blogaritaville: March 2004 Archives

Time to defect to Canada?

By george scriban on March 31, 2004 10:56 PM

I don't get it; why have the Republicans in control of Congress become the sock puppets of Big Content? Perhaps the liberal bias of the media elites is a thing of the past. Anyway, a subcomittee of the House Judiciary approved a bill that granted a sweeping reduction in fair use rights while jacking up the penalties for so-called "P2P pirates."

Continue reading Time to defect to Canada?.

Summary of interesting things about the PIRATE Act

By george scriban on March 29, 2004 7:17 PM

A few interesting points have been made about the latest Congressional assaults on non-Big Content-controlled digital distribution channels.

Continue reading Summary of interesting things about the PIRATE Act.

Lessig, Waagner talk about the Internet empowering artists

By george scriban on March 29, 2004 6:57 PM

The Chicago Tribune talks to Prof Larry Lessig and Wilco manager Ken Waagner about what digital networks can do for artists, copyright, and creativity. When was the last time Big Content put forth such an optimistic vision of the potential for digital distribution?

Continue reading Lessig, Waagner talk about the Internet empowering artists.

Big Content spin the same down under

By george scriban on March 29, 2004 4:47 PM

The Australian minions of the record industry are no more honest than their American counterparts when it comes to the real impact of file-sharing on sales of their products. It turns out that all this public buccaneering of their booty has delivered their best year ever.

Continue reading Big Content spin the same down under.

Big Content sock puppet parade continues in California

By george scriban on March 17, 2004 7:39 PM

Proving that the executive branch of California's government doesn't have a monopoly on Big Content toadyism, California State Senator Kevin Murray has been pushing legislation that would force people to attach their name and address to the files they elect to share on P2P networks.

Continue reading Big Content sock puppet parade continues in California.

What? You mean it has to be good?

By george scriban on March 16, 2004 4:14 PM

I have oodles of respect for Microsoft, but I can't stand to see big companies trot out variations of the old whinge "we can't compete against free."

Bullshit.

Continue reading What? You mean it has to be good?.

CA AG shilling for the MPAA?

By george scriban on March 16, 2004 3:31 PM

It's no surprise that much legislation is written by interested parties like special interest lobbyists. What is a surprise is when a special interest like Big Content can dictate policy to a state's top law enforcement officer.

Continue reading CA AG shilling for the MPAA?.

EFF, FCC caged grudge match

By george scriban on March 10, 2004 11:51 PM

The EFF has joined a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission over their Broadcast Flag directive.

Continue reading EFF, FCC caged grudge match.

While we're at it, why don't we just call it "Super iTunes?"

By george scriban on March 10, 2004 6:35 PM

Napster's new "SuperPeer" technology is neither super, nor peer-to-peer. It's a proxy cache.

Continue reading While we're at it, why don't we just call it "Super iTunes?".

Inmate copyrights name, sues judge, prosecutor

By george scriban on March 8, 2004 11:58 PM

In a case of scuzzball imitating scuzzball, an inmate in Riker's Island has copyrighted his name and placed liens against a judge and prosecutor for every instance of unauthorized use of his copyright.

Continue reading Inmate copyrights name, sues judge, prosecutor.

Dead and quoted

By george scriban on March 8, 2004 11:43 PM

A tip 'o th' tam to Copyfight's Donna Wentworth for including me in the company of Michael Franti in her "Notable + Quotable" post.

Continue reading Dead and quoted.

Senate index fund outperforms

By george scriban on March 8, 2004 10:47 PM

The two-fisted, RSS-wearing journos at the Christian Science Monitor have noted that US senators managed to significantly outperform Joe Average in their stock picks during the go-go 90s.

Continue reading Senate index fund outperforms.

Excerpt of Lessig's Free Culture in Wired

By george scriban on March 4, 2004 11:20 AM

Prof Lessig's upcoming work on Big Content's use and abuse of intellectual property policy and law has been excerpted in the latest issue of Wired. Lessig makes the important point that the creative destruction of piracy has always increased the size of the media business.

Continue reading Excerpt of Lessig's Free Culture in Wired.

Congress wants to privatize the weather

By george scriban on March 4, 2004 10:58 AM

A bill moving through Congress would allow corporations to protect databases of public facts as if they were copyrighted works.

Continue reading Congress wants to privatize the weather.

Keeping bad company

By george scriban on March 4, 2004 10:15 AM

If SCO's the RIAA, does that mean DaimlerChrysler's a twelve year-old girl?

"We believe that there are important similarities between our recent legal activities against end users and those actions that have taken place in the recording industry," said SCO CEO Darl McBride, during a conference call today.

March 2004 Archives