21 May 2003

Social Software GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- Tools such as this blog, my aggregators, instant messaging, IRC, email and wikis have enhanced my productivity and increased my connectivity to people who help elevate my game. The tools make the connections possible, at speeds and with higher signal-to-noise than I have ever enjoyed before. As Paolo Valdermarin says, it "is totally different from what it was before and would not have happened without these tools. I would like to help others to enjoy all this." Dave Winer thinks social software isn't a good idea. David Weinberger: Emergence, Social Software and Wikis. Ray Ozzie thinks it's a good idea.Paolo Valdemarin wants all the tools to work together for everyone and let them call them what they want. x_ref153

Distinction between IP and real property GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- There's a point Lawrence Lessig makes about "IP extremism" in which he compares it to a global epidemic that can be contained only through educating people. I am interested in the stance taken by Irish IP lawyers. I suspect it will support the US DMCA. We need to listen to Lessig: IP should be limited by fair use. IP is not real property. We live in a culture that cannot make this distinction. This is an infection that is spreading around the world. Mexico has now decided to extend it to life plus 100. Then, after the works enter the public domain, they want people to start paying the government for it. This is truly innovative. Copyright has changed--its duration has expanded, its scope has expanded, its reach has expanded, its force has expanded, and finally, there has been a media concentration. The publishing monopolists now control the creative process in an important sense. In my mind, we need to educate people on the distinction between IP and real property. The Internet data commons will cease to exist if we are not successful in this regard. Lawrence Lessig: IP extremism moves east Daily Yomiuri: Govt eyeing extension of copyright on movies x_ref128

Maintaining a system of Internet waypoints GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- My perspective of the Internet is changing and I no longer think Internet connectivity can route around obstacles. When I first encountered the Internet in the 70s, it was a way to link data from distributed points, often without gatekeepers. I visited a home of an American living in Germany and saw an Internet node in a utility room, set up by a Japanese company who had rented the room for equipment only. In recent articles, Lawrence Lessig notes that American courts have defined cable companies as "information services." We could expect that soon all ISP services will enjoy that designation. Once that happens, it's no longer an issue of "the Internet moves data between waypoints." Instead, we will have a codified system in which "the Internet moves data approved by gatekeepers from waypoint to waypoint." We don't have to accept this situation, if we can find peering programs that work under IPv6. As more people connect with always-on broadband speeds, we can maintain a system of waypoints. Along the way, a few unlucky people will be targeted by media companies and their attorneys, but the system of waypoints will survive. x_ref26121