Mass Communication Law – Page 35 – Thinking Out Loud, aka The Broad Gaze

Copyright in Canada, Wireless at Home

Good stuff from Google and their employees today…

The Canadians Again Show us how to do things

William Patry offers a great summary of the sentiment of the Canadian public in the outcry over their version of the DMCA. While I had heard that Michael Geist had been speaking out to a great degree against it, I did not realize how much public support he generated.

That the public would become so involved in the issue, especially under the direction [too strong of a word, I know] of a public intellectual like Geist, really has me thinking. I wonder things like: what was more influential in forming these opinions against the new law, what the law actually said or what Geist said the impact might be? Would there have been such an outcry without some specific person leading the cause?

Today: TV static. Tomorrow: broadband.

The Google policy blog also announced their membership in the “Wireless Innovation Alliance,” which is made up of a variety of familiar names. I had not yet heard about this group, but it’s nice to see that they are basing their arguments, at least in part, off of research into what the technology might be capable of.

GPL to be tested, EFF bootcamp

First U.S. GPL lawsuit filed: The makers of GPL licensed software BusyBox are suing Monsoon media for using the software without redistributing the underlying source code. This could be a case to watch–especially since “BusyBox” already makes a potentially neat case name.
9 ways for a Web 2.0 company to commit legal suicide, in preview of EFF Bootcamp: It’ almost too easy to throw some code together and generate a little venture capital; or at least easy enough where important legal issues are evidently frequently overlooked (the article quotes the EFF’s Fred von Lohmann, “Half the companies you blog about have copyright or privacy legal issues simmering just under the surface. Since most of them are thinly capitalized, when they get into trouble, they’re likely to call EFF for legal advice. Several already have.”). Perhaps this is another case of how easy it is to overlook unknown or “obscure” laws?

Links: First Sale Doctrine, Privacy Standards, and Ad Blocking

Autodesk Sued By eBay Seller For Pretending Right Of First Sale Doesn’t Exist | Techdirt: Here’s an interesting mix of a number of issues… first sale, the DMCA, and shrinkwrap licensing.
Call for global privacy standards | Google: Google is pushing for international privacy standards. This could potentially have a substantial impact on how the future, more personal, web functions. (story at Ars)
Web ad blocking may not be (entirely) legal | CNet: It’s amazing how much of this comes down to use policies, which nobody reads anyway. Pretty good analysis here.

Briefly

The Future of Music: A brief but detailed history of escalating volume in the music industry.
Time to Close Gaps in Emergency Communications: addressing emergency communications in the context of the Minneapolis bridge collapse.
- As one with a cell phone with a 612 area code, I’ve been wondering about the story behind the loss of service. If my guess is right and the networks were overwhelmed, I wonder if cell phone communication can meet public needs in an emergency situation?
White House Office of Administration Claims it is not Subject to FOIA: (via FOIA blog): “…on Tuesday, in a bid to kill a suit by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Justice Department contended the office has no substantial authority independent of President Bush and is not subject to the [Freedom of Information Act] law.”