direct connect?
11% of Americans would be okay with implanting a device in their head that allowed them to directly access the Internet.
See the article at Broadband Reports.com.
New battery type
Now this is cool.
This is the kind of real innovation that will eventually help with renewable energy, global warming, waste disposal issues, etc., instead of the fake, political “solutions” being touted these days.
Scientists have succeeded in making a paper-thin, flexible and biodegradable battery. Wow! Not only is it environmentally friendly, but it offers huge improvements in portable electronic devices, from reduced weight to redesign unencumbered by today’s battery compartment limitations.
Here’s the article at Ars Technica.
iPhone and stuff
What’s hotter than an iPhone? -iPhone domain names- of course.
June 26th was the 10 year anniversary of the classic Reno vs. ACLU Supreme Court opinion which successfully “removed” online censorship provisions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
The New York Times has launched a new technology blog called Bits.
e-mails are private
The 6th Circuit holds that e-mail users have a reasonable expectation of privacy in e-mails;
“emails held by an Internet Service Provider [are] roughly analogous to sealed letters”;
government must provide prior notice and opportunity to be heard.
Download the ruling here.
See the article at Broadband Reports.com.
Ohio University bans File Sharing
Ohio University bans all P2P file sharing.
They offer different reasons: it could overwhelm the network, it could also expose the university to viruses, spyware, etc. (Of course, so can regular e-mail and the web). But finally they get to the real reason: pre-litigation letters from the RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America).
Orphaned Works
This is an interesting problem related to the automatic renewal and extension of the copyright period.
An “orphan” is a work whose author is difficult or impossible to find and is no longer published or available because it’s not considered commercially viable. Under current copyright law, these works are illegal to use without the author’s consent, but there is no one to contact to get that consent. This is a direct result of changing copyright from an opt-in to an opt-out system. Two archives (libraries are the traditional caretakers of the orphaned works) have filed suit asking that the statutes that extended copyright terms unconditionally be ruled unconstitutional under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
The basic argument is that the Copyright Renewal Act and the Copyright Term Extension Act prevent, or severely impede, the constitutionally intended acquisition by the public of these works.
Despite the obvious truth of the claim, it appears to be an uphill battle. The District Court in California granted the government a dismissal of the case. They then appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court.
The Ninthe Circuit ruled against Kahle and in the governments favor. A simply amazing, poor decision. There will perhaps be an appeal to the full Ninth Circuit.
Get the details from Stanford CyberLaw.
9th Circuit rejects copyright law challenge
Simply amazing. The 9th Circuit ruled against Kahle and says that no constitutional review of the Copyright Act of 1976 is necessary.
From 1790 until 1976, to copyright a work you would have to register your work, print copies with a copyright notice, potentially renew your copyright later, etc. You had to take action, in a fairly clear manner, to have a work copyrighted (an opt-in system).
After the 1976 Act, all works are copyrighted, without registration, without notice, without renewal. Protection is automatic. You must take action, but not very clearly laid out, in order to renounce your copyright and give your work to the public domain (an opt-out system).
For the court to rule that this fundamental change doesn’t even deserve review for constitutionality? Just plain weird.
To me, that seems just the same as if Congress had said, “From now on, plaintiffs are guilty until proven innocent. The burden is no longer on the prosecution to prove you did it, but upon you to prove you didn’t.” Someone brings suit, arguing that it should be reviewed for constitutionality and the court says, “Sure Congress can do that, they didn’t take away your right to a fair trial. It’s still staying in the standard court system. It’s not like they’re deporting you to secret, foreign prisons with no trial. There’s really nothing here to review.”
Well, anyway, here’s the info at the Stanford CyberLaw.
RIAA drops suit against Mom, pursues kids
The RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America) drops suit against Patty Santangelo, but continues against two of her children.
See the Washington Post article.
the Decline of American Infrastructure
The original article I linked to (no longer available) claimed that the US infrastructure was at greater risk from our own government’s lack of foresight and neglect than from terrorists. And also mentioned the American Society of Civil Engineers Estimate that it would take $1.6 trillion just to bring America’s infrastructure up to a grade of B! That was over 14 years ago and still hasn’t been addressed. You may remember Trump pledged a $1 trillion national infrastructure program, but never delivered.
Here’s a new article, from the same source, of a similar nature: “Why new Infrastructure is a national imperative”.
How to foil wiretaps
Wired article about “How to foil wiretaps.”
Not quite sure how I feel about this. Is it a good idea to publish this?
On the other hand, can this information be trusted? If you are a conspiracy theorist, you might argue that this information was published at the government’s request. Maybe it’s really a way to tag calls that makes it easier for the government to know which ones they want to listen to? Or is our government really organized well enough to pull that off?
Hard to know – one way or another.