Monthly Archive for September, 2003

Libraries side with P2P

Published
by
Mark
on Friday 26th September 2003
in News
. 2 Comments
I just posted this to the forum.

Who’s the third?

Published
by
Mark
on Friday 26th September 2003
in News
. Closed
Robert Palmer dies (NYT free reg. req.), just two weeks after John Ritter died, both at the age of 54, both unexpected. So, who’s going to be the third unexpected celebrity death (UCD)? Or does the Williams’ older sister’s death count as one of these UCDs?

Is television news really necessary?

Published
by
Mark
on Thursday 25th September 2003
in General
. 2 Comments
It might sound like I’ve been posting like crazy tonight, but that’s probably because I have been. I have yet to even post about this week’s television premieres, both season and series, which I may get to this weekend. Anyways, back to the subject above. I’m watching NBC 5 news, after having watched three hours of Friends, Will & Grace, Coupling, and ER. I noticed that I heard several stories that I had already read about on the internet or heard on the radio this morning. For example, I heard about the "Pie House" this morning on the Eric & Kathy Show on WTMX, and I read about the second rejection of the DNC list earlier today on Ars. So, is it really necessary to have the 10 o’clock news anymore? Maybe it’s just me, but I can find most of tonight’s news quickly via the Daily Herald or the Chicago Tribune online or in print. The only reason I watch the news anymore is to wait until the Tonight Show or something similar after the news. What about you?

Microsoft vs. Hyperphrase

Published
by
Mark
on Thursday 25th September 2003
in News
. 1 Comment
Well, through a link from slashdot, I found this post at the Corp Law Blog. Apparently Microsoft’s attorneys were almost five minutes late submitting a summary judgement (no, I don’t really know what that is), and Hyperphrase’s attorneys immediately filed a motion to dismiss Microsoft’s judgement. The judge threw out the dismissal, and has granted Hyperphrase a four minute thirty second grace period on some future e-filing of a motion.

Just a little too quick on the draw

Published
by
Mark
on Thursday 25th September 2003
in News
. Closed
According to this Slashback, a Denver judge has blocked the DNC list, just hours after the Congress has passed a bill granting the FTC the powers to oversee the enforcement of the list. Ain’t life a bitch?

DNC list coming back

Published
by
Mark
on Thursday 25th September 2003
in News
. Closed
After yesterday’s news that a US Federal court said "no" to the national do not call list, I thought I was going to have to continue to fend off telemarketers for the rest of my life. Thankfully, Congress has gotten wise and passed a law allowing the FTC to create the list.

Where’s my Software Customer Bill of Rights?

Published
by
Mark
on Wednesday 24th September 2003
in Software
. Closed
I’m no lawyer. We all know that, but some of you know that I like to talk law now and then (mostly in the attempt to gain more knowledge about it without dropping mega dollars on law school). One of my favorite law topics is intellectual property law. Cem Kaner is a well-known name when it comes to computers and law. He is an attorney, as well as a computer science professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. His name was one of the few big names that opposed the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) early on. I’d explain more about what I know about UCITA, but that is a lengthy post I will reserve for another time. Recently, in his blog, Kaner wrote a Software Customer Bill of Rights. It is an interesting read, especially if you happen to have an interest in what happens with laws like UCITA. I will quickly summarize his Bill of Rights below, but you should view his blog to see the details he attaches to each one. Continue reading ‘Where’s my Software Customer Bill of Rights?’