Stanford Center for Internet and Society

In the realm of copyright "fair use" humor, this brilliant (and hilarious) trailer for the classic horror film "The Shining" shows how one can fairly use copyrighted materials to the humorous benefit of all (in Quicktime).

In an effort to test our comments and archive issues, I am posting the below . . . these issues should be resolved shortly.

Vnunet.com reports that Iran and China back the EU's efforts to gain more control of Internet management from the US' Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The money quote, from Emily Taylor of the UK's domain registry Nominet: "The problem is that a number of EU states want greater control. This proposal was applauded by Iran and China and provoked a sharp reaction from the US." Who could argue with a proposal backed by those bastions of liberty, tolerance and free speech, China and Iran?

Following up on the previous post, until the comments and archive issues are resolved, I will not be posting anything new. Sorry . . . but I expect that these problems will be resolved soon and I'll be back to offering my opinions and thoughts -- whether you want to read them is up to you! Thanks for reading . . .

At the moment, neither the comments link nor the archive are working. So, for those of you who are aching to comment on my blog, or to do a tasteful retrospective, well, you'll have to wait. My esteemed fellow Fellow, David Olson, suggests in his blog that you could email your comments and I'll post them; good idea, David! Once the bugs are fixed, feel free to comment and archive at your leisure. Thanks.

Meanwhile, the United States will not give up principal oversight of the Internet's traffic computers to the United Nations (UN).

As I write this entry, the background music being played is a cassette tape of Little Feat's classic live album, Waiting for Columbus. I've had the tape for at least 10 years and, despite repeated playings, it remains intact (and has the deleted-from-the-CD tracks "Don't Bogart That Joint" and "A Political Blues," for all of you insane diehards out there).

Thus, I am a bit sympathetic to Prof. Fred D. White's sad, wistful commentary about the decline of "open stacks" in favor of an "automatic retrieval system" at his school's library (subscription necessary). Of course, this decline runs hand-in-hand with an increase of the presence of computers in his school's library as well. Prof. White closes his commentary by stating:

Vnunet.com reports that P2P eDonkey is now shutting its doors. So, if you are keeping score, in the post-Grokster playoffs, its 2-0 in favor of the RIAA.

These days, trying to figure out where a friend might be registered can lead you anywhere on the Internet. So it is tonight that such a search lead me to my very friend's wedding blog, which appropriately uses a Creative Commons license. Its name -- too explicit for a new fellow to post on his new blog hosted by his new employer -- suggests that it will certainly be an unusual and humorous read, as opposed to a self-indulgent and obnoxious celebration of their love, life and losses. If it is, then the title will be very apt.

There is no blog-type software-bugs-are-a-sign-of-the-apocalypse commentary needed for this. Just check out these pictures, courtesy of CNet. Is this just plain defamation?

According to vnunet.com, a member of the band Switchfoot published information about how to bypass digital rights management (DRM) technology for their most recent CD, sold by Sony, which undoubtedly reserved DRM as a right. While I have been unable to find what this bassist published, this type of reaction by a musician to the activities of his label probably does not hearken well for a follow-up album by Switchfoot on Sony (if they even want one). Of course, if the CD makes money, then maybe . . . but that would mean, among other things, not bypassing DRM and forcing repeated sales.

CNet reports a CORRECTION to the Reuters story discussed below; I reproduce it in full:

Correction: This story was misleading in its description of eDonkey's status. The file-swapping site is still in operation, and MetaMachine, the company behind it, has relocated from New York to New Jersey.

Doesn't change my analysis, though.