by email.. im in meetings this am and then on a plane, so cheating you some answers during my meeting may be the  best  option  m ************** The following is my responses following his questions. There was no further correspondence beyond a thank you after this ******************* > > 1. I would think that running an art-house chain is not unlike running  an opinion magazine like The Atlantic or The New Republic: it’s less a  conventional business than a good cause. Can you say: is the Landmark  Theaters unit profitable? we dont disclose financials, but we are pleased with our operations. If so, was this the case before you purchased  Landmark——and if profitability has only been attained recently, what  measures account for this feat? If the unit is not profitable, how  will digital projection help? I understand that theoretically many  more programs can be offered in a given week, but variety also means  higher marketing costs. Do you have data that shows a dramatic  increase in attendance when multiple programs are packed into a  schedule? Are there other economic arguments to be made in favor of  the transition? Its a very simple equation. People come to see good movies. There arent any magic formulas. Digital creates some new opportunities to increase customer satisfaction. The quality of a digital print never declines. if a movie is popular, we dont have to wait to create another print. We can spend money on content or marketing rather than making and distributing prints. But none matter if our audience doesnt care about the film 2. Has Sony worked out the kinks on its 4K projectors to your  satisfaction?  Do you still plan to go with 4K exclusively, or will you try out 2Ks,  too? Sony has been very responsive and we like what we see so far. There is more to 4k projection than just the projectors. The servers, the codecs, and other issues. There havent been any showstoppers so far. We are going to move forward in a way that we think serves our customer base the best. -What’s the current timetable for conversion? What will the costs run per theater? We are in progress, and we dont disclose numbers 3. This holiday season, the sales of HDTV sets are likely to be  incredible, and HDNet and HDNet Movies should do very well. But the  better they do, I expect the harder it will be to get your happy  subscribers to leave the comfort of home and head to a  Landmark——especially with day-and-date universal release. Do you  have any additional thoughts about offers or promotions targeted at  theater patrons beyond those you discussed at Digitmart in September? HDTVs havent cured cabin fever, the desire to get away from the kids, or the desire of kids to go on dates without their parents. Just because you better the home aspect of the entertainment experience doesnt mean you detract from the value of another. the only missing link right now is the theater business, landmark included, extolling the virtues of enjoying a movie in a theater with fellow movie fans.  4. A blast from the past: In 2000, you said that you planned to have  high-speed Internet jacks installed in every seat in the Mavericks’ arena.  Did that come to pass? If not, what happened, and are there plans to  add this in the near future? we have wireless installed at the arena. What changed is that i learned that the fans create a communal experience when they come to a game. We want people screaming and yelling, not staring at a PDA or laptop. So we havent turned it on for fans.  Thanks very much.  Randy Stross So there you have the email exchange.  And just for the fun of it, and in case Randy decides to read this, I thought I would include an email from inside of Landmark Theaters From XXX To :All@LM BrokebackMountain is opening this week in 16 more Landmark markets after the hugely successful and much publicized opening at the Embarcadero in San Francisco.  (140,000 box office—44 consecutive sell outs).  In the 16 new markets we have XX  prints on the screen.  This print count is unprecedented in LT history.  I am ecstatically reporting the following opening numbers so far today.  Thank you for all the hard work it will take this weekend to seat and satisfy our theatre guests.  Check these numbers out, all pre 5pm  (**Note, I have removed the theater names- m) 16,700 @ 4:00 16,300 @ 5:00 13,800 @ 3:00 15,200 @ 5:00 14,000 @ 5:00 12,739  @ 3:00 12,511 @ 3:00 12,283 @ 4:00 10,743  @ 5:00  7161 @ 5:00  6800 @ 5:00  5582  @ 5:00  7587  @ 5:00  4000 @ 3:00 3200  @ 3:00  3105 @ 3:00  5132 @3:00  2052  @ 3:00     Lets just say , that for matinees, those are damn good numbers. The 44 consecutive sellouts is not too shabby. Congrats to the producers of Brokeback Mountain and to Landmark employees . And all of this is on the heels of Good Night and Good Luck. A movie that not only did Landmark have great success with, but that 2929 executive produced as well.  And there have been other indie and art films that have done very, very well this year. Just look at the award nominees and discussions taking place. Plus, it looks like 2006 could be very strong as well ! But then again, we have great partners and great employees at Landmark that make things happen and keep our customers happy. We arent perfect, but we have people in every theater who bust their asses  trying to make sure every Landmark customer has a good or great experience.  And I wonder if he ever goes out for lunch or breakfast ? Or buys coffee at a starbucks ? After all, it sure is cheaper and easy to fix a couple eggs or make coffee at home. I sure didnt notice Starbucks business declining when they started making their coffee available in bulk for home use. Or when they raised their prices recently to reflect the increase in coffee bean pricing.   Day and Date delivery of coffee beans to home and sale of brewed at the store. What a concept. [Blog Maverick] 10:41:10 AM    comment []

Elite French Schools Block The Poor's Path to Power. France's rigid educational system has reinforced the segregation of disadvantaged second-generation immigrant youths. By CRAIG S. SMITH. [NYT > Education] 10:39:01 AM    comment []

Betsy Devine: "Isn't it real news that Bush's top guy in New England was guilty of two felonies arising from an innovative technological effort to cheat NH voters out of an honest election?" [Scripting News] From Betsy's post: So mad I could spit. The total national coverage of the Tobin trial is a few places like Wired picking up the pitiful summary AP story. Let me tell you the genesis of that story.  . . . All of a sudden, a woman none of us had ever seen before rushed in through the revolving door. "What happened? What happened?" she cried. This was the AP reporter, the brand-new AP reporter, "assigned" to this story 20 minutes before she arrived. Because the RR were working, I pulled out my notebook to help her. "Not guilty on the first count," I said. "Guilty on each of the other two." "First count?" she said. . . . .  . . . The AP story about the verdict should have been the best, the most comprehensive story of all. Isn't it real news that Bush's top guy in New England was guilty of two felonies arising from an innovative technological effort to cheat NH voters out of an honest election? Instead, AP gave us a bland and bloodless mini-summary cobbled together at record speed--the entire story in its final form was on the wires by 6:15 p.m.that day--just one hour(!) after the reporter first tumbled into the courthouse waving her notebook. And that's now the end of the story, as national news. Ladies and gentlemen, readers of national news, you have been robbed. 10:35:43 AM    comment []