Monthly Archives: August 2008
Things I Didn’t Hear from the Democratic Convention
Breaking news – donate to GeekPAC! 3 days remain on our fund drive. The Democratic National Convention is now over, and it’s time to take an account of what was (or wasn’t) said. Despite being regaled by some outstanding speeches … Continue reading
Fund Drive Update – Over 50% of the way there!
We’re entering the stretch run of our fundraiser, and we’ve crossed the 50% barrier! If you haven’t donated yet, now’s your chance: Donate at fundable.com! Coming soon: a donor’s page thanking those who have pledged.
Wired: Copyright Owners Must Consider ‘Fair Use’ Before Sending Takedown Notice
Just saw this mentioned in Wired – a federal court judge in San Jose issued a ruling in the Lenz vs. Universal case, where Universal issued a DMCA takedown notice for content posted on Youtube, and the recipient of that … Continue reading
LWN.net Covers GeekPAC
This was an article published on LWN, written by Lisa Hoover. A very nice compendium of who we are and what we’re about: Link to article. Fundable.org page
PublicKnowledge: Benefits of iPhone App Store tainted by 1984-like Control
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Do We Really Like the Taste of Apple’s Remote-Kill KoolAid?
Today’s Wall Street Journal has a story about Apple’s App Store for the iPhone. Clearly, having an easy way for mobile users to download apps is a good way to spur development and make money. According to Apple, over the past month the App Store has sold $30 million in iPhone and iPod touch apps. Of those sales, Apple should take in about $9 million, as it keeps about 30% of each app sold. While some application developers have complained about the revenue split, when one considers the costs associated with hosting the applications, cost of money changing hands, and general maintenance of the store, 30% is not unreasonable. What is increasingly unreasonable is the way Apple is controlling the App Store, both to the detriment of developers and consumers.
PublicKnowledge: Why the Cablevision Decision Matters
In my post from Monday, I laid out a very brief outline of some of the conclusions reached by the Second Circuit in its Cablevision decision on remote DVRs. Today, I want to take a step back and discuss why it was so important for the development of digital media and technology.
Two theories espoused by the TV networks in the case were extraordinarily dangerous for copyright law. The first was that fleeting, transitory copies like buffer copies could make someone liable for copyright infringement.
Hacking the Election Birds-of-a-Feather
Tonight at 6pm at LinuxWorld, GeekPAC will host a Birds-of-a-feather on “Hacking the Election.” If you’re at LinuxWorld, it’s in room 310 at 6pm. See you there!
GeekPAC to Form Political Action Committee Around Technology Issues; Launches Fundraiser
PAC to support copyright reform, DMCA reform, net neutrality, and other technology issues GeekPAC (http://www.geek-pac.org/), a group of concerned citizens formerly known as BytesFree.org, has relaunched under a new name to reflect its new focus. GeekPAC will form a political … Continue reading
Groklaw: The End of the Patry Copyright Blog
William Patry has shuttered his blog, The Patry Copyright Blog. The archives are gone too. He tells why in a final post. It’s a tragedy, nothing less.
No, no one at Google made him do it. He did it for a couple of reasons, both of which resonate with me, and I think they are important to highlight. I must warn you, it’s a bit depressing. Here are the reasons:
1. The Inability or Refusal to Accept the Blog for What it is: A Personal Blog
2. The Current State of Copyright Law is too depressing
But it’s in the details that the story is told. Continue reading