(entry last updated: 2002-09-04 23:00:58)

The shutdown of Napster is starting to percolate through the internet. A strong commentary on the dangers of the recent DMCA-based lawsuit over Listen4Ever is on CNet. And the Madster/Aimster is in trouble today, too. (Check out the Madster’s weblog here)

And Melancholy Elephants is available online?!? A look at an alternative rationale for giving copyrights for only "Limited Times."

(5 items listed below)

• The drumbeat marking the end of Napster as a concern is starting up. Expectations from ZDNet , a Register wrap-up;

  Infoworld’s coverage; Wired news’ summary; Benny Evangelista at SFGate; and, of course, Slashdot

• Doug Isenberg offers up a warning about the application of the DMCA to force the backbone providers to block copyright-infringing websites.
• This article on an Agfa-Adobe lawsuit over font ownership and the DMCA is intriguing, and too short. Slashdot has a little more on the subject
• Boing-Boing points to an online version of Melancholy Elephants, Spider Robinson’s short story on the perils of long term copyrights. Part of Baen Book’s online posting of By Any Other Name (ISBN:0671319744). I’m surprised it’s up; I’ve been looking for a long time. To track some real obscurity, go to this George Harrison discography link and search for This Song to get, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story."
• Wired reports that the Aimster/Madster story may be ending soon too.