Software pirates sentenced. Four men in the United Kingdom have been sentenced to jail in relation to a multimillion-dollar piracy ring involving Microsoft software. [CNET News.com]

See, these guys are pirates.  They intentionally duplicate copyright material, along with all the packaging, so that they can fool people into purchasing it.  There's intent to make money by producing a fake product.  That's piracy.  And they know it's illegal, so they act like pirates.  Note that the charge was "conspiracy to defraud," not "copyright violation."

File sharing is not piracy.  There's no intent to profit from it, you're not faking anything or fooling anybody, and people who do it feel they're just exercising their fair use rights.

It's important that the major media outlets stop conflating the two terms.  "File Sharing" != "Piracy".

5:30:23 PM   

Spoof site no joke for eBay. "eGray," a parody Web site that takes aim at California gubernatorial incumbent Gray Davis, has drawn the attention of auction giant eBay--and its lawyers. [CNET News.com]

So far I haven't seen a reason why this wouldn't be a protected free speech.  eBay's lawyers have not yet threatened legal action, and they shouldn't.  Trademark law was not meant to trump free political discussion.

3:44:49 PM   

I think I've figured out why I'm so militant uninterested in politics.  Why I have no confidence in American politicians.  Why my perception is that there is no difference between the major parties.  Why I think voting is pointless.

It's because I'm essentially a one issue voter, and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have a position on that issue.  I'm convinced that 99% of the powerful incumbents at the federal level -- the ones who actually make policy -- can't even use a computer.  They have no real understanding of the Internet or its significance.  They think of intellectual property as a business versus consumer issue without any insight into its impact on our society, our culture.  If anything, they think of the Internet as yet another content delivery mechanism to be regulated, instead of as the vital democratizing force that I know it to be.

They've stopped thinking of us as citizens and constituents -- as stakeholders -- and started thinking of us as passive consumers to be bought with marketing campaigns and PR stunts.  I want no part in that.

3:33:10 PM