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15. mars 2003
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— You support terrorism if you download that MP3
If you want to get leverage for draconian laws in the US congress these days, the magic word is "terrorism." Previously the magic word was "organised crime," and it still has some potency, since the two can be combined.
As we all know (ahem) if you drive a SUV, if you want to encrypt your email or want to keep your reading list to yourself, You Support TerrorismTM.
MPAA's Jack Valenti did his best, speaking to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, to make a case for peer to peer file sharing being a support of organised crime and terrorism:
"America's crown jewels -- its intellectual property -- are being looted. Organized, violent, international criminal groups are getting rich from the high gain/low risk business of stealing America's copyrighted works. We don't know to what end the profits from these criminal enterprises are put. US industry alone will never have the tools to penetrate these groups or to trace the nefarious paths to which those profits are put. For these reasons it is entirely suitable and necessary that the Subcommittee ... hold this hearing and illuminate the nature of the problems and the effect on the copyright industries ... "
Then he went on to quote a custom's official who claims counterfeit designer bags can generate revenue for terrorists, concluding with a Very Magic Phrase:
"September 11 changed the way Americans look at the world. It also changed the way American law enforcement looks at Intellectual Property crimes. "
You should expect anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe number to see through such rhetoric, but don't overestimate lawmakers. Representative Robert Wexler (D, FL) responded:
"I can't help but sit here and wonder ... if parents fully understand the ramifications of what it is to steal a movie or pirate a song ... If more American parents understood the connection between the pirating of intellectual property and organized crime, I think then there'd be a much more effective public relations response in our own country to better appreciate the disastrous ramifications."
And John Carter (R, TX) took the cue, bringing the copyright draconism to its illogical extreme:
"I think it'd be a good idea to go out and actually bust a couple of these college kids," Carter said. "If you want to see college kids duck and run, you let them read the papers and somebody's got a 33-month sentence in the federal penitentiary for downloading copyrighted materials."
So there you have it. All the way from unfounded premises, through flimsy "logic" and knee jerk responses to actually sending people to prison for downloading an MP3.
11:55:46 PM 
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An off-the-wall peace plan
Jonathan Alter has a crazy plan to avert war: A UN non-military 'occupation' of Iraq. It is so crazy it might actually work, but of course we will never know.
10:10:15 PM
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Roogle out, Feedster in
The RSS search engine that used to be called Roogle is now called Feedster. Its design doesn't look like a rip-off of google anymore, either.
A search engine for the blogsphere sounds promising.
9:21:33 PM
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Porn filters banned in libraries!
Public libraries wanted to install filters on their PCs to prevent users surfing for porn, but the public prosecutor issued a statement saying this would violate constitutional free speech.
If you find the above paragraph confusing, it may help if I tell you that the public prosecutor's name is Göran Lambertz and the country I am talking about is Sweden.
(From a Norwegian article in VG)
8:49:05 PM
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Death to popups!
After testing a significant number of programs that promises to end the popup ad nightmare, most of which do not deliver or deliver too much, I have finally landed on the simple, functional utility Kill Popup 1.2. When it's installed, it prevents popups under Windows. Simple as that.
In fact, it is perhaps a little bit too effective, as it doesn't allow any pages that open in new windows. To solve that, there are two quick ways to disable it temporarily: one is to hold down the ctrl-key on your keyboard while clicking. The other is to click the appropriate icon in the tray icon area, which toggles the application on and off.
Whenever it kills a popup window it makes a beep which I haven't found out how to disable. At any rate, a faint speaker beep is a hell of a lot less annoying than a popup.
PS: If you're a Mozilla fan, good for you. It is a nice browser, and I know it prevents popups. I also know it doesn't work with the wysiwyg text box that the Radio Userland blogging software uses, so it's not for me.
8:43:55 PM
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Not a Puma ad 
This alleged Puma ad (and more like it) has been passed around a lot lately, purporting to be a genuine ad in some exotic country somewhere. It's funny, but it's of course not a real Puma ad. In fact Puma is pretty pissed off and threatens legal action against whoever is behind this. Come'on, guys! Internet spoofing is the sincerest form of flattery, so live with it.
5:30:53 PM
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Duct and cower
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-- If you hear the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton or Yanni on the radio, cower in the corner or run like hell. |
I knew those odd cartoons at Ready.gov could be misused endlessly. Check out this email for a lot of funny examples.
4:55:08 PM
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A normal day in Gaza
Palestinians burn home-made American, British and Israeli flags during a demonstration against war with Iraq today Saturday. Notice the prominent picture of Saddam Hussein in the background, presumably not intended for the bonfire.
(Source: Nettavisen)
4:20:09 PM
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Hu is on first
To absolutely nobody's surprise, China's rubberstambing National People's Congress chose Communist Party head Hu Jintao to president. Hu succeeds Jiang Zemin, who nevertheless remains in the shadows as chairman of the powerful military central committee.
And if you still haven't read it, you should absolutely not miss Jim Sherman's Hu's On First, a brilliant take on the legendary Abbot & Costello classic.
4:12:03 PM
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No Iraqis, please, we're war protesters
Amir Taheri describes what happened when some Iraqis wanted to talk to anti-war marchers about the crimes of Saddam Hussein.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the leaders of the anti-war effort, at any rate, are more anti-Bush than anti-war. Incidents like these emphasise that the war issue is more a convenient stick to beat Bush with than any genuine concern for the welfare of the Iraqis.
12:03:42 PM
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Myths and progress in medicine
In med school, students are told that half of what they teach is wrong. Alas, the tricky part is knowing which part. Medical science still has come a long way, as we know, but it also has a long way to go.
The most important development in medical science is probably not any one discovery, but the widespread application of the methodology of blind tests and double-blind tests to medicine. Like elsewhere in science, in medicine the most important thing is to find out what does not work.
And what has been excluded as not working by testing, is what is known as alternative medicine.
11:29:37 AM
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Sceptical to timing in Bush peace initiative for Palestine
Cynics are quick to point out that Bush's recent peace initiative came at a very convenient time, when Bush' supporters in Europe desperately needed something to show for supporting what appeared to be a reckless drive to war in the Middle East. Bush' decision to publish the "road map" to a Palestinian state whenever the Palestinians confirm Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister with "real authority" is one such step.
It is possible to be too cynical, though. The statement came closely after the Palestnian Authority announced that a new Prime Minister would take over many of the responsibilities of Arafat, whom the US refuses to accept as a negotiating partner. It is hard to see how Bush could have influenced the timing. If it's convenient, and yet a good idea, we just have to let Bush keep the bonus for good timing.
10:31:19 AM
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I swear....
...it is a total coincidence that the two previous stories seem to, eh, undermine each other.
Ouch!
1:03:03 AM
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Cameroon's health minister warns against drinking urine
Alternative medicine takes all sorts of weird directions, and one of the latest crazes in Cameroon has been what is called urinotherapy: drinking one's own urine. Newspapers have touted this as a miracle cure for all sorts of diseases and ills, including cancer, gastrointestinal attacks, snakebite and fever.
Cameroon's health minister Urbain Olanguena Awono recently warned against the practice and said that those who advocate it risks prosecution.
1:00:56 AM
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Brains back to Africa
African leaders have complained about a "brain drain," that the best educated and brightest workers have been tempted to leave home to work in the developed world, where salaries and benefits are better. However, there are signs that many expats are getting tired of the high taxes, stressful lives and a 'glass ceiling' for Africans, and want to return to their homelands to work.
12:11:44 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.04.2003; 01:33:10.
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