NoCards.com Personal Notes9/15/2000; 9:39:18 AM NoCards.com is dedicated to fighting grocery card programs as an intrusion of privacy, and is an interesting site in its own right.However, I wanted to point at an answer in their FAQ that really resonated with me:With all the pain and suffering in the world and people starving in [fill in location here], how can you justify spending your time on supermarket club cards?

Ruling Recognizes Limits to Online Rights of Trademarks General IP Issues9/15/2000; 9:17:06 AM 'In an important decision that recognizes limits to intellectual property rights online, a federal judge earlier this week ruled that a company's well-known trademarks may be used without authorization by search engines in some programming and sales practices.'I agree with the court decision; there's nothing illegal about asking somebody about a Ford product and having them respond with why Chrysler is so much better then Ford.

The Coming Storm Misc.9/14/2000; 3:39:01 PM 'There's no conspiracy. Nobody has a master plan to keep us from having fun. But there is a basic and irreconcilable conflict of interest between those who see computers as user-programmable devices and those who see them solely as devices for delivering their content to their consumers. 'We have a fundamental paradigm shift on our hands, and it's going to get us into trouble.

Privacy advocates write Web bug rules Privacy from Companies 9/14/2000; 3:17:04 PM 'The Privacy Foundation, a nonprofit privacy group based in Denver, is proposing that Internet advertising companies and Web sites disclose the use of ''Web bugs'' wherever they are found online. Web bugs, or clear GIFs, are tiny images embedded in a Web page or HTML-enhanced email that transmit information to a remote computer when the page is viewed.

Defame Game Serious in Canada Country Watch: Canada 9/14/2000; 3:14:06 PM 'Canadian e-mailers can no longer hide behind a cloak of anonymity if reasonable grounds exist to show they've distributed defamatory statements over the Internet.'

Napster Goes on the Offensive Music & MP39/14/2000; 2:59:35 PM 'In what could be a last great act of defiance, Napster lawyers filed their final written brief before the copyright infringement case goes to trial. 'The brief accuses the recording industry of withholding licensing, and disputes claims that the company's file-trading application violates copyright law.'Here's the brief.

Update or the Lack Thereof Personal Notes9/12/2000; 10:53:23 AM My grandfather is in the hospital for a quadruple bypass surgery and a valve replacement. Updates may be sporadic or slow the next few days if it doesn't go well. Please bear with me.

Selling Yourself Bit by Bit Privacy from Companies9/12/2000; 10:27:54 AM 'Right at this moment, some marketing fat cat is selling your demographic data -- maybe your shoe size, your favorite color, or how you like your eggs cooked -- and you're not seeing a penny of the profits. 'But according to Jeff Oriecuia, a spokesman for a new company called Zimtu, you may soon be able to get some of that green.

Congress Next in Copyright Tiffs General IP Issues 9/12/2000; 10:17:17 AM '"When the outcome of the Napster case comes out, the losing side is going to be all over Capitol Hill next session and there will be your legislative battle," said Robert Kruger, vice president of enforcement at the Business Software Association.' iRights isn't going out of business anytime soon, it looks like. I've guestimated my commitment to this site at 4-5 years before things settle down enough that there's no general need to cover then anymore.

IE feature can track Web surfers without warning Privacy from Companies9/11/2000; 5:49:04 PM 'Microsoft today said it is investigating a possible privacy loophole in its Internet Explorer browser that could thwart efforts by people who want to surf the Web anonymously. The feature in IE 5 and above, referred to by Microsoft as "persistence," is designed to let Web pages remember information, such as search queries, entered by visitors.'There are other good reasons to turn this feature off.