RIAA Sues MP3.com
Music & MP3
5/2/2000; 3:47:44 PM Jan 23, 2000: "He [Bob Cohn] said all Internet companies are on the side of the RIAA, including the Digital Media Association, which includes AOL, Real Networks, and Liquid Audio." I hate to say it, but I'm on RIAA's side too. (Ouch... that hurt me to say.)

Pseudonymity Now Privacy from Companies5/2/2000; 3:45:05 PM Jan 21, 2000: '"From an economics point of view, your data is becoming a commodity," said Hill, president of Zero-Knowledge Systems. "All of this is leading the charge for people to say 'I don't want to give up my data.'"' Here's one 'right' that won't be won in the courts... people need to more-or-less decide together that when a company abuses their personal information, not to shop with that company or give it any money. That's all it would take, universal cooperation in the consumer's best interest.In other words... don't hold your breath.I don't go in much for this style of idealism either, and I run a website dedicated to the cause :-). It almost seems hypocritical to expect the general public boycott anybody because of info-abuse.I do however boycott Real Networks, not only because of the information they spam the user with, not only because of the recent privacy problems, and not only because streaming video stinks, but also because of the way they try to take over my computer when I install their product. The fastest way for a peice of software to get uninstalled from my computer is to install a task-bar icon that is useless, difficult to remove, unasked for, and consumes memory, just so the useless Real Player can load in .5 seconds instead of 2. My computer, not Real's!

Wiretapping Unwarrented?
Surveillance and Privacy from Government
5/2/2000; 3:42:57 PM Jan 21, 2000: "'The FBI is seeking surveillance capabilities that far exceed the powers law enforcement has had in the past and is entitled to under the law,' said EPIC General Counsel David Sobel."

Schools crack down on Net music software Napster
Music & MP3
5/2/2000; 3:39:36 PM You can probably guess Slashdot's reaction. I would point out that the Acceptable Use policy directly addresses this, and that university's don't truly have an obligation to provide any Internet servies. I think the most interesting thing is the primary cited reason is bandwidth, not legality issues. In other words, the university doesn't care that some of the copying may be legal. Another neat sidestepping of the issues (but in this case, that's probably good... university are in the business of education, not litigation).

A college network administrator's comment pretty much back me up on this.

Pause!
Personal Notes
5/2/2000; 10:57:33 AM The conversion of old stories on this site is continuing apace... however, petty life details are getting in the way of me continuing. All the news currently on this site is old news... so don't panic

I've got to eat lunch and then take an exam, so this will pick back up somewhere around 3 p.m. EST. Wish me luck!

Clinton Favors Computer Snooping
Surveillance and Privacy from Government
5/2/2000; 10:55:16 AM Jan 20, 2000: I wonder if Internet advocates have overstated their case to the federal government a bit. Is it any surprise that after years of being told that the Internet is beyond their comprehension, and that one motivated "hacker" can Destroy the World Economy in a Single Keystroke, that the federal government is grabbing every power they can get, regardless of such petty details as the Constitution?

iCraveTV
Boundary Breakers
5/2/2000; 10:53:30 AM ICraveTV "rebroadcasted" (past tense) (read: redistributed) the output of every publicly broadcast TV station out of Toronto, Canada on the Internet.

ICraveTV is Served Up a Lawsuit
Television & Movies
5/2/2000; 10:51:52 AM Jan 20, 2000: "'This is a clear and damaging case of theft by iCraveTV that threatens the intellectual property, investments, and achievements of the US television and motion picture industry,' said Jack Valenti, president and chief executive office of the Motion Picture Association of America"... vs. the ICraveTV line "What we're doing is ethical, is legal, is moral, and the fact that somebody claims to the contrary does not change the true nature of it."

Ummmm..... the fact that you simply claim that it is legal, moral, and ethical doesn't make it so either. Apparently it is legal in Canada to rebroadcast under certain circumstanes... and if the TV streams never left Canada, I'd have nothing to say. But ICraveTV doesn't appear to limit it at all, so, whether or not they mean to, they are violating a lot of laws in a lot of countries.

DVD Case: Battle of the Basics
DVD & DeCSS
5/2/2000; 10:48:59 AM Jan 20, 2000: There's more issues flying around here then I feel safe in even explaining... just read the story, they're fairly clear in this case (which is why the EFF has mobilized).

Cynical prediction: Based on past experience, this case will settle while side-stepping as many issues as possible. People seem allergic to actually resolving anything.