Archive for February, 2007
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
A new startup, Seriosity, thinks they have the cure for the glut of (non-spam) email in your work inbox: a virtual currency.
If I spend more of my weekly allowance of the currency, called the Serio, I emphasize the value of my message. Then, you can sort your inbox by the ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, February 26th, 2007
BitTorrent, long decried by studios as the source of all evil, has become the next great hope for turning online freeloaders into paying internet customers.
Customers can rent Analyze That and other, um, hit movies for just $2.99 to $3.99 for one day. They can also buy single episodes of TV ...
Posted in Copyright, DRM, Internet policy, Technological Protection Measures | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Veoh, a new online video service, is being accused of getting away with copyright infringement due to its big-money corporate backing.
The servcies is a hybrid that uses peer-to-peer technologies to support video uploads but still allows users to watch video streams inside a browser window ala YouTube.
Because their investors include ...
Posted in Copyright, Internet policy | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
Over at Certain Silence, my friend Tim Schneider and fellow Public Knowledge alum raises an interesting question: Is the Free Press policy message stronger by linking the disparate broadband questions into one policy push?
Tim raises this point in the context of FP's twin Broadband Reality Check reports (Part I, pdf; ...
Posted in Internet policy, Network neutrality, Telecommunications, Telecommunications law | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
A number of European governments are considering measures to track cellular and online communication.
Proposals include requirements that cell providers keep records of your physical location during all calls (Netherlands) and prohibit the use of false information in registering for email accounts (Germany). These are being offered in the name of ...
Posted in Privacy, Telecommunications, Telecommunications law | No Comments »
Friday, February 16th, 2007
A Columbia University professor explains why we can't rely on media reports for an accurate Iraq death toll. Meanwhile, the Columbia Journalism Review features an article explaining how journalists are tougher on presidential administrations now than ever before.
Posted in Media criticism | No Comments »
Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Recently, a hacker discovered and publicized a key that unlocks both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. Just a few days later, SlySoft has released a beta version of its AnyDVD software that can rip HD-DVDs.
Since 2000, you've been legally forbidden from hacking the encryption on your DVDs. For about as ...
Posted in Copyright, DRM, Technological Protection Measures | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 12th, 2007
While I was an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, security cameras were installed outside, pointed at certain locations. The most vehemently opposed by students was the camera at the Southwest dormitories, overlooking a favorite location for riots. People would get together to cause general mayhem following Patriots wins, ...
Posted in Surveillance | No Comments »
Sunday, February 11th, 2007
The Spider-Man Movie Network is looking for a male and female to be the "Face of the Fan" for its online Spider-man 3 promotions online. It's a savvy move to turn to the internet for help when marketing properties with a huge, existing fan base—see Nancy Baym's blog, Online Fandom, ...
Posted in Advertising | No Comments »
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
The lead-in paragraphs from 3 stories on CNet say a lot more when put together than they do separately:
WASHINGTON--Google CEO Eric Schmidt's nightmare scenario for a future Internet looks like this: As billions more people go online, those in power are so "freaked out" about the misuse of personal information ...
Posted in Internet policy, Privacy | No Comments »