Month: July 2004
-
Apple Threatens Real
Pay attention now, ’cause this story gets kinda complicated. See, Apple had this product called iPod that lets you listen to music. That sounds like a good idea. But Apple thought it would be better if the iPod could do less. So their engineers pulled a bunch of all-nighters to make sure that the iPod…
-
Blogiversary
Monday was the second anniversary of Freedom to Tinker. Two years seems like a long time, but I still enjoy doing this. Thanks to all of you for your attention, and for keeping me alert and honest with your comments and feedback. Here are the obligatory statistics about the site: 604 posts; 1409 comments; 3.2…
-
Wiretapping the Net
Another interesting day at the Meltdown conference. John Morris of CDT gave an eye-opening talk about online wiretapping and the policy debate over how to apply CALEA to VoIP services. Let me explain the jargon. CALEA is the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which says that telecommunications providers must design their networks…
-
Too Much Spam, Not Enough Identification
Lots of good stuff yesterday at the Meltdown conference. Rather than summarize it all, let me give you two random observations about the discussion. The security session descended into a series of rants about the evil of spam. Lately this seems to happen often in conference panels about security. This strikes me as odd, since…
-
PFIR "Internet Meltdown" Conference
From today through Wednesday, I’ll be at the PFIR Internet Meltdown conference. I’ll post reports on the conference here.
-
Induce Act Hearing Video
If you missed yesterday’s Senate hearing on the proposed Induce Act, you can check out the video, thanks to Thomas Barger. (As a bonus, he also offers a video of the May 12 hearings on Rep. Boucher’s DMCRA.) The written testimony of all witnesses, and the statements of Sens. Hatch and Leahy, are available too.
-
Induce Act Hearing Webcast, Live Discussion
Today’s Senate hearing on the Induce Act will be webcast (link) at 2:00 PM Eastern time. Anybody who is listening to the webcast is invited to discuss the hearing while it happens, in the comments section of this post. I’ll be listening, and watching the comments.
-
Vadasz Attacks INDUCE Act
An op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, by recently retired Intel VP Les Vadasz, urges the Senate to reject the INDUCE Act. News junkies may remember Vadasz’s testimony against the now-infamous Hollings CBDTPA at a Senate hearing, during which Vadasz was treated quite harshly. They may also remember that Vadasz’s view ultimately prevailed, because it…
-
MS to Sue Linux over Patents?
A two-year-old internal memo from Hewlett-Packard predicted that Microsoft would soon launch patent-infringement suits against companies that distribute open-source products such as Linux and Apache, according to a Joe Barr story at NewsForge. (The article reprints the memo in full.) The memo is clearly based on statements made by Microsoft negotiators during a patent licensing…
-
Software That Lasts 200 Years
Dan Bricklin has a provocative new essay arguing that at least some software should be built to last for a long time, perhaps as long as 200 years. We need to start thinking about software in a way more like how we think about building bridges, dams, and sewers. What we build must last for…