Miscellaneous Reading


Tomas A. Lipinski, ASIS&T Bulletin: The Legal Landscape After MGM v. Grokster: Part 2, Understanding the Impact on Innovation: ” Will the ‘inducement’ rule created by the Supreme Court in Grokster stifle development of Internet technology or other copyright-related technologies? Will the Groskter rule prove more restrictive than the Sony ‘substantial noninfringing uses’ rule?”
In the BU Journal of Science and Technology, Andrew E. Jankowich discusses the relationship between virtual worlds and “real world” law, focusing on the role of property in virtual worlds and the “cross-border problem”– that is, how virtual worlds deal with the fact that their denizens are citizens of real world states: Property and Democracy in Virtual Worlds.
Waxy.org’s Andy Baio received a cease and desist letter from Bill Cosby: “Because it takes so little effort to threaten a small web-based artist (or the blogger who hosts their work), the Net is constantly targeted regardless of just cause. Justin Roiland, creator of House of Cosbys, and Channel 101 were forced to remove House of Cosbys because they couldn’t afford the possibility of an actual lawsuit. But I can, and I’m not backing down unless ordered by the court. This is free speech and creative freedom, and even though it’s just one guy’s goofy labor of love, that’s worth fighting for, dammit.”
Tower Records will start a podcast service, according to Forbes: Take My Music, Please: “The 90-store chain plans to open a new online service this summer that lets consumers create their own podcasts–audio and video shows designed to be downloaded onto a computer or portable media player–using a catalog of some 6,000 songs, which Tower will provide free of charge.”
The NY Times reports: New York Is Sued by U.S. on Delay of Vote System:

The Justice Department sued New York State on Wednesday for failing to overhaul its election system and replace its aging voting machines. It is the first lawsuit the federal government has filed to force a state to comply with the voting guidelines enacted by Congress after the 2000 election debacle.

Related: Help America Vote Act of 2002
The Wall St. Journal’s Lee Gomes learns how to create “original content” for the web: Our Columnist Creates Web ‘Original Content’ But Is in for a Surprise:

There is a new and insidious threat to the World Wide Web: a slowly rising tide of “original content” on Internet sites that is at best worthless, and at worst possibly even dangerously inaccurate.

This is yet another reminder of how important it is to teach information literacy and critical reading/research skills in schools (and to adults, too.)

Andrew Raff @andrewraff