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Wednesday, January 15, 2003
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Swipe a CD from a record store and you'll get arrested. But when Congress authorizes the entertainment industry to steal from you -- well, that's the American way.
We learned as much on Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress can repeatedly extend copyright terms, as it did most recently in 1998 when it added 20 years to the terms for new and existing works.
The law, a brazen heist, was called the Copyright Term Extension Act. It was better known as the Sonny Bono act, so named after its chief sponsor even though Disney and other giant media corporations were the money and muscle behind it.
Who got robbed? You did. I did.
Important! Read the full story...
Dan Gillmor's eJournal
 11:06:28 PM Google It! comment
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This "landmark agreement" seems mostly an endorsement of the status quo.
True, the status quo is better than what some in the entertainment cartel have been pushing -- new, congressionally mandated technological measures designed to thwart unauthorized copying of digital material. And this agreement specifically disclaims new laws in this direction.
Dan Gillmor's eJournal
10:56:45 PM Google It! comment
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A plan that would link credit card, health insurance and other databases--creating what critics have called a "domestic surveillance apparatus"--raises concern on Capitol Hill.
CNET News.com
10:41:04 PM Google It! comment
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A new report by the American Civil Liberties Union raises concerns about the growth of U.S. surveillance in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. The group recommends legislation to protect Americans' privacy rights. By Julia Scheeres.
10:38:55 PM Google It! comment
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Corporations are starting to salivate over grid computing's potential for massive storage and processing power. Its creators -- tech and science geeks -- look forward to a new era. Randy Dotinga reports from San Diego.
Wired News
10:34:50 PM Google It! comment
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The new breed of digital illiterati exhibit a complete misunderstanding or indifference to the distinction between subscription and free online information as well as a chilling aversion to reading books. These "scholars" waste untold hours fruitlessly but insistently looking through thousands of Alta Vista search results, vainly hoping against hope that somehow all the right answers will tumble forth.
The research for a typical undergrad paper nowadays seems to consist of two hours of fruitless WWW browsing followed by a reluctant visit to the library. During this visit, one poorly formatted query is submitted to a full-text periodical database, the first five full-text articles on the results list of 800 hits are downloaded, and then it's Miller time.
While we may deplore such practices, or smirk at them, the dangerous reality is that a new class of information consumer has arisen ... The inforamus is someone doing bad searches with an inadequate search engine in a morass of disorganized, incomplete, and sometimes inaccurate information, and who is perfectly happy with the results. If, as the library literature suggests, trained reference librarians answer questions correctly only half the time, how do you think the inforamus is doing?
David Majka, American Libraries, June/July 2001
4:36:33 PM Google It! comment
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by Kevin Armstrong
ADULT CONTENT
(adagio alla waltz)
Dear Winnie I love you
And I'm keeping your shoes.
I fondle their high heels
As I'm writing the blues.
The rest of the song...
4:02:24 PM Google It! comment
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For the first time since 9/11, Mr. Bush's ratings have slipped below 60 percent in a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll that reflects growing unease with his approach on the economy and taxes, domestic policy and international threats.
Craig Patterson, a 45-year-old ironworker in St. Louis worried about dwindling construction jobs, summed it up for USA Today: "I trust Bush with my daughter, but I trust Clinton with my job."
3:24:59 PM Google It! comment
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