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Saturday, April 26, 2003

Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted

BNA's Computer Technology Law Report is an excellent resource, with an admirable amount of material available f-r-e-e online (no registration, even). Check out the topical, alphabetical and date indices.

Highlights from the current issue include coverage of the "Litigation Issues for New Media" panel at the Advanced Computer and Internet Law Institute, held last month at the Georgetown University Law Center. The panel featured Cindy Cohn and others discussing current issues in technology law, including the trespass to chattels doctrine and Web jurisdiction.

All of which is an admittedly roundabout (but hopefully useful) way of getting to the point: I'm surprised—and particularly in light of yesterday's district court decision—I haven't yet heard of a P2P network asserting trespass to chattels, nuisance or tortious interference as potential bases for barring the introduction of bogus files intended to meddle with the system and frustrate users. Standing would perhaps be an issue, since files being shared do not reside on network servers but rather on users' computers, but it would seem pretty self-evident that those planting fake files seek deliberately to undermine the economics of the network.

Bonus link: the EFFector, the EFF's online newsletter.

P.S.: There are some 15 blawgs I need to add to the blawgroll here(!), hopefully tomorrow.


Friday, April 25, 2003

Who Was That Gloved Lawyer?

Undefeated boxer Mary "Mulita" Lehman (formerly of Gray Cary) is a mother of two and certified appellate specialist. [via the Daily Journal] Her next bout is May 9; she's currently 14th in the world in her bantamweight class.

Countdown To Euphony

My dad called this morning wondering if there was a cheap, easy and legal way for him to download good music for his iPod. By Monday, I hope to be able to tell him "yes." [Google News search results for "Apple music service"]


Thursday, April 24, 2003

Bialystock Und Bloom

Saw "The Producers" yesterday afternoon in SF. Short and Alexander are more than ready for their run in L.A. Standing o's all around, not hampered one bit by the fact 70% of the audience at the Wednesday matinee could have understudied the roles of the "investors."

Note to parents of adult kids (speaking as the lucky beneficiary): Schedule a one-on-one outing with your offspring at least once a year, and don't take no for an answer. Note to adult kids: remember to reciprocate. (Dagnabbit, this one's going to be tough to top!)


Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Old School

I love this kind of stuff: the original home of Yahoo. [via The Screen Savers, which today commemorates the release of Mosaic 1.0 with more such nostalgia.]


Sunday, April 20, 2003

I Remember...

...when the Sunday Funnies didn't come wrapped in motor oil ads.

Happy Easter, Passover, Spring. My marathon of briefing concludes tomorrow (for the time being), so more regular posting should resume around here, uh, soon. In the meantime, don't miss what should be great coverage of O'Reilly's Emerging Technology conference next week—great speakers, loads o' bloggers—and, as usual, the Sunday L.A. Times has some worthwhile reads:

  • "The Freshest Spin, Where lawyers see piracy, talent scouts see potential. It's the hip-hop mix tape:" "While the legal and financial departments at record labels see mix tapes as part of the piracy threat, many of the artists, and executives such as Morales who scout talent, see the mix tape as a filter and a proving ground. He says the wave of mix tape stars is just now starting to build. 'It's just going to get bigger and bigger. You can feel it.'"
  • "The Internet: A Novel Approach," by Danielle Crittenden about her novel amanda.bright@home, first published in serial form online by the Wall Street Journal and Canada's National Post, and available in hardcover next month. Ms. Crittenden's reflections on this experience are intriguing on many fronts, including the effects of instantaneous reader feedback, and the fact she sold the story to Warner Books while the serial was running. The plot features a career woman who chucks it all to become a mom: "Having made the big decision to quit work, they often seemed as stranded with their children as a lifelong city dweller who sells his condo to take up organic farming." [Update: The novel, as it appeared in serial form.]
  • And for fun and general edification, "On Kentucky's Bourbon Trail" and "Inventing Calvino."

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