(entry last updated: 2002-10-28 22:18:23)

More on the Oxford Union debate at The Register

There does seem to be life in the Freenet project after all. And, while it seems like just a rehash of the obvious, CNet also has an article from Wharton suggesting that online filesharing need not be as pernicious an influence as the industry would like to believe.

And innovation from the record industry?! A striking offer on the latest Tori Amos CD. And the New York Times profiles the rise of live albums in the face of radio consolidation and portable DAT recorders.

And Jamie Kellner’s back in the news. And kuro5hin adds to the TCPA/Palladium discussion….

(15 items listed below)

• CNet reports the release of Freenet 0.5, with an accompanying Slashdot discussion

• A nice summary of the history of the CD at TheAge.com.au

• Masters of the obvious? Or an indication that the mainstream is starting to get the essential point about online file sharing - time to change the business model?

• After reflecting on it, I suggest that this Sonia Arrison piece from TechCentralStation needs to be read. I don’t agree with the spin she puts on her writeup, but she points to key issues to be addressed clearly and fairly on this topic in order to make reasonable headway. There is some dangerous rhetoric here.

• The latest Tori Amos CD includes codes (Sony’s ConnecteD technology) that will unlock parts of her WWW site unavailable to those who don’t have the CD - is this innovation I see, making the CD worth more than just a convenient package for music?

• Billboard also reports on the drawn-out death of Napster, citing a $200,000 loan from Napco Acquisition.

• A look at the push for live albums in a changing music industry.

• Lawmeme follows up on the anti-GPL letter from the New Coalition Democrats, with a good assortment of links and commnetary, especially Prof Lessig’s take.

• A good summary of the Sklyarov visa problem in the ElcomSoft case is at Salon (mirrored here).

• The LATimes reports that 321 Studios says that DVD Copy Plus should not be illegal under the DMCA because it is necessary for fair use. A look at the notion of declaratory judgement, not to mention jurisdiction shopping.

• The infamous Jamie Kellner is back in the news, this time fronting for the big AOL/Time-Warner push into digital cable services.

• PCWorld summarizes a recent Gartner consumer survey that says (*gasp*) that consumers don’t want crippled CDs - Slashdot discussion

• And, in the Spy v. Spy cycle of endless escalation, the open source community has developed a WMA decoder that offers up an alternative to the potential DRM limits of the Media Player.

• The Microsoft/HP Media PC is profiled in CNet News, noting in particular the relaxing of the DRM elements that were originally envisioned.

• kuro5hin has a submitted piece on the technical dimensions of the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance’s spec and its relation to Microsoft’s Palladium.