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Saturday, April 06, 2002

Say, When? There are two interesting blog bits in the May issue of Wired (blogging must really be hitting its stride if I can get a Saturday manicure and read about it). Andrew Sullivan writes about "The Blogging Revolution," and envisions a day when all writers will build an online presence with their daily musings, then sell books through print-on-demand technology direct from their Web sites. And Dave Winer has $1,000 that says blogs will outrank the New York Times site by 2007 based on a Google search for five top news story key words. He bet Martin Nisenholtz, Times Digital CEO (proceeds to charity). The curious thing is why Wired opts for the delay between the print edition and when the articles are posted to its Web site. Do they really think they're eating into their own sales if they post the articles when the magazine comes out? If so, I guess I'm playing into the whole strategy by making you think about buying the rag if you haven't picked it up. Here's a preview: the five "Power Bloggers" spotlighted in Sullivan's story based on their blogdex rankings - • Jessamyn West • Adam Curry • Josh Marshall • Jeffrey Zeldman • Claire Robertson

posted by Denise at 5:10 PM
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Taking A Page The recent John C. piece is understandably unpopular. As I commented to Jeneane on Blog Sisters, he takes cheap shots for a cheap laugh and ignores the larger picture. (If the response is he intends to elicit cheap laughs and ignore the larger picture so be it - I'll take my laughs wherever they crop up.) On the loosely joining attributes of blogging, John C. has this to say in his Eight Rules for the Perfect Blog: under "Community," "Prove that you're a dedicated blogger by citing at least five other blogs that you just read. Praise them ad nauseum. Then comment on links that their authors discovered and cut and paste these links to your blog." And, under "Humility," "Make sure to rave about how great blogging is and why everyone should blog and how blogging will change the world." What John C. ignores that others would be wise to recognize is this: non-webheads are finding blogging a compelling reason to be online in staggering numbers. So staggering that my attempt to keep a comprehensive "blawg"-alogue probably is doomed from the get-go. But don't think I'm going down without a fight. Yes, it feeds my innate meta-mania, but it also shatters stereotypes about my much-maligned profession and makes it - and us - more accessible. Would you expect a Wall Street lawyer to be a gifted web designer? Faith is. A lawyer as the force behind a great time-saving software app? That's Buzz (ActiveWords; never would have known its background if Ernie hadn't connected the dots for me). And New York corporate lawyer Heather now reads Justice Bedsworth's column, which is published only in California - and online. File these under citing, praising and raving, I guess. But everyone should blog. And blogging has changed the world.

posted by Denise at 1:01 PM
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Multiple Applications... A landmark here in Newport, The Cannery restaurant, was headed for demolition in the fall of 1999. It had a bayfront location and a long history. A local resident, Jack Croul, hated to see the place go, so he bought it and fixed it up. It reopened in February with the help of Ron Salisbury (El Cholo), general manager Steve Herbert (Gladstone's), chef Felix Salcedo (Sonora Café) and sushi chef Yuji Nishimura (Hirozen). Those details had eluded me until this morning. What I did realize is that if there's a hot spot, my husband and his pals know and go. He's been at The Cannery maybe three times in the last month, including last night. I haven't been there since the reopening, so I had to know if the The Cannery now is "it."* His response was what got me: "The place is crowded, but you don't know anyone. Either trendy people don't go there, or I don't know the trendy people." *Hey, around here "it" comes along with all the frequency of Ikeya-Zhang or involves Dennis Rodman.

posted by Denise at 9:43 AM
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Friday, April 05, 2002

Feeding Back Ernie writes, and Larry concurs, that online spaces for (anonymous) lawyer comments about judges are good things, and wonders whether this is happening. (Excuse my shortcut of sharing this here and expecting you gents to come find it. I'm writing a brief and time is short.) A California attorney set up just such a system on his site a few years back. The practitioner comments are fairly sparse, and I'm not sure if that's blind terror, or lack of publicity, or both. Maybe if Calvin blogged. Regardless, I'm all for resource-oriented lawyer sites that are useful to practitioners and the public, and this has been one for a long time. Among all the other rich content, Calvin offers downloadable court forms that (last time I used one, anyway) are not available in editable electronic format anywhere else.

posted by Denise at 11:27 AM
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Wholly Comedy Larry Townsend's book "Secrets Of The Wholly Grill," which explores the humor in shrink-wrap software licenses, got a nice review today on law.com. Its first chapter had me cracking up too. Wish my pop would finish it so I could read the wholly thing.

posted by Denise at 8:36 AM
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Thursday, April 04, 2002

Blawg Additions Some cool blawgs join the roster today: Rebeca Delgado has been around the block as a lawyer and is appreciating La Belle France. (Her blog and her site sont très, très belle.) Rick Klau works on bringing technology and legal professionals together - a glutton for punishment, clearly. He's an author and a regular columnist for the American Bar Association's Student Lawyer. (Thanks, Ernie.) Finally, the EFF has been blogging about the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group - "Consensus At Lawyerpoint" - since March 27, and it looks like there's more to come.

posted by Denise at 1:02 PM
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Half A Century, And Counting Justice Mildred L. Lillie, who presides over the Second District, Division Seven, of the California Court of Appeal, was honored yesterday for her fifty-five years of service as a California jurist. Between the time Justice Lillie passed the Bar and I did, 133,300 people were admitted to practice law in California. Justice Lillie has authored over three thousand decisions, and in her own words she has been there, and she has done that. And will keep right on dispensing conscientious justice.

posted by Denise at 9:58 AM
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Wednesday, April 03, 2002

"I Have Seen The Future, And It Blogs" Geoffrey Nunberg's observations about language and culture almost always make me smirk, or consider, or both. He is a regular contributor to National Public Radio's "Fresh Air." Sadly, by the time I inhale "Fresh Air" it often has gone somewhat stale. (While my computer downloads the broadcasts each day courtesy of Audible, it can take awhile before they get added to what I'm listening to in the car as I commute.) This morning I caught up with a show from last December, where Nunberg put blogging in historical perspective alongside George and Wheedon Grossmith ("Diary of a Nobody") and Anais Nin, among others. Nunberg likens the "accretion of diurnal detail" in blogs to "what the novel was trying to achieve when eighteenth-century writers cobbled it together out of subliterary genres like personal letters, journals, and newspapers, with the idea of reproducing the inner and outer experience that makes up daily life." He wonders whether "anything as interesting" as the novel could "grow up in the intimate anonymity of cyberspace." Personally, collectively, I think it already has. (Nunberg's other "Fresh Air" commentaries are collected here on his site.)

posted by Denise at 11:15 AM
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Tell Your Friends Thomas Pacheco needs our help and people want to give it - so spread the word. Several friends we met for dinner last night will be checking out the site today, and the Little River Inn will be displaying Thomas's art and promoting the site in its lobby.

posted by Denise at 7:39 AM
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Tuesday, April 02, 2002

More re the Constitution and Fair Use Not everyone agrees with Ed Stroligo regarding the lack of Constitutional underpinnings of the fair use doctrine. The defense is arguing a Constitutional (First Amendment) basis for fair use in the ElcomSoft/Sklyarov case currently pending before Judge Whyte in the Northern District of California. (See also Ernie the Attorney's discussion of the case and overarching digital rights issues.) -Later: Still pending for decision before Judge Whyte is the defense's Motion to Dismiss based on its argument that the DMCA violates the First Amendment. [llrx]

posted by Denise at 1:59 PM
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Monday, April 01, 2002

Straight Talk About Fair Use Ed Stroligo at Overclockers.com posted commentary yesterday that points out the distinction betweeen a Constitutional right and a legal one, as he characterizes the "fair use" exception permitting certain uses of copyrighted material. "In short, you have no constitutional right to convenience," writes Ed, in an interesting discussion of the Reimerdes case. [Thanks, Sabrina.]

posted by Denise at 3:15 PM
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April Fool In an abrupt about-face that has fattened the coffers of academia, LawMeme announced its new appointment as Voice of the Copyright Industry. Equally foolish: the Iowa law firm of Beckman & Hirsch has installed a Web cam in its reception room, according to the ABA Journal. A member of the firm says it helps him gauge a client's mood before they meet. And, that it helps him track down his partner when he slips out to an empty desk in the camera's line of sight to get some uninterrupted work done. (Access to the camera's feed is password-protected and encrypted, so no, we can't all enjoy these fascinating images...)

posted by Denise at 2:41 PM
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Sunday, March 31, 2002

Naked Justice Beds is back, writing this month about civic beautification: "If someone with no money is 'judgment-proof,' I think it can be safely said that someone who constructs sculptures of dancing neon penises in top hats is 'emotional distress-proof.'"

posted by Denise at 12:39 PM
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Look Before You SLAPP In another SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) case in California this week, the anti-SLAPP statute was applied to give litigants and lawyers protection against malicious prosecution claims. In Jarrow Formulas, Inc. v. LaMarche (B146708, 3/25/02), Sandra LaMarche, a graphic artist, had a dispute with her client, a vitamin manufacturer, over the ownership of artwork created by LaMarche for the company. According to declarations filed in the case, the owner of Jarrow behaved outrageously, attempting to sabotage LaMarche's relationships with other clients and hurling profanities like rice at a spring wedding. Jarrow sued LaMarche about the artwork ownership issue, and LaMarche ultimately won. During the case, however, LaMarche and her attorney filed a cross-complaint against Jarrow for interfering in her other business relationships, which she lost. Jarrow then sued LaMarche and her attorney for malicious prosecution, arising from the unsuccessful cross-complaint. The Court of Appeal found the malicious prosecution case was barred by California's anti-SLAPP statute, and reversed the trial court on this point. All actions in filing and advocating the cross-complaint were found to be protected exercises of First Amendment rights, and the malicious prosecution claim was found to be a prohibited attempt to chill those rights. LaMarche's cross-complaint was an exercise of her right to petition, and her lawyer's written and oral advocacy were protected speech. The malicious prosecution claim thus was stricken, and LaMarche and her attorney awarded their costs and attorneys' fees.

posted by Denise at 12:38 PM
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