News

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

what's hot what's not

The PC Forum ended this morning and Doc needed a little bit of bandwidth to post his impressions. So he stopped by.

He types a hell of a lot faster than me, a lot faster....
Note to self. gotta get one of those Macs. plug in the nic cable, two clicks and he was online. that doesn't happen on windows.

Michael Fraase has posted an article covering the 'entertainment' industries attempts to infect your personal computer with hardware and software controls and to highjack your rights to your property.

"When elephants dance, it’s best to get out of the way. That’s exactly what’s happening now as the entertainment industry—the recording, publishing, and motion picture industries, mainly—attempts a worldwide intellectual property power grab with two distinct targets. Think of it: a coup and a lock on all published content in the same year, amazing isn’t it?"

This is probably the most significant piece on the current situation.

When elephants dance
read here - go there
Source:Arts and Farces

Meanwhile, across the pond, Mike Eisner is telling us that he knows what Abe Lincoln was thinking.

"In an 1859 speech, Lincoln said that before there were patent laws, "any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this; secured to the inventor, for a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and thereby added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in the discovery and production of new and useful things."

What makes this a pathetic piece is that Disney's latest endeavor, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II is based on the original work by Victor Hugo, and is in the public domain.

I would also note that Lincoln did not extend the length of either patent or copyright law. 28 years was enough them and is more than enough today.

Abe Lincoln and the internet pirates
read here - go there
Source: Financial Times of London

Bob Frankston
You are here because you have a personal computer.
You have a personal computer because of a program called Visi Calc.
Bob Frankston co-created Visi Calc. He is way beyond that now.

p i x e l v i e w - Bob Frankston
read here - go there

Here is where to send money.

"Eldred Legal Defense Fund"
Lawrence Lessig
Stanford Law School
Crown Quadrangle
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8610

It's Your Turn.....