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Monday, February 28, 2005

Gab Bag

Glenn Reynolds, at GlennReynolds.com, on Lawblogging: "I guess it's no surprise that law professors and lawyers, who talk for a living, have a lot to say in the blogosphere, too."

You Say Bug, I Say Feature

Al Nye thinks Podcasting Needs Advertising. I told Al I disagreed, and here's why. It's not that I don't want and won't listen to 'casts that are commercially supported, and thus presumably have higher production values and less, shall we say, unfocused material. I want that stuff. But I want the amateur stuff as well, and I probably want it more than I want slick, produced efforts. The simplicity of "producing" a quickie, relatively low-tech podcast means an exponential increase in access to and distribution of specialized information. I feel exactly the same way about weblogs. Just getting the material out there is extraordinarily powerful. I don't need to have the Becker-Posner blog, for example, bear a stronger resemblance to something that is commercially supported; in fact, it's much better as far as I'm conerned if it does not. I'd feel the same way about any podcast its authors might choose to put out. Easy, cheap tools = low barrier to entry, huge numbers can do it at some baseline level of quality. This is a Good Thing, as is finding the occasional respite from the advertising that saturates our existence. (I mean, c'mon: building elevators?)

Related: Steve Gillmor on the (sponsor-supported, and I like it, I listen) Chris Pirillo Show, talking about attention.xml and attention as a coin of the realm. I bring it up because I sense at least a couple of digital divides in this context: 1) those can afford not to share their attention metadata vs. those who can't, and 2) the time and/or money strapped "amateurs" vs. the "professionals."

Also related, via Genie Tyburski, RSS, Not Just Text Anymore: "[A] new practice, called appcasting, enables the RSS-like distribution of applications. 'RSS enclosures would make it really easy for teachers to distribute files to their students. A teacher could post lecture notes, multimedia content, or any other kind of electronic document.'" My point: Few-to-Few is every bit as valuable as Many-to-Many.

Today's New Blawgs

Evan Brown writes InternetCases.Com and does a podcast: "This week's podcast discusses the recent case of Dix v. ICT Group, discussed on this site, in which the forum selection clause in AOL's terms of service was held unenforceable." Love the podcasting lawyers. More on that in a separate post in a bit. Also, I'm far from alone in being excited about more coverage of law and the Internet.

Law professor Rick Duncan co-writes the Red State Lawblog, and has no trouble discerning who makes the rules in blogland.

Lawrence Taylor (no; yes) writes the DUI Blog, and predicts the "New Prohibition" is gaining momentum but will not prevail. Very thought provoking stuff.


Sunday, February 27, 2005

More Of The OC For Sale

Another iSold It update: no sign yet of Marissa auctioning her birth control of choice, now that she's changed teams for awhile (after that last episode I have to ask: are they hinting at a Julie/Kirsten liason?? it is Fox after all). But I do have a slick flat panel display on the block (made redundant and unnecessary by the Macs that have moved in and bred), and this thing looks like it could find a good home with a podcaster. Sweeter still: one of my neighbors is dishing out ice cream.

Ten-Hut

Steve Gillmor explains attention.xml on the Chris Pirillo Show. Attention-grabbing discussion.


Friday, February 25, 2005

Thought Of The Day


Thursday, February 24, 2005

Next!

In October, Evan Williams asked "Next?," and today (technically tomorrow in this time zone), John Markoff and the New York Times provide the answer, For a Start-Up, Visions of Profit in Podcasting: "Odeo (pronounced OH-dee-oh) means to be podcast central - an all-in-one system that makes it possible for someone with no more equipment than a telephone to produce podcasts and also makes it possible for users to assemble custom playlists of audio files and copy them directly onto MP3 audio players." Fantastic news, good luck Ev!! (They may be Clueless in the valley, but SF's not a bad drive if you hit traffic right, and there's no question the food's better.)

The NYT article also touches on Audible's podcasting plans, discussed more fully by Paid Content and Steve Rubel.

[Update:] Ev's post; Odeo; Odeo blog (compare); TEDBlogCentral.

2005.02.24 Show Notes

Today's podcast (in 2 parts) covers intriguing tidbits from Lawrence Lessig and others; more on the ASCAP podcasting license; good deals and bad taste at Amazon; a gadget-loving Aussie; lawyers and podcasting; and a preview of podcasting attractions.

2005.02.24, part 1 (MP3, 2.8MB); select a quote[quoteplay player]

2005.02.24, part 2 (MP3, 7.5MB); select a quote[quoteplay player]

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Blog Posts: The Kinder, Gentler Cease And Desist?

See Kevin Heller on the subject.


Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Friends Like These

Let's hope the clerks are keeping their optometric prescriptions current: at least 28 amicus briefs in Grokster so far, 19 supporting the petitioners (MGM, etc.), including (oh, the irony) one (PDF) filed by Napster and others who assert that if the decision stands "they all must continue to operate under the impossible market condition of competing with Respondents' illegal black market services." The respondents' (StreamCast, Grokster) briefs and a whole new round of supporting amicus briefs are due March 1.

Bonus link, Copyfight, Time Out for the U.S. Solicitor General?"

Hooked On Both

The March issue of Wired is out, themed "The End of Radio." Unlike the Los Angeles Times, Wired knows better than to take on such a theme without discussing podcasting. Adam Curry Wants to Make You an iPod Radio Star: "The podcasting scene is reminiscent of the early, heady days of blogging, circa 2001, a time before Wonkette made the cover of The New York Times Magazine. Like bloggers in the good old days, podcasters are obsessively internecine and gloriously, honestly unprofessional."

[Update:] Oops, meant to also highlight this exciting bit of news: "Ourmedia (ourmedia.org), a grassroots media project backed by the Internet Archive, will provide free podcasting tools and permanent hosting for podcasts beginning in mid-2005."


Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Today's New Blawg

Meet University of Richmond School of Law student Brandon Rash, author of the EEJD Blog: "The 'EE' stands for electrical engineering, and the 'JD' stands for juris doctorate..."


Monday, February 21, 2005

Scan't Resist

If you've been following along at home, then you know:

  1. The need to spring clean has struck me unaccountably early this year, and
  2. The Support Economy has a new toehold in my neck of the woods.

So, I dropped off a few things to be auctioned, and they're starting to make their way online. The first is a scanner that was highly reviewed by California Lawyer's Sandra Rosenzweig, which is probably why I went overboard and bought two, one for the office and one for home. Though it's a fine product it turned out I didn't need both, so this little item has a starting bid of $9.99, roughly 30x less than its cost. It's a good bargain, have at it, bidding closes in six days.

Perhaps more important and almost certainly more interesting, I continue to be fascinated by what my neighbors are unloading. Hookha, anyone?

AutoLink: Unlicensed Derivative Work?

I was listening to Dave Winer's 2/18 Morning Coffee Notes, and he's more than a little exercised about Google's AutoLink. I haven't downloaded the updated toolbar or seen it in action, but I'm getting an idea of what AutoLink does thanks to Dan Gillmor and others. Aside from competition related legal considerations (thanks, Tom, for the pointer), I smell a copyright brouhaha. (Yes, sorry; we see lawsuits, the dead people come later.) Why? Listen to Dave's podcast. He's ticked about his writing being altered without his permission and saying an "opt out" is in order. And read the Rogers Cadenhead post he points to today: "Autolink edits Web pages, making subtle inline changes to text while presenting them at their original URLs, which implies the original author created the transformed work." (That smacks of trademark trouble too, methinks? Yep, as Marty ponders, and he discusses the potential derivative work issue as well.)

I think this is something that hasn't been addressed in the post-Feist linking cases. Linking to a Web page is one thing; adding unauthorized links to a Web page is another. Anil Dash makes the "Rip, Mix, Burn" analogy, which is probably apt on some level and just underscores the copyright issues — 321 Studios, for example, lost at trial and went out of business before it could pursue its appeal.

SpLawdio?

I had to laugh when I saw "SpAudio, The World's Greatest Underwater Symphony" on a late night commercial. Sounded like some godawful conflation I might throw out.

(Woah, can you believe that? 299,000 hits for "blawg.")


Friday, February 18, 2005

The OC For Sale

An iSold It store opened up about a month ago not far from where I live. Interested in what denizens of the real OC are auctioning off? Here are the store's listings. Unsurprising: lots of golf clubs, a ship in a bottle, BMW headlights, a rhinestone studded evening bag in the shape of Old Glory, The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan on a mug. Must be visiting from L.A.: Rocky Horror Picture Show dolls, Born to Ski trolls.

The concept and ramifications of this kind of business model fascinate me. For starters, it must dramatically increase eBay's inventory. The flipside: it must hurt donation-dependent charitable organizations that might otherwise receive people's cast-off loot. (Not to mention the emotional toll this must take on garage sale junkies.) It also has to be a huge boon to bargain hunters. I have the feeling the sellers using these services are almost always looking to lighten the load with a minimum of effort, and that any return is pure gravy, more than they thought they would realize. Thus, they're probably more willing than most eBay sellers to start the bidding low and not set a reserve.

All Over The Air, But Not Online

CNN is going blog wild this week, and today featured particularly extensive coverage on Inside Politics, with a lengthy "Inside the Blogs" feature complete with iMac-and-Safari-wielding, perky-yet-savvy anchors. None of the stories seem to be on the Web however, except perhaps indirectly. (Note to CNN: when covering the blogosphere, put the stuff online.) Jeff Jarvis did his characteristic great job of providing insightful and accurate sound bites.

While looking for traces of these stories at CNN.com and not finding them, I did see this piece covering JotSpot from Demo, which while completely unrelated is nevertheless well worth the read.

Meta Pick

A bit of meta-physical gymnastics for you: my pick of the day is the Guardian Newsblog's Pick of the Day. (Via the Chief Blogging Officer, who is pleased to have been picked.) Worth it just to learn that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy will be in theaters soon — with Mos Def playing Ford Prefect. Don't forget your towel.


Thursday, February 17, 2005

Uncommon Creations

Check out these two fine examples of what Creative Commons has wrought (and it's not that far out of the starting gate):

The Staccato podcast: "Welcome to Staccato, where we feature music that probably won't get you sued. All tracks are available under a Creative Commons license. So is the show, of course." Via the Chris Pirillo Show on 1/27 (hour 3), which features an inteview with Staccato's founder Matt May and includes Matt's take on both the strengths and fallibilities of Creative Commons. Regarding the latter, Matt discusses how other rights considerations (i.e. ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI) might not go away simply because someone has tried to issue a work under a CC license. Matt selects his tuneage from the new releases feed at Archive.org/Open Source Audio.

Science Commons: "The mission of Science Commons is to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others." (Via Cory Doctorow on The Gadget Show.) To the blawgers out there: do me a favor and read the Science Commons description in full with these questions in mind: doesn't the realm of legal knowledge confront these same sort of obstacles, and wouldn't this kind of approach help overcome them in our arena as well?


Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Today's New Blawg (And One That's Been Around The Blawgk)

Hi Neil, nice to see you!

And welcome to your blog's Terrible Twos, Dennis, let us know if you require a Supernanny intervention.

The Other PopTech

It's happening: molded plastic in various shapes and invariably bright and cheery colors is overrunning my house. It's a war of attrition in which we mere humans haven't a prayer. Forget about the gray goo; it's the hard stuff that's bound to blot out the sun before you can say "attractive storage solutions." And it really doesn't matter how often you load up the car and head down to the local consignment store; things follow you home from there just to perpetuate the cycle. There are however at least 2 unassailable reasons to replenish your plastic menace from such establishments:

  1. Perfectly good corn poppers ("So much for the technical specifications") for $2.00; and
  2. Some other poor sap has freed the items from their packaging prisons.

Oh, and Kevin Marks is clearly collaborating with the non-biodegradeable nemesis; if he hadn't recently forwarded a pointer to the Baby NameVoyager, I and my minions would have far more resources to devote to the next offensive.

(L)awful

Delivered with no sarcasm at all: The Association of Music Podcasters (AMP): "AMP was formed in January 2005 to unite podcasters who play awesome, legally available independent music." Seven members and growing. (Via Adam Curry)

Delivered with just a hint of sarcasm: this week's Law Related Thing That Sucks: Copyright.


Monday, February 14, 2005

And 6 Plawdcasts Too

Adam Curry: "As of this morning the iPodder.org directory passed the 3000 mark. We are now actively tracking 3075 podcasts in over 60 categories."

2005.02.14 Show Notes

Today's podcast covers quoteplay, more on RSS and copyright, podcasting and copyright, some exist-entialism, and tech left out of Minority Report.

2005.02.14 (MP3, 6.2MB); select a quote[quoteplay player]

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Cupid Loves Gadgets

If you're inclined to agree, you might like the first two podcasts from The Podcast Network: The Mobiles Show (pilot episode "recorded 100% on a Nokia Communicator, fact fans") and The Gadget Show, the first of which features Cory Doctorow.


Sunday, February 13, 2005

Quoteplaying

I just downloaded and uploaded quoteplay, a neat and free tool ($10.00 registration requested) from Matt Round that lets listeners point to a segment of an audio file. The idea is as follows. Say you're listening to a podcast, perhaps even the Bag and Baggage podcast. Something you hear prompts you to want to comment further, so you open up your blogging tool of choice and begin composing a post. Using quoteplay, instead of pointing to the entire audio file of the show, you can find the precise bit that interests you and generate a URL that, when clicked, will play just that portion of the audio. Neat, huh? Handy for blog posts and podcast show notes — both to let others use quoteplay on your audio and to point to segments of other people's quoteplay-enabled podcasts. In order for quoteplay to work with someone's podcast, the podcaster has to upload three files to his or her server. Having just done it, I can attest: even an idiot can figure it out.

So, without further ado, I give you the quoteplay-enabled versions of the Bag and Baggage podcasts to date. Here's an example of how it works: Cory Doctorow on the role of market forces in shaping DRM, from Digital ID World 2003. Future Bag and Baggage podcasts will be quoteplay-enabled too, so I'll leave the rest of the quoting to you. Have fun!

  1. 2005.01.09 (MP3, 3.5MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  2. 2005.01.12 (MP3, 7.8MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  3. 2005.01.17 (MP3, 5.8MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  4. 2005.01.24 (MP3, 6.3MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  5. 2005.01.31 (MP3, 5.2MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  6. 2005.02.03, Part I (MP3, 5MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  7. 2005.02.03, Part II (MP3, 10MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]
  8. 2005.02.03, Part III (MP3, 4.9MB); show notes; select a quote[quoteplay player]

Friday, February 11, 2005

Belly Up To The Bar Exam

Pugnatrix is documenting her battle with the bar exam, that little quiz designed to give its takers "hives, making them sexually unattractive and therefore less likely to pick up a rich mate who'll pay off the educational loans." Thank goodness for public schools.

By the way, I'm a little late in linking to Belly Up to the Bar V. [Via Kevin Heller]

Yentally Unbalanced

Tim Hadley: Wanted: well-managed small to mid-sized law firm. [Via Dennis Kennedy]

Powers Phillips (a small firm with a sense of humor that happens to be in Tim's neighborhood): Somewhere out there is a wacko, self-reliant Denver lawyer.

I've read Tim for a long time now, and "wacko" isn't the first adjective that comes to mind, but how do you not seize the chance to explore opportunities with the Bitches From Hell? (I think you'll both find my headhunter fee to be refreshingly reasonable.)

Smearily We Roll Along

Gary Kendra's second podcast provides a nice overview of defamation law and related privacy claims in the Internet context.


Thursday, February 10, 2005

Good Question

Dave Winer, "$288 buys you what?" This really could (should?) be a lot simpler. Though the experimental ASCAP podcast-ready license is a welcome attempt to recognize and address new technological developments, the music royalty scheme could not be more confusing to the average person. It confuses me, and I'm a lawyer (albeit a blonde-ish litigator). Note the disconnect between the ASCAP FAQ for the new licenses and the actual frequently asked questions, a good cross section of which appear in the comments to Dave's post. Bret Fausett, if you have the time a more comprehensive follow-up would be super.


Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Dr. Emmett Brown As Professor Lawrence Lessig

Stamford, CT, Stanford, CA — coincidence? Lessig.org: "Professor Lessig, portrayed by Christopher Lloyd, is in tonight's episode of The West Wing." (On his blog, the good professor gets graphic.)


Tuesday, February 08, 2005

People, The Pod

USA Today, Radio to the MP3 degree: Podcasting: "Rundle didn't need the BBC or any PR firm to help him reach an audience. He simply posted his show on the Internet." Also: "'It's the Internet penetrating into the rest of your life, when you're not connected,' says podcasting pioneer Adam Curry." (Links added.)

Today, And With Any Luck Tomorrow Too

USA Today, Podcasting: it's all over the dial: "Truly programming by the people, for the people. No big overhead. No censors. No pesky professional standards to live up to."

New. Cool.

Matt Round let me know about this as he was hacking it together, and I'm excited to see if and how I can get it working with my podcasts: quoteplay.

quoteplay allows others to link to specific bits of your audio files (ideal for letting weblogs quote from podcasts). Using a Flash-based in-browser MP3 player anyone can play & select clips and create links to them.

Since I love blogging about specific portions of people's podcasts, it would be great if everyone would start using this immediately. Thanks. ;) Here's more from Matt on the subject.

Also, congratulations to Hylton and the crew at Corante on the launch of BrandShift, edited by the way-cool Jennifer Rice. It finds and unmasks closet telemarketing schemes — do you need to know anything more?

As Bill Clinton Might Say...

...it depends on what your definition of "license" is. From the Ask Jeeves/Bloglines FAQ, Will there be any changes to the treatment of feeds and blogs posted to the service?: "Bloglines, like any aggregator, requires a license to display, distribute and promote the feeds we serve and the content you post — otherwise, we could not provide this service. Bloglines' license is for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting your content in connection with the service. That's it. Users will retain the copyright to the content they post."

Hmm. Well, not every blog aggregated by Bloglines registered with the site or accepted its terms of service. I presume that some (many) are there simply because users have added the feed. This is true of other aggregators too. So, is Bloglines saying it's relying on other licensing (like Creative Commons) for its authority? If so, it's got a fairly involved job on its hands making sure the specific terms of those licenses are honored. And/or is it trying to rely on something else?

Who's got a license-free blog and never registered with Bloglines? Are you included?

[Update:] Marty Schwimmer: "Offer a choice to bloggers."

[Update:] And a bit of table-turning.

ASCAP For Podcasters

Ken Kozlowski writes:

ASCAP Offers Licenses to Podcasters
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers is offering a license to podcasters for musical performance rights on their shows. If you don't know what podcasting is, check out the info at iPodder. The license allows one to play ASCAP songs on a podcast in segments not to exceed 60 seconds for a price of $250 per year for individuals who are not realizing any income from the podcasts. There are other license categories for those with some type of revenue stream. This is a big development, and those interested in this should check out the license agreement at the ASCAP site.

He's right, this is a big deal. I'm not sure it definitively answers the question of whether podcasts are the equivalent of Internet radio for copyright and licensing purposes, but it tells you how ASCAP feels about the subject. For $250 a year, many podcasters will probably pay the fee just for the comfort level (but ASCAP isn't the only consideration; see Bret Fausett, How to Podcast RIAA Music Under License). For those running ads or charging subscription fees, it will be interesting to see if the economics make this such a no-brainer; in other words, their fees may be high enough to prompt someone to go to the mat on the issue.


Monday, February 07, 2005

Genderally Speaking

From The How Are Things Under That Rock? Department

Today, the Los Angeles Times proves it's still possible (whether it's advisable is a different subject altogether) to do a story about Internet radio, time-shifting, and mobility without once mentioning podcasting. Unbelievable.


Sunday, February 06, 2005

Wanted: Two T-Shirts

  1. "I'm podcasting this" (à la)
  2. "I grok Doc"

It's fun to come back from a weekend of state-trotting and catch up.

Bonus link (you won't find these advertised on the Super Bowl), "W3C Compliant" HTTPanties: "For the discriminating woman who would prefer a web-savvy and somewhat-direct approach in the romance department." (There's a customer action shot that wouldn't have had a prayer with the Fox censors.)


Thursday, February 03, 2005

Subscribed

Gary Kendra, "a metro Detroit attorney who has been providing legal counsel on Internet and technology issues since the pre-Mosaic days in the early 1990s," podcasts Adventures in Cyberlaw, on "issues surrounding the convergence of law and technology." (feed)

Soggy Interrogatory

Rebecca Tushnet asks Marty Schwimmer: "Infringement? Dilution? Or just a sponge in a church?"

2005.02.03 Show Notes

With the kind permission of Phil Becker, I'm pleased to add the 3 Digital ID World panels in which I've participated to the Bag and Baggage podcast. (MP3s: 2002; 2003; 2004) The subject of these talks was digital rights management (2002 and 2003) and trusted computing (2004), and they were expertly moderated by David Weinberger (2002), Cory Doctorow (2003), and Dan Gillmor (2004). It's interesting to track the differences in the DRM discussion between '02 and '03. Here are some of my notes from the trusted computing session:

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Wednesday, February 02, 2005

The Converse Of Tired Or Expired

The Wired GC is thinking about lawyers putting BitTorrent to work:

What about a file you could download that has all the briefs in an a appellate case and a video of the oral argument? What about all the legislative history considered by Congress in enacting a new environmental statute? Or every employment agreement that's in the SEC Edgar database?

That And Dishpan Hands

Evan Schaeffer: "Getting indicted is something that every citizen should try to avoid."

MacroMenia

Mena Trott will be speaking at D: All Things Digital this year (along with folks you've never heard of like Gates, Jobs, McNealy...).

Value-Subtract

Captivate now advertises on flat panels in our building elevators. Doesn't lower our rent one bit.

Not Just Any Old Port

From the San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere, CA (Latitude 37° 52.355', Longitude 122° 27.778'): "The SFYC harbor now has Wireless Internet."

[Update:] Yacht spots are hot spots. Check out Google's 7,600+ results for "yacht club 'wireless internet'"

Blue Streak

There is some absolutely mindblowing audio about Bluetooth (among other things) from Andy Ihnatko (speaking at last fall's Mac OS X Conference) over at IT Conversations. Building on the premise that "Bluetooth is like bacon — there is nothing that cannot be improved by adding it," Andy paints a near science fictional portrait of on-the-fly computer and device customization enabled by a hypothetical Bluetooth-equipped iPod. It's at 51:28-1:00:20 of the MP3. Not here yet, but close enough to taste it, and it's yummy.

Cluetrain Goes Commando*

Christopher Locke, aka the Chief Blogging Officer: "We're all of us dealing with large organizations of one form or another, whether they be companies or, as in the case above, Companies." Lieutenant Locke's post describes how Cluetrain helped inspire Company Command: Unleashing the Power of the Army Profession. Ten-hut!

*"going commando"


Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Apples At Law

Family law and estate planning firm Stahancyk, Gearing, Rackner & Kent is an all Mac shop, as described on the Apple site in a piece called Wise Counsel. Definitely worth the read. You might not have thought about putting some of the Mac's coolest features to use in a law firm: "The firm's do-it-yourself ethic has also led them to work with video, using iMovie and iDVD. 'We can record important deposition testimony without hiring an expensive video team'" ... "'These days, two of my partners are 180 miles away, but we still have weekly partner's meetings via videoconference, using iChat and iSight.'"

CA Prop 64 Held Non-Retroactive

The UCL Practitioner reports on a hot issue in California jurisprudence: the first decision by the Court of Appeal on the retroactivity of Proposition 64 (context). Sez the UCLP: "Proposition 64 does NOT apply to pending cases filed before its effective date. ... This decision is a victory all around for plaintiffs."


Creative Commons LicenseUnless otherwise expressly stated, all original material of whatever nature created by Denise M. Howell and included in the Bag and Baggage weblog and any related pages, including the weblog's archives, is licensed under a Creative Commons License.