Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Copyright in the Balance
Andrew Richard Albanese — Q&A with Lawrence LessigThe trend that troubles me the most is the way in which the power to innovate is increasingly being concentrated in the hands of relatively few creators. In the context of artistic creation, if you want to produce films or music, just the legal costs of engaging in that creative activity, because of the permissions necessary to effect that creativity, are so expensive. That is solely a consequence of the concentration of copyright and the extension of the reach of copyright power. What I find most significant, being a Constitutional scholar, is that this is exactly the problem the framers were trying to avoid when they granted copyright for limited periods of time.
I'm Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown
Amazon.comAlton Brown, host of Food Network's Good Eats, is not your typical TV cook. Equal parts Jacques Pépin and Mr. Science, with a dash of MacGyver, Brown goes to great lengths to get the most out of his ingredients and tools to discover the right cooking method for the dish at hand. With his debut cookbook, I'm Just Here for the Food, Brown explores the foundation of cooking: heat. From searing and roasting to braising, frying, and boiling, he covers the spectrum of cooking techniques, stopping along the way to explain the science behind it all, often adding a pun and recipe or two (usually combined, as with Miller Thyme Trout).
I read about this book on Slashdot a few days ago. Sounds interesting...
Crisis and Revolution in Telecom
David IsenbergSo if you hear that somebody is going to "enhance" the Internet — to make it more efficient, to Pay the Musicians, to Protect the Children, to thwart hackers, to enhance Homeland Security, to find Osama, or whatever — this is almost certainly propaganda from the powerful businesses that are threatened by the Internet. Remember that the Internet became the success it is today — and the threat that it is to existing telcos — because it is a Stupid Network, an end-to-end network.
Monitor Thy Neighbor
Ron PaulI applaud Congressman Dick Armey for adding a provision to the homeland security bill that would prohibit the Justice department from implementing the TIPS program. His opposition brings needed public attention to this terrible idea. But even if Congress supports him, there is no guarantee another informant proposal will not surface soon thereafter. Congressional oversight of administrative agencies (consider the Treasury department and its renegade IRS) is nonexistent. The Justice department almost certainly will seek another way to implement the program, with or without congressional approval.
Don't Count On FBI
Joseph Ross, Sonoma (in the SF Chronicle)Editor — Al Qaeda has the upper hand in the war against terror because the security agencies responsible for protecting us act like a bunch of sissies.
Case in point: I was recently hired for an FBI counter-terrorism position based on my ability to speak several foreign languages, my thorough knowledge of Middle Eastern culture and my extensive travel abroad. Each FBI employee who interviewed me told me, "We're desperately in need of language skills."
I'm a blue-blooded American, 44 years old, who has taught college several years for the Department of Defense, and I was excited my skills would be helpful in the war against terror. Then came the FBI's lie detector test.
I admitted I'd smoked marijuana about 20 times when I was 18. I've never used drugs since. But within five minutes I was put out on the street.
I told the FBI agent who kicked me out that "I doubt very seriously that Bin Laden screened any of the hijackers for drug experimentation when they were kids." The FBI agent confided, "You wouldn't believe the number of super-qualified individuals we've turned away. Just last week we let go a highly qualified psychologist for the same reason. It's very frustrating."
Moral of the story: Don't hold your breath for the FBI to save you.
Good to know that "The War On Drugs" supercedes "The War On Terror". Sheesh...
