Month: October 2002
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Fritz's Hit List #27
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: talking dog collars. These devices allow you to record a brief audio clip on your dog’s collar, so that your dog can be returned to you if it wanders off. Since these devices record (possibly copyrighted) audio in digital form, they qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the…
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Schoen vs. Stallman on "Trusted Computing"
Seth Schoen raises two interesting issues in his response to Richard Stallman’s essay on “trusted computing.” (To see Seth’s posting, click here and scroll down to the “Trusted computing” heading.) Stallman says [Trusted computing] is designed to stop your computer from functioning as a general-purpose computer. Schoen responds: Neither of these concerns is applicable at…
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Fritz's Hit List #26
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: the ceremonial bugle. This device, which is inserted into the horn of a military bugle and plays “Taps,” was developed by the U.S. military for use in military funerals for which no trained bugler is available. Because it plays “Taps” from a digital recording, this device qualifies for regulation as…
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Costs of a GPL Ban: An Example
Many people have criticized the recent proposal from some congressmen to ban the use of the GNU Public License (GPL) on federally funded software projects. There’s one disadvantage of this proposal that I haven’t seen discussed. I’ll illustrate it with a real example. Brent Waters and I are currently doing research on a method for…
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Fritz's Hit List #25
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: digital church bells. These systems play church bell noises from digital recordings, so they qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured digital church bells will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight piracy – regulate church bells! [Thanks…
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Fritz's Hit List #24
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: traffic speed cameras. These cameras snap a picture automatically when they detect a car exceeding the speed limit, so that the police can enforce speed limit laws. Since these cameras record (possibly copyrighted) images in digital form, they qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If…
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Slate: Nigerian Scam Emails Explained
Brendan Koerner at Slate explains why we’re all getting so many Nigerian scam emails. Most of them really do come from Nigeria, though the rest of their story is of course fictional.
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Compulsory Licensing: Responses
I have gotten several interesting responses to my posting on compulsory licensing of music. Ernest Miller at LawMeme offers a tongue-in-cheek response. (At least I think it’s tongue-in-cheek.) He says that the same logic that supports compulsory licensing of music would also support compulsory licensing of pornography (requiring everybody to pay a tax to support…
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Edison's World
Lately I’ve been reading a biography of Thomas Edison, one of history’s great tinkerers. (I recommend the book: Edison by Matthew Josephson.) I’m amazed at how little the basic nature of the high-tech business has changed since Edison’s day. The products are different, but the business seems very much the same. Edison coped with –…
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Fritz's Hit List #23
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: musical car horns. These automobile horns play prerecorded digital sounds, so they qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured musical car horns will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight piracy – regulate car horns! [Thanks to Steven…