Tuesday, February 10, 2004

More on RSS - specifically Higher Ed applications New Chronicle of Higher Education article on RSS. [Scripting News] comment [] 6:15:36 PM

	Tuesday, July 29, 2003

VOIP has gotten the FBI's attention. Read the story (which follows) where the FBI wants the FCC to use its rule making ability to expand surveillance/wire tap rules so the FBI can force ISP's to allow easier monitoring of VOIP activity.  (link) comment [] 10:06:51 AM

	Friday, July 11, 2003

Why isn't license sharing more simple? Story talks of difficulty one university would have to license gene splicing technology from Cornell because Cornell licensed the work to DuPont...  We really do go around our elbow to get to our , well, you know what sometimes. Universities to Share Patented Work on Crops. Several leading universities are joining to share information on their patented biotechnologies and make them more widely available. By Andrew Pollack. [New York Times: Education] comment [] 8:54:01 AM

	Thursday, June 19, 2003

Another one bites the dust. Need to look at why they are leaving the business -- fodder for discussion on mandated electronic texts in higher ed. Technology Briefing: Telecommunications. GEMSTAR TO QUIT ELECTRONIC BOOK BUSINESS; IRISH SCHOOLS TO GET BROADBAND CONNECTIONS;. [New York Times: Business] comment [] 11:01:16 AM

	Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Home Schooling in Cyberspace. Some parents seeking home schooling are enrolling their children in schools that exist only in cyberspace. By Bonnie Rothman Morris. [New York Times: Education] comment [] 11:16:46 AM

	Sunday, April 13, 2003

Heavy stuff. Just discussed how the "Really Big Corporate" types are using their political strength to dictate the "battlefield", to use a common term now, on issues of content, infrastructure, and who makes money on what at a luncheon with the Atlanta chapter of the Federal Communications Bar.  Didn't realize we literally had a battle shaping up just down the street. DMCA vs. Free Speech, cont'd. I just heard from folks at the InterZOne conference in Atlanta, where, apparently, conference organizers and two scheduled speakers have been served with cease-and-desist requests. At issue are the "intellectual property rights" of Blackboard Inc. Here's an excerpt from Blackboard's attorney's letter: It recently has come to Blackboard's attention that Billy Hoffman and Virgil Griffith are intending to speak as co-panelists in your upcoming InterzOne II conference on April 11, 2003. The website located at www.yak.net/acidus, Mr. Hoffman's website, states that, "The signals to and from several Blackboard readers have been captured, as well as how data is stored on the cards. Using this knowledge Virgil and I have created a drop-in compatible reader, that will work with an existing RS-485 network. Computer code to emulate any reader made as well as hardware specs to wire the readers and control circuits will be launched." Explaining, Mr. Hoffman's website states that "This will show not only did we hack the system, but we hacked it so far we could build functional readers from scratch." The website states that he intends at this conference to "release code to make a computer emulate any Blackboard reader, as well as the hardware designs ... to make a drop in replacement for any Blackboard reader." The website also threatens that, because "Blackboard wouldn't make their system more secure, or tell people how to secure it, I'll simply make compatible ones myself and give them away." Please be advised that the actions described on Mr. Hoffman's website, including the hacking of Blackboard's system, are illegal, and that any effort by either Mr. Hoffman or Mr. Griffith to convey to others at your Conference any information gleaned in whole or in part from such actions, particularly in an effort to cause Blackboard economic harm, would be improper. Please be advised of our view that it would be actionable for you or your conference to facilitate Mr. Hoffman's and Mr. Griffith's announced plans for, among other things, the disclosure of signals captured, the releasing of code, the description of development of functional readers, and the hardware specs to wire the readers and/or control circuits. Please be advised further that the www.yak.net/acidus website's use of the Blackboard name and the Blackboard logo is unauthorized and far exceeds the parameters of any nominative fair use, constituting a false designation of origin in violation of the federal Lanham Act, and we caution that we have not authorized Blackboard's name or logo to be used in any seminar or conference materials or in any presentation. We are also examining whether the actions of Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Griffin may have violated other federal laws, including (among others) the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the Economic Espionage Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Wiretap Act, and the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as Georgia's Computer Systems Protection Act. My correspondent writes, We're trying to get the word out as fast as possible because this is most definitely not cool. [The Doc Searls Weblog] comment [] 10:23:04 AM

	Sunday, March 09, 2003

Technology is not God. The debate continues, though I think the librarians may be setting themselves up for failure by premising their arguements on free speech.  After all, if the technology worked perfectly, then there would be no need to protest its presence.  Politicians and parents aren't concerned about the sites that are blocked -- very few of them use the net to its full extent anyway. Computers in Libraries Make Moral Judgments, Selectively. Public libraries can't shield their patrons from the evils lurking in cyberspace, nor can technology eliminate the problems it creates. By Geoffrey Nunberg. [New York Times: Technology] comment [] 5:22:53 PM