Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock 'n' Roll, Etc.

Intro Stuff

The opinions expressed in LawLawLaw do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Clock Tower Law Group, its employees, or the author.  Do not taunt happy fun ball.

I lived the life of Dilbert when I was in the Air Force.  Once while I was away on a business trip, our office cubicles were rearranged, but nobody was managing the project.  When I returned from my trip, my cubicle was gone, and I had to convert a storage area into my new office (after hours, "borrowing" pieces of cubicles from around the office to construct mine).  So this Dilbert strip resonated with me.  Frame 1: Dilbert thinks, "I've been away from work so long.  I wonder if anything has changed.  Frame 2: Pointy-haired boss to Dilbert, "You weren't here when we moved to new cubicles so your coworkers picked one for you."  Frame 3: Dilbert sitting in new cubicle, which is attached sideways to the outside of the building.

It's sometimes hard not to get discouraged about the sideways cubicles that we all experience in life.  When Major League Baseball (MLB) sues fantasy leagues over the ownership of facts (fail) and MLB sues minor league teams over trademarked names (PR fail).  When laptops are searched at US borders without cause (4th Amendment fail).  When Telcos are handed blanket immunity for illegal wiretapping (epic fail).  When William Patry ends his copyright blog because copyright law is too depressing (an understandable decision) but then makes the inexplicable Orwellian decision to delete his blog entries (fail).  See also my 1999 article Death On The Internet (Or What Would Orwell Do?).

Again and again, the classic mistake is made: pursuing a short-term policy that benefits only a select few at the expense of a long-term policy that could benefit many.  It's why hybrid car policies can lead to more traffic and pollution.  Every politician and business leader should be forced to read and understand Economics in One Lesson.  Lack of understanding of basic economics leads to stupid laws and stupid business decisions.  Like the demand by American Airlines (which backfired) for preferential treatment from Kayak, one of its biggest sources of business.  Like the decision by the MBTA (Boston's subway) to raise prices due to decreasing revenues.

If automobile dealerships ran their business like the MBTA, they'd say, "Well, sales are down, and we need the revenue, so we've decided to double the prices on all SUVs."  Sales plummet, head scratching ensues.  For exhibit F (for fail) I present the MBTA suing to prevent MIT students from presenting about the flaws in the MBTA's payment system.  (Hint to MBTA: fix your payment system.) In the same way, the music industry has spent the last decade digging itself into a DRM hole that it is just now starting to dig itself out of.  (Hint to the music industry: your customers don't want DRM-encumbered anything.)

But it's not all bad news, so I'm not throwing in the blogging towel just yet: Windows XP got extended until 2010!  I'm not alone in rejecting Windows Vista, and now I've got some more time to plan my transition to a post-XP (non-Vista) world.

So here are the stories that represent meaningful trends in law, technology, baseball, and music.

But first:

Michael A. Bartley Joins Clock Tower Law Group
We're pleased to welcome Michael A. Bartley (Mike) to the Clock Tower Law Group family.  Mike comes to us via Franklin Pierce Law Center, where he received both JD and LLM degrees, and Harvard University, where he received his bachelor's degree in computer science.  Before starting law school, Mike was a lead software developer for video security products at Biscom while also running his own company that simulated sports games based on artificial intelligence algorithms (Mage Sports).  While at Pierce Law, Mike was the managing editor for the law journal IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review and also interned for the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.  Welcome Mike!

Client Stuff

Clock Tower Law Group's clients range in size from a sole proprietor to a publicly traded company.  Here's what some of them are up to.

Karen Fink Wins $1 Million Via BzzAgent (2008-03-10)
Karen signed up for Jackpot Rewards via BzzAgent's Frogpond service.

Gamers For A Cure (2008-03-18)
GuildCafe says: "This site, from the founder of NeenerNeener.Net, is the homepage of gamers who want to unite and banish multiple sclerosis.  Sponsor the team!"

Kayak Enhanced For iPhone, iPod Touch, And Other Mobile Devices (2008-03-20)
Searching for hotels and flights from your iPhone (or other device) just got a lot easier.

R.I.P. Airline Passenger Bill of Rights (2008-03-26)
A federal court struck down New York State's Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, a first-of-its-kind law that took effect on Jan. 1.  The law allowed the state to levy fines against airlines who failed to provide fresh water, working toilets, fresh air, and electricity to passengers trapped on planes during lengthy runway delays.

OurStage Artists Get A Bigger Stage (2008-03-28)
OurStage, an online talent community where fans vote for the best upcoming music and video artists, has forged a partnership with AOL.

Baseball Hotel Packages (2008-03-31)
If you like baseball, then you'll like these baseball-themed travel packages.

Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Goes Live With Comrex ACCESS (2008-04-08)
Rays broadcasters Andy Freed and Dave Wills were all set to do their "Hot Stove Show: Countdown to Opening Day" live from the local eatery.  But just moments prior to the broadcast, panic ensued when the ISDN line dropped and wouldn't reconnect!  Luckily, ACCESS was running and ready to go.

SiteSpect Announces Mobile Content Testing And Optimization Solution (2008-04-17)
SiteSpect unveils new Mobile Web Optimization functionality within its patent-pending multivariate and A/B testing solution used by the world's most successful online businesses.

FantasicToe Launches (2008-04-24)
Fantastic Toe is the web community that lets you organize and showcase your shoe collection.  You can now upload photos of your shoes, categorize them however you'd like, and browse and vote on other members' shoes and collections.

BzzAgent Launches GoodBzz, Pro Bono Word-of-Mouth For Nonprofits (2008-05-03)
The inaugural campaign is with The Canaan Foundation, which has launched a sister site, 1000computers.org.  The foundation gathers used computers for donation to schools across Cameroon and Kenya.

Kayak Wins Webby For Best Travel Site (2008-05-06)
Discover hidden fees, find hotels, find flights, and more at Kayak.com.  See also the 2008 Webware 100.  And if you want to know why consumers need a service like Kayak, it's because "airline service" has become an oxymoron.  Baggage charges anyone?  At least Alaskan Airlines is still innovating.  As is Ryanair's business class.

GuildCafe and Uberguilds Join Forces (2008-05-06)
GuidCafe also announced the acquisition of 360voice.com and changed its name to GamerDNA.

1000 Steps Closer to Curing MS (2008-05-06)
Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis has collected one thousand blood and data samples, which will be part of the largest openly accessible, multi-disciplinary repository ever assembled for use in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research.

Brad Feld Runs Marathons For Accelerated Cure Project (2008-06-17)
Venture capitalist/blogger/super hero Brad Feld has pledged to raise $100,000 by running 50 marathons in 50 states before he turns 50 (12/01/2015).

BzzAgent Featured On Good Morning America (2008-07-07)
About great places for moms to get free products online.

codesnap Launches (2008-07-11)
codesnap is a new website to allow code buyers to quickly find coders to build small projects.  A posting costs you just $5, and then completion of a typical project will be $100 or so.  Your posting will be seen by hundreds of coders, who will then complete your job usually within a few days.  Buyers, this is also a good recruiting tool: meet coders and quickly evaluate them via your small project.

Law Stuff

Best Band Logos (2008-02-20)
Don't forget to trademark your logo.

Network Solutions And ICANN Both Sued For Allowing Domain Front Running (2008-02-26)
Do you trust your domain name registrar not to steal your domain name?  If not, then you should consider registering new domain names outright instead of searching for their availability at your registrar.

Reinventing Patent Law (2008-02-27)
The February 2008 issue of the ABA Journal has a very good article about patent law entitled "Reinventing Patent Law."  In the article, the author, Steve Seidenberg, notes that all three branches of the US government are changing (or have changed) patent laws in ways that negatively impact the rights of patent owners.

Spork Patent (2008-02-28)
Spork = spoon + fork.  And it saved the airlines millions of dollars.

Business Method Patents Coming Under New Scrutiny (2008-03-03)

Trademarking Pwnage (2008-03-06)
A Finnish software/gaming development company has applied for a US trademark on the term "pwnage" in the video game space.

Could 'In Re Bilski' Vaporize Business Method Patents? (2008-03-06)

Major League Baseball Bullying Amateur Baseball In Trademark Shakedown (2008-03-13)
Michael Masnick writes: "MLB now thinks that it has total control over any team that has a name similar to Major League team, despite the fact that no one is going to confuse the Chatham A's with the Oakland A's or the Harwich Mariners with the Seattle Mariners.  This would appear to be yet another abuse of trademark, and hopefully the Cape Cod League finds a lawyer who can explain to Major League Baseball the moron in a hurry test to prove that there's no trademark violation."

Do Patents Stimulate R&D Investment and Promote Growth? (2008-03-13)
James Bessen and Michael J. Meurer have authored a new book presenting a careful empirical analysis of whether patent rights encourage innovation.  Their conclusion: for the most part, today's patent system does not achieve its stated goal.

Wal-Mart's Trademarked Smiley Face Turned Upside Down; Parody Isn't A Trademark Violation (2008-03-24)
A federal judge in Atlanta has rejected a claim by Wal-Mart that parody t-shirts and bumper stickers sold at CafePress.com using the phrases "walocaust," and "wal-qaeda," violate its trademark.  See also coverage by Bill Heinze.

Dell vs Florida Registrars (2008-03-26)
Jay Westerdal writes: "Three Florida Registrars were named in a lawsuit by Dell on November 16th: BelgiumDomains, CapitolDomains, and DomainDoorman…. [A]ccording to our internal data, those three registrars are responsible for 72.5% of all domain tasting in the last 6 months."  The downside of this lawsuit is that if you're trying to recover a cybersquatted domain name registered with one of these registrars, then your domain is trapped at that registrar until this lawsuit is resolved.

Calculating When A Patent Expires (2008-03-26)

April Fools' Day Less Fun This Year (2008-04-01)
I didn't even post anything on ParodyLaw.com.  But I did like the fact that Google was in on the rickrolling.  Oh yeah, the Muppets Rickrolled video is great.  The Molten Core World of Warcraft parody was also pretty good.  And the BBC's flying penguins.  OK, maybe this April Fools' Day wasn't half bad.

New DHS Strategy On Real ID: We'll Just Pretend Everyone Implemented It (2008-04-03)
Maine was the first state to reject Real ID.  Every state should.  Now DHS has equated "communication" with "compliance" and is pretending that all states who have merely communicated with DHS are now in compliance.  "Unreal ID" would be a better name.

Who's The Evil Empire In The Battle Over Who Owns The Rights To Storm Trooper Costumes? (2008-04-08)
This lawsuit over Star Wars costume designs reminds me of a case I read in law school about the different between intellectual property and its embodiments.  See Stevens v. Gladding, 58 U.S. 447 (1854), where the court held that the purchaser of copper printing plates did not have the right to make maps therefrom.

Two New Sites Simplify Life After Death (2008-04-08)
Robert Ambrogi writes: "eDivvyup is an online auction site specifically designed to help surviving family members divide and distribute the deceased's personal property….  iGoodbye.com offers a way to leave critical financial and personal information to heirs without having to give it to them while you are still around."

Stephen King Slams Attempt To Ban Violent Videogames (2008-04-09)
Stephen King says: "What makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents.  The results of that are usually disastrous….  What really makes me insane is how eager politicians are to use the pop culture as a whipping boy.  It's easy for them, even sort of fun, because the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud.  Also, it allows legislators to ignore the elephants in the living room."

How To Find The Ideal Canadian Trademark Law Firm (2008-04-24)
Clock Tower Law Group's new Canadian law firm is Marks & Clerk.  Here's how we found them.

2007 Wiretap Report (2008-05-06)
With the economy in shambles, it's nice to see that not everything is trending down.  Wiretaps were up 20% in 2007!

Prevent Domain Theft (2008-05-09)
DomainTools is the best site for researching domain names.  Their new Registrant Alert system allows you to monitor domain records for newly added or deleted text.  This can help prevent domain name theft (among other things).  Try your own email address for free.  See also Domain Name Buying Tips.

Techdirt Declares The GPL Dead (2008-05-09)
Actually, that's not at all what Techdirt said, but people hear what they want to hear (read the comments in the original post).  The truth is that the GPL seems to be less in the news these days.

Boing Boing's Wonderful Policies (2008-05-14)
A simple and short copyright and linking policy for your reading pleasure.

Hershey's, Muffin Pans, and Naked Licensing (2008-05-20)
A fun discussion of why it's important to control your trademarks.

Spam Email Turns 30 (2008-05-03)
Mark your calendar for next year so you can remember to send flowers.  Meanwhile, one spammer got sent to prison, escaped, and committed murder/suicide.

USPTO Stops Issuing Patents In One Art Group (2008-06-12)
According to PLI, one Art Group at the USPTO has not issued a patent in over two years and has a (presumably unwritten) policy of not issuing any more patents.

USPTO Remains Clueless About Trademark Specimens (2008-07-02)
After reading Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decisions about acceptable specimens, you'll get the distinct impression that the trademark laws were written in 1947 (which they were) when goods were sold in stores for purchase by consumers.  The Trademark Act desperately needs to be updated to reflect the reality that today's goods and services are offered via catalogs and websites and sold via the phone and websites.  Anybody looking at this catalog page can clearly see (1) what the product is and (2) what the trademark is, but the specimens was rejected.  Here's another example.  Welcome to 1947.

USPTO Sews FUD About Patent Outsourcing To India (2008-07-23)
Dennis Crouch hit the nail on the head when he said, "The PTO 'leadership' supports anything that makes applying for patents more expensive, in order to reduce the number of patents.  End of story."  See also PLI's summary of patent outsourcing and my article Reinventing Patent Law.

Tech Stuff

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: Blu-ray Wins (2008-02-16)

CBS.com Streams Full Episodes Of Star Trek (2008-02-22)

The Economics Of Free Isn't Good Or Bad – It's Simply What Happens (2008-02-27)
Michael Masnick writes, "Asking if economics is good or bad is like asking if physics is good or bad.  Sure, gravity sucks for those who want to fly, but it's simply a force that is.  The same is true with the economics associated with infinite goods that force a price to free."  Yes, I am a firm believer in the reality of free.  And gravity.  And Economics in One Lesson.

YouTube Coming To TiVo (2008-03-13)

Hulu Launches (2008-03-13)
The good news is that consumers in the U.S. can go to Hulu.com to watch a large selection of hit TV shows, movies, clips, and more in high-quality, anytime, for free.  The bad news is that they have to be U.S. consumers and they have to go to Hulu.com to watch.

LinkedIn Company Profiles Gone Wild (2008-03-21)
Ross Mayfield says: "LinkedIn launched Company Profiles today….  The profiles are trademarked brands that have been created not by the company, but by individuals.  In part by employees, in part by past employees.  Brand Managers will have to get used to the role employees have in brand definition."

Forvo Pronounces Foreign Words (2008-04-03)
Forvo's goal is to have "all the words in the world pronounced" – or at least words in 23 languages.

Political Blogs Spread More Link Love Than Tech Blogs (2008-04-03)
The visuals in this study are cool, but the findings (that political blogs interlink more than tech blogs) are unsurprising.  With politics (unlike technology), talk is the product.  More links, more product.

People Overestimate The Value Of Content; Underestimate The Value Of A Service That Makes It Useful (2008-04-14)
Somehow this reminds me of the IP vs. embodiments issue discussed earlier.  This is a great read about the value of content (low) vs. the value of content services (high).

Dilbert Gets An Official Feed (2008-04-22)
Ironically, the announcement comes from Tapestry Comics, the former host the unofficial Dilbert feed.  The first official Dilbert post is in color.

VideoDrive Adds Multiple Movie File Format To iTunes (2008-04-29)
VideoDrive makes it easy to add videos in multiple formats (including MPG, MPEG, MP4, AVI, WMV, SWF, M4V, M2V, FLV, WMA, MKV, ASF, DIVX, XVID, and YouTube video) to iTunes without converting them or losing quality.  This is a good example a story that doesn't make sense to most people.  When I was in the Air Force (late 1980s – early 1990s), I was pushing for Macs as a better alternative to PCs.  I gave a demo to the Colonel in charge of computer acquisitions about how you could create a document on PC in WordPerfect 5.1, save it to a 3.5-inch floppy disc, put the floppy disc into a SuperDrive-equipped Macintosh, and edit the same file in the Mac version or WordPerfect.  When I reached my "ta-da" moment about the Zen of interoperability, the Colonel responded, "Why wouldn't I be able to do that?"  Why indeed.  Computers should just work with each other.  File formats should just be portable from application to application, computer to computer.  And so on.

Hello, Peoples! (2008-04-30)
My daughter Sonja (just shy of her 10th birthday) launches her own blog.  See her post I'm Ten Years Old, I'm A Blogger, And Heres Why for a glimpse of the future.

Google Reader Gets Social, Launches 'Share With Note' Feature (2008-05-05)
Winner: Google.  Loser: hosted blogs.  See also coverage of Google Reader by TechCrunch.

Microsoft Decides Not To Acquire Yahoo (2008-05-06)
Will this be a great decision or a historical footnote?  Time will tell.

TimeTube = YouTube + Timelines (2008-05-12)
A mashup that creates a timeline of YouTube video based on your keywords.

Ideas Are Easy, Execution Is Difficult (2008-05-15)
From the time-to-understand-the-difference department comes another great article from Techdirt about the value of ideas.  See also Content vs. Services (not their title, but the main point).

Amazon.com Outage (2008-06-06)
Then Apple renamed ".Mac" to MobileMe and had problems keeping MobileMe online during the launch.  Then came a Gmail outage.  Do you trust the cloud?

Google Provides Ad Network to Yahoo! (2008-06-12)
Game over.  See also We're Entering An Era Where Companies Will Fall Into Two Categories: Those That Build Massive Proprietary Databases And Those That Rent Them and Google Launches Wikipedia-Killer Knol.  But Google broke its patent database by adding watermarks, proving that Google doesn't always get it right.

Wii Outsells XBox 360 (2008-07-19)
Not a fad, a game-changing game console.

Simplify Troubleshooting with a Change Log (2008-08-07)
I keep changelogs on all of my computers.  You should too.

Apple's Market Cap Exceeds Google's (2008-08-14)
Next up: Microsoft.

Baseball Stuff

Red Sox Extend Teri Francona's Contract (2008-02-24)
See also Beth's An Ode To Tito.

Can Anyone Be A Major League Pitcher? (2008-02-25)
What do Josh Becket, Brad Feld, and MIT have in common?  Not much, really, but I needed good link bait for this one.  It's a good read.

Sox Visit White House (2008-02-27)
Or why baseball players shouldn't wear suits.

Quote Of The Season (2008-02-29)
"Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is.  This is a Yankee country," said Hank Steinbrenner.  The Sox responded by making Hank a member of Red Sox Nation.  Bwah ha ha!

Best Game Ever (2008-04-07)
Mudcats vs. Lugnuts, Hermosa Beach, California.

Bill Buckner's Welcome Back Ovation At Fenway Park (2008-04-09)
By John Brian Quinn.

Congress Wondering What Happened With That Whole Roger Clemens Thing (2008-04-10)

Red Sox vs. Yankees: Construction Edition (2008-04-11)
A construction worker (who is also a Red Sox fan) buried a David Ortiz jersey in concrete under the new Yankee Stadium.  Yankee fan construction workers dug it up, the shirt was auctioned off for charity, and it sold for $175K.

NextRedSoxGame.com (2008-05-03)
My new favorite microsite.

Jon Lester Pitches No-Hitter for Red Sox (2008-05-19)
Two no-hitters in two years for Sox pitchers.  Sweet.  See also Jon Lester's Hollywood Story.

Celtics Win 17th Championship (2008-06-18)
Yes, it's a good time to be a Boston sports fan, whether it's the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, or Boston Red Sox.  OK, the Boston Bruins still haven't won in a generation.

Curt Schilling To Have Season-Ending (Career-Ending?) Shoulder Surgery (2008-06-20)
Some have already written their goodbyes to Schilling.  Schilling himself said that "the pendulum is swinging very heavily in the direction of it just being over."

All-Star MVP JD Drew Powers AL To Victory (2008-07-16)
Too bad the Yankees fans booed non-pinstriped players.

Red Sox First Half Report Card (2008-07-17)

Manny Ramirez Traded To Dodgers (2008-08-01)
End of an era.  Beth's goodbye to Manny is a good read.  So is So Manny Memories.

Red Sox Score 37 Runs In 3-Game Series (2008-08-13)
Including a 19-17 win over Texas.  The third game, a 10-0 win, was my daughter's first game at Fenway.

Music Stuff

Is The American Idol Prize Worth It? (2008-02-22)
Augie De Blieck writes, "The thing that gets me is that the show lives in an age that's quickly fading.  The recording industry is broken, and now all the kids are competing for a recording contract with a company that relies on a distribution system that's shrinking and can barely afford its own expenses.  It's a system that rewards the artist for performing and selling their own t-shirts, though I'm sure that's all covered by the contract for the recording company to do it."

Food Court Musical (2008-03-09)
Can I have a napkin, please?

Who Makes The Best 'Guitar Face'? (2008-03-13)
I think it's Jon Oltsik.

R.E.M. Puts New Album Online Via iLike (2008-03-13)

Life In A Northern Town (2008-03-18)
I love this song.  This is a pretty cool cover of it (by Sugarland).

Stuff White People Like: Music Piracy (2008-03-30)
"White people have always been renowned for having ridiculously large music collections.  So when file sharing gave white people a chance to acquire all the music they ever wanted, it felt as though it was an earned right and not a privilege."  Via Staring At Strangers.

Apple passes Wal-Mart, Number 1 In US Music Sales (2008-04-03)
Apple now controls 19% of retail music sales, against Wal-Mart's 15% and number three Best Buy's 13%.

Amazon & iTunes Sell Music on YouTube (2008-04-04)

Microsoft Pulls The Plug On PlaysForSure DRM Servers (2008-04-23)
Told you so.  See also Thank You for Not Playing, Yahoo's DRM mistake, and how Yahoo owned up to its DRM mistake.

Paula Abdul Hears One Song, Judges Two (2008-04-30)
American Idol conspiracy theorists delight.

Again & Again by The Bird And The Bee (2008-05-10)
I challenge you to not watch this music video, which is set on a Mac desktop.

Rocker David Cook Wins American Idol 7 (2008-05-21)
But with the brand watered down (7 years times 4 finalist = 28 artists), can David Cook manage more than 15 minutes of fame (plus or minus 9 months)?

New Napster Looks A Lot Like Old Napster, Launches DRM-Free Store (2008-05-30)
So does Rhapsody.  Audiobook publishers are also abandoning DRM.  Give customers a product they want, and they will pay for it.  Simple.

5 Billion Songs Downloaded via iTunes (2008-06-19)

Random Stuff

The Plural of Anecdote is Not Data (2007-09-29)
An oldie but a goodie.  I've used this line several times.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that you'll like it too.

Andy Kaufman Lives: In UR Conf Calls (2008-02-19 )

T-Shirts: Hello My Name Is Inigo Montoya (2008-02-20)

The Horrors Of The Lowercase L (2008-02-25)

Greatest Street Name Ever (2008-02-28)
At least if you're a fan of lolcats.

Why the Push-Up Belongs in Your Fitness Routine (2008-03-14)
I do 30 push-ups each morning.  I could probably do 60.

We Hates It, We Hates It Forever (2008-03-18)
Why a short wrong answer is sometimes better than a long right one.

K T.Hanks Bai (2008-03-20)

Maps Of Moon Walks By Neil Armstrong And Buzz Aldrin (2008-03-25)

It Turns Out Plenty Of People Reply To DoNotReply.com (2008-03-26)
Truth is stranger than fiction.

The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time (2008-04-07)

EllisIsland.org (2008-04-19)
Like genealogy?  Go to EllisIsland.org and enter your surname.  Fascinating.

Only In America (2008-04-25)
America has 5% of the world's population, 25% of the world's prisoners.

The Eric Conspiracy on LinkedIn (2008-04-28)
No discussion needed, Bruce.

The 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies Ever (2008-05-06)
Including many from Saturday Night Live.

Garfield Minus Garfield Is Hilarious (2008-05-12)
Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle.  It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.  Plus there's now a Garfield Minus Garfield book deal.  Here's the funniest Garfield Minus Garfield ever.

Noblematch Connects Creative Types With Nonprofits (2008-05-16)
For example, someone who can paint a desert scene like Bob Ross.

Percentage Of Google Chart That Resembles Pac-Man (2008-05-25)

Entertainment Weekly Picks 100 New Classic Movies (2008-06-20)

The Website Is Down (2008-06-26)
Very humor.

Books That Changed Your Life (2008-07-01)

Bush Defeats Carter, Nixon, Hoover (2008-07-04)
In terms of the Dow Jones index returns by U.S. president since Herbert Hoover obtained office in 1929.  (Bush is in 11th place out of 14.) See also graph of U.S. war spending.  Not politics, economic reality.

In which Erik Heels demonstrates that domain names – not diamonds – are forever.

I am an engineer (BSEE from MIT).  I have worked with engineers.  Engineers share a common feature/bug: they like to be right.  And they will go to great lengths to prove that they are right.

I am also a lawyer.  I have worked with lawyers.  Lawyers, like engineers, like to be right.  Lawyers will go to great lengths to prove that they are right.

I am a patent lawyer.  Patent lawyers must (1) have an engineering degree, (2) have a law degree, and (3) pass the so-called "patent bar exam."  I founded Clock Tower Law Group, a patent (and trademark) law firm.  I have worked with other patent lawyers.  Patent lawyers really go to great lengths to prove that they are right.

One of my engineer friends (Dave) asked if I have a vendetta against Freakonomics.  I do not.  But I admit to being an engineer.  I admit to being a lawyer.  I admit to being a patent lawyer.  And I admit to having the personality feature/bug of liking to be right.  But with the Freakonomics brouhaha, it's not just that I'd like to be proven right.  I am right.  (Just like it's not paranoia if they are out to get you, and it's not bragging if it's true.)

Domain Names Are Forever

In the spring of 2007, the Internet was abuzz with the AACS encryption key controversy.  A hacker published a 128-bit number that can be used as a key to decrypt HD DVDs and Blue-ray disks.  The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) sent Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down notices to Digg and others.  Internet users revolted.  One smart protester registered the hexadecimal version of the key as a domain name.

Jay Westerdal, of the excellent DomainTools blog, wrote a blog post about the "secret" number:

"There is no action to remove a [domain] name once it has been published.  It has already been replicated everywhere and thousands of copies are left in storage and in backup facilities like DomainTools, Verisign, and the Department of Defense.  If you want to spread a secret, domain names are the way to do it….  Domain names can never die, they can never be deleted, and there will always be a record of them."

Or, to summarize, domain names are forever.  Forget diamonds.

So I am using domain names to demonstrate how I am right – and how Freakonomics is wrong – about the various issues that I've been blogging about over the past month.  Now – and forever – when anybody looks up any Freakonomics-related domain name, they'll find these domain names.  (See the Chilling Effects website for a FAQ about protest, parody, and criticism websites.)

Freakonomics Sucks!

It doesn't, really.  I'm a big fan of Freakonomics.  Steven Levitt's research for the Freakonomics book was supported in part by the American Bar Foundation (ABF).  I am also an ABA fellow (a fellow ABA fellow).  The Freakonomics book is great, and you should buy it.  The Freakonomics blog is great, and you should read it.

What I object to is a series of bad blogging practices on the part of Freakonomics.  I'll detail each below.  With domain names.  Which reminds me:

1. freakonomicsucks.com (but not really)
2. freakonomicssucks.com (but not really)
3. freakonomics-sucks.com (but not really)

Freakonomics-Should-Apologize-For-Unfair-Use.Com

Freakonomics should apologize for unfair use (really).

On 07/13/07, I blogged about how Freakonomics had a history of "borrowing" images for its blog without apparent regard for whether the use was "fair use" under the Copyright Act.  Was Freakonomics committing copyright infringement?  I don't know.  Was it nice to borrow images from other blogs and websites without attribution?  No.

For example, the cleavage photo made a point but at what cost?

Did Freakonomics stop borrowing images?  Apparently not.  On 08/01/07, I blogged about how Freakonomics borrowed another photo.  Was the soiled dove photo the smoking gun?

Freakonomics-Should-Apologize-For-Copyjacking.Com

Freakonomics should apologize for copyjacking (really).

As I was investigating the first issue, I discovered a second, and potentially more troubling, issue.  Freakonomics had been directly linking to photos (83 images, by my count) hosted on other sites.  This process is known as hotlinking (and is also called inline linking, leeching, direct linking, and bandwidth theft).  But since not all hotlinking is bad (e.g. hotlinking YouTube videos is both accepted and encouraged), a new word was needed to define bad hotlinking: copyjacking.

The most egregious example was when Freakonomics hotlinked a photo from a public library – on a post that got Digged and subsequently hammered the Freakonomics blog server.  Hammer the server, hammer the hotlinking victim.

Freakonomics-Should-Apologize-For-Netiquette.Com

Freakonomics should apologize for bad netiquette (really).

The Freakonomics blog home page says that the blog "is meant to keep the conversation going."  In practice, however, Freakonomics is only playing lip-service to the concept of business as a conversation (a concept popularized by another excellent book "The Cluetrain Manifesto").

As soon as I would blog about a Freakonomics bad blogging practice, Freakonomics would edit its blog 1984-style to correct the faux pas, sometimes within only a couple of hours of my blog post.

And then – silence.

Freakonomics has a larger platform on the Internet than I do.  The Freakonomics blog has a Technorati authority score of 1674, whereas ErikJHeels.com has an authority score of 149.  But with greater authority comes greater responsibility.  Freakonomics has the responsibility, I believe, to further the conversation and educate others about the evils of unfair use, the evils of copyjacking, and the viable alternative of purchasing stock photography.

Freakonomics is shirking its responsibility.

Freakonomics-Should-Apologize-For-Partial-Feed.Com

Freakonomics should apologize for using a partial feed on its blog (really).

The Freakonomics irony scoreboard keeps getting longer.  On 08/07/07, Freakonomics announced that it has moved its blog to the website of The New York Times.  Except Freakonomics also changed the blog's feed from a full feed to a partial feed.  Feeds are an economic issue.  Freakonomics is a book about economics.  The economics of partial feeds vs. full feeds has been studied extensively.  And according to Feedburner and many Freakonomics blog readers, partial feeds suck.

Let me see if I can spell it out for Freakonomics in simple terms.  People who read blogs prefer full feeds because it makes the websites come to them (rather than the readers having to go to various websites).  A partial feed is a huge step backwards.

Help Save Freakonomics!

For the month of August 2007, I'll donate one third of the funds that I receive from the Amazon Honor System to Freakonomics so that they can afford to purchase stock photography, Copyrights for Dummies, Netiquette, and The Cluetrain Manifesto.

I'll donate another third to Hammond Community Library in Wisconsin, one of the victims of the Freakonomics copyjacking (bad hotlinking).

I'll donate the final third to Legends of America (a victim of Freakonomics unfair use).

For More Info

I've created a new Freakonomics category for ongoing coverage of this issue.  See also:

1. Freakonomics, Cleavage, and Fair Use
   A call for Freakonomics to clean up its act.
2. Freakonomics Still Stealing Content
   A second call for Freakonomics to clean up its act.
3. Freakonomics Hotlinking Victims
   If your website is on this list, then it is likely that you have been a victim of hotlinking by Freakonomics.
4. Help Coin A New Word For (Bad) Hotlinking
   Copyjacking = copyright + hijacking.  Copyjacking + hotlinking + framing = inline linking.
5. How To Find Photos For Your Blog
   Add photos to your blog to boost readership.
6. Help Save Freakonomics
   Ironically, the Freakonomics blog about economics appears to be having economic difficulty.
7. Book Review: Nineteen Eighty-Four
   By George Orwell.

As long as Freakonomics continues to shoot itself in the foot, I'll keep blogging about it.

Plus how to detect hotlinked images.

My blog is a work in progress.  I have long-term and short-term projects.  I recently completed a long overdue project.  I wrote to United Media, the publisher of the Dilbert comic strip, to request permission to reprint a Dilbert comic that I blogged about a couple of years ago.  (See Musician Loses Job Due To File Sharing.) United Media recently granted my reprint request for $30.

Scott Adams, Dilbert's creator, has maintained that there is widespread copying of the Dilbert comic strip on the Internet and that much of the unauthorized copying can be characterized as stealing.  (I don't believe he disputed that unauthorized copying has beneficial side-effects.  For the record, I've been saying that ease-of-copying is the Interent's biggest asset for over a decade.  But that's not really my point.  Or his.) He is correct, of course.

Referring back to my BoingBoinged copyright-on-a-napkin, copyright-on-the-back-of-an-envelope, copyright-for-kids drawing, you can see that Scott Adams is referring to the rights that are on the left part of the drawing.

So you do not need permission from Scott Adams to read the latest Dilbert comic strip (an unregulated use – right part of the drawing), and you would not need his permission to write a critique of "The Dilbert Principle" that included excerpts of that book (fair use – center part of the drawing), but you would need his permission to create a movie from the Dilbert comic strip (derivative work – left part of the drawing).

And then there is copyjacking, which I've defined as bad hotlinking, namely inline linking of content (usually images) (1) that is not authorized by the website that is hosting the content and (2) where the displaying website displays the images as if they were native to the displaying website.

This definition distinguishes copyjacking ("bad hotlinking") from "good hotlinking" which is (1) authorized by the hosting website and (2) displayed as such.  Examples of "good hotlinking" include Amazon product links (which use inline frames) and YouTube videos (embedded), and Google Image Search (thumnail images in one frame, third party content in another frame (and identified as such)).  In all of these examples, the "good hotlinking" content includes links back to the hosting website:

1. "The Dilbert Principal" by Scott Adams (text link here, since iframes do not render in Google Reader)
2. Microsoft Surface Parody Video
   

Here is a Google search for images hosted on dilbert.com:

I've highlighted the web pages that are hosted on dilbert.com.  The others (the ones that are not highlighted) are hotlinking images from the Dilbert website.  Some of these are likely copyjackers.  (If there is a method for finding only hotlinked images, then I admit to not knowing the method.)

I paid $30 for the right to reprint one Dilbert comic on my blog.  It's more than I pay for stock photography, but a Dilbert comic strip is more valuable to me than a stock photo.

As an aside, reading the reprint agreement made me giggle, because United Media refers to itself as "UM" in the agreement, which makes for some funny sounding clauses like this one:

"Customer shall immediately provide UM, free of charge, two copies of any printed piece or publication Customer creates using the Material."

My main points are that copyright infringement is, UM, bad, copyjacking is, UM, bad, and paying for legal reprints is, UM, good.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to fax two copies of my 2004 blog page to UM.

As Scott Adams would say, "Comments are open.  Go."

Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock 'n' Roll, Etc.

LawLawLaw
• Introduction Stuff
• Client Stuff
• Law Stuff
• Technology Stuff
• Baseball Stuff
• Rock ‘n’ Roll Stuff
• Random Stuff

The opinions expressed in LawLawLaw do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Clock Tower Law Group, its employees, or the author.  Edited for television.

Introduction Stuff

Constant Contact Update
In February 2007, I switched to Constant Contact for sending and managing this LawLawLaw newsletter.  Shortly thereafter, privacy concerns surfaced, because Constant Contact was tracking opens and clicks on a per-user basis without giving the sender or the receiver a means for opting out of this tracking.  Since then, I've learned (no thanks to Constant Contact) that if you create your own HTML template for these messages (as I've done), then there will be no per-user tracking of opens and clicks.  So read in peace.  The only stats I'll have is whether or not your email address is valid.

The Power Of Two: Less Is More
I am always trying to improve this newsletter (see above).  My latest tweak is limiting the number of articles to two per category.  Seriously, do you need five blades in a razor?  Less … more.

Client Stuff

BzzAgent Launches Word-of-Mouth Marketing In The UK (2007-03-38)
When you signup with BzzAgent UK, you have the opportunity to engage in meaningful communication with UK brands and companies; you receive exclusive product samples, vouchers and other special offers from some of the biggest brands in the UK; and you have the chance to share these product vouchers, special offers, and exclusive discounts with others.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game (2007-04-11)
Kayak travel deals for major league cities.  Don't wait for Web 3.0.  Try Kayak for travel today.

Law Stuff

Many people have asked me why I don't blog exclusively about the law.  There are several reasons.  First, intellectual property law (patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets) really hasn't changed very much in the last 30 years.  Second, much of the day-to-day changes are subtle and uninteresting to most of my readers.  Third, the intersection of interesting and relevant (think "forest and trees" or "P and L statement") material is minuscule.  So I'm just trying to keep it real, relevant, and interesting.

Now On Martindale: Top 10 Lists (2007-03-19)
Martindale-Hubbell's legal directory site Martindale.com announced a new feature: top 10 law firm lists, ranking law firms in various categories.  It's not the first time Martindale-Hubbell has put top 10 lists on its website.  I wrote top ten lists for Martindale-Hubbell in 1997 (over ten years ago).  What's old is new again.

Is Copyright Violation Stealing? (2007-04-07)
It's not a trick question.  Neither is it a hard question.  But it is certainly an interesting question with interesting answers, especially when it comes from Dilbert Creator Scott Adams.

Technology Stuff

The two biggest tech stories in the last month (where "month" is defined as 03/17/07 – 04/17/07, welcome to my world) are both Apple stories.  In my opinion, we are just starting to see the impact that Apple TV will have on the cable TV industry.  Already I am considering dumping Verizon FiOS TV.  Also, Apple started selling music without copy-protection technology (so called Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology) in its iTunes Music Store.  I have been a frequent critic of the music industry for not selling the products that its customers want to buy.  But DRM-free music on iTunes is huge news for many reasons.  First, the DRM-free tracks come at 256 Kbps, which is indistinguishable from CD audio.  (128 Kbps is not CD-quality.  Most people can hear the difference.) Second, we no longer have to waste our time doing the burn-rip cycle to rid iTunes tracks of their DRM.  Third, the price for the better tracks is rightly higher, so the record companies will finally see that people are willing to pay more to get more.  It's huge news, and it's only the beginning.  Hopefully it's also the beginning of the end of the dark ages.

Apple TV Reinvents TV Around What Consumers Want (2007-03-22)
"Apple TV is about to attack the fundamental assumptions underpinning the TV business just as the iPod cut the legs out from under CDs and radio stations."

DRM-Free Songs On iTunes Mean More Differentiation For Apple (2007-04-02)
"Record label EMI and Apple have reached an agreement that allows Apple's iTunes store to carry a significant portion of EMI's music catalog without Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions.  The new DRM-free AAC files will sell for a premium price, $1.29 [per] song, allowing that music to be played on many third-party music players, not just iPods.  For those who don't want to pay for the higher quality or lack of DRM, the same songs will be available [with] Apple's Fairplay DRM for $0.99.  Buyers who purchase albums will automatically get the higher quality versions without DRM."  See also a nice summary of the reaction to Apple's DRM-free announcement.

Baseball Stuff

I'm quickly realizing that this two-article-per-category limit may prevent me from mentioning some really interesting stories, like how Manny Ramirez was selling his grill on eBay.  Then again, maybe it won't.

Yahoo Picks Curt Schilling's Blog (2007-03-28)
"Blogs written by public figures too often have the plastic sheen of public relations all over them.  True believers of the Web don't ask for a lot, but they do appreciate the unvarnished truth.  Anything less reeks of insincerity about the medium.  That's why Curt Schilling's personal blog is a welcome respite from the watered-down happy talk that permeates the blogs of many well-known folks."

Dice-KKKKKKKKKK (2007-04-05)
Daisuke Matsuzaka strikes out ten in his MLB debut.  And for the record, Beth is still my favorite Sox blogger.  Sorry, Curt.

Rock 'n' Roll Stuff

Traveling Wilburys Albums To Be Reissued (2007-03-21)
"The two albums from '80s supergroup Traveling Wilburys will finally be reissued on June 12 by the noble historians at Rhino Records."  What's next?  The Beatles on iTunes?

The Day Sanjaya Won American Idol (2007-03-21)
American Idol is the most popular TV show in the history of television, and Sanjaya Malakar is Season Six's breakout star.  Here's why.  (Or you could just ask my nearly 9-year-old daughter.)

Random Stuff

Again feeling constrained by my self-imposed two-article-per-category limit, I feel compelled to mention the Game Over Project (featuring Space Invaders acted out by people) and this year's April Fools' Day round-up.  I guess it depends on what the definition of "two" is.

Works On My Machine (2007-03-23)
This blog post reminded me of a funny story from MIT.  My friend Peter S. and I were lab partners in a notoriously challenging electrical engineering lab class.  In this class, we built a functioning computer step by step.  Mis-wire one chip and your kit would not work.  We sat opposite each other in the lab, cutting, splicing, and wiring from a specific pin on one chip to a specific pin on another chip.  We spoke out loud, checking and double-checking our work.  At the end of each phase, we powered on the kits and ran a series of tests to make sure that we had wired everything correctly.  One wiring mistake could mean hours of re-wiring.  When we finally powered on our kits to check our progress, my lights instantly turned on, his did not.  "Drat!," he said (to paraphrase).  We checked and double-checked.  Everything looked fine on both kits.  That's when I said, not too helpfully, "If it's any consolation, mine works!"  Long story short.  Because we were sitting facing each other, it wasn't immediately obvious that I'd wired one set of lights and he'd wired another set.  His was correct, mine was wrong.  The lights weren't supposed to go on!  It's become a running joke ever since.  (Peter and I would later go on to work in QA at both BBN and Cayman.)

The Joy Of Righteous Indignation (2007-03-20)
Dilbert creator Scott Adams blogs about working as a desk clerk at a resort in the Catskills and how his boss told him that dealing with complainers was part of the job.  His story reminded me of our neighbors in Eliot, Maine (our first house).  We invited the neighbors to an open house after we moved in.  When I asked one couple what they did for a living, the husband replied that he was retired and that he "just likes to sit at home and criticize."  It helps to say that in a heavy Maine accent.  It's a worthy goal, one that I've been trying to achieve ever since, and one that is partially fulfilled by blogging.  Thanks for reading.

Lawyer to sell his heels – but not his soul – to pay for kids' college.

ACTON, MA, April 1, 2007 (InternetsWire) — Attorney Erik J. Heels, known in the legal/Internet community for creating, in the early 1990s, The Legal List, the first Internet reference book for lawyers and the first book published simultaneously on the Internet and in print, today announced his intention to sell his "heels.com" domain name to pay for college for his kids.

We at the internets were honored to sit down with Erik J. Heels for the following exclusive one-on-one interview.

Q: When and why did you first register the heels.com domain name?

A: I first registered heels.com on 08/02/95.  I wanted to preserve my family's name as a domain name.  I later registered heels.org for the same purpose.

Q: So you're telling us that "Heels" is your last name?

A: That's right.

Q: Hi Heels! Get it?  It's like "Hello Mr. Heels" because it's your name and it's also like "hi heels," you know, the shoes.  It's like humor!

A: Wow, I've never heard that joke before.  You win a cookie!

Q: Moving on.  So, Eric, what the h*ll kind of name is "Heels"?  Do you ever get "H*lls" or "Heals"?

A: I've seen Heals, Heel, Heal, H*ll, H*lls, and some others.  And it's Erik, with a "k," by the way.

Q: You must have had both names misspelled a lot.  And been beat up on the bus a lot as a child.

A: I'm sorry, you must ask questions in the form of a question.

Q: If "Heels" is actually your name, then what nationality is it?  I've never heard the name before.

A: It's an unusual surname.  There are only about 17 of us in North America.  Well, maybe a few more than that.  But we're all descended from one Heels who moved from England to Canada in the 1800s.  So you can blame Canada.

Q: So "Heels" is an English name?

A: It's originally Welch or Irish, we're not sure which.  Kind of depends on how my dad's genealogy research is going.  Some years we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, some years we don't.

Q: So why the sudden decision to sell heels.com?

A: It was hardly a sudden decision.  I've owned the domain name for nearly 12 years, and frankly it's turned into a huge distraction lately.

Q: A distraction?  What do you mean?

A: I mean that many people who are searching for "heels" on the Internet are not looking for me or for genealogical information about my obscure surname.

Q: What are they looking for?

A: Three things, primarily: (1) The University of North Carolina Tar Heels sports teams, (2) the shoe industry, and (3) heels-related entertainment.

Q: So you're saying that people have been coming to your website who are not looking for you?

A: That's correct.  And there is so much of this traffic that it is drowning out the traffic from folks who are looking for me or my law firm.

Q: So is your law firm, Clock Tower Law Group, still using the heels.com domain name?

A: No, it's not.  I changed the name of the firm from "Law Offices of Erik J. Heels" to "Clock Tower Law Group" and changed the firm's primary domain name from heels.com to clocktowerlaw.com as of 01/01/04.  So the heels.com domain name is no longer owned by, or associated with, my law firm.

Q: Speaking of law firms, is it true that you will be represented by the law firm Russell & Tate in the eventual sale of the domain name?

A: Under advice of counsel, I have been advised not to answer that question.

Q: What about the persistent rumors that you were motivated by previous attempts to capitalize on the popularity of the Internet, including attempts by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and President George "WWW" Bush in 2001?

A: I am aware that there is money to be made from the Internet but have not specifically been motivated by one company, person, or political party.

Q: What is your asking price for heels.com?

A: Do you have any idea how much college costs for three kids?

Q: I'm sorry, but you must phrase your answers in the form on an answer.  Mmm-kay?

A: That was good how you turned that into a question.  According to LeapFish, the heels.com domain name is currently worth $176,103, plus or minus $0.17.  I think that is a conservative number.

Q: When and how will the heels.com domain name be put up for sale?

A: I am planning on offering heels.com for sale, by auction, on 06/06/07, the one-year anniversary of when I was supposed to take over the world.

Q: Um, take over the world?

A: Yes.  You see, I was born on 06/06/66, and last year I turned 40 on 06/06/06.  So with the whole 666 thing, people just assumed I was taking over the world on that day.  I did have a plan for doing so.  I was going to post messages to all of the mailing lists I'm on asking which operating system is better, Macintosh or Windows.  Flame wars would turn into riots, riots into civil wars, etc.  I wasn't sure what to do after that, but that was my plan.  So maybe I'm not cut out to be a super-villain.  Instead, I chickened out and offered a non-evil trademark promotion.

Q: Um, right.  So is there, you know, some rational reason for choosing 06/06/07 as the auction date for heels.com?

A: Yes, that will give me two full months to have verifiable data on how much traffic the www.heels.com website generates.  That data will help set the value of the domain name.  It will also take time to identify all interested parties, each of whom should have a fair chance to bid on and win the domain name.

Q: So will the heels.com domain name continue to redirect to your weblog?

A: No, starting today, the heels.com domain name will no longer redirect to my weblog.  The www.heels.com website will be a page of advertisements for other heels-related content.

Q: How should interested parties contact you?

A: They should fill out the contact form (including their mailing address) on my weblog.

Q: Have you chosen an auction vendor?

A: No, but I am evaluating offers from several well-known domain name auctioneers.

Q: Will you be conducting a live or a silent auction?

A: Whichever produces the best results.

Q: Will you accept a cash offer before 06/06/07?

A: No.  Everyone will have an opportunity to make offers as part of the auction process.  I will let the market decide the fair market value of the heels.com domain name.

Q: How do you feel about ICANN's recent decision to disallow the ".XXX" (dot-xxx) Top-Level Domain (TLD)?

A: I think that ICANN made the right choice but probably for the wrong reason.  Quite frankly, whenever ICANN introduces a new TLD, it acts as a de facto tax for every trademark holder and domain name registrant, who must race to register domain names that might be confusingly similar with their own trademarks and domain names.  I also think that the creation of all of the other generic TLDs (gTLDs) (including .biz, .info) was a mistake, especially in light of ICANN's January 2000 decision to allow longer 63-character domain names.

Q: But isn't it true that most English words are registered as domain names and that it's hard for new companies to forge an Internet identity in this environment?

A: It is true that most (if not all) English words have been registered as domain names.  But choosing a good company name has little to do with existing English words.  The best names are made-up words.  Made-up words make strong trademarks, strong domain names, strong brands.  It just takes imaginative thinking to choose good names.  Adding TLDs doesn't help. 

Q: Are you selling domain names other than heels.com?

A: Every domain name is for sale for the right price, but one of the most intriguing properties is redstreet.com and the accompanying www.redstreet.com website.  RedStreet was known for its reviews of law firm websites, published from 1997-2001.  Since re-launching the RedStreet website on 01/01/07, traffic has skyrocketed, with Google indexing over 2400 pages from the RedStreet website in its database.  I accidentally deleted January's statistics, but you can see all other statistics at www.redstreet.com/logs/.  I think that somebody will find this traffic valuable.

Q: What domain names do you own?

A: Clock Tower Law Group's domain names are listed on its website.  My personal domain names include the following:

1. beaverlaw.com
2. cannonballshooters.com
3. cannonballshooters.net
4. cannonballshooters.org
5. erikjheels.com
6. fingbot.com
7. finnweb.com
8. heels.com
9. heels.org
10. intellectualpropertyaudit.com
11. isuckat.com
12. lawlawlaw.com
13. mcatsband.com
14. mcatsband.net
15. mcatsband.org
16. morfor.com
17. parodylaw.com
18. redstreet.com
19. redstreet.net
20. redstreet.org

Q: Can I ask you one question about beaverlaw.com?

A: Yes, and that was one.

Q: In one sentence, how would you sum up today's announcement about the sale of heels.com?

A: The heels.com domain name will go on sale on 06/06/07, it will be auctioned to the highest bidder, and all interested parties should contact Erik J. Heels by filling out the form at erikjheels.com (including their mailing address).

Q: In one word, how would you sum up today's announcement about the sale of heels.com?

A: Strategery.

Q: OK, thanks for your time today.  Bye Heels!  Get it?

A: I know where you live.

ABOUT ERIK HEELS.  Erik J. Heels was born on 06/06/66, turned 40 on 06/06/06, and has no plans to take over the world.  Mr. Heels was one of the first lawyers on the Internet, first dipping his toes into the interwebs in 1984 when he entered MIT.  Heels put his heart and soul into writing seven editions of The Legal List in the early 1990s.  He treaded into Internet business full time from 1995-2001 until the dot-com bubble burst, which was the Achilles' heel for many dot-com startups.  He was fortunate to emerge from the experience well-heeled and has been running a patent and trademark law firm, Clock Tower Law Group, since 2001.  He is recovering nicely from foot surgery from an injury sustained six months ago while performing in his band the MCats, where his recent nickname has been "Hop-Along."  He may be contacted at erikjheels.com.

Technology, Law, Baseball, and Rock 'n' Roll.

* Introduction Stuff

This newsletter is Erik's opinion, not the opinion of Clock Tower Law Group.  Dolphin-safe <http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=206>.

* Client Stuff

Clock Tower Law Group's clients range in size from a sole proprietor to a publicly traded company.  Here's what some of them are up to.

* Road Warrior: Live from 37,000 Feet (2006-05-30)
"Peter Greenberg, host of the weekly, nationally syndicated radio program Travel Today , successfully aired his three hour talk show from a commercial airplane at 37,000 feet [using] a Comrex ACCESS and the public Internet."
<http://remotebroadcasts.blogspot.com/2006/05/live-from-37000-feet-no-kidding-live_30.html>
<http://www.comrex.com/>

* Kayak Does TV (2006-07-10)
Funny ads that poke fun at conservatives and liberals alike.
<http://paulenglish.com/2006/07/kayak-does-tv.html>
<http://corp.kayak.com/promo/tvspots.html>

* Kayak Ads Cause Controversy (2006-07-21)
<http://paulenglish.com/2006/07/kayak.html>

* Overstock.com Selects SiteSpect for A/B and Multivariate Testing (2006-09-13)
"Overstock.com … will use SiteSpect, which offers more flexibility than JavaScript-based solutions, to conduct A/B and multivariate testing across its highly dynamic web site."
<http://www.sitespect.com/news-overstock090506.shtml>

* Introducing the GetHuman 500 (2006-09-15)
According to GetHuman's Paul English, "The purpose of the GetHuman standard is to put a stake in the ground for how large companies should design their customer service phone systems to support the needs of their customers."
<http://gethuman.com/blog/2006/09/introducing-gethuman-500.html>

* Yahoo Makes Strategic Investment in Right Media (2006-10-17)
"Yahoo has made a strategic investment to acquire a twenty percent stake in Right Media.  Yahoo will also join the Right Media Exchange to offer advertisers the ability to bid on Yahoo's non-premium inventory through an open and transparent marketplace."
<http://www.rightmedia.com/content/press-releases/press-release/yahoo-makes-strategic-investment-in-right-media/5,659>
<http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=214937>

* Law Stuff

Where law and technology intersect, copyright laws are usually front and center.  Here is an article that I wrote that summarizes some of the issues.  Plus a couple of pieces that put things issue into perspective, one by using historical quotes, the other by using humor.

* It's The Metadata, Stupid (2006-09-19)
"For the music that I have purchased, I want all of the metadata: the MP3s, the album art, the BPM data, the liner notes, the lyrics, the tablatures, the recording dates, the release dates, the artists history, etc.  Today, I can't get all of the metadata from a single source….  Hopefully someday we will look back on the first decade of the 21st century … and wonder why we had to work so hard to get the entertainment experience that we wanted.  And why the entertainment industry was so reluctant to sell it to us."
<http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=589>

* CEA Ad Defends Home Recording (2006-06-20)
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is running a great ad … reminding Congress that the entertainment oligopolies have cried wolf about new technologies many times before.
- "I forsee a marked deterioration in American music … and a host of other injuries to music in its artistic manifestations, by virtue – or rather by vice – of the multiplication of the various music-reproducing machines…" -John Philip Sousa on the Player Piano (1906)
- "The public will not buy songs that it can hear almost at will by a brief manipulation of the radio dials." -Record Label Executive on FM Radio (1925)
- "But now we are faced with a new and very troubling assault on our fiscal security, on our very economic life and we are facing it from a thing called the videocassette recorder." -MPAA on the VCR (1982)
- "When the manufacturers hand the public a license to record at home … not only will the songwriter tie a noose around his neck, not only will there be no more records to tape, [but] the innocent public will be made an accessory to the destruction of four industries." -ASCAP on the Cassette Tape (1982)
<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004753.php>

* Never Share (2006-06-20)
"Files Are Not For Sharing," a satire of a children's book, says it all.
<http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/001705.html>
<http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/spoofs_satire/files_are_not_for_sharing.php>

And the copyright badness continues.  Plus one piece of good news.

* Bad News: Gracenote To Publish Music Lyrics Online (2006-07-14)
Goodbye free lyrics.  Goodbye free guitar tabs.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115283681180606417.html>
<http://money.cnn.com/blogs/browser/2006/07/gracenote-ties-up-online-rights-to.html>

* Bad News: Music Publishers Threaten To Sue Guitar Fan Sites (2006-08-21)
Trade groups representing music publishers have used the threat of copyright lawsuits to shut down music fan websites such as Olga.net, GuitarTabs.com, and MyGuitarTabs.com, where amateur musicians trade tablatures, lyrics, and chords for songs, many of which were created by the amateur musicians themselves.  (Told you so.)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21ecom.html?ex=1313812800&en=ea101e928815dd86&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>

* Good News: Judge Rules Baseball Stats Do Not Belong To MLB (2006-08-10)
A federal judge ruled that Major League Baseball cannot claim exclusive ownership to player statistics, which means that fantasy baseball leagues will not have to pay for this data.
<http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2543720>

* Bad News: Music Industry Sues 8,000 P2P Users in 17 Countries (2006-10-17)
<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004957.php>

It is also worth noting that trademark owners have a powerful new weapon to protect their trademarks: The Trademark Dilution Revision Act.  Federal courts, however, still are missing the point with regard to Google's practice of allowing advertisers to bid on competitors' trademarks.  (Yahoo prohibits the practice.  Good for Yahoo.) If somebody who is not Geico – but who is a competitor of Geico – is allowed to bid on the search term "Geico," then the practice is likely to cause confusion to the public and is unfair to Geico.  Give it time, the judges will eventually get this one right.

* Google Wins Another Keyword Lawsuit (2006-10-03)
A federal judge ruled that Google did not violate federal law when it sold trademarked terms in an online advertising auction.
<http://tinyurl.com/fyemr>
<http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15643188.htm>

* President Bush Signs Trademark Dilution Revision Act into Law (2006-10-09)
On 01/06/06, President Bush signed into law the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006.  The law establishes the "likelihood of dilution" standard for trademark dilution.
<http://thettablog.blogspot.com/2006/10/president-bush-signs-trademark.html>
<http://www.inta.org/images/stories/downloads/trademarkdilutionrevisionact2006.pdf>

Patent lawsuits continue to be in the news.  Here's two things you need to know about software patent lawsuits: 1) they only exist when the defendant has money, and 2) software patents and open source are not incompatible just because RedHat (or anyone else) says that they are.  If RedHat said that dogs meow, it also wouldn't be true.  If open source software were copyrighted and patented, then the GPL could explicitly include copyright and patent license grants.  I bet there are software patent attorneys out there (I can think of at least one) who would donate patent services to open source projects.  Some of Clock Tower Law Group's clients are small software companies, companies who use software patents to defend their turf.  Many of the largest contributors to open source projects are the Suns and the IBMs of the world, large public companies who can sell support services instead of software products.  This option is simply not available to a lot of small software start-ups.  See also <http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=211>.

* RIM and NTP Settle Blackberry Patent Dispute (2006-03-06)
RIM paid NTP $612.5 million in a "full and final settlement of all claims".  Which is probably better than letting a judge shut down the company with an injunction.  But you can be sure that Blackberry wishes it had settled earlier for less.
<http://news.com.com/2100-1047_3-6045880.html>
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/14011881.htm>

* Red Hat Faces Patent Infringement Suit (2006-06-28)
Software company FireStar has filed suit against open source seller Red Hat, alleging patent infringement….  Red Hat has its own patent policy that software patents generally impede innovation in software development and that software patents are inconsistent with open source/free software."
<http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2006/06/red_hat_faces_p.html>

* Technology Stuff

My favorite browser (Firefox) and email program (Eudora) announced new versions on the same day.  I've also got strong opinions about the proper use of technology, as my "Steal This Article" article should make clear.  Plus why buy a new $50 router when you can spend half a day fixing it?

* Steal This Article: It May Be My Last (2006-10-28)
Organizations large and small – including the ABA – need to evolve on the ever-changing Internet.
<http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=599>

* Lifehacker: Dual monitors increase productivity (2006-04-20)
Surveys continue to show the benefit of larger (or multiple) monitors.  Clock Tower Law Group recently switched to larger monitors and is thrilled with the results.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/dual-monitor/dual-monitors-increase-productivity-168488.php>

* James D. Hudnall: Socket PC (2006-06-02)
"The Jack PC, as its name suggests, will fit into a standard size wall socket.  The entire PC sits on two layered circuit boards."
<http://jameshudnall.com/blog.php?/weblog/socket_pc/>

* Lifehacker: Google search widget released (2006-06-02)
"Google has just released a nifty little Ajax-run search widget for webmasters and/or bloggers to place on their sites.  The primary benefit of this widget is that search results are compiled via Ajax right there underneath the search box, so readers don't leave the actual site in order to find something."
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/google/google-search-widget-released-177875.php>

* Lifehacker: Free daily summary of The Wall Street Journal (2006-06-30)
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/money/free-daily-summary-of-the-wall-street-journal-184451.php>

* Lifehacker: Excel tip: Instant in-cell graphs (2006-08-10)
A clever little Excel trick that creates a bar graph inside cells using the repeat (REPT) function.  Also works with OpenOffice Calc.
<http://lifehacker.com/software/excel/excel-tip-instant-incell-graphs-193425.php>

* Stuff To Say After You Die (2006-08-29)
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/rss/websites-to-watch—next-net-25-196883.php#c385979>
<http://www.postexpression.com/>

* Cool: check web pages in 20 different browsers (2006-09-06)
"This site will render your web page in up to 20 different browsers and show you how it looks.  Way cool!"
<http://www.scumpa.com/pipermail/cool/2006-September/002477.html>
<http://v03.browsershots.org/>

* What happens to your email when you die? (2006-09-25)
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/email/what-happens-to-your-email-when-you-die-202866.php>

* Cool: digital portraits of you! (2006-09-26)
This woman artist will make a "digital portrait" of your face from a photograph.
<http://www.scumpa.com/pipermail/cool/2006-September/002491.html>
<http://www.digi-portraits.com/>

* One phone number to rule them all (2006-09-27)
"Someone can call you on your GrandCentral phone number and all of your phones will ring."
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/telephone/one-phone-number-to-rule-them-all-203629.php>
<http://www.grandcentral.com/>

* Google Purchases YouTube for $1.65 Billion (2006-10-10)
<http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2006/10/gootube_are_the.html>
<http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/google_youtube.html>

* Roll your own timeline (2006-10-13)
How to visualize a series of events using the open source dynamic widget called Timeline.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/memory/geek-to-live-roll-your-own-timeline-207426.php>
<http://simile.mit.edu/timeline/>

* Reviving a Linksys WRT54GS (2006-10-21)
How my friend Brad Parker spent half a day reviving a $50 router.
<http://blog.heeltoe.com/picksandpans/2006/10/never_say_die_reviving_a_links.html>

* Firefox 2 officially released (2006-10-24)
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/firefox/firefox-2-officially-released-209905.php>
<http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/>

* Eudora Goes Open Source, Releases v7.1 (2006-10-24)
<http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=597>
<http://www.eudora.com/>

* Baseball Stuff

I lament the end of the baseball season.  Especially when it ends with a thud.  (Sorry Cardinals fans, the World Series this year was meh at best.) So here's a bit of Red Sox stuff to remind me of what went right – and wrong – this year.

* Red Sox Mid-Season Report Card (2006-07-11)
<http://touchingallthebases.blogspot.com/2006/07/summer-school.html>

* Devastating August ends for Red Sox (2006-08-31)
"The Red Sox were swept in five straight games by the Yankees at Fenway Park in August, and it was far from the worst thing that happened to them this month."
<http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article_perspectives.jsp?ymd=20060901&content_id=1639609&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&partnered=rss_bos>

* Ortiz sets Sox record with Numbers 51 and 52 (2006-09-22)
"David Ortiz launched another baseball into the Red Sox history books on Thursday night, ripping home run No. 51 off American League Cy Young Award candidate Johan Santana of the Twins in the bottom of the first inning."
<http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060921&content_id=1675295&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos&partnered=rss_bos>

* Red Sox End-Of-Season Report Card (2006-10-01)
<http://touchingallthebases.blogspot.com/2006/10/closed-for-summer.html>

* Epstein officially signs new deal (2006-10-17)
Remember last year when we got the bad news on Halloween that Theo was gone?  Maybe now the front office will be a bit more focused this off-season.
<http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061017&content_id=1715988&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos&partnered=rss_bos>

* October 27, 2004 (2006-10-26)
The two-year anniversary of the most meaningful sports date for any Red Sox fan.
<http://browniepoints.mlblogs.com/brownie_points/2006/10/october_27_enuf.html>
<http://confessionalpoet.typepad.com/cursed_to_first/2006/10/commemorative.html>

* Rock 'n' Roll Stuff

In the fall, my band takes a break.  In the winter, we have American Idol to keep us entertained.  In the spring, we play again.

* Whither the Wonders? (2006-01-01)
Ten years ago, Fox released a nifty movie with a nifty website called That Thing You Do.  But then, for reasons that are not yet clear, Fox took down the website.  Could they not afford the website hosting bill?
<http://www.thatthingyoudid.com/>

* Re-download your lost iTunes music – Lifehacker (2006-05-25)
"If you lose all of your purchased iTunes music (due to something like a hard drive crash), iTunes will let you re-download all of your lost songs."
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/itunes/redownload-your-lost-itunes-music-176323.php>

* Gray Charles: Dave White – Officially 100% on The Gork's side (2006-05-25)
This is a very funny summary of American Idol winner Taylor Hicks and his power to win over one very harsh critic.
<http://www.graycharles.com/index.php/2006/05/25/dave-white-converts/>

* James D. Hudnall: Feel The Force: Part One (2006-05-26)
"A lot of people don't like to admit they enjoy American Idol.  But when 200 million people world-wide view a show, its safe to say you're not alone.  And really, why should anyone be ashamed of watching something they enjoy?"
<http://jameshudnall.com/blog.php?/weblog/feel_the_force_part_one/>

* The Hype Machine (2006-08-03)
"Let the music studios whine.  We cheer the online explosion of blogs devoted to unearthing, highlighting, and rejoicing in music….  The Hype Machine … scours a spectacular number of music sites for MP3s to gush about, and then bubbles up the most popular songs."
<http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20060803.html>
<http://hype.non-standard.net/>

* Apple Announces iTunes 7 (2006-09-12)
Now with games and auto-updating album art.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/itunes/download-of-the-day-itunes-7-mac-windows-200429.php>
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/>

* Free Halloween music and spooky sounds (2006-10-19)
Just in time.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/halloween/download-free-halloween-music-and-spooky-sounds-208507.php>
<http://mp3.about.com/od/freemusicdownloads/a/halloween_music.htm>

* Erik's Band (The MCats) Has A New Website And A Blog (2006-10-29)
The MCats band was formed in 2005 to raise money for an elementary school in Acton, MA.
<http://www.mcatsband.org/>

* Cool, Fun, And Funny Stuff

* defective yeti: Games: No Thanks! (2006-05-11)
"No Thanks! is such a great game for non-gamers (and gamers alike) that I usually pick up a few decks every time I place a game order and give them out as gifts.  You could argue that $8 is a bit much to pay for 33 cards and a handful of chips, but I have plenty of games on my shelf that cost three times that and aren't half as fun.  If you consider yourself the sort of person who 'doesn't really like games,' pick up a copy of No Thanks! — after a few rounds you are likely to reconsider."
<http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/001671.html>

* Lifehacker: Erase permanent marker from your dry erase board (2006-05-24)
"WikiHow has a simple method for removing permanent marker from dry erase boards: 1. Get the board you want the stuff off.  2. Get a dry erase marker (yes, we will make marks to take marks [off]) and a dry eraser.  3. Draw over what you want to erase (make sure you draw slowly to fill it in better).  4. Erase.  5. Done!"
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/whiteboard/erase-permanent-marker-from-your-dry-erase-board-176015.php>

* The Credit Card Prank (2006-06-09)
"Nobody cares how you sign your credit card receipts, so go nuts, everybody.  Just don't sign my name.  When MasterCard finally reads this, I'm going to be in enough trouble as it is."
<http://www.variousandsundry.com/?p=3746>
<http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit/>

* Long Awkward Pose (2006-06-21)
"Tell your loved ones you would like to take their photo, then secretly videotape them."
<http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20060621.html>
<http://www.longawkwardpose.com/>

* Cool: actual houses at less than 100 square feet (2006-08-12)
<http://www.scumpa.com/pipermail/cool/2006-August/002460.html>
<http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm>

* What ever happened to the ozone layer? (2006-09-20)
"So I guess the take-home message here is: if we all work together, as conscientious global citizens, we can collectively confront and even reverse the environmental cataclysms that threaten the future of our species.  Or perhaps the moral is: if I, Matthew Baldwin, personally ignore a problem for a decade or so, it will go away.  Could be either one, no way to tell."
<http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/001769.html>

* Apple's Get a Mac Ads (2006-09-21)
"Even the staunchest Windows supporter has to admit the new 'Get a Mac' ads are pretty funny and contain at least a grain of truth."
<http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20060921.html>
<http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/>

* Poach salmon in the dishwasher (2006-09-27)
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/macgyver/macgyver-tip-poach-salmon-in-the-dishwasher-203421.php>
<http://www.winexmagazine.com/index.php/wine/vieweat/dishwasher-salmon/>

* The Miniature Earth (2006-10-01)
The Miniature Earth shows what the world's population would be like (statistically) if there were only 100 people.  In the project's final words: "Appreciate what you have.  And do your best for a better world."
<http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20061001.html>
<http://www.miniature-earth.com/>

END

Technology, Law, Baseball, and Rock 'n' Roll.

*Introduction Stuff

This newsletter is Erik's opinion, not the opinion of Clock Tower Law Group.  It is posted on my weblog, which is my opinion, not the opinion of Clock Tower Law Group.  Newsletter headings are used for convenience only and should not be used to interpret the meaning of this newsletter.  In particular, Client Stuff may have some law stuff, technology stuff, baseball stuff, rock 'n' roll stuff, and/or cool stuff in it; Law Stuff may have some client stuff, technology stuff, baseball stuff, rock 'n' roll stuff, and/or cool stuff in it; Technology Stuff may have some client stuff, law stuff, baseball stuff, rock 'n' roll stuff, and/or cool stuff in it; Baseball Stuff may have some client stuff, law stuff, technology stuff, rock 'n' roll stuff, and/or cool stuff in it; Rock 'n' Roll Stuff may have some client stuff, law stuff, technology stuff, baseball stuff, and/or cool stuff in it; and Cool Stuff may have some client stuff, law stuff, technology stuff, baseball stuff, and/or rock 'n' roll stuff in it.  Void where prohibited.  I'm glad I got that off my chest.

* Client Stuff

* LogoWorks Selects SiteSpect To Optimize Web Site Conversion Rates (2006-01-18)
"SiteSpect, Inc., the first and only provider of non-intrusive web site testing and optimization software, has earned itself another customer with LogoWorks, the Utah-based pioneer of outsourced graphic design services.  LogoWorks will use SiteSpect's hosted A/B and multivariate testing solution to help optimize the effectiveness of its web properties and maximize conversion rates.  LogoWorks is a design firm offering affordable services to thousands of businesses."
<http://www.sitespect.com/news-logoworks011806.shtml>

* GetHuman Featured On The Today Show On NBC (2006-03-14)
The most popular part of the gethuman website is the gethuman database of secret phone numbers and codes to get to a human when calling a company for customer service.  The Today Show on NBC featured the gethuman website and consumer movement on 03/14/06. I've included a link to other TV coverage as well.
<http://gethuman.com/blog/2006/03/today-show-on-nbc.html>
<http://www.gethuman.com/about.html>
<http://tinyurl.com/o2vzb>
<http://tinyurl.com/phc7p>

* 90 Days of BzzAgent (2006-05-09)
A little more than 90 days ago, BzzAgent started an experiment in corporate transparency with its "90 Days" blog.  An interesting experiment, interesting reading.  Especially the 89th day, when I was mentioned.  I wrote that "I now feel like Steve Martin in a scene from 'The Jerk' <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079367/>, when he said 'The new phone book's here!  The new phone book's here!  This is the kind of spontaneous publicity I need!  My name in print!  That really makes me somebody!  Things are going to start happening to me now.'"
<http://90days.bzzagent.com/?p=142>

*Law Stuff

* Google AdWords Abuse Video (2006-05-03)
Google's PPC (pay per click) advertising platform, AdWords, is wildly popular and ripe for abuse.  Google has been accused of not paying enough attention to "click fraud" and other abuses of its system.  The result is that advertisers pay more than they should, and users get deprived of the best user experience.  This video demonstrates a lot of the problems.
<http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/archives/2006/05/video_illustrat.html>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuXilEu2EfI&search=adword%20abuse>

* Apple vs. Apple (2006-05-08)
Apple Corps., the Beatles' management company, sued Apple Computer for breach of a trademark agreement made 15 years ago, in which Apple agreed not to use its apple logo for selling music.  Apple launched the iTunes music store, made millions, and the Beatles wanted a piece of the pie.  Interestingly, Beatles music is not available on iTunes or any other downloadable music service.  And there is the key word: service.  Apple Corps. has a record label for selling music.  Apple Computer offers a service for selling music provided by other record labels (presumably even Apple Corps.).  There is room for Apple Corps. to appeal the ruling, but a UK High Court judge ruled in favor of Apple Computer, stating that "the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the [iTunes] service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves."
<http://www.variousandsundry.com/?p=3640>
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-61-2170977-61,00.html>

* Warner Brothers Gets Smart, Does Deal With BitTorrent (2006-05-11)
As Copyfight pointed out, "If you offer the product people want in the form they want it, they're likely to buy it."  Warner Brothers appears to have struck a deal with BitTorrent, Inc., that would allow popular movies to be distributed via the BitTorrent service for about the price of a DVD.  I think it's a good deal, but I also think that I should pay less for the electronic version of audio or video if I'm not getting the corresponding disc (CD or DVD).
<http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2006/05/11/what_does_a_torrent_deal_amount_to.php>
<http://www.bittorrent.com/2006-05-09-Warner-Bros.myt>
<http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1192450,00.html>

* How To Determine The Value Of Your Domain Name (2006-05-18)
LeapFish.com estimates the value of any domain name using an algorithm that considers a variety of variables.  If you have a short, memorable, English language word, dot-com domain name, then it is probably quite valuable.  Let's just say that I'm hanging onto the "heels.com" domain name until I need to pay for college for my three kids.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/domain-names/how-much-is-your-domain-worth-174740.php>
<http://www.leapfish.com/>

*Technology Stuff

* How To Turn Your Blog Into A Book (2006-03-02)
BookSmart and Blurb are blog-to-book self-publishing services.  Come on, you know you want to do it.  See also my article on how to publish your own book.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/self-publishing/turn-your-blog-into-a-book-157922.php>
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/books/download-of-the-day-blurb-booksmart-171984.php>
<http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=178>

* Apple Dual-Boots Windows XP (2006-04-05)
Apple announced software, Boot Camp, that allows Intel-based Macintosh computers to run OS X or Windows XP natively.  Or you can run multiple operating systems at the same time with virtualization software from parallels.com.  The jury is still out on the implications.
<http://www.variousandsundry.com/?p=3515>
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/news/dual-boot-os-x-and-windows-with-apples-bootcamp-165255.php>
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/mac-os-x/setting-up-windows-xp-on-a-mac-with-bootcamp-165489.php>
<http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1650>
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/bootcamp/run-mac-os-x-and-windows-simultaneously-167631.php>
<http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20060406.html>

* How To Keep Blogs From Scaring People (2006-04-09)
OK, I edited the title a bit.  But here's my reply to Six Apart's post on this topic.  I submit that you'll need to make the terminology more understandable, the modules more pluggable, the APIs more useful.  For example, I should be able to easily email a post to my blog.  I cannot.  I should be able to easily synchronize the look-and-feel of my website and my XML feed.  I cannot.  I should be able to easily integrate my blog with third-party services like Technorati and del.icio.us.  I cannot.  Sure, I can do all of these things, and I generally enjoy doing them because I am a hacker.  But it's not easy, not transparent, not non-frightening for the newcomers or non-techies.  Translation: Six Apart, you've got some work to do.  You need to encourage, nurture, and support your ProNet plugin directory <http://www.sixapart.com/pronet/plugins/>.  You need to incorporate more template modules into your default templates to eliminate unnecessary redundancies.  You need to lose the idea that a weblog home page should look different from archive pages.  You need to keep innovating or more Movable Type bloggers will move to WordPress.  Otherwise, blogs – and Movable Type blogs in particular – will continue to scare the [heck] out of people.
<http://www.sixapart.com/…>

* BostonWTF Launches (2006-04-10)
Bloggers Rod Begbie, Glenn McDonald, and Brian Del Vecchio launched BostonWTF (Web Technology Forum), a group blog profiling Boston-area web startups and their products.  Based on the font and color that BostonWTF has chosen for its logo, I'm guessing that they are big fans of Dunkin' Donuts.
<http://hybernaut.com/introducing-bostonwtf>
<http://bostonwtf.com/>

* Website-To-RSS Tool (2006-05-02)
Create an RSS feed from non-RSS (or non-Atom) websites.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/rss/create-an-rss-feed-for-feedless-sites-171311.php>
<http://www.ponyfish.com/>

* How To Get Your Business On TV (2006-05-17)
This is a good example of how technology is breaking down barriers.  If you have to work with ad agencies, then be prepared for monumental inefficiencies, high costs, and dashed expectations.  At least that was my experience when I was working in the Internet space in the 1990s.  Have you seen the quality of the Ford ads that are being cranked out every week for American Idol?  Enough said.  SpotRunner is a possible solution.  SpotRunner allows you to pick a pre-produced ad, customize it, and run it.  They didn't have any ads for patent and trademark attorneys, but they may have one for you.
<http://thenonbillablehour.typepad.com/nonbillable_hour/2006/05/wanna_get_your_.html>
<http://www.spotrunner.com/>

*Baseball Stuff

* Steinbrenner Names Johnny Damon As New Yankee Scapegoat (2006-03-30)
The Onion missed April Fools' Day by a couple of days with this one, but it's a gem.  Said The Onion, "Continuing a Yankee tradition that dates back to the teams of the early '80s, owner George Steinbrenner formally appointed recently signed center fielder Johnny Damon as the team's new scapegoat….  According to Steinbrenner's statement, Damon exhibits all the qualities he looks for in a Yankee scapegoat, including lofty expectations, high salary, and a controversial personality."
<http://confessionalpoet.typepad.com/cursed_to_first/2006/03/not_to_be_misse.html>
<http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46897>

* Loretta's Homer Lifts Red Sox In Ninth (2006-04-17)
This Patriots Day game was one of the best of the season so far.
<http://tinyurl.com/plxjl>

* Red Sox Sweep One-Game Series With Yankees (2006-05-01)
A rainy spring meant a one-game series with the Yankees in Fenway.  The return of Johnny Damon and Mike Myers in Yankee pinstripes.  The return of Doug Mirabelli as the catcher for Tim Wakefield.  And the reprise of David Ortiz as the greatest clutch hitter ever, who homered with the wind gusting (not blowing) in.  Baseball drama at its best.  Check out the NPR radio report of Mirabelli's return.
<http://www.singaporesoxfan.com/2006/05/sox-7-yankees-3-sox-sweep-series.html>
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5377333>
<http://tinyurl.com/np5f6>

* MLB vs Fantasy Baseball (2006-05-22)
Because there is lots of money in fantasy baseball, Major League Baseball is suing the operators of an online fantasy league over its use of statistics.  This ought to be fun.
<http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2006/05/22/mlb_vs_fantasy_baseball.php>
<http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2006/05/call_for_submis.html>

*Rock 'n' Roll Stuff

* How To Play The Blues
DesktopBlues lets you create your own blues songs (via Yahoo! Surfers' Picks, original URL now 404).
<http://www.desktopblues.lichtlabor.ch/>

* How To Play The Guitar (2006-03-24)
Guitar Noise offers free lessons and advice.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/learning/learn-to-play-the-guitar-162818.php>
<http://www.guitarnoise.com/wiki/index.php/Best_way_to_learn_guitar>

* A Star For Weird Al (2006-03-31)
The Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Campaign for "Weird Al" Yankovic, who's parody songs are frequently more memorable than the originals.
<http://www.variousandsundry.com/?p=3502>
<http://www.weirdalstar.com/>

* American Idol Top 2 Preview (Or Why Taylor Hicks Is The 2004 Red Sox) (2006-05-22)
Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee sing for the title 05/23/06 (tonight).
<http://www.erikjheels.com/?p=771>

*Cool, Fun, And Funny Stuff

* Toy Auditions At FAO Schwarz
FAO Schwarz offers toymakers an opportunity to present their creations at its Toy Auditions, held at the FAO Schwarz store in New York City.  Upcoming dates: 07/13/06 and 09/14/06.
<http://www.fao.com/catalog/boutique.jsp?categoryId=441>

* American Inventor Winner Is Janusz Liberkowski (2006-05-18)
ABC's American Inventor took the American Idol formula and applied it to inventions.  The winner was Janusz Liberkowski, the inventor of the Spherical Safety Seat.  Ed Hall, inventor of the Word Ace, an electronic table-top word game, also got a deal from Hasbro Games.
<http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/2006/05/american_invent_3.html>
<http://abc.go.com/primetime/americaninventor/>

* What If Microsoft Tried To Market The iPod? (2006-03-01)
A very funny video showing what could happen if Microsoft were in charge of packaging the iPod.
<http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006389.html>

* Isolatr: The Antisocial Social Networking Site (2006-03-21)
If you are tired of all of this talk of Web 2.0, folksonomy, and community, then isolatr is for you.
<http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20060321.html>
<http://www.isolatr.com/>

* OpenOffice Star Wars Game (2006-04-16)
There is a Star Wars video game in Open Office, discovered in Lifehacker's annual Easter egg hunt.
<http://www.lifehacker.com/software/easter-egg/easter-egg-hunt-2006-open-office-star-wars-game-167562.php>

It stinks when April Fools' Day is on a weekend.

This year, April Fools' Day is on a Saturday, next year it's on a Sunday.  In 2008 it will be on a Tuesday, so that should be a good year.

So limited blogging from me this year.  Be sure to check out the parody law archives at ParodyLaw.com.

Here's one April Fools' Day parody about Google that I knew was coming (http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/mtarchive/googlecircles_what_you_and_oth.html):

"GoogleCircles … shows you what people in a geographic area or from a particular domain are searching for."

News and Commentary about Law, Technology, and their Intersection.

* Google Stuff: Google Getting More Evil?

If Google were purchased by Apple, would your opinion of the company change?  What if Google were purchased by Microsoft?  Americans love an underdog (go Rocky!) and root for the underdog until the underdog is the bloated incumbent (boo Rocky 5!).  It's a familiar tale.  Start-up Microsoft takes on the IBM Goliath, wins, and becomes the Microsoft Goliath.  Start-up Google takes on Yahoo, wins, and becomes — what?  Non-evil?  Evil?  As Google becomes bigger, it is going to have to try harder to be perceived as non-evil.  If history is any guide, it will not succeed.

Google Print Goes Live (2005-05-27)
"Google opened the door to its online library late Thursday with the launch of a book-specific search page.  Print.Google.Com makes official the search goliath's project to digitize the world's books. But the launch drew backlash from the Association of American University Presses, in the form of an open letter focusing on Google Library, a service that went live in December."
(http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3508536)

Google's Polite and Human Take Down Notice (2005-06-09)
An example of Google trying to be non-evil.
(http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/004769.html)

Laura Quilter on Google Print: Don't Embrace Limits to Fair Use (2005-08-16)
"Google decided last week to hit the pause button on its ambitious Google Print library project to allow publishers to opt-out of scanning.  The decision has sparked considerable debate, both about the copyright questions the project raises and Google's strategy for dealing with them.  Here, Laura Quilter offers an especially compelling and thoughtful response, arguing that Google should move forward…"
(http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003906.php)

* Grokster Stuff: A Whole Lot Of Nothing

Opinions about the importance and meaning of Grokster vary widely.  It is instructive to read articles written before, during (i.e. the week the decision was handed down), and after the Grokster decision.  Wall Street didn't seem to care about the decision, and now the entertainment industry is pretending that it won Grokster.  For some reason, "These are not the droids you're looking for," comes to mind.  But I'd rather not cast the entertainment industry as Jedi knights.  Perhaps it's a Sith mind trick that they're trying to pull.  Must … resist … mind tricks!

I'll opine in more detail about Grokster (the P2P/copyright case that the Supreme Court ruled on in June) in the September 2005 issue of the ABA's Law Practice magazine (which will also be posted on lawlawlaw.com), but suffice it to say that I don't think the decision decided much.  When neither side clearly wins or loses, who wins?

1) Before Grokster

Grokster Reader's Guide (2005-06-25)
(http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003742.php)

2) During Grokster

The Decision (2005-06-27)
(http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/04-480.html)

Ruling won't slow file swapping, experts say (2005-06-27)
"The Supreme Court may have dealt file-swapping companies a blow on Monday, but its decision is unlikely to put a damper on the illegal sharing of music and other media online anytime soon, industry experts say."
(http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-5764998.html)

The Patry Copyright Blog: The Court Punts (2005-06-27)
"I view the Court as having punted: they decided mainly an issue that wasn't in front of them (inducement) and didn't decide the one that was, the effect of Sony in the Internet era."
(http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2005/06/court-punts.html)

Susan Crawford: The Supremes Got Grokster Just Right (2005-06-27)
"Today's Grokster opinion is a victory for content AND for technology."
(http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/06/27/susan_crawford_the_supremes_got_grokster_just_right.php)

What Wall Street Tells Us About Grokster (2005-06-28)
"No one on Wall Street thought that this decision would impact the music business at all."
(http://www.blogmaverick.com/entry/1234000420048452/)
(http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/06/28/what_wall_street_tells_us_about_grokster.php)

No Pot of Gold in Court Ruling for the Studios (2005-06-28)
"The court's unanimous decision against Grokster and StreamCast Networks, the developer of the Morpheus file-swapping system, means companies that intentionally encourage copyright infringement can be held liable."
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/business/28media.html?ex=1277611200&en=6c225aea0dbc9d5e&ei=5090)

3) After Grokster

Remedying 'Grokster' (2005-07-25)
"Asked to clarify the reach of copyright law's existing secondary liability doctrines, however, the Court instead announced a new doctrine for copyright: inducement….  [T]he trouble is the continued uncertainty surrounding the traditional copyright doctrines of contributory infringement and vicarious liability."
(http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1122023112436)

Entertainment Industry Pretending to Have Won Grokster Case (2005-08-03)
"[W]hen P2P technologies continue to exist and be popular, we can expect calls for legislation to control the scourge of 'illegitimacy.'"
(http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=878)

* Uncool Stuff (or The Search For Intelligent Life)

Logo Trends 2005 (2005-04-01)
This is actually quite an entertaining article about the year's trends in logo design.  Of course, I look at the world through IP glasses, so when I saw all the cool logos, I wondered how many of them were registered as trademarks.  The answer is not many, and that's uncool.  Registration is a lot less expensive that having to change your logo, which you may have to do if your logo is confusingly similar to another company's registered trademark.
(http://www.gdusa.com/issue_2005/04_apr/feature/feat_01.php)

A Photo finish for Copyright's Unintended Consequences (2005-06-07)
Kodak's Ofoto online photo printing service and Wal-Mart both prevented amateur photographers from printing their own photos because they looked like professional photos.  Open source photo album software project Gallery has to remove EZPrints from its software, because both EZPrints and Gallery were sued by a professional photographer for profiting from users printing low-resolution (and presumably unauthorized) copies of the photographer's photos.
(http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/06/07/a_photofinish_for_copyrights_unintended_consequences.php)

Websites Invade Your Privacy to Charge You More (2005-06-07)
"[W]ebsites examine the web data you automatically shed (cookies, IP address, etc.) so [that] they can charge you a different price for a product or service depending on your 'identity' and shopping habits."
(http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/003641.php)

Piracy-check mandatory for Windows add-ons (2005-07-25)
"From now on, customers looking to get the latest add-ons to Windows will have to verify that their copy of the operating system is legit."
(http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5804045.html)

U.S. Copyright Office Considers IE-Only Site (2005-08-11)
"[T]he US Copyright Office is soliciting comments on a proposal to create a Web service for prospective copyright owners that would support only Internet Explorer (IE)."
(http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/08/11/dumb_ideas_part_2.php)

* Cool Stuff

Fortunately, there is generally more cool stuff (gadgets, software, websites, trends) than uncool stuff.

How to set up multiple homepages in Firefox (2005-05-25)
You can click on the "home" button and open multiple tabbed windows in Firefox.
(http://www.lifehacker.com/software/productivity/how-to-set-up-multiple-homepages-in-firefox-104939.php)

USB thumb drive projects (2005-06-20)
"Turn your pluggable keychain disk into a portable arcade, boot disk, web browser, email encrypter, network drive, media player or word processor."
(http://www.lifehacker.com/software/productivity/usb-thumb-drive-projects-109075.php)

Download of the Day: iTunes 4.9 with podcasting (2005-06-28)
iTunes 4.9 allows you to browse, find, sample, and subscribe to thousands of free podcasts – audio content (such as radio shows) delivered over the Internet to your computer – then sync them to your iPod.
(http://www.lifehacker.com/software/entertainment/download-of-the-day-itunes-49-with-podcasting-110311.php)

NVu 1.0 released (2005-06-28)
"A complete Web Authoring System for Linux Desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver."  It's also open source.
(http://www.nvu.com/)

Web Content by and for the Masses (2005-06-29)
This article discusses how user-generated content (including games, video, and weblogs) is changing the way people think about – and businesses react to – the constantly changing web.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/technology/29content.html?ex=1277697600&en=fc0079eae20b43ce&ei=5090)

Opera to support BitTorrent (2005-07-06)
"Norwegian web browser Opera has become the first web browser to offer built-in support for the popular peer-to-peer protocol BitTorrent. Currently available as a technology preview on the Opera FTP server, version 8.0.2 adds the ability to seed and download BitTorrent files."
(http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050706-5066.html)

Sports Groupie (2005-07-30)
"'Sports Groupie'… lets you pick your favorite sports team, shows you their schedule, and lets you choose an away game to then find you the cheapest airfare and hotels."
(http://paulenglish.com/2005/07/sports-groupie-is-cool-website-created.html)
(http://www.sportsgroupie.com/)

* Fun and Funny Stuff

NaDa 0.5 (2003-02-13)
"Most products we see on the market want to increase our productivity, organize our screen joyfully or make wonders with our sound card, but NaDa does nothing. This is a revolutionary whole new approach, a concept far beyond what you usually expect from the software industry. Download it and forget it."
(http://www.bernardbelanger.com/computing/NaDa/)

Apple's iPod Flea (2005-06-29)
A spoof video advertisement for a product called the iPod Flea.
(http://www.nytimes.com/video/html/2005/06/29/technology/highbandwidth/windowsmedia/20050629_GUEST_VIDEO.html)

How to make pizza (2005-07-05)
(http://www.lifehacker.com/software/life-hacks/how-to-make-pizza-111097.php)

How To Do Pen Tricks (2005-08-12)
When I was at MIT, I was fascinated by watching people do pen tricks.  About 20 years ago, I practiced every day for a month and successfully developed what has become quite an annoying habit (so I'm told).
(http://www.lifehacker.com/software/entertainment/how-to-do-pen-tricks-116802.php)

Be on the lookout for parodies and other silliness.

I'll be blogging a summary of the best parodies tomorrow, available via www.erikjheels.com and www.parodylaw.com.

News and Commentary about Law, Technology, and their Intersection.

* Internet History

On 11/22/04, Vic Sussman died.  His speech at Internet World Fall 1995 was, for me, a defining event in 1995, the "year of the Internet."  His passing prompted me to prepare this list of sites that document Internet history.

Bill's 200-Year Condensed History of Telecommunications
(http://www.cclab.com/billhist.htm)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Archives
A video describing the Internet in 1993.
(http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-75-710-4205/science_technology/computers/)

Cyber History Collection And Timeline
(http://www.tranquileye.com/cyber/)

Gopher
Gopher pre-dates the web, and this site is keeping Gopherspace alive.
(gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/)
(http://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/)

Hobbes' Internet Timeline
(http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/)

Vic Sussman
(http://marketplace.publicradio.org/about/cast_crew/sussman_obit.html)
(http://web.archive.org/web/19991010073021/http://vicspeaks.com/goldrush.html)
(http://web.archive.org/web/19990219163658/http://events.internet.com/fall95/iw/Bios/sussman.html)

* The Law, Politics, And Business Of Music

I am a music lover, but I hate the state of music today.  Vendors of proprietary music file formats (including Apple's iTunes, Microsoft's MSN Music, and Real's RealRhapsody) continue to thrive while consumers lack good options for acquiring the preferred MP3 file format.  I don't want proprietary formats, so I'll never buy music from iTunes (or the like).  I would pay money — lots of money — to be able to purchase MP3s (including the metadata) for music that I like.  Today, music lovers cannot do this; they have only bad choices.

Bad Choice #1 – Ripping.  Music lovers can rip their existing music CDs into MP3 files, but this can be a time-consuming process.  Also, since the metadata (album names, song names, etc.) does not reside on the CDs, third-party servers (cddb.com, freedb.org) are required to provide the metadata, and many obscure CDs are not in these databases, requiring even more data entry time to create rich MP3 files.

Bad Choice #2 – Recording.  Music lovers can record broadcast radio stations and automatically convert song into MP3 files but without any of the metadata.  Or they can record Internet or satellite radio stations and automatically save songs as MP3 files.  In both cases, the resultant MP3s may have disk jockey talk, problems with fade-in and fade-out, and missing or incomplete metadata.

Bad Choice #3 – P2P.  Music lovers can use P2P software to download MP3s from other people's collections, but they risk having their ISP account terminated or, worse, getting sued by the RIAA.

In August, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that P2P software makers Morpheus and Grokster are not liable for copyright violations that may be occurring by users of their software, thereby making it harder for copyright owners to sue P2P software makers for copyright violations.  In December, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of the case, making the matter far from settled.

MGM v. Grokster: P2P Software Makers Win In The 9th Circuit (2004-08-19)
(http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64640,00.html)
(http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0355894P.pdf)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1032_3-5316570.html)
(http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/001834.php)

MP3 Tool Pulls Satellite Radio Into Piracy Fight (2004-08-27)
(http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5327101.html)
(http://www.timetraxtech.com/)

Is Suing Your Customers A Good Idea? (2004-09-29)
(http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1095434496352)

Music Download Device Targets Linux Desktops, Eases DRM (2004-10-18)
(http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2434403923.html)
(http://www.mindawn.com/)

MIT's LAMP And Regulatory Arbitrage (2004-10-25)
(http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/archives/000706.html)

MPAA: Studios to Begin Suing Illegal Film File Swappers (2004-11-04)
(http://www.mpaa.org/CurrentReleases/2004_11_04_PressRelease.pdf)

MGM v. Grokster: U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Appeal (2004-12-10)
(http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,65995,00.html)
(http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/002138.php)

Digital Recording Of Satellite Radio Not Challenged By RIAA (2005-01-04)
(http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=60116)

Sumitronics Grabs Music While You Sleep (2005-01-07)
(http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1749145,00.asp)

* Proprietary Music Sells Like Hotcakes

Meanwhile, vendors of non-MP3 file formats continue to launch new services and (presumably) make lots of money.

The Irony of Digital Music DRM — More Choices, Fewer Options (2004-09-02)
(http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/006015.html)

Microsoft Launches MSN Music (2004-09-02)
(http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64810,00.html)

Yahoo! To Acquire Musicmatch (2004-09-14)
(http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?&ReleaseID=143066)
(http://www.mp3.com/story/feature_matchoo2.html)

Apple Reports First Quarter Results (2005-01-12)
Quarterly Revenue & Net Income Highest in Apple's History.
(http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jan/12results.html)

* Open Source IP

I have noticed that the controversy surrounding a particular flavor of intellectual property protection is inversely proportional to the duration of the IP rights.

1) Patents generally last 17-20 years and are extremely controversial.
2) Copyrights generally last the lifetime of the author plus 70 years and are very controversial.
3) Trademarks last potentially forever and are not very controversial.

Many open source products are protected by trademarks, such as
NetBSD (http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78025507),
GNU (http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76357850), and
Linux (http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=74560867).

The most popular open source software license, the GPL, is based on copyright law (http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/publications/lu-12.html).

While copyright rights and patent rights arise from the same clause in the Constitution, patent rights continue to be the more controversial of the two.  When IBM donated some speech recognition software to the open source community (i.e. a copyright grant), it was generally viewed as a good thing.  But when IBM donated 500 patents to the open source community, it was generally viewed as a bad thing.

Speech Code From IBM To Become Open Source (2004-09-13)
(http://www-1.ibm.com/press/PressServletForm.wss?TemplateName=ShowToPrint&SelectString=t1.docunid=7293)
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/technology/13speech.html)
(http://www.linux.org/news/2004/09/13/0006.html)
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1645158,00.asp)

IBM Offers 500 Patents For Open-Source Use (2005-01-10)
(http://www-1.ibm.com/press/PressServletForm.wss?TemplateName=ShowToPrint&SelectString=t1.docunid=7473)
(http://news.com.com/2102-7344_3-5524680.html)
(http://www.it-analysis.com/article.php?articleid=12498)

* Linux vs. Microsoft

Microsoft continues to maintains its position that while Linux is, in fact, a threat to Microsoft's business, Linux is not, in fact, a threat to Microsoft's business.  Truthfully.

Microsoft Claims Linux Is Ten Times As Expensive As Windows (2004-08-14)
(http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B5EBE1513-56B8-490E-A689-AE4012F610F4%7D)
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3600724.stm)

Microsoft Disputes Linux Threat (2004-08-27)
(http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117625,00.asp)

Microsoft: Linux May Mean Price Cuts, Fewer Sales (2004-09-03)
(http://biz.yahoo.com/e/040901/msft10-k.html)
(http://news.com.com/2102-7344_3-5347325.html)

Novell Counters Microsoft's Linux 'Facts' With 'Truth' (2004-11-04)
(http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/11/04/HNnovellcountersms_1.html)
(http://www.novell.com/linux/truth/)
(http://www.microsoft.com/getthefacts/)

Novell Ships Desktop Linux for the Enterprise (2004-11-08)
(http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2004/11/pr04075.html)
(http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,97497,00.html)

* Domain Names

ICANN continues to water down the domain name space by approving more top-level domain names while preparing to increase fees.  If you own trademarks, you should now consider whether to register corresponding domain names in the ".travel," ".post," ".mobi," and ".jobs" TLDs.  Also, due to another new ICANN policy, domain name registrants should consider locking their domain names to make fraudulent transfers more difficult.  Meanwhile, the Philippines is now offering "anonymous" (cell phone and email address required) domain name registration.

ICANN To Make Domain Hijackings Much Simpler (2004-07-12)
(http://www.icann.org/transfers/policy-12jul04.htm)
(http://techlawadvisor.com/2004/11/domain-name-alert.html)

DotPH Releases World's First Anonymous Domain (2004-09-07)
(http://registrarnews.ph/dotphnews/archives/000286.html)
(http://www.domains.ph/)

ICANN Approves Dot-Travel And Dot-Post Domains (2004-10-28)
(http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-27oct04.htm)
(http://i-policy.typepad.com/informationpolicy/2004/10/icann_approves_.html)

ICANN Approves Two Top-Level Domains (2004-12-14)
(http://i-policy.typepad.com/informationpolicy/2004/10/icann_approves_.html)
(http://geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Dec/gee20041215028271.htm)

Fee Could Raise Net Domain Costs (2004-12-17)
(http://www.icann.org/tlds/dotnet-reassignment/net-rfp-final-10dec04.pdf)
(http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5492467.html)

* Internet Humor

On a lighter note, I find a lot of funny sites, many of them parodies, as I am writing and editing LawLawLaw.  Here are some of my favorites.

All Your Base Are Belong To Us
A parody of the 80s video game.
(http://www.allyourbase.com/)

Despair, Inc.
Demotivational products.  Their newsletter (The Wailing List) is particularly funny.
(http://www.despair.com/)

Heywood Banks's 'Toast' Song
(http://www.geocities.com/danhiggins3/toastcontent/banks.html)
(http://www.bobandtom.com/gen3/heywood_audio.htm)

huhcorp.com.
We do stuff ™.
(http://www.huhcorp.com/)

StrongBad, the super villain from HomeStar Runner, responds to viewer mail.
(http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html)

Ubergeek's "switch to Mac" and "switch to Linux" spoofs.
(http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchback/)
(http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchlinux/)

'We Like The Moon' Song
(http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/)

* About LawLawLaw

LawLawLaw focuses on the patterns in stories about law, technology, and their intersection.  Where have we been?  How did we get here?  Where are we now?  Where are we going?  How will we get there?  LawLawLaw is distributed by email and published on my weblog (http://www.erikjheels.com/).

END

News and Commentary about Law, Technology, and their Intersection.

* A New Look For The Newsletter

I'm experimenting with a new format for the LawLawLaw newsletter.  Past editions have featured about a dozen short stories about law, technology, and their intersection.  In this edition, I am focusing more on the patterns in these stories than on the stories themselves.  Where is technology heading?  Where is the law heading?  What will happen when they intersect?  And I'll publish LawLawLaw as one piece instead of publishing each story individually.

As usual, I've sent this issue out by email and then published it on my weblog.  I'll continue to repost published articles on my weblog and periodically post other stories there when it would make more sense then waiting for the next edition of LawLawLaw.  Since the last LawLawLaw newsletter (05/17/04), there have been many interesting stories.  Here's my spin on the most interesting, important, and incredible.

* 2004 is 1984

We are only about a decade into the Internet revolution and we are clearly living in the Dark Ages of the Internet.  Never before have so many bad laws been drafted to benefit so few to the detriment of so many.  Bad bills have the potential to become bad laws, but good bills have the potential to become good laws.  Here are some of the notable bills and laws.

• Bad Copyright Law: 1998 Sonny Bonno Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2627 (Oct. 27, 1998).
  (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ298.105)
  (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap3.html)

• Bad Copyright Law: 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860 (Oct. 28, 1998).
  (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ304.105)

• Bad Copyright Bill: Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004 ("PIRATE Act"), S. 2237, 108th Cong., 2d Sess. (2004).
  (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:s2237:)

• Bad Copyright Bill: Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 ("Induce Act"), S. 2560, 108th Cong., 2d Sess. (2004).
  (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.2560:)

• Good Copyright Bill: Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act of 2003 (DMCRA), H.R. 107, 108th Cong., 1st Sess. (2003).
  (http://www.house.gov/boucher/docs/dmcrahandout.htm)
  (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.R.107:IH)

• Good Copyright Law: US Copyright Act, Fair Use provision, 17 U.S.C. Sec. 107.
  (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107)

Much of the coverage in the press (and in weblogs) about these laws has focused on just how bad the bad laws are and just how potentially bad the bad bills are.  Bad, DMCA, bad.  When you read the news (including the reactions and overreactions) every day, it's sometimes difficult to see some of the patterns.  But it's clear that corporations still don't understand how to leverage the Internet's greatest asset — ease of copying — to their advantage.  Instead, they focus on trying to control the uncontrollable.  And so we have the RIAA suing grandmothers and single mothers.  Record labels foisting DRM-encumbered (or DRM-protected, pick your politics) CDs on consumers.  Microsoft preventing a key patch to its buggy software from being efficiently delivered via P2P networks.  Movie studios suing a DVD software company out of business.

It is this unique combination of bad laws and short-sighted business practices that makes this the Dark Ages of the Internet.  Someday we will look back on these times and wonder just how people could collectively be so stupid.  Big companies and big governments have the resources to fight these battles.  Small companies and individual consumers do not — and, as such, are frequently on the losing end of the battles.  Even this small business owner has taken true (but controversial) content off of the LawLawLaw website.  Twice in the last quarter.  I don't have the resources to fight, even if I am right on the law.  Being right on the law only helps you if you can afford to defend those rights in court.  As much as I enjoy writing about these things, you can't eat principle.  And so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Here are some examples of bad copyright laws in action.

DMCA

Windows Update Hits File-Sharing Networks (2004-08-11)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1016_3-5304254.html?tag=st.util.print)

Microsoft Takes Down SP2 Swappers (2004-08-16)
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3561430.stm)

Fair Use

321 Studios Complaint In PDF Format (2004-06-16)
(http://www.theesa.com/321StudiosComplaint.pdf)

321 Studios Folds (2004-08-04)
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/9312457.htm)

DVD XCopy Maker Shuts Doors (2004-08-06)
(http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1632504,00.asp)

Induce Act

Induce Act Is Free Speech Killer (2004-06-17)
(http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/004408.html)

P2P Networks and the RIAA

RIAA Sues Yet Another 493 P2P Users (2004-05-25)
(http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/5261.cfm)

RIAA Lawsuit Strategy Iffy At Best (2004-05-26)
(http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=24230)

RIAA Sues Single Mom In Minnesota (2004-05-26)
(http://news.designtechnica.com/article3975.html)

The Ongoing, Pointless Quest Of The RIAA (2004-05-26)
(http://www.technewsworld.com/story/34015.html)

PIRATE Act

PIRATE Act Would Shift Copyright Civil Suits To DOJ (2004-05-26)
(http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/05/26/1538203.shtml)

'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns (2004-05-26)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1027_3-5220480.html?tag=st.util.print)

Digital Music and Digital Radio

Digital Audio Broadcasting Systems And Their Impact On The Terrestrial Radio Broadcast Service (FCC) (2004-05-26)
(http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-99A4.pdf)

RIAA Protests Digital Radio (2004-06-12)
(http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/06/12/1435217.shtml)

RIAA Targeting Satellite Radio (2004-06-14)
(http://news.designtechnica.com/article4257.html)

CD Installs DRM Software Without Asking (2004-06-20)
(http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/index.php?p=2099)

* Some Good News In Copyright Law

It's not all bad news, despite the fact that the bad news gets most of the headlines.  The DMCRA is designed to take some of the teeth out of the DMCA and restore copyright rights to consumers.  (Repealing the DMCA would be better, but the DMCRA is a good start.) It's not law yet, but it's a step in the right direction.  Note that it's an election year, when lots of bills, both good and bad, are drafted for purely political reasons.  Also, note that at least one music artist — Steve Winwood — appears to get it.  Finally, note that Reed, the world's largest English language publisher, has adopted a more author-friendly copyright position for academics.

Some Good Copyright Developments:

Digital Copyright Act Revisited (2004-05-19)
(http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/ZDM/copyright_act_pcmag_040519.html)

Legislation That Tweaks The DMCA Is Worthy Of IT Support (2004-05-24)
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1598975,00.asp)

Reed Allows Academics Free Web Access (2004-06-04)
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1230217,00.html)

Boucher's Anti-DMCA Bill Gets High Profile Allies (2004-06-22)
(http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/06/22/0454203.shtml)

The Hill's Property Rights Showdown (2004-06-22)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1025_3-5243241.html?tag=st.util.print)

Promo Uses P2P Networks To Sell Songs (2004-06-30)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1027_3-5251479.html?tag=st.util.print)

The Rights of Consumers (2004-07-06)
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1619923,00.asp)

Ebay Tests Digital Music Waters (2004-07-16)
(http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64229,00.html)

* SCO vs. GPL (And Other Open Source News)

The SCO vs. IBM lawsuit is a protracted contract- and IP-based dispute about, more or less, who owns UNIX and the UNIX-like Linux operating system.  (For the best coverage on this topic, see GrokLaw.) It has always amused me that IBM is basically letting the open source community (including the Free Software Foundation, the authors and guardians of the GPL, the license under which Linux and many other open source software packages are distributed) fight the battle for them.

There is little on IBM's website about the SCO lawsuit.  About the only indication from IBM that there is a controversy is that SCO, which used to be listed on IBM's Linux page (http://web.archive.org/web/20030411064549/http://www-1.ibm.com/linux/) is now conspicuously absent (http://www-1.ibm.com/linux/).

Compare this to the wealth of information on SCO's site about the lawsuit (http://www.sco.com/ibmlawsuit/).  SCO has basically turned the lawsuit into a product, perhaps because they are not selling a lot of their other products.

Keeping in mind that SCO filed its lawsuit against IBM in March of 2003, compare the two-year stock performance of SCO (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SCO&t=2y) (from 20 to 1 in two years) to IBM (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=IBM&t=2y) (more or less level at 80).

What has the SCO lawsuit really done?  Put the GPL in the headlines and prompted much commentary about the GPL and other open source licenses (including less restrictive ones such as the BSD license).  Meanwhile, OpenOffice.org (the open source Microsoft Office replacement backed by Sun) continues to release new products while Sun contemplates open-sourcing (if that's a word) its flagship Solaris operating system under the GPL (albeit with Gollum/Smeagol-style "conviction").

The Future Of The GPL (2004-05-31)
(http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/34109.html)

Wicked, Tricksy, False! We Hates GPL! Noooo, GPL's My Friend! (2004-06-02)
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/8819569.htm)

Showdown With The Linux Gang (2004-06-10)
(http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5182427/)

SCO Battle With Linux Analyzed (2004-06-11)
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A29675-2004Jun9?language=printer)

The Ins And Outs Of Open-Source Licensing (2004-06-16)
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1613358,00.asp)

OpenOffice.org Announces Version 1.1.2 (2004-06-18)
(http://download.openoffice.org/1.1.2/index.html)

OpenOffice.org For Mac OS X (X11) (2004-06-28)
(http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/)

* Linux For Everyone

Just as the GPL is the real winner in the SCO vs. IBM lawsuit, Linux is the winner in the everything vs. Linux debates.  If Microsoft ignores Linux, Linux wins.  If Microsoft compares Windows to Linux, Linux wins.  Like the gold medal round in Olympic figure skating, all Linux has to do is avoid falling down and it will take home the gold medal.  Every company and every product has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  I believe that even though we are living in the Dark Ages of the Internet, we are also living in the beginning of the end of the Microsoft Era.  For the first time, consumers have a real choice of computer hardware, computer software, and computer operating systems.  Macintosh OS X continues to be the best (albeit expensive) combination of UNIX-style power (it's based on the FreeBSD operating system) and a user-friendly GUI, and Linux continues to be a powerful and affordable operating system that runs on seemingly every hardware platform.  Personally, I run versions of Windows, Macintosh OS, and UNIX-like operating systems (Linux and FreeBSD).  After being on the Internet over 20 years, I enjoy having real choices.

Will Your Next Desktop PC Run Linux? (2004-05-27)
(http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116298,00.asp)

Taking Linux For A Test Drive (2004-06-02)
(http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS6580788610.html)

Windows Compatibility For The Linux Desktop (2004-06-10)
(http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/06/10/win4lin.html)

Microsoft Delivers 'The Facts' About Linux (2004-06-11)
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/11/ms_roadshow/)
(http://www.microsoft.com/getthefacts/)

GrokDoc Goes Live; All GNU/Linux Newbies Welcome (2004-06-14)
(http://slashdot.org/articles/04/06/14/1123248.shtml)
(http://www.grokdoc.net/)

How To Talk To Microsoft About Linux (2004-06-14)
(http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39157635,00.htm)

NewsForge Reviews Excel Clone For Linux (2004-06-26)
(http://slashdot.org/articles/04/06/26/1243203.shtml)

RealNetworks Brings Player To Linux Distros (2004-07-01)
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1619279,00.asp)

HP Unveils Its First Linux Laptop (2004-08-04)
(http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,95026,00.html)

* Patents In The News

Patents continue to make news for all the wrong reasons.  Europe is moving slowly but surely towards a US-like system of allowing software patents, much to the chagrin of opponents in Europe and elsewhere.  This is part of a larger (and unfortunate) trend towards "harmonizing" the laws of Europe and the US.  The goal of "harmonization" is what led to 20-year patent terms and the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) in the US (thereby making both laws more like those in Europe).  It is as if governments on both side of the ocean have given up thinking independently.  The US has the best patent system in the world, primarily because it uses the first-to-invent rule.  The US used to have one of the best copyright systems in the world, until the CTEA and other dubious modifications to the Copyright Act muddied the waters.

As usual, the patents that make headlines are generally the ones that cite little prior art (there's room for improving the law here) and/or are more narrow in scope then they appear at first glance.  Did Microsoft really patent double-clicking?  No, but it makes for a good headline.

It's worth noting that in the US, patents are filed in the name of the inventors.  In order for corporations to file patent lawsuits, patent rights must be assigned from individual inventors to corporations.  Are inventors happy that their inventions are being used in litigation?  Some are probably not, but these same inventors likely assign their rights away because they feel their other option is to lose their job.  Again, its hard to eat principle.

EU Approves Software Patent Changes (2004-05-18)
(http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5215020.html)

Europe Braces For Patent Rules (2004-05-28)
(http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63628,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4)

Microsoft Patents Handheld Computer Click (2004-06-02)
(http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/02/1086058889577.html)

Technology Industry Hits Out At 'Patent Trolls' (2004-06-03)
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3722509.stm)

Microsoft Patents PDA Clicks (2004-06-04)
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1607294,00.asp)

Microsoft Wins Patent For Handheld Clicks (2004-06-05)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1041_3-5226992.html?tag=st.util.print)

Microsoft Double-Click Patent Sows FUD (2004-06-05)
(http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3364101)

EFF Patent Busting Project's Ten Most-Wanted Patents (2004-07-02)
(http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted)

* Parodies And Politics

I generally avoid writing about political parodies because politicians are such easy targets.  Plus it's an election year.  But the JibJab parody of Bush and Kerry has drawn attention both because it is so funny and because the copyright owner of the song "This Land is Your Land," which is used in the parody, has complained about its use.  The trend here is that corporations have little or no sense of humor.  And that parody law is (thankfully) well established to protect such expressions.

Fund For Animals Wins Web Dispute To Keep NeimanCarcass.com (2004-05-18)
(http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040518/dctu040_1.html)

A Jibjab Showdown (2004-07-28)
(http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/26/commentary/wastler/wastler/)

JibJab Asks For Court's Help (2004-08-03)
(http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64428,00.html)

Political Parody Draws Web Crowd (2004-08-16)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1028_3-5312081.html?tag=st.util.print)

* Spam Wins And Losses

While Congress has been bending over backwards to give more copyright rights — including the right to sue — to corporations and to the government, it has basically ignored the spam epidemic.  Despite new spam laws (including a silly FCC decision with an exception that swallows the rule), individuals still lack the right to sue spammers.  The right of individuals to file suit is what greatly curtailed junk faxes, and until individuals have this right in the context of spam, the spammers will win.  It is a sad state of affairs when the only one with the resources to take on the spammers and win is Microsoft.  And you know spam is a common problem with it makes news in Consumer Reports.

Microsoft Awarded $4 Million In Spam Suit (2004-07-16)
(http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5272776.html)

Did The FCC Ban Mobile Spam? (2004-08-04)
(http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100950)

Wireless Spam Draws Regulators' Wrath (2004-08-05)
(http://news.com.com/2102-1028_3-5296649.html?tag=st.util.print)

Consumer Reports Shows Spam Is Not Canned (2004-08-10)
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109209213254586948,00.html)

* Technology Update

Finally, here's a handful of technology articles worth reading.

One PC, Six Hard Drives, 37 OSes! (2004-06-06)
Just when I thought I was cool for building a dual-boot Linux-Windows laptop, I found out about this guy.
(http://www.maximumpc.com/features/feature_2002-09-24.html)

Together At Last (2004-06-11)
Robert X. Cringely opines that most weblogs are boring and aren't worth sharing but are potentially helpful for personal data mining.  I can relate to this.  Although I have been blogging less on LawLawLaw lately, I have not been blogging less.  I set up a personal (and password-protected) weblog for my kids (who are 10, 8, and 6), which I've been using to teach them about writing, computing, and themselves.
(http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040610.html)

Invisibility Cloaks – Not Just For Harry Potter Anymore (2004-06-16)
Sure, now they invent this.  Where was this when I was a kid?  And, by the way, where are the flying cars?
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3791795.stm)

The Myth Of Disruptive Technology (2004-08-17)
I have been reading — and hating — the book "The Innovator's Dilemma" for precisely the reasons outlined in this article.  Maybe now I'll have the courage to spare myself from having to finish the book.  Ah yes, the power of independent thinking.
(http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=132235,00.asp)

Today's Boston Sunday Globe tells the tragic tale of a musician who lost his job due to file sharing and was forced to take a dead-end office job for a do-nothing corporation.

It seems that the musician's last CD sold zero — that's right, zero — copies because "everyone downloaded it."  To make matters worse, the musician's business manager embezzled funds, live performance venues were booked solid (thereby eliminating his ability to perform his songs for money), and in the cold of winter the musician had to burn his guitar for heat.  Even his new boss admitted to having downloaded his music.

I'm assuming that the RIAA will be making this guy their poster child.  Read all about it below.

Dilbert comic strip reprinted with permission.  DILBERT: © Scott Adams/Dist. by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

Twenty years of 'Weirdness,' and he doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Pop parodist 'Weird Al' Yankovic has been creating note-perfect spoofs of the best that the music world has to offer. Here's a rundown of his work.

If you log onto www.skyhighairlines.com, you can plan a trip from Rattlesnake, Fla., to Presque Isle, Maine, for $3,636.40. The journey would take 27 hours and 56 minutes and require changing planes in Juan Tomas, N.M., and Curry, Texas.

Making connections could be tricky, so SkyHigh advises passengers to hail a cart at each terminal and ask the driver to "floor it."

[T]he nonexistent SkyHigh Airlines and the Web site are part of an offbeat marketing campaign created by Alaska Airlines.

It's time to stop the insanity and insist on a better quality of life. Stop drinking tap water. Stop drinking well water. Refuse to touch water from desalination plants. And remember that mountain spring water is a disaster waiting to happen. Do you know how many people and animals urinated in your spring water, upstream? Yes, it's disgusting to think about (perhaps even humorous), but it happens. So stop drinking it. Insist on only one natural substance… Dehydrated water.

The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. has filed a domain name dispute to shut down the web sites NeimanCarcass.com, NeimanCarcass.org, and NeimanCarcass.net, which are critical of the company's sale of fur products.