Keeping politicians' hands off the Net & everything else related to technology
Occasional TLF co-blogger Solveig Singleton has some very sensible comments about the pending lawsuits against Sony BMG. I largely agree with her that the actual damages of Sony’s actions are pretty small, and that these class action lawsuits are more likely to enrich lawyers than compensate consumers. I still think the lawsuits should go forward, [...]
The city of New Orleans announced it will offer “free” WiFi over a network it deploys and owns. Everyone knows that “free” is not really free, making this one more disaster to add to the city’s woes. Using taxpayer dollars to subsidize porn surfing whilst people starve and go homeless is unconscionable. Hasn’t that city [...]
The bad news about Sony spyware keeps pouring in. We’ve already seen how the XCP software uses deceptive techniques to hide its presence from the user. Now we learn that Sony’s other DRM scheme, MediaMax installs itself on your system even if you click “decline” on the EULA that pops up on your screen. This [...]
NYU prof Siva Vaidhyanathan has been one of my favorite commentators on the Google Print debate because of his pragmatism. Today in the Chronicle of Higher Education he has his first non-blog analysis of the case. His main concern is that Google has bet not just the company, but the whole internet on this case. [...]
Mayor Gavin Newsom has been pushing the idea of “free WiFi” in San Francisco, but it would be anything but free. The Mayor’s play to grant special status to only one WiFi provider in San Francisco would essentially create a government-controlled WiFi monopoly in SF. There are so many reasons to oppose a government-controlled Internet, [...]
Saturday’s Wall Street Journal has an excellent editorial by Jason Riley on the controversy over peer-to-peer file sharing (like everything at the Journal it’s behind a paywall): The industry has every right to continue this behavior; downloading the new Harry Potter movie or Black Eyed Peas CD tracks without paying for them should satisfy any [...]
From the Onion. FCC: All Programming To Be Broadcast In ADHDTV By 2007 November 23, 2005 | Issue 41•47 WASHINGTON, DC–The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-1 Monday to require electronics manufacturers to make all television sets ADHD-compatible within two years…FCC Chairman Kevin Martin characterized the move as “a natural, forward-thinking response to the changing needs [...]
One of the most bizarre things about the DMCA debate is the way its advocates hyperventilate about the horrors that would ensue if anyone were ever allowed to circumvent DRM technologies, while conveniently ignoring the fact that many existing DRM technologies are as airtight as Swiss cheese. Ed Felten has a partial list of the [...]
Well that was fast. As I predicted on Monday, the entertainment industry isn’t happy about TiVo’s iPod conversion service: TiVo appears to be acting unilaterally, disregarding established rights of content owners to participate in decisions regarding the distribution and exploitation of their content,” an NBC Universal spokesman said. “This unilateral action creates the risk of [...]
The news just keeps getting worse for old media sectors and providers. Almost every Wall Street report or consultant survey that comes out these days predicts a dire situation for old media operators in coming years. New technologies, distribution outlets, the digitization of all information, complete media portability, and rapidly changing consumer expectations are combining [...]
May 24, 2012
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
