Is Amazon's 'Omakase' Ad-Link System TOO Invasive?
I've been using Amazon's beta "Omakase" ad banner in the sidebar of my blog for a couple months now. I became an "Amazon Associate" primarily to get an extra 4 or 5 percent off when I enter the store...
View ArticleKahle v. Gonzales
The case in which Brewster Kahle argues that two statutes -- the Copyright Renewal Act and the Copyright Term Extension Act -- violate the Fist Amendment by allowing for illegal copyright renewal of...
View ArticleBrett Ratner: Old/New Media Player
Recently Brett Ratner spoke in the NYX re: Hollywood movie directors losing their content to illegal downloading.The article proceeded to scare me when Ratner alludes to a "new media" deal to produce...
View Article"Progressive Judaism," Globalization and Our Over-Networked World
In my seminar with Prof. Manuels Catells this week on globalization, society and technology in Russia and China, he made a fascinating connection between Chinese and Jewish identities. These are the...
View ArticleGoogle Vid Post Gets Flak in Iran
From the How-to-Inspire-Nuclear-Apocalypse-from-your-Laptop Dept:via OgleEarth:Somebody's posted a video to Google Video that claims the Iranian city of Tabriz is actually in southern Azerbaijan. It's...
View ArticleRIAApe Me... Again
IS the RIAA working hard behind the scenes to pass Audio Flag legislation to plug the analog hole during Congress' lame duck session?The *battle* is on and earlier this week, the RIAA's Cary Sherman...
View ArticleUCLA Student Taser'd For Not Showing ID in Library
Updated belowHe wouldn't show his ID, and he wouldn't leave on his own. So THEY SHOT HIM WITH A STUN GUN!23-year-old Mostafa Tabatabainejad is my hero-of-the week. Check it:"As the officers attempted...
View ArticleThe Need for Humility in Techno-Thinking
Driving to school early yesterday morning, I was shocked to hear Chris Farley's ghost. Actually it was his brother advertising exploiting his brother's memory. This triggered thoughts about how utopian...
View ArticleA Little Hope w/ Social Network Conversations like These
I've taken a pretty pessimistic viewpoint re: the future and Set-Top Cop issues. However, over the weekend, I procrastinated extensively and engaged in conversation on Facebook's group page, UCLA's...
View ArticleGilmore Discusses Gilmore v. Gonzales
This is a good backgrounder on John Gilmore's Secret Laws suit that will hopefully be heard by the Supreme Court, as explained by the man himself:
View ArticleUniversal Goes After BofA for U2 'One' Parody
How broke-ass will UMG and their copyright hounds get? Maria Aspan @ The New York Times tackles this hilarity:A video of two Bank of America employees singing a version of U2’s “One” to commemorate...
View ArticleNewsweek on the anti-DRM movement
Newsweek takes notice of the burgeoning global anti-DRM movement:Now, an increasingly vocal grassroots resistance to DRM is cropping up. An anti-DRM campaign called “Defective by Design,” which is...
View ArticleInternet Libel OK'd by Courts
Thank God! The L.A. Times reports:Internet users and providers cannot be held liable for posting defamatory material written by someone else, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday."The...
View ArticleRecord industry association declares DRM dead
An executive at IFPI -- the international recording industry association -- has declared DRM to be "dead" -- though he warns of "Son of DRM," whatever that means. He promises that the major labels will...
View ArticlePSP homebrewers develop DRM
Xart, a hobbyist PSP game-maker, has created a DRM system for his games. Creators of unauthorized homebrew games for the PSP worry that others will strip their names off of their creations and...
View ArticleHOWTO break Zune's WiFi DRM
Gizmodo has a quick and easy hack for breaking the DRM on the Zune's WiFi. The Zune locks the music you wirelessly share with other Zunekers so that it only plays three times before evaporating. This...
View ArticleChicago Sun-Times: Zune is a failure
Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko unloads on the Zune with both barrels, calling it a "complete, humiliating failure" and a "colossal blunder," because Microsoft has taken the user out of...
View ArticleKirby Dick and This Film is Not Yet Rated, Thu in LA
This Thursday, I'll introduce director Kirby Dick and his movie "This Film is Not Yet Rated" at a free screening at USC. The screening is sponsored by the USC Free Culture club, a campus organization...
View ArticleCBC prez: High-def TV has no business model
CBC president Robert Rabinovich has decried high-def TV as having no business model. This wouldn't be newsworthy except that the promise of HDTV is the excuse given for the Broadcast Flag, which says...
View ArticleUS Trade Representative bends Russia over on copyright
The US Trade Representative has declared victory over Russia. Russia will be required to license CD/DVD pressing plants and inspect them day and night -- the US, spreading democracy by requiring...
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