Salon.com Technology | Internet liberation theology
Misc.
'As more of the commons -- as more of the intellectual material of innovation -- is controlled, the opportunity for new forms of production is diminished. The monopolies of today sweep more broadly than the monopolies of the past. Mr. Ford may have controlled the auto industry, but he did not control the nation's roads. This is the warning in Lessig's masterly exploration of the history of the Internet and the future of innovation.'

Judge: Yahoo not bound by French Nazi ban - Tech News - CNET.com
Country Watch- France, Free Speech
'A U.S. federal judge ruled Wednesday that Yahoo was not bound to comply with French laws governing Internet content, a decision which could have broad implications for international free speech rights in the Internet age.'

Sanity! Sweet, sweet sanity! Enjoy it while you can, it may be a while before you see any more.

Which America Will We Be Now?
Misc.
'While firemen and police were racing into the fires of hell in downtown New York, and now, while our soldiers and airmen and Marines are putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan, the Administration and its Congressional allies are allowing multinational companies to make their most concerted effort in twenty years to roll back clean-air measures, exploit public lands and stuff the pockets of their executives and shareholders with undeserved cash. Against such crass exploitation, unequaled since the Teapot Dome scandal, it is every patriot's duty to join the loyal opposition.'

File-swapping case may break new ground - Tech News - CNET.com
Free Speech, Music & MP3, Programmer's Rights
'The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has represented hackers, cryptographers and computer scientists in its push for digital rights, agreed to defend MusicCity against copyright infringement charges by movie studios and record labels. It's helping build a high-powered team of lawyers to show that this case is different from Napster's.'

Monsters, Inc.
Personal Commentary
As a Computer Science major, it is required that I immediately rush out and see all computer animated films the day they are released. (At least the good ones.)

So, a few hours ago you could have seen me in the local theater for one showing of the newly-released movie from Pixar, Monsters, Inc.

Here's the complete list of reasons not to see it:

• [this space left deliberately blank]

Stealing MS Passport's Wallet
Hacking & Cracking
'By cobbling together a handful of browser-based bugs with flaws in Passport's authentication system, Slemko developed a technique to steal a person's Microsoft Passport, credit card numbers -- and all, simply by getting the victim to open a Hotmail message.'

Were it not for the discouraging effects of the DMCA, I would find it enjoyable to try to crack .Net, in the effort to improve the system for the users. Of course, in this legal environment, I have better ways to have fun then improve somebody else's code for free.

News: States granted right to fight spam
Spam & E-Mail
'On Monday, the high court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to a tough Washington state anti-spam law, one of the nation's first measures that sets standards for junk e-mailers and levies stiff fines for violators. Enacted in 1998, the law bans "deceptive" e-mail and has drawn immediate attention as a test case for the role of states in regulating the Internet. The court's refusal to review the case does not offer a legal ruling on the merits of the law. But with little hope for federal anti-spam legislation any time soon, the decision means beleaguered consumers can fight junk e-mail at the state level, anti-spam advocates say.'

Victory for DVD Code Cracking
Free Speech
'A California State Appeals Court ruled on Thursday that computer code used to "descramble" DVDs is "pure speech," and citing the First Amendment, the court reversed a trial court's order to block the code from appearing on the Web.'

Another entry in the continuing "Code is Speech" saga.

 

The Age: Video stores, Warner at war
Country Watch- Australia, DVD & DeCSS, Free Speech
'Warner simultaneously releases DVDs to the retail and rental market. They are color coded - silver for retail at a wholesale price of $24, and blue for rental, wholesaling at $55. When Warner threatened to sue video shops caught renting the retail-designated DVD, the association - representing 55 per cent of Australian video shops - took the offensive.'

Europe Goes After the Cookie
Privacy from Companies
'The "cookie," a simplistic identification tag that most Internet users unknowingly carry when surfing the Web, runs the risk of being outlawed under a proposed privacy directive from the European Commission.'

"Ban the Tool" fallacy again. There are other ways to violate privacy. Clearly they don't understand what cookies are.