Dan's readers fight back with examples of 'prior art'.  Apple's Hypercard sure seems to end up in EVERYONE's list of prior art for just about every web-based application! SBC Patents Basic Web Technology?. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]
9:47:55 PM  #   your two cents []

Economist: A radical rethink. "The alternative is to return to the original purpose of copyright, something no national legislature has yet been willing to do. Copyright was originally the grant of a temporary government-supported monopoly on copying a work, not a property right." [Tomalak's Realm]
9:45:05 PM  #   your two cents []

Halley's got a great tale: Hey, Lady.
9:44:12 PM  #   your two cents []

RIAA vs. MP3 vs. Adam Smith. "Most of the arguments around the RIAA-vs-MP3 debate hinge on issues of copyright, intellectual property, Absolute Moral Truth, and so forth. None of this is necessary or particularly enlightening. The issues are simple, clear-cut and well understood matters of economics." [kuro5hin.org]
9:41:38 PM  #   your two cents []

Oh, here we go again (and see next item below...): Bush proposes antiterror database plan. The Terrorist Threat Integration Center promises to be a mammoth data-collection project compiling information collected domestically by police and internationally by spy agencies.  [CNET News.com]
9:40:00 PM  #   your two cents []

Here's part of a press release yesterday from public policy analysts FIPR. Note that the MPs and Peers rejected a plan for data retention of 12 months; meanwhile the Irish government plans a data retention bill of three to four YEARS:

Parliamentary inquiry rejects data retention

The All Party Internet Group (APIG) has today published a report on its inquiry into Communications Data -- the logging information held by phone companies, mobile operators and Internet service providers... The report examines current Government plans for the logging data to be retained and rejects them completely, branding them impractical.

The inquiry looked at the retention scheme proposed in the Anti-Terrorism Crime & Security Act 2001 (ATCS) which would have meant that logging data was kept for up to twelve months. It concluded that the Government had underestimated the costs of the scheme, that billing databases would migrate abroad to escape regulation and that there were few incentives for industry to help the government track technical change. To cap all this, the scheme appeared to be in breach of Human Rights legislation and despite a year of effort by the Home Office, no solution was in sight.

9:14:19 AM  #   your two cents []

Microsoft tablets start strong in Europe. Sales of portables running Microsoft's Tablet PC OS are fast out of the gate, says market researcher Context. Early numbers suggest greater sales than previously forecast.  [CNET News.com]
9:06:19 AM  #   your two cents []

Halley says:  From the Goose/Gander Department, Elle Magazine has a piece on infidelity in marriage and it's NOT about straying husbands.

I see women today deciding to have affairs the way they decide to go back to school or get a job or have a baby: If you don’t get what you need completely from marriage, you go and get it from a lover.

9:05:21 AM  #   your two cents []

Finnish recording industry demands royalties for kindergarten singing. The Finnish recording industry is demanding that kindergartens pay 20 Euros per month in royalties for songs sung by the children. Link  [Boing Boing Blog]
9:02:01 AM  #   your two cents []

Tapping of phones and emails doubles under Labour. Interception of telephone calls, email and post is higher than at any time since the second world war. [Guardian Unlimited]
9:01:01 AM  #   your two cents []

Funny how having .com in your company name went from being the coolest thing to the most mortifying thing...: SAP hops off .com brandwagon. The German software maker is the latest to try to distance itself from the stigma of the dot-com bust by shedding the .com and e- from its product names and marketing efforts.  [CNET News.com]
8:59:34 AM  #   your two cents []

Samuel Butler. "The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way." [Quotes of the Day]
8:58:56 AM  #   your two cents []

Vivendi in Talks to Sell Game Unit to Microsoft. Vivendi Universal is holding talks with Microsoft about the sale of its video games business. [New York Times: Technology]
8:58:26 AM  #   your two cents []