Random Connected Ideas

2004¦~8¤ë20¤é

KDE 3.3 Officially Released [Slashdot:]
5:44:58 PM

Hallelujah! The 9th Circuit Court Gets It Right. EFF/Grokster successfully defend themselves against big media, and the Court "gets it." There is coverage of this all over; just Google. Quoting from the final decision:

"The Copyright Owners urge a re-examination of the law in the light of what they believe to be proper public policy, expanding exponentially the reach of the doctrines of contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Not only would such a renovation conflict with binding precedent, it would be unwise. Doubtless, taking that step would satisfy the Copyright OwnersâАЩ immediate economic aims. However, it would also alter general copyright law in profound ways with unknown ultimate consequences outside the present context.

"Further, as we have observed, we live in a quicksilver technological environment with courts ill-suited to fix the flow of internet innovation. AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, 216 F.3d 871, 876 (9th Cir. 1999). The introduction of new technology is always disruptive to old markets, and particularly to those copyright owners whose works are sold through well established distribution mechanisms. Yet, history has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine, or an MP3 player.Thus, it is prudent for courts to exercise caution before restructuring liability theories for the purpose of addressing specific market abuses, despite their apparent present magnitude.

"Indeed, the Supreme Court has admonished us to leave such matters to Congress. In Sony-Betamax, the Court spoke quite clearly about the role of Congress in applying copyright law to new technologies. As the Supreme Court stated in that case, âАЬThe direction of Art. I is that Congress shall have the power to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. When, as here, the Constitution is permissive, the sign of how far Congress has chosen to go can come only from Congress.âА� 464 U.S. at 456 (quoting Deepsouth Packing Co. v. Laitram Corp., 406 U.S. 518, 530 (1972))." [wiley.ed.usu.edu - autounfocus]
5:39:38 PM

New flaws found in Microsoft security (AFP). AFP - Internet security experts have found two "flaws" with Microsoft Corp's long-awaited security update for its Windows XP operating system, but the software behemoth insists that the new SP2 is secure. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
5:37:08 PM

www.drmwatch.com/drmtech/article.php/3397451

Back to Article

Smarte Solutions Integrates Sony's Unique ID Scheme for CDs
By DRM Watch Staff
August 19, 2004

Smarte Solutions, an Austin, TX-based vendor focused primarily on copy protection and DRM technologies for software CD-ROMs, announced last week that it has partnered with Sony Disc Technology to create a DRM solution for software and content that uses Sony's Postscribed ID technology.

Postscribed ID embeds a machine-readable unique number into each CD during the manufacturing process. CD duplication without the Postscribed ID process does not reproduce the unique ID. The IDs can be serial numbers or encryption keys, both of which can be used in various sorts of DRM schemes for CDs. Smarte Solutions's SmarteSECURE DRM provides encryption, authentication, rights specification, decryption, and other functions that depend on the unique IDs.

A common technique in many DRM solutions is to use identifiers that uniquely identify instances of content, rather than products or intellectual property, to tie digital products to their purchasers. Standard identifiers such as ISBN for books or GRid for music identify products (or "titles"), while others like ISWC and ISAN identify units of intellectual property. Neither are of much help in associating usage of a particular instance of a product with an individual user or device. For that, you need to identify either the user -- or the particular product that she obtained along with a record tying that product to a user.

Embedding unique product IDs into downloaded digital content is relatively easy, and for audio and video content, this is a classic application of watermarking. But for physical media that are reproduced in a manufacturing plant, it's not that easy. Sony Disc Technologies has come up with a process for embedding unique identifiers at manufacturing time, after the stamping process. The Postscribed ID technology can inscribe a few different forms of ID, including one form that contains unique identification for both titles and product instances.

Postscribed ID differs from other CD security technologies used during manufacturing, such as Macrovision's SafeDisc, which inserts digital signatures into masters but does not insert unique IDs into each disc. A disadvantage, of course, is that the Postscribed ID technology adds costs to the manufacturing process.

Meanwhile, the SmarteSECURE technology can use the unique ID numbers to control access to the content or software on a disc. The most obvious application for this combination of technologies is in packaged software, as a means of replacing the "product key" numbers that are used by vendors such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Intuit, and that are a source of annoyance to anyone having to install, or especially re-install, the software. Over 200 software vendors, including Microsoft, have incorporated Smarte Solutions's technology. The partnership with Sony could take this type of DRM to the next level... at least until availability of Internet bandwidth renders CDs obsolete for software distribution.
9:28:00 AM

udn-yam 年輕人笨蛋化社會要完蛋?!
記者紀慧玲、賴至巧、梁欣怡／報導
昨天發表的一項調查指出，全球年輕人正在流行誰比誰更白癡。當未來的主人翁「笨蛋化」，大人們不免擔憂社會的前途就要完蛋。有這麼嚴重嗎？學者要大人別大驚小怪，與其動不動就搬出「一代不如一代」的感慨，倒不如好好想一想隱藏在「笨蛋化」背後的無奈。

兄弟三劍客變成死對頭
網路推波助瀾

台灣大學社會工作學系主任馮燕指出，這股比笨、比白癡的潮流應可追溯自10年前開始，周星馳紅透半邊天，大家都在討論為什麼？她推測，「大概是快到21世紀，什麼千禧年、Y2K，搞得人心惶惶，大部分人把平庸的自己投射在周星馳身上，藉由哈哈大笑嘲笑他，也將對自己不夠傑出的不安發洩出來吧。」

「從嘲笑、譏諷到認同、流行，這一波全球比白癡的潮流就這樣流行起來，而且這是很容易搭上的潮流，人不必太有智慧、想到什麼就說什麼，這麼簡單的流行，為何不加入？」馮燕說，接下來的網路文化更進一步推波助瀾，過去我們罵人家白癡是很嚴重的事，但現在講一個人白癡，言下似乎帶有疼惜的意味。

但在比白癡的流行背後，馮燕看到隱藏在人們內心深層的焦慮。她指出，現在的年輕人競爭力不如人、責任感不如人、創意不如人，年輕人壓力已經大到不知自己的前途在哪裡？跟上這波白癡潮流，至少可以不落伍。

可喜的是，馮燕也觀察到，年輕人並非人人如此。她在台大教書、兒子念建中，至少在她的學生、兒子和兒子的朋友中，她還是看到一些有思想、想要做一些事的人；有一部分的年輕人至少可以分辨白癡潮流只是好玩，絕非衡量自我的唯一尺度。

從心理衛生角度而言，馮燕說，承認大多數人是平庸的、小人物也有出頭天，算是蠻健康的事；「人可以不要有大志」、「人可以隨隨便便過一生」、「人就算不努力、不成功也沒關係」、「就醬吧」，愈來愈多人接受凡事「就醬吧」。

了解他們想法

「大人們應該努力瞭解青少年的想法，不要只覺得他們很怪！」政治大學教育學院長秦夢群表示。他說，現代社會的資訊發達、價值多元，青少年搞怪的動機與能力確實比大人強，出現各種令人費解的行為，並不令人意外。行為會隨時代改變，反而是價值觀漸產生偏差，才是家長與社會應該關注的焦點。

秦夢群強調，大人應該以同理心看待青少年，與其動不動搬出「一代不如一代」的批評，不如先瞭解青少年的想法，從旁協助他。最重要的是，大人以身作則，建立青少年得以遵循的行為典範。

文藝人解讀，又是另一番光景。心理諮商專業醫師、作家王浩威說，社會價值、思想永遠不會只有一種主流，Dumb-ing反映的是一部分現象，但他相信，永遠有另一種「積極」力量存在。

年輕人有主見

王浩威說，我們跟上一代的人很早就被要求「積極」，現在的年輕人則看似凡事不經心，沒有壓力,但事情往往不是絕對的。年輕人可能耽溺在自己世界、想像氛圍裡，但這些想像可能極具創造力，有不可思議觀念、想法，只是在同質性太高的同儕團體裡不會表現出來，或這一代大人不了解，但實際上年輕人是有自己的意見的。王浩威說，這一代年輕人在現在的文化氛圍長大，可能更早感到孤獨，或可能更早學會逃避，但他相信也有人會更早認清目標，選擇波西米亞式的人生或投入競爭，生命的價值與目標將提早「分道揚鑣」。
udn-yam

9:13:08 AM

Wi-Fi emerges as emergency communications alternative in Fla.. Wi-Fi hot spots emerged as a new emergency communications alternative in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, with traffic at some outlets up 50%. [Computerworld News]
9:03:50 AM

Court Deals Blow to Anti-Piracy Efforts (Reuters). Reuters - A federal appeals court on Thursday delivered a stinging blow to the anti-piracy efforts of major movie studios and music companies, ruling that several online file-sharing software companies are not liable for copyright infringement. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
9:02:19 AM

Finding Nemo by Microchip. Armed with tagging devices and satellite tracking, marine scientists follow hundreds of sea animals around the Pacific Ocean, monitoring everything from location and depth to speed and water temperature. By Randy Dotinga. [Wired News]
9:01:17 AM

Digital Technologies Can Be The Key Building Blocks To A New Economic Future. "New digital technologies are creating a crisis in the business models of the companies that depend on having a monopoly on distribution." Howard Rheingold blows some fresh and truly inspiring ideas in a short interview on MSNBC.com. Technologies, the ones... [Robin Good's Latest News]
8:58:44 AM