Friday, May 29, 2009

That's One Way to Find a Job... Read all about how one guy from Italy got hired by Amazon through Second Life.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Time to Add "Rap Artist" to the List... of alternate career paths for lawyers. The ABA Journal has the details.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Yawn. Did anyone expect the MPAA's position to be different?
Courts About to Reign In Privacy Services? The Legal Satyricon has this report on a recent decision out of California finding that a privacy service may be held contributorily liable under the ACPA for its customer's actions. Things could get interesting...
Somebody's Been Watching Pump Up the Volume Again. Wired has this report about the (claimed) scope of the FCC's inspection authority. The claims at the beginning seem over hyped, especially since Wired doesn't cite any case where the FCC based their right to enter on the presence of a cell phone or other household device that transmits a radio frequency.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

It's Been a While... Since I've seen Lessig this loquacious.
Maybe I'm Just Facebook Illiterate... but how would one even accomplish this from a technological standpoint? Create a page called "You've Been Sued" and send a request for him to join? And what happens if he's set his privacy settings to only appear in searches by his friends?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

WalMart + Apple = ? On the one hand, I could see this increasing Apple's market share. But would it be at the cost of the "cool factor," which Apple has spent millions of advertising dollars to create?
Danger Mouse Pushing the Envelope Again. EFF has this report on Danger Mouse's upcoming "release." And where have I been that I didn't know Danger Mouse helped form Gnarls Barkley?

Friday, May 15, 2009

Increasing Pressures on Patent Regime. Intellectual Property Watch has this report on efforts at the UN to balance intellectual property rights with human rights. This comes a few days after the ACLU filed suit challenging patents granted over certain breast cancer genes on First Amendment grounds.
The Redskins-Cowboys Rivalry Can Live On. How Appealing has the latest (last?) on the challenge to the Redskins' trademarks filed by some Native American groups.
Google Waiving the Red Flag. CNet reports that Google has revised its AdWords policy to begin allowing some trademarks to appear in some AdWords copy. This comes on the heels of recent trademark infringement cases filed against the search company, including a class action recently filed in Texas on behalf of trademark owners.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Maybe One Day I'll Be Able to Afford Solar Power. Between this product and Veranda Solar's expandable panels, affordable, city-friendly solar power seems to be closer to a reality.
The Revenge of Eldred? Court strikes down law restoring foreign copyrights.
Kabuki Theater in Washington. Wendy has a wrap-up of this week's DMCA hearings.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

We're All Criminals Now? Wired is reporting on a recent case upholding an Ohio man's felony hacking conviction as a result of his use of a work computer in violation of his employer's Internet policy. While we can all agree that use of a work computer to upload porn deserves some sort of censure, do we really want to go down a path that makes violations of private Internet terms of use into criminal conduct? Given the draconian nature of many employers' terms of use (the terms of which employers and employees often appear to have a tactic agreement to ignore), you could be risking more than just your job by booking that plane ticket to Boise to see your parents using your work computer.
Is this Really Unique to Twitter? Shouldn't the headline read "Potential Confidentiality Perils of Employees with Big Mouths"?
Oops. Ars Technica has an interesting report on the recent leak of the archive of a mailing list used by the American Psychological Association and the Pentagon to disucuss the profession's role in torture interrogations.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

More from the "Nothing on the Internet is Private" Files. Wired has a report on a recent case out of New Jersey that finds two individuals suing their former-employer for invasion of privacy based on the employer gaining access to a private MySpace group (resulting in the "former" part of "former-employer"). Interesting discussions around the CMLP offices about whether or not the element of coercion takes this out of the typical employment-at-will framework.
All Your Facebooks Are Belong to Us? CNet is reporting on a new tool to allow hackers to control large numbers of Facebook accounts using cookie data.
Is Anyone Actually Surprised by Scalia's Reaction? He's never struck me as a subscriber to the "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" philosophy. The Chronicle reports on a Fordham professor's recent Internet privacy experiment.
Feeling Old. JZ weighs in on Cato's debate celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Lessig's Code.
But Where Will I Go to Find Erotic Massages? Sam has a new post up at the CMLP blog about the recent move by the South Carolina AG to crack down on Craigslist.
Just What I (Don't) Need... An application that encourages shopping. At least it looks like it will save you money. Tech Crunch has the details.
More Headaches for Trademark Owners. Eric Goldman reports that Google will begin selling trademarks as keywords in 190 additional countries.
Like Squeezing Blood from a Stone? PoynterOnline points to a discussion about a new project spearheaded by Murdoch to come up with a workable model to charge for online content. What type of features would such a system need to have to be commercially successful?
Get Your Copyright On. The Economist is hosting a week-long debate about copyright law. HLS/Berkman's own Terry Fisher is participating. Via Michael Geist.