Category Archives: Network Politics

Calacanis is (mostly) full of shit.

Written by Scott on 9 August 2009 — Leave a Comment

Notes on Jason Calacanis’ The Case Against Apple–in Five Parts:
1. Destroying MP3 player innovation through anti-competitive practices
2. Monopolistic practices in telecommunications
3. Draconian App Store policies that are, frankly, insulting
4. Being a horrible hypocrite by banning other browsers on the iPhone
5. Blocking the Google Voice Application on the iPhone
1. (Apple) Hardware sales drive iTunes use, not [...]

Also posted in Apple, iPhone

Copyright Doesn’t Scale.

Written by Scott on 1 March 2009 — Leave a Comment

I’ve heard this point made before, but this great post @Volokh uses Microsoft’s Songsmith to illustrate the chilling effects of the current Copyright regime on creativity:
One of the things that makes copyright so ill-suited to the networked age is that it doesn’t scale. Here’s what I mean. If azz10 walked into my office and said: [...]

Also posted in Copyright

MIT Futures of Entertainment 3

Written by Scott on 15 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

Sessions from the MIT Futures of Entertainment 3 conference are up at MIT’s cool video section.
Videos here. iTunes-compatible feed here.

Also posted in Conferences, Ideas, Media Technology

DMCA Circumvention Hubbub On-Tap?

Written by Scott on 14 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

Starting with this weeks dust-up over Apple’s claim that Jailbreaking an iPhone is/should be illegal. EFF analysis here. EFF briefs here and here.
More by Nate Anderson at Ars:
Every three years, the Copyright Office hosts a rulemaking in which it considers specific exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) rules against circumventing DRM, and [...]

Also posted in Apple, Censorship, Copyright, Media Technology

Obama Names FCC Transition Team

Written by Scott on 15 November 2008 — Leave a Comment

Via TVNewsday. Seems like a fairly positive development. Jeff Jarvis agrees. Crawford blogs here.
Two academics—Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach—will lead the Obama FCC transition team with the responsibility of advising the incoming administration on policy, budget and personnel matters, the Obama-Biden office announced today.
Story continues after the ad
Crawford is a professor of law at the [...]

Also posted in Censorship

Happy Birthday, DMCA.

Written by Scott on 2 November 2008 — Leave a Comment

As the 10th Anniversary of the DMCA is upon us, a slew of articles, analysis, and chilling effects:

The EFF: The Two Best Books About the DMCA
The EFF: DMCA: Ten Years of Unintended Consequences
Circumventing Competition: The Perverse Consequences of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
DMCA Week @ Freedom to Tinker
DMCA Week: A second orphan works problem?

Robert Laughlin: The Crime of Reason

Written by Scott on 23 October 2008 — Leave a Comment

Tim Lee points to this podcast/interview with Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin:
Monday’s edition of the Cato Institute’s daily podcast features an interview with Robert Laughlin, a Nobel Laureate in physics who wrote a book called The Crime of Reason about the ways that national security, patent, and copyright laws are restricting scientific research and the [...]

Also posted in Copyright, Ideas

Google Launches “Free the Airwaves”

Written by Scott on 18 August 2008 — Leave a Comment

Google has launched an advocacy site to promote the use of “whitespace” or the unused spectrum between TV channels, as a means for delivering widespread wireless Internet access.
From Freetheairwaves.com
Remember that fuzzy static between channels on the old TVs? Today more than three-quarters of those radio airwaves, or “white space” spectrum, are completely unused. This vast [...]

Also posted in Ideas

Dumped for Thursday

Written by Scott on 24 July 2008 — Leave a Comment

In an attempt to at least partially un-clutter my desktop, a collection of semi-random outrages, videos, and linkage.
The MPAA wants to decide how and when you watch content, again. They not only want to kill your Slingbox, but now they’re talking about prohibiting HD DVR recording of some programs.
Not sure I agree with everything here, [...]

Also posted in Film+Video, Music

The Memory Hole Re-launches

Written by Scott on 8 July 2008 — Leave a Comment

Russ Kick’s site has been re-launched, to fill all your FOIA and secret Government document needs.
Announcement.
The Memory Hole.
For newbs:
The Memory Hole exists to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known. This includes:
• Government files
• Corporate memos
• Court documents (incl. lawsuits and transcripts)
• [...]

Also posted in Censorship

001- Women in Trouble
One crazy day in the lives of 10 wildly different women -- including a porn star, psychiatrist, flight attendant, housewife, masseuse and others -- forms the basis of this indie comedy from writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez. Starring Carla Gugino as adult film actress Elektra Luxx, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Adrianne Palicki, Connie B […]
002- Thirst
When the smoke clears from a failed experiment to find a cure for a fatal disease, a devout priest finds himself forever changed. Specifically, he's a vampire -- but that isn't the only thing that's different. Now he's also willing to commit adultery with the wife of his childhood friend, a sin he never would have considered before. Kang- […]
003- Switchblade Sisters
Director Jack Hill's kinetic, 1975 cult classic tells a lurid tale about girls, guns and gang wars. The addition of a cool blonde newcomer (Joanne Nail) to the Dagger Debs -- a female gang led by Lace (Robbie Lee) -- sets off an internal power struggle. With a conspirator in their midst, two bluecoats just waiting to bust them and a rival, male-gang lea […]
004- Bronson
Nicolas Winding Refn's vivid and unflinching biopic delves into the life of Britain's most notorious prisoner, Charlie Bronson (Tom Hardy) -- who's been jailed for nearly 35 years -- and attempts to dissect the real man behind the deranged persona. While Bronson's primary ambition was to be famous, he became a celebrity of sorts as a crim […]
005- 24 City
From director Zhang Ke Jia comes this drama about changing times in Chengdu, China, where state-owned factory 420 is closed by the government to make way for a high-end apartment complex called 24 City. The film tells the story through the lens of several distinctive characters, from factory workers to executives to the newly monied, who are all affected in […]
006- American Experience: The Lobotomist
First hailed as a promising cure for mental illness, the lobotomy soon became known as an utterly barbaric procedure that ruined lives. This documentary explores the history of the surgery and its early proponent, Dr. Walter Freeman. Uncover the rise and fall of this "medical miracle" through interviews with historians, health experts and relatives […]
007- Friday Night
Paris, 1995. Laure (Valérie Lemercier) is about to meet friends for dinner to celebrate her moving in with her boyfriend. But on her way out, she discovers that the entire city is stalled by a massive transit strike. When a handsome stranger (Vincent Lindon) offers her a ride, Laure takes a highly charged, impossibly erotic detour. […]
008- La Ronde
Set in Paris on the eve of World War I, Roger Vadim's remake of the 1950 film follows a lusty soldier (Claude Giraud) as he engages in a number of affairs. He sleeps with a prostitute (Marie Dubois), seduces a chambermaid (Anna Karina) and beds a married woman (Jane Fonda) before coming full circle, returning to tryst with the streetwalker once more. Va […]
009- The Silence
Three passengers travel through a foreign country on the brink of war. Taking ill, Esther checks into a hotel room, with her sister Anna and Anna's son, Johan, occupying the adjoining suite. Still unable to travel the next day, Esther gives Johan a list of helpful translations for their journey and stays behind. Part of Ingmar Bergman's trilogy of […]
010- Through a Glass Darkly
Recently released from a mental institution, Karin is on holiday with her family. But their inability to give her love and support causes a mental breakdown that leads to a hallucinogenic episode during which Karin envisions God as a spider. Director Ingmar Bergman's experimental "chamber play", which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is par […]
011- Schlock!: The Secret History of American Movies
Ray Greene directed this engrossing documentary that features clips of independent movies made in the pioneering era of the 1950s and '60s, along with interviews with the cinematic mavericks who made them (such as Sam Arkoff, Doris Wishman, Vampira, Roger Corman and Peter Bogdanovich). Includes rarely viewed clips by Wishman, David F. Friedman and Harry […]
012- Cockfighter
After an offhand boast costs him his best fighting cock -- and his chances at the Cockfighter of the Year award along with it -- Frank (Warren Oates) swears not to speak again until he has redeemed himself by winning that medal. But his fortunes continue to decline, and soon, he's lost much more, including his girlfriend. Monte Hellman directs this bloo […]
013- Dark City: Director's Cut
Alex Proyas directs this shadowy sci-fi masterpiece about a man (Rufus Sewell) who awakens to find himself accused of murder in a strange city. Now, he must untangle his jumbled memories while eluding both the police and a woman claiming to be his wife (Jennifer Connelly). This special edition director's cut boasts 11 minutes of new footage, plus commen […]
014- Alexandra
Nominated for a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this meditation on the effects of war from director Aleksandr Sokurov follows an elderly woman named Alexandra (Galina Vishnevskaya) as she travels to Chechnya to visit a grandson posted there. As seen through Alexandra's eyes, the barracks and its inhabitants reveal the staggering costs -- bo […]
015- Near Dark
In the dusty heart of the American southwest, innocent country boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is handily seduced by a beautiful girl (Jenny Wright) into joining a pack of vicious drifters, which turns out to be no ordinary band of outlaws. Soon, Caleb is trapped in a nightmarish world of soulless evil and hellish mayhem that thrives on blood and absolute horror. […]
016- The Quiet Earth
After surviving the apocalypse, scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) faces a dangerous and uncertain new world in this thriller. The government researcher wakes up to find all human life on the planet completely destroyed. That is, until he encounters a lovely young woman (Alison Routledge) and a trucker (Pete Smith). Tension mounts as the survivors adapt t […]
017- Ace in the Hole
Fired from a number of big-city papers, reporter Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas) tries to reestablish himself in New Mexico. When a local store owner is trapped in a cave-in, Tatum turns the victim's misfortune into a media frenzy to further his own career. A local sheriff agrees to help prolong the rescue efforts, thereby helping build up the story. This […]
018- Wide Awake
This disturbing Korean thriller centers on a little boy who -- due to a lack of sufficient anesthetic -- remains in a conscious but immobile state during open-heart surgery. Not surprisingly, he's severely traumatized by the torturous experience. Many years later, the now-grown man embarks on a homicidal tear in an attempt to exact revenge on the powers […]
019- Burnt Offerings
A vacationing family rents a sprawling mansion for the summer and soon discovers that all is not as it should be. Among other equally strange things, dead plants come back to life, and the swimming pool kills bathers -- which makes a quick dip out of the question. Stars Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis and Burgess Meredith. […]
020- La Collectionneuse
The third of director Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" finds foxy and licentious Haydee (Haydee Politoff) bedding a different male each night on the French Riviera. When Haydee's moral well-being becomes the concern of self-absorbed Adrien (Patrick Bauchau) and his friend Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle) -- neither of whom will sleep with Hayde […]