http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog Technology, Culture, Policy Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:17:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Even if they have value: Association for Molecular Patholody v. Myriad Genetics, inc. Respondent Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Myriad), discovered the precise location and sequence of two human genes, mutations of which can substantially increase the risks of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad obtained a number of patents based upon its discovery. ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8433 In a Copyright Ruling, the Legacy of the Betamax [pdf] (See Justices Permit Resale of Copyrighted Imports [pdf]) Before Napster and LimeWire, before Megauploads and the Pirate Bay, media companies’ epic struggle against copying, piracy and generally losing control over their creations can be traced to a legal fight more than ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8428 From "The Copyright Rule We Need to Repeal If We Want to Preserve Our Cultural Heritage" [pdf] --- critiques familiar to those who complained about the DMCA when it was first proposed. Opponents of the DMCA anti-circumvention provision claim that the law threatens consumer control over the electronic devices we buy, ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8426 Clapper v. Amnesty International -- apparently, "chilling effects" are not sufficient to give standing when seeking an injunction against sweeping surveillance. [...] Respondents --- attorneys and human rights, labor, legal, and media organizations --- are United States persons who claim that they engage in sensitive international communications with individuals who they ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8424 the next words: A Lecture on Aaron’s Law: from Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8420 Tests in Mice Misled Researchers on 3 Diseases, Study Says [pdf] The paper, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, helps explain why every one of nearly 150 drugs tested at huge expense in patients with sepsis has failed. The drug tests all were based on studies ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8418 In Sweden, Taking File Sharing to Heart. And to Church. [pdf] People almost everywhere are file sharing these days, using computers to download music, films, books or other materials, often ignoring copyrights. In Sweden, however, it is a religion. Really. Even as this Scandinavian country, like other nations across Europe, bows to ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8415 A test of contributory infringement and search? U.S. Pursuing a Middleman in Web Piracy [pdf] Richard O’Dwyer, an enterprising 24-year-old college student from northern England, has found himself in the middle of a fierce battle between two of America’s great exports: Hollywood and the Internet. At issue is a Web site he ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8413 The used record store goes digital Music resale brings a digital showdown [pdf] When Pete Brown got tired of his Don Henley album, he did what music fans have done for decades. He sold it. But Brown’s version of the rock classic was digital. The 31-year-old liquor distributor from Indianapolis downloaded it ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8411 Radio Royalty Deal Offers Hope for Industrywide Pact [pdf] So why did Clear Channel change its position, breaking ranks with its powerful lobbying group, the National Association of Broadcasters? The answer apparently has nothing to do with politics; with Republicans expected to retain control of the House in this year’s elections, ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8409 But I think there are lots of fine details missing: Unexceptionalism: A Primer by E. L. Doctorow [pdf] TO achieve unexceptionalism, the political ideal that would render the United States indistinguishable from the impoverished, traditionally undemocratic, brutal or catatonic countries of the world, do the following: PHASE ONE If you’re a justice of ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8406 How Modding Changes Art [Pajiba] Take the recent furor over Mass Effect 3. When a movie trilogy has an ending that pisses off a bunch of fans, their blood boils and the Internet ripples with a flood of foaming fury. But that’s it. Maybe it gets Mysterious Science Theatre treatments, maybe ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8403 Cary Sherman is going to convince you, no matter what it takes --- but this is a real tour de force: What Wikipedia Won’t Tell You [pdf] Misinformation may be a dirty trick, but it works. Consider, for example, the claim that SOPA and PIPA were “censorship,” a loaded and inflammatory ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8400 You so rarely see it stated so blatantly --- "creators" at work! With ‘Porgy’ on Broadway, Gershwin Heirs Flex Their Rights [pdf] But estate decision making has been most controversial in the case of “Porgy and Bess.” The Gershwin heirs — chiefly nephews and grand-nephews of George and Ira, who ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8398 I bring this to your attention not just because I really enjoy David Malki!'s Wondermark, but because, sometimes, there's a better way --- Calendars: SOLD OUT. Engineering: STILL LOUD. A few people have written to tell me that they saw a shirt with this same slogan in the Signals catalog, or ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8394 Firewall Law Could Infringe on Free Speech [pdf] China operates the world’s most elaborate and opaque system of Internet censorship. But Congress, under pressure to take action against the theft of intellectual property, is considering misguided legislation that would strengthen China’s Great Firewall and even bring major features of it to ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8390 Rushdie Wins Facebook Fight Over Identity [pdf] As the Internet becomes the place for all kinds of transactions, from buying shoes to overthrowing despots, an increasingly vital debate is emerging over how people represent and reveal themselves on the Web sites they visit. One side envisions a system in which you ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8388 The New Economics of the Music Industry [pdf] (some nice charts with revenue distributions here) In the old days, it was much easier for pop stars to keep up with how much they were getting paid. Somebody would buy a CD at a Tower Records for $15 and a few dollars ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8386 This is going to be quite a case: Artists File Suit Against Sotheby’s, Christie’s and eBay [pdf] When the taxi baron Robert Scull sold part of his art collection in a 1973 auction that is considered the beginning of today’s money-soused contemporary-art market, several artists watched the proceedings from a standing-room-only ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8382 I still don't believe in psycho-history -- but I do believe in the infinite attractiveness of the surveillance state: U.S. Intelligence Unit Aims to Build a ‘Data Eye in the Sky’ [pdf] It is intended to be an entirely automated system, a “data eye in the sky” without human intervention, according ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=8380