Archive for April, 2008
The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), earlier this week approved, and presented to representatives of the U.S. government, a resolution in favor of policies that will promote a non-discriminatory Internet. The TACD is a group of 60 consumer and public-interest organizations from the European Union and the U.S. More background on the organization is found at www.tacd.org.
The resolution, adopted at a TACD meeting in Washington, D.C., found that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) “have the technical ability to act as gatekeepers, blocking or degrading consumers’ access to certain content and applications, or limiting the types of equipment that can be attached to the network. Such behavior can severely limit the usefulness of the Internet and frustrate consumers’ aims.”
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I’m happy to announce that BytesFree.org will be represented at its first event, Lug Radio Live, which will be held at the Metreon in San Francisco on April 12th and 13th. It’s quite a challenge to get things going organizationally, and this looks to be a pretty rewarding experience.
We will have a table at the expo. Also, Ilan and I will be speaking on Sunday at 3pm.
If you’d like to come by and say hello, or if you’re interested in volunteering, please do let us know.
Tags: Action, News
A long time ago, I wrote a paper encouraging people to support AB 1668 and posted it on the wiki. I have finally updated the paper to reflect the new focus of BytesFree.org.
Also, as we slowly make our way through the incorporation process, one of the things we have to do is create a mission statement. I never really cared for these types of exercises. Not because I don’t see their value - I do, but because I’m lazy. In any case, I think we’ve come up with a nice tentative one:
BytesFree.org is dedicated to the idea that all people should have full and unrestricted access to all information to which they are legally or morally entitled. BytesFree.org works to ensure that public data is available to all, unburdened by restrictive access methods, non-standard file formats, unreasonable fees, unnecessary bureaucratic delays, or unpalatable legal requirements.
You can find more new stuff on the About page.
Tags: News
Outside of comic books, it is exceedingly rare to see a villain receive literal and poetic justice at the hands of its own creation. So when I read that Time Warner must now share the copyright for Superman with the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel, I couldn’t help but give a healthy chuckle. The cause of action flows directly from a provision of the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998, which Time Warner (along with other studios) pushed through Congress with all their lobbying might. Granted Time Warner never supported this provision, which was a sop to folks and their heirs who sold copyrights when they thought they were only giving away 23 years plus a 23 year renewal, but TW regarded that as an acceptable risk for the billions upon billions of dollars it gained from yet another windfall in copyright land.
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Yesterday, I sent out the latest issue of my eJournal, Standards Today. Not surprisingly, it focused on the OOXML process, and what can be learned from it. Below is the Editorial, and you can find the complete issue here. You can sign up for a free subscription here. Updated: ISO has now issued its confirmatory press release. The full text (less biolerplate) is appended at the end of this entry. I note with some interest that the press release includes the following language:Read the full post here.
Well, it appears to be final. As the results are verified and commentators weigh in, I’ll post a roundup later, as well as my own commentary on what this means for BytesFree.org’s objectives.
In the meantime, see the posts below from Groklaw and the Standards Blog.
Tags: News
Updated: 1. I have now received confirmation from a second source that these results are accurate.
2. Microsoft has issued a press release announcing that OOXML "Appears to Win Approval" (text below)
3. (1:00 PM EDT) I have now received a copy of the ISO communication from a National Body source entitled to receive it, and can confirm the data below.
4. Ecma's press release confirming approval is here
Open Malaysia has posted a final update of their vote registry, based upon an email from the OpenDoc Society to which is attached what they say are the final numbers on the OOXML vote. The document looks authentic, and I should have an independent verif...
Read the full post at consortiuminfo.org
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