Month: October 2002
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Lessig's Post-Mortem on the Eldred Arguments
Larry Lessig offers an extraordinary post-mortem on this week’s Supreme Court arguments in the Eldred case. Lessig deserves our enduring thanks, and a long, peaceful vacation.
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Bricklin: Copy Protection Robs the Future
Dan Bricklin explains how copy restriction technology frustrates archiving of historically interesting works. Archivists normally preserve works by copying them; so works that can’t be copied may never be archived. Bricklin tells a sobering story about his attempts to recover an original copy of VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet program, of which Bricklin himself was the…
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Fritz's Hit List #15
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: the Wallace and Gromit talking alarm clock. This alarm clock wakes its owner by playing copyrighted audio, so it qualifies for regulation as a “digital media device” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured talking alarm clocks will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight…
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Fritz's Hit List #14
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: scrolling signs. These signs display digital information, which may be copyrighted, in visual form, so they qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured scrolling signs will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight piracy – regulate signs!
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CNet Radio Interview
I’ll be interviewed on CNet Radio today, at some point between 1:30 and 2:00 P.M. Eastern time. Click here if you want to listen to a live feed.
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Fritz's Hit List #13
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: Hallmark’s “Circus Mountain Railroad” Christmas ornament. (To see it, go to Hallmark’s website and search for “circus”.) This ornament plays “Jingle Bells,” apparently from a digital recording, so the ornament qualifies for regulation as a “digital media device” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured song-playing…
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Two From Steven Levy
Two very nice articles by Steven Levy in the latest Newsweek. The first, I Was a Wi-Fi Freeloader, discusses the law and ethics of using open wireless networks. (I wrote about this topic previously.) The second, Glitterati vs. Geeks, is about the Eldred case.
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D-Day For Eldred
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears oral argument in Eldred v. Ashcroft, the lawsuit challenging the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act, a law that added twenty years onto the life of every current and new copyright. Larry Lessig will argue for Eldred, and Ted Olson, the U.S. Solicitor General, will argue for the government. The…
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Fritz's Hit List #12
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: the Big Red Shearling Bone. This dog toy lets you record a short message to your pet, to be replayed later when you aren’t around. Because the messages are apparently stored in digital form, this device qualifies for regulation as a “digital media device” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the…
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Discovery vs. Creation
Last week I had yet another DMCA debate, this time at the Chicago International Intellectual Property Conference. Afterward, I had an interesting conversation with Kathy Strandburg of DePaul Law School, about the different mindsets of DMCA supporters and opponents. DMCA supporters seem to think of security technology as reflecting the decisions of its creators, while…