Author Archive
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 »
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 »
Saturday, January 20th, 2007
The Slamdance Festival runs alongside the Sundance Film Festival, styling itself as an edgier sort of independent event. It also hosts a "Guerilla Gamemaker Competition," featuring digital games created by independent designers. Slamdance may have called its indie cred into question this year, however, by dropping a controversial game from ...
Posted in Constitutional | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 15th, 2007
Generally, I leave commentary on video game legislation to Game Politics and The Video Game Law Blog because there's so much to keep up with. Now, however, anti-game attorney Jack Thompson has been asked to draft up a bill that would restrict the sale of violent games to minors in ...
Posted in Constitutional | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
At MIT's Convergence Culture Consortium Weblog, Jason Mittell and Joel Greenberg have an interesting conversation going about copyright and Fair Use. With regard to media industries' resistance to allow educators to teach about Fair Use, Mittell asks: "Why would the industry want to restrict educational practices that primarily teach students ...
Posted in Copyright | No Comments »
Friday, November 10th, 2006
According to video game fan blog Kotaku, the Entertainment Software Association threatened that it would take legal action against the fan site unless Kotaku takes down all links and images referring to a t-shirt allegedly infringing upon the ESA's trademarked ratings system. Kotaku isn't making or selling the t-shirt, which ...
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
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.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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 ...
Posted in Free Culture | No Comments »