http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog Technology, Culture, Policy Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:38:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en While it's easy to understand what Murdoch is trying to do, it's really difficult to see that it's going to be a win-win. What *is* the price elasticity of demand for content? For news? I can easily imagine that this actually makes online news content less valuable ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7985 Currents - Are Metrics Blinding Our Perception? (pdf) Computers have become an extension of us: that is a commonplace now. But in an important way we may be becoming an extension of them, in turn. Computers are digital — that is, they turn everything into numbers; that is their way of ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7982 Chinese Agencies Struggle Over Video Game (pdf) On Monday, the Chinese General Administration of Press and Publication ordered the Shanghai-based operator of World of Warcraft, NetEase, to shut down its servers for World of Warcraft. The agency said that it had rejected the company’s application to become the new host of ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7980 Pair Plan Venture to Sell Music Subscriptions (pdf) But as CD sales continue to plummet, and the music industry searches for a profitable future, entrepreneurs with various approaches say they believe they can finally make music subscriptions work. Rdio is hoping to introduce a music subscription service by early next year ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7978 FBI delves into DMV photos in high-tech search for fugitives (pdf) The project in North Carolina has already helped apprehend at least one suspect. Agents are eager to look for more criminals and possibly to expand the effort nationwide. But privacy advocates worry that the method allows authorities to track people ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7976 Prepared Remarks of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, "Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit". PDF | DOC It's really a plug for net neutrality, while claiming that the Internet can be made safe for music business models. Oh, and more broadband deployment is needed: Moreover, earlier this year, a survey of 7,500 ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7974 This report, SSRN-Americans Reject Tailored Advertising and Three Activities that Enable It by Joseph Turow, Jennifer King, Chris Hoofnagle, Amy Bleakley, Michael Hennessy gets some ink in today's New York Times: Two-Thirds of Americans Object to Online Tracking. It makes some surprising claims, actually. After all, while folks ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7970 ... To see a truth stated so baldly. From Expensive Box Sets From the Beatles and Yo-Yo Ma (pdf) Box sets have long been around, of course. Compact disc and digital technology made them easier to produce. But what seems to be their growing presence now has particular reasons. As younger ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7968 But, of what, exactly? Demand for patents falling as crisis bites: WIPO (pdf) "The best inventions are patented internationally and not just nationally and so enterprises focus in time of economic difficulty on promoting their best inventions and are less inclined to patent across the whole of the output of ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7962 Oh, wait - they're dead: Disney Faces Copyright Claims Over Marvel Superheroes (pdf) Heirs to the comic book artist Jack Kirby, a creator of characters and stories behind Marvel mainstays like “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four,” last week sent 45 notices of copyright termination to Marvel and Disney, as well as Paramount ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7960 And not much of a consensus: FCC Vote Expected to Advance New "Net Neutrality" Rules (pdf) The Federal Communications Commissions proposal of new rules to prevent companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deliberately blocking or slowing certain Web traffic is expected to advance with three votes out of the ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7957 Skype Founders File a Copyright Suit Against eBay (pdf) Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who became billionaires after selling Skype to eBay in 2005, filed a copyright lawsuit on Wednesday against Skype in the United States District Court of Northern California. The suit comes a little more than two weeks after ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7955 Top Copyright Official Assails Google Book Settlement (pdf) The nation’s top copyright official made a blistering attack Thursday on a controversial legal settlement that would let Google create a huge online library and bookstore. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Marybeth Peters, the United States register of copyrights, said the settlement between ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7953 The US DoD is going to try, apparently: Pentagon Keeps Wary Watch as Troops Blog (pdf) The Army is encouraging personnel of all ranks to go online and collaboratively rewrite seven of its field manuals. And on Aug. 17, the Department of Defense unveiled a Web site promoting links ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7951 First sale doctrine and rentals: Movie Studios See a Threat in Growth of Redbox (pdf) In 1982, just as the VHS tape was taking off, a “Star Wars” buff named Mitch Lowe had a radical idea. What about building a vending machine that could rent movies? He called his invention Video ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7949 When one buys a device for access, who really owns what? Anger at Makers When Gadgets Go Missing (pdf) [M]any tech companies will not disclose information about the new owners of missing devices unless a police officer calls with a search warrant. Even a request to simply shut down service — ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7947 A library without the books (pdf) Cushing Academy has all the hallmarks of a New England prep school, with one exception. This year, after having amassed a collection of more than 20,000 books, officials at the pristine campus about 90 minutes west of Boston have decided the 144-year-old school no longer needs ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7945 Free speech or one of the many forms of contributory copyright infringement? Civil disobedience and Tenenbaum. Music ‘infringer’ targeted again (pdf) [I]n one corner of cyberspace, Tenenbaum is now “DJ Joel,’’ and anyone who shares his love of Nirvana, Green Day, and Eminem - and his antipathy toward the Recording ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7943 Amazon joins opposition to Google book deal (pdf) "The proposed settlement usurps the role of Congress in legislating solutions to the complex issues raised by the interplay between new technologies and the nations copyright laws," Amazon said in its filing, which was dated Tuesday. Amazon also argued that the book registry envisioned ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7941 One more version of privacy that we can hardly name, much less have a meaningful policy discussion about. Although, let's do give credit when a topic like this gets a few column inches: A Casualty of the Technology Revolution - ‘Locational Privacy’ (pdf) When I woke up the other ... http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/?p=7939