The Digital Milennium Copyright Act is the hammer that has often been used to threaten computer science academics and researchers who study digital locks on DVDs and increasingly, music CDs. As I mentioned earlier this week, a graduate student pointed out that SunnComm's new copy protection technology can easily be thwarted by simply turning off […]
Headline: "Jobless Claims Lowest in Eight Months." So, when good economic news hits, what can you be sure of? Well, like death and taxes, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman will ignore it. Krugman comes out today with a defense of name-calling, oddly titled "Lessons in Civility." The column is mainly a hodge-podge of probably […]
I've got a recording of the Democratic Presidential debate replaying right now. The most stupid question/gimmick thus far is from a woman who apparently only speaks Spanish. The woman asked, through a translator, what the candidates proposed to do to help the "Spanish economy." What was apparently was meant was Latino/Hispanic businesses, not what they […]
In their effort to slow the proliferation pirated music over the Internet, the music industry has tried a two-pronged strategy: Sue and secure. The RIAA has sued a 12-year-old and a grandmother, along with hundreds of others, for allegedly downloading music over the Internet. Meanwhile, record and technology companies have been teaming up to restrict […]
Arnold Kling over at Tech Central Station pens an open letter to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman urging him to become "part of the solution, not part of the problem." For example, suppose I were to say, "We should abolish the minimum wage. That would increase employment and enable more people to climb out […]
A three-judge panel today put on hold a district court decision that found the FTC's do-not-call list to be an infringement on telemarketers free speech rights. According to the media reports, it appears as though the appellate court used logic similar to mine to come to its conclusion. "We conclude that the public does have […]
Flipped over to MSNBC as both Fox News and CNN were in commercial breaks, and watched as Chris Matthews and friends all agreed: California is a middle-of-the-road state, "like New York." Yeah, and The New York Times editorial page is centrist. Exhibit A in the case against an out-of-touch media elite.
At 8 p.m. the polls here in California closed. The networks took a deep breath, and they all immediately made their calls. Gray Davis out. Arnold Schwarzenegger in. Prop. 54 down. The first set of absentee ballot returns has Davis being recalled 63.4 percent to 36.6 percent and Schwarzenegger with a majority of the tally. […]
Sacramento Bee columnist/blogger Daniel Weintraub debunks a plethora of myths about today's recall election here in California. If you've followed the election closely, many of them will come as no surprise. But at least one was news to me: Myth: Many of the paid circulators were convicted criminals bused here from out of state. Fact: […]