Archive for May, 2006

Movie Poster Effectively Censored

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

The movie poster for a documentary about Guantanamo has been rejected by the MPAA for depicting torture (specifically, a sack over a man's head). The edited version is more closely cropped, still revealing restrained wrists but hiding the sack. Read about it and see it here.

House Judiciary Committee votes for net neutrality

Friday, May 26th, 2006

Good news! Unfortunately, it may have been partially for the "wrong" reasons: Judiciary members spoke out about defending their turf in order to preserve their ability to oversee antitrust enforcement. Barton's bill (see my opinion here), passed by Energy & Commerce, gives the FCC the "exclusive authority" to address the issue. ...

Net neutrality is really just the status quo

Thursday, May 25th, 2006

[Cross-posted from a comment made in response to this CNet story, "Net neutrality fans pressure U.S. Senate". Here's the link to the comment.] The other thing the ISPs fail to mention is that network neutrality has been the FCC-enforced norm of the internet since its inception due to federal common carrier requirements. Phone companies ...

Did the MPAA hire a hacker?

Thursday, May 25th, 2006

That's what Torrentspy.com's parent company, Valence Media, is alleging. Valence claims that the hacker is now cooperating with their investigation into what it calls "a Hollywood drama" of subterfuge and espionage. Here's a quote from the CNet story: Some of the information that the man allegedly pilfered included a spreadsheet containing ...

Berners-Lee calls for net neutrality

Wednesday, May 24th, 2006

As seen on CNet.

Bill’s net neutrality article to be published

Friday, May 19th, 2006

The Federal Communications Law Journal has accepted my network neutrality article for publication in early 2007. In the meantime, the current version of the paper, Opening Bottlenecks: On Behalf of Mandated Network Neutrality, is online at SSRN.com.

Net neutrality: Gaining real traction

Friday, May 19th, 2006

It appears that network neutrality has really caught a lot of people's attention, in the general population and (therefore, also) in Congress. The link fest which follows is just a sliver of the gigantic mass of grassroots support and press coverage. Even the cable industry has acknowledged that net neutrality is ...

“I am a plagiarist”

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

Graphic designer and critic Michael Beirut is slightly unnerved by what passes as plagiarism. I wonder if his example is much better than the recent "Opal Mehta" controversy, and whether the answer to that would say more about the nature of visuals versus text, or the nature of IP law.

Designers on sampling

Friday, May 12th, 2006

In reaction to the Smithsonian's recent deal with Showtime, Design Observer discusses the "erosion of fair use and the public domain in America." It's nice to see a carefully reasoned essay on this subject on a design blog, as many graphic designers' knee-jerk reaction to IP reform is to complain ...

“It’s so easy to say yes”

Friday, May 12th, 2006

The LA Times has an article about technology outpacing privacy laws and the bewildered technology companies who aren't quite sure how to keep up. "It's so easy to say yes," said technology security expert Bruce Schneier. "The government sings a patriotic song, and you want to do what's right. We ...