Jim Flowers: ILaw 2004

Tue, 29 Jun 2004 18:45:46 GMT

Net, tech to juice up global entertainment market. PwC says online ads, broadband, mobile communications, and other tech areas will help ring curtain down on years of slow growth. [CNET News.com]

Nesson's year must be up

Mon, 17 May 2004 08:53:09 GMT

Frank Field noted in a post yesterday :

something from the dedication page of Larry’s Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace:

For Charlie Nesson: Whose Every Idea Seems Crazy — For About A Year

Well, now comes a story in the NYT telling of a scheme that seems a variation on the "Auto first in line competition" model Prof. Nesson discussed on Friday:

New Way to Combat Online Piracy. A technique to help combat the online piracy of music uses decoy files that deliver noise and "gotcha" scoldings. By Sabra Chartrand. [New York Times: Business]

Political/Econ/Digital - ah heck, everything has a divide

Sun, 16 May 2004 12:08:47 GMT

Appropriate to yesterday's discussion on the impact of Internet on Politics is an analysis of the effects of email, auto dial and other technologies in the recent elections in India. The numbers tell the story -- With only 659,000 or so home computers -- the strategy in effect targeted an elite group.

What India's Upset Vote Reveals: The High Tech Is Skin Deep. India's governing party waged the country's first modern electoral campaign, but it was ousted in what has been called "a huge popular rebellion." By Amy Waldman. [New York Times: Technology]

Wrap up

Sat, 15 May 2004 20:44:26 GMT

Lessig says he spent 5 days away from his child for the purpose to promote Creative Commons.

He offered his latest book, Free Culture, free online. He thinks it drove sales of 200,000 unites in a month. It has since been “remixed” into an audio form, a wiki, a polish version, etc…

He calls this the feeding of free culture

Casting call

Sat, 15 May 2004 19:59:02 GMT

Actually, I think Robin Williams is better for Lessig and let Smirnoff play Benkler.

Which actors play which profs in iLaw, The Movie. [Scripting News]

Real time effect of Internet and Politics

Sat, 15 May 2004 19:26:43 GMT

As we discuss the effect of the internet on politics, I find an editorial in today's Savannah (Ga) paper regarding blogs and the Berg incident in Iraq.

Editorial: Whiplash and war Savannah

...

Few believe Abu Ghraib isn't an important story, and there is near-universal agreement that the culprits should be held accountable for their actions. To denounce the Berg murder is not to excuse the abuses at Abu Ghraib. To repeat: Being sickened and outraged by Mr. Berg's treatment at the hands of terrorists does not mean American misconduct is being minimized or dismissed.

But Abu Ghraib is not the only news out of Iraq. While TV networks and many national newspapers focus on prison abuse to the exclusion of other stories, many news consumers are turning to other mediums for information and opinion, because they're not getting what they want from traditional outlets.

....

I think the biggest take from this editorial is that in the Internet space, people want more information on topics big media is not covering. But, the subtle message here is a regular newspaper using internet metrics to justify their position that "liberal" media is not telling Americans what they want to hear.

Interesting.

Is blogging changing politics?

Sat, 15 May 2004 18:59:10 GMT

The answer is yes if only for the simple reason that blogging exists. Efforts to measure or quantify the effect are futile at this point -- it's just so much noise given the power of broadcast media, and in this country, the apapthy expressed by many citizens towards the political process.

That is not to say that blogging, or some organization of blogging tools, will not positively affect politics -- it's just too early yet. [read more]

Dignity vs Property

Sat, 15 May 2004 16:44:16 GMT

Dr. Jerry Kang has an interesting apparatus for discussing the privacy issue. There are reasons of dignity for managing privace (which the law protects) and there are commerce reasons for managing privacy where the market manages access. [Read more]

Intellectual Property

Sat, 15 May 2004 15:17:17 GMT

[read more]

Lessig said it was war...

Fri, 14 May 2004 21:23:12 GMT

FBI raids warehouses full of bootlegged movies and music AP

A warehouse raid found hundreds of thousands of pirated movies and CDs, including copies of new releases such as "The Passion of the Christ" and "Van Helsing."

...

"It's a war out there," said James Killeen of the Motion Picture Association of America. "There's just so much money involved that they're not going to give it up."

Peer Production of Information

Fri, 14 May 2004 19:21:21 GMT

2:00 pm

Benkler lays the theory for predicting or ascribing conditions necessary for succesful peer production of information [read more].

Basically looks at factors of motivation, disincentives, organizing factors and environments conducive to peer production events. A survey of economic theory (lots focusing on trasaction economics and social good theory)

Lecture laying ground work for more discussion of Free Culture...

He postulates we may be at a point where the structure of the economic model of exchange may shift to a value exchange not focused on money. That is a real stretch in my opinion. His last question

Must the market marginalize social production?

My question - must social production marginalize the market?

Free Culture

Fri, 14 May 2004 16:31:13 GMT

MPAA fought efforts to amend the DMCA saying the $1 renewal fee requred at the end of 50 years of copyright protection because it "would burden poor copyright owners."

This statement shows the outrageosness of the current copyright regime. Lessig's talk on Free Culture highlights how Congress is really out of touch, creating a regime of "unjust rule." [read more]

Hmmm. What did Jefferson say about needing little revolutions on a frequent basis?

Lessig relates the story of arguing the Eldred case. "When was the last time the Supreme Court voted against all the money in the world?"

Certainly a different method of analysis... wonder if anyone has done that?

Current Events

Fri, 14 May 2004 15:09:39 GMT

I noted several news items that link directly to lectures yesterday.

Protectionism will kill recovery. (Lessig) Wired

Communications

(Valdosta) TAC recommends telecomm venture. Valdosta

BellSouth streamlines VOIP services. C|Net

Telecom turmoil. BWOnline

Policy

ICANN’s latest challgenge tests new Internet services. Post

States speed up spyware race. Post

FCC: Wireless services can share TV airwaves. Post

Court backs off pro-spam ruling. Infoworld

Vietnam adopts new Internet user policies. Yahoo!

I intend to place some notes but just saw that I have no permalink references... hmm...

The Future of the Copyright on the Internet.

Fri, 14 May 2004 14:33:15 GMT

9:00 AM

This morning's tag team is Fisher and Nesson. Both outline their vision of the future -- and work toward a discussion from conference participants (read more). Fisher's government regulated scheme reminds me of a cross between the National Works Program under the FDR administration, and European models of subsidy of the arts. Will never happen hear -- smacks of big government, assumes efficient government, and the industry will never hear of it.

Nesson outlines a "First-in-line auto-competition" model. A "denial of service" attack engine that identifies offenders and "slams" them until they take the offending piece down.

Fisher - thinks Nesson's model would "lead to a culture war that makes the drug war look like a skirmish."

Winer thinks the spoof of Madonna asking "what the F do you think you are doing") says that is the perfect reason why we should do none of the above. Let the system be allowed to evolve -- current system may be a dinosaur -- preserving the system may be holding back art.

Nesson says Winer may be right -- perhaps we are in this situation because the industry has decided that ANY use of P2P is threatening and therefore must be destroyed.

A participant wonders if this is beginning of the end of corporate control of the entertainer (did somebody just dial us back to the 60's?)

Nesson says there is a culture of bands free of corporate control existing in the same system as the corporate. The death of the corporate system is probably exagerrated.

Q- Perhaps Nesson's regime unlocks competition. Problem with P2P now is that there is no price enforcement mechanism. Nesson's regime scales - wherase Fisher's does not.

Q - number of artists want to cut labels out entirely. You can see younger musicians using the net and pro tools to distribute their own. Grateful Dead promoted tape trading for years and were one of the most profitable bands in 20th century although they did not have any siginifican top 20 hits.

Q - Nesson model empowers people to engage in DOAS attacks? How do we tell good mobsters from bad mobsters and how do you prevent counterattacks? How is this different from Berman bill?

Nesson - Berman introduced legislation to give green light to any action taken by artist/industry to put an offending machine out of business. This model may not damage a machine but will slow down the machine and slow down access of others to that machine.

Fisher - hazard that Fair Use doctrine could be construed to make lawful activities that Nesson's machine may see as illega therefore creating a questionable use or a hazard of "illegitimacy" of the Nesson model.

Nesson: What is legitimate act of placing copyrighted material in public folder.

Fisher - your act downloading songs to demonstrate your point, as an academic song, is an act that questions (hmm... I lost their argument foundation somewhere)

Fisher points out that appellate courts have been quiety dialing back the copyright application in favor of the intermediaries (ie the labels) in decisions such as Aimster and Napster.

Yocham - music wasn't born of the phonograph - Recording industry was. Nesson's goal is to achieve political acceptability by preserving current model. Why is it not the case that current model be allowed to go their own way (to demise) Why preserve the system

Nesson - so you favor eliminating copyright all together?

Yocham - no, it works with relationship to largescale organizations like networks, firms with promotional materials. Copyright forms basis of legitimate competition. iTunes can price at more than free because it offers value other than access to music.

Fisher - you are right that awareness of political reality drives aspiration to create plan that would be acceptable. But the alternative is TIVO ization or digital lockdown. Despite small size, Hollywood and music industry will persuade Congress to help them lock down the content -- and would be catastrophic for Internet and e2e system in general.

Hope for alternative compensation system is that initially revenues for record companies would be enhanced. Side affect is to encourage artists to make work freely available for public because they get paid from the fund and the more people see/hear their works the greater the competition.

Internet Governance - Whither?

Thu, 13 May 2004 21:28:43 GMT

3:30 PM

Zittrain and Fisher teamed to discuss domain names, how they have arrived, who manages them, and whether the current governance structure really matters. Almost seems like much ado about nothing. Read More

Zittrain says -- maybe other entities are already governing the Internet in a routine way -- so Internet governance is nearly as foggy a role as one can describe.

Thu, 13 May 2004 16:30:51 GMT

Bloggers surround

Jay McCarthy just emailed a note telling me he's blogging behind me...

Ah Ha! And Will Richardson is behind me (ok, so I'm on the front row)...

(Ok, Anne -- Will and I talked a ton at lunch today - mostly about you. And, Winer is in the back discussing the philosophy of semantic web).

I'll throw up a blogroll later today.

Thu, 13 May 2004 16:25:43 GMT

Interoperability via engineering - not regulation

Yochai mentioned a company called PACKETHOP and the Golden Gate Safety Network which seems to be achieving interoperability among public safety communication systems

GGSN Mission

Develop a Regional Public Safety Communications plan that details the

use of existing and new communications systems that will support a

coordinated, interoperable, multi-disciplined response from local, state

and federal agencies in support of day-to-day operations and incidents.

This effort would set the radio companies on end -- for instance -- to build a uniform 800 mhz network in Georgia would cost $300 million - easily (oops - Nextel is trying to get FCC to let them have that spectrum which if successful means we have to build again at 1.9 mhz - so add more money to that figure).

Physical Layer

Thu, 13 May 2004 15:53:07 GMT

11:00 am

Yochai Benkler

Yochai discusses the analysis of competitiveness in the arena of delivering advanced networked services to the home and he discusses municipal fiber to the home.

Obviously, the failure of Marietta's Fibernet, LaGrange's Cable Franchise agreement (no one wants to pay now that it is no longer free) and the recent passage of SB 445 - places this option out of reach for Georgians.

And, Yochai points out how the incumbent providers are successfully lobbying state legislatures to prevent the municipal solution from occurring.

To read more...

Thu, 13 May 2004 15:24:03 GMT

Regulating Porn [ May 13,2004 9:00 am]

Fisher intros the program first

6 Years ago – first session/experimental/intense

From the beginning, participation was global.

6 months later – Singapore – with core from that part of the world

2003 – Rio – some Latin American participation

Then – Stanford

Now, back to Cambridge

Holes are in Africa, Greenland and Antartica (I ain’t going there!)

Lecturers

Yochai Benkler

William Fisher

Jerry Kang, UCLA and Visiting Professor of Law

Lawrence Lessig

Charles Nesson

John Palfrey

Jonathan Zittrain

All lectures being videotaped…

Lectures available in DVD form sent ahead to compress this conference into 3 days.

So, Lessig and Zittrain are cuing up on Regulation of pornography

Their banter make learning easy... Read More

Thu, 13 May 2004 15:21:27 GMT

Now connected.

Frank Field, Donna Wentworth are blogging away. Dave Winer is now in the building

Rock Stars

Thu, 13 May 2004 03:41:15 GMT

Rock Stars

Had dinner tonite in the hotel and saw Lessig and Zittrain come in to discuss preparations for tomorrow's meeting. Wonder how many other folks would recognize that these guys are on the front lines defending what the founders of this country saw to be the essence of democracy? Ironically, they are defending the Internet, free speech, and creativity against the very people that say they are just defending our liberties. But, as Franklin said -- "He who sacrifices liberty for security deserves neither."

And so the story goes...