First International Mobile IPR Workshop: conference of Rights Management of Information Products on the Mobile Internet in Helsinki.
A team from SIMS at Berkeley is presenting a paper that evaluates and proposes DRM schemes for compulsory licensing.
Mary Hodder also did something that was on my to do list: a chronological list of the public conversation and articles about the compulsory licensing issues that have been going on lately. Very much appreciated and helpful. Thanks.
[via bIPlog]
Nice summary of the draft directive by the Foundation for information policy research .
[via Emerging Technologies → Ross Anderson]
Cyberpresse reports that a bunch of people threw rubber ducks in the fountain in front of Place des Arts while chanting « coin coin ». This was Montreal’s first flash mob.
It seems to be quite the rage this week-end, even the BBC says so. Might be the heat, or just the desire to cling onto the vacations.
Personally, I don’t get it. I’m not saying i wouldn’t participate ever, but I wouldn’t get out of my way to participate. Unless it’s totally absurd or original, or perhaps even meaningful or artsy.
I do get a feeling that this stuff is either about using all those telecom technologies that surround us in a personal, self indulging way, or about expressing free will in a very unproductive way.
Not that any of this is bad of course, it’s kinda fun and new and different. It means people have nothing too important to worry about. Which is good. I guess.
Keep yourself informed of the upcoming flash mob events in Montreal or just get a feeling of the flash mob scene.
I like fonts. I mentionned it before.
MeFi points to a little movie about the history of a font, Cooper Black. I don’t particularly like Cooper Black, I often used Hobo instead, and Hobo does make an appearance in the movie.
Cute and instructive. Take 2 minutes and watch it.
I remember getting Hobo bundled with some software, can’t remember which, in my Mac Plus days (which extended way past the usefull life of said Mac Plus). Does the licence allows me to still use it many years later, on a different OS without the original software present anywhere in sight?
I certainly was aware that some members of Congress wanted to snuff out the grass-roots phenomena of people’s swapping copyrighted songs on the Net. But I assumed that the crime of file-sharing, joyfully committed by an estimated 60 million pirates, was mainly a problem of lost revenues for the music industry. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, giving the opening testimony, argued otherwise, calling file-sharing networks a grave security risk to this nation. In reality, the hearing was nothing but one of several signs of a new hardball offensive against file-sharing for the same old reasons: protecting the business model of the record labels.
[…]
My guess is that the vast majority of those 60 million file sharers would never steal a physical object from the store. In a mixture of self-interest and rebellion they’ve taken the measure of the record industry’s karma (overpriced CDs, a history of ripping off artists), noted that stealing files isn’t like stealing stuff (maybe they’ll buy a disc later) and concluded that file-sharing isn’t that bad….
Lucid editorial on the RIAA’s war says the EFF.
[via Algorhythm → EFFector]
A4, the paper, not the Audi…
A good and passionate, yet rational, explanation of ISO paper sizes, or why, even though a document on legal paper looks nicely intimidating, our system sucks.
[via Boing Boing]
J’ai eu une excellente expérience de magasinage chez Zellers à la Plaza Côte-des-Neiges dimanche après-midi.
Prix raisonnables, bonne sélection de produits, étalages en ordre et, ce qui m’a désarçonné, personnel courtois, super serviable et disponible.
J’admets que je suis surpris, je m’attendais pas à grand chose.
Sandra Abma, World at Six TORONTO – As the American recording industry steps up its fight against the illegal sharing of music online, Canadians are starting to look at the U.S. model.Peer-to-peer file sharing, or downloading, of music has cost the North American recording industry billions of dollars.
In Canada, CD sales have dropped 20 per cent in the past three years.The American recording industry’s latest attempt to squash music piracy is a two-pronged approach: sanctioning a number of online music services and intensifying litigation against what they call « music pirates. »Americans can legally download music online – paying from US $0.79 per song on sites like Buymusic.com and Apple’s iTunes music store – but those who continue to do so illegally are being singled out by harsh legislation.
A new bill before the House of Congress proposes a five-year prison sentence and a fine of US $250,000 for the sharing of just one music file on a peer-to-peer network.The Canadian Recording Industry Association has so far taken a softer approach to online music sharing, choosing an education program aimed at young music fans. However, the apparent success of U.S attempts has prompted CRIA president Brian Robertson to look into the American model. »There’s been quite a substantive drop in peer-to-peer activity, » Robertson said. « Particularly young people, who possibly didn’t know it was illegal before, now know it’s illegal and now are getting a little bit intimidated by subpoenas being served and penalties. » And now Canadians will be able to legally download music too. This fall, both Buymusic.com and the Apple iTunes service will be made available to Canadians.
A Canadian service, called Puretracks.com, is also being introduced.Customers have been eagerly looking forward to this, said Puretracks.com co-founder Alister (sic) Mitchell. « Technology moves like lightning. It takes a lot longer to work through the labyrinth, the copyright ownership, that’s involved in any one particular track, in any one particular CD. »Music lovers will pay for online music if the service is easy, the music of high quality, and the process legal, Mitchell said.
[from CBC ArtsCanada]
Thanks Brightblue
Motion to dismiss on the constitutionality of calling a school principal a « fucker, a fag and a fucking fag« .
I am amused that a) a public defendant took the time to write something like that. b) the motion focuses only on the « fuck » part of the sentence, not the « fag » part.
[via Kuro5hin]
Cara will use Wi-Fi technology from NetWireless to turn its Second Cup locations in Canada into wireless « HotSpots »- allowing café customers to use their Wi-Fi equipped laptops and PDAs to access the Internet as they enjoy their lattés and muffins.
[via A Frog in the Valley]
Add that to the McDonald’s announcement to include a few minutes with a burger and we might get some decent urban coverage soon. After wardriving in San Francisco (literally sending email at a red light), I have high expectations though!