Napster Case: Hard Queries on Copyrights
Music & MP3
10/3/2000; 12:58:07 PM 'The exchange today created a sharply different courtroom atmosphere from that of two months ago when a lower court ordered Napster to stop aiding the exchange of copyrighted music. That court's preliminary injunction was quickly stayed, setting the stage for today's hearing, during which the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit considered whether to reinstate the injunction pending trial.'

I like the tone of what I'm hearing much more then I liked the tone of Judge Patel's case. I think Patel's decision was a strong knee-jerk reaction in favor of Big Money over those Upstart Thieving Punks. As long as we see an honest considered opinion rendered by this court, with an eye out for the future and what effects this decision will have, I will be happy. Based on this story, I think that we can at least hope for a considered opinion from this court.

China Clamps Down On Internet Country Watch: China10/3/2000; 12:48:33 PM 'It was National Day in China on Monday, the start of a weeklong holiday, and the government chose the occasion to lay down the Internet law...'The code holds websites responsible for blocking vast categories of content, from pornography and gambling to any kind of political commentary the Communist Party views as threatening....'"The government wants to increase foreign trade, not foreign ideas," [Steve Schwankert, the managing editor at internet.com] said. "ISPs have always been under the microscope. Apparently they just switched to a much higher-power lens."'

Barnes & Noble Challenge 1-Click Preliminary Injunction
Patents
10/3/2000; 12:17:52 PM 'Amazon.com Inc.'s fight to bar rival Barnes&Noble.com Inc. from using a patented single-click online purchasing method goes before a federal appeals court, which will hear arguments today in a case that could shape the future of Internet business.'

Slashdot's coverage includes some insightful comments, including one person pointing out that this is not a challenge to the patent directly, but a challenge to the preliminary finding in favor's of Amazon's suit to stop B&N from using "one-click" shopping, which the story does not make clear.

Boom Box Technology & Sociology10/3/2000; 10:09:26 AM 'On any time line that describes this phase of capitalism, you would have to include (in addition to Nov. 9, 1989) April 4, 1994 (birthday of Netscape), Nov. 10, 1994 (birthday of Amazon.com), May 5, 1996 (birthday of eBay) -- and Aug. 4, 1997. Aug. 4, 1997, was the beginning of the end of another socialistic force in American life: the mass market. Forty years from now when you have your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "Grandma, how did 50 million Americans ever let themselves be talked into buying the same mouthwash?" you will say, "Well, you have to know how things were before Aug. 4, 1997."'Granted, this isn't exactly about the Internet, but it's strongly related to the same basic trends.

Napster Vs. RIAA resumes today
Music & MP3
10/2/2000; 9:10:45 AM FYI, expect a load of Napster/RIAA posts to resume as one of the more interesting cases resumes in court.

Public Debate Between Valenti and Lessig
Misc.
10/1/2000; 10:33:06 PM A public debate between Lawrence Lessig, law professor and internet activist, and Jack Valenti, head of the MPAA has occurred, which this Slashdot story chronicles.

The debate has been archived. I haven't listened yet, and I don't know if I will find the time, but it is likely to be extremely interesting.

Contact: How Much Is Enough? Technology & Sociology10/1/2000; 10:37:09 AM This is not a news article, this is a brief essay by me.Dave recently shut down discuss.userland.com, and I think it no coincidence that today (don't be surprised if it gets pulled into a DaveNet without me noticing) we get a highly personal statement of interests, and what amounts to a ringing condemnation to the entire tech industry (because it takes corruption on both the part of the company and the press to offer bribes for good press).Discuss.userland.com probably would have flared up over this; I'm reading between the lines but is it really a stretch to say that Dave might be more comfortable this way and thus better able to say the hard things?Last year I too experienced the river-of-flame effect. When you can't step foot on the internet without seeing 10 flames aimed personally at you, it's tough, even if there are a 100 supportive e-mails (and that doesn't happen often). It took me most of this year to get over my active aversion to checking my e-mail. It creates a strong self-censorship effect, as you grow an aversion towards saying the controversial things... unfortunately, these are the things that need saying.Step back a bit and look at this in general. As the Internet moves us closer together, enabling new ways of communication with new speed, it also makes it impossible to escape from anyone. Larry Niven wrote some stories dealing with the practical consequences of instant teleportation to effectively anywhere on the planet, and it's much the same problem.Are we as a species ready for this? I don't suggest that we drop the Internet, but we may well need some more time to deal with the consequences then the normal march of technology will give us. We probably need to develop better ways to communicate with each other that don't give themselves so naturally to antagonism. LinkBack is sort of an attempt at that, albiet a poor start, and my Weblog Communities is related to why I think they are a candidate for such a form of communication.Anyhow, I encourage you to step back and think about this, and keep an eye out for possible solutions, because nobody really knows. We're all learning.(p.s.: I sort of work in a journalism sense here to so here's a full financial disclosure: I'm a poor college student and own nothing. Thank you for listening.)

Digital Signiture Law To Go Into Effect This Weekend Misc.9/30/2000; 7:39:46 PM 'The law is designed to make consumers and businesses feel more secure about sealing big-ticket deals, such as buying a house, online by making an electronic signature just as binding as one in ink. While that legal guarantee is expected to accelerate the growth of e-commerce, the law may be more of a boon for companies developing e-signature technology than for consumers or businesses, analysts said.'All I can say is that I have no intention of obtaining or using a digital signiture until my primary concern is addressed:'Concerns of fraud remain high. The bill doesn't set standards for e-signatures or provide a defense against fraud, whereas the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1975 gives consumers protection against fraud over $50. It also intentionally leaves open the type of technology that can be used for the online transactions. Signatures may be a cinch to forge--some say stealing a password or faking an electronic autograph is far easier than duplicating a handwritten signature.'If a case of fraud comes up, the easiest defense will be "I have no digital signiture, therefore I could not possibly have conducted that transaction."

Libraries Threaten Publishing Industry Humor/Amusing9/28/2000; 10:07:08 PM Thanks to View from an Iowa Homestead for the pointer. 'A book locating/lending phenomenon known as the "Dewey decimal system" - enabling users to get access to copyrighted text material for free - has sent shockwaves through a panicked publishing industry.'Why would anyone pay for a book once it's accessible for free?!'

Second Sight Free Speech9/28/2000; 7:48:18 PM 'Those of us worried about censorship focused on government as the main threat to progress. We thwarted their early efforts at limiting the spread of "objectionable" content, and declared the internet beyond the province of any government agency. The problem with suppressing the role of government is that it gives business free reign. It's like using antibiotics to combat bacteria; when the bacteria are killed, fungus grows unabated.'As a result, the internet became a privatised zone, and altogether more insidious forms of censorship emerged.'A polemic against our (more-or-less willing) acceptance of corporate choice of what we hear and see.