Tag Archives: Internet

We had a pretty great Halloween this year, here and in real life. Once again I thank all Blogcritics who contributed to our Halloween special, which was an artistic and “commercial” success. Thanks to all our linkers, trackbackers and commenters as well. I urge you all to work your way …

Congressman Rick Boucher (D.-Va.), friend of fair use, voices his complaints with the Copyright Office’s ruling on DMCA exemptions, which we mentioned a couple of days ago. As a result of the ruling, Boucher said, “Consumers will continue to be subject to the whims of copyright owners seeking to deny …

So you’re an antisocial type who would rather confer with the disembodied for Halloween – the NY Times has some cool links: For the members of www.masquerade.org, for example, every day is Halloween. In this so-called MUSH – “multi-user shared hallucination” – those who log on portray various types of …

Please recall the DMCA exemption request process in which many of you helped participate – it was essentially all for naught: The U.S. Copyright Office has opted to leave a controversial software-protection law largely in place, despite protests that it interferes with consumers’ rights to watch movies and listen to …

Napster selling prepaid music download cards in convenience stores and elsewhere: Prepaid cards for tunes from the Napster online store soon will be on sale at 14,000 electronics retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores and other outlets around the country, Santa Clara-based Roxio Corp. plans to announce today. The cards are being …

Very compelling telling of the Alex Halderman-“shift key”-copy protection-SunnComm tale of madness and hilarity in USA Today: About every 30 seconds, the phone rings in the Phoenix offices of SunnComm Technologies. When the receptionist at the 28-employee company answers, someone on the other end curses into the phone. That’s happening …

I want to take a moment and commend Henry Copeland and Blogads for doing what a year ago looked impossible: turning blogs into a viable advertising medium. When Blogcritics was getting off the ground 14 months ago, the notion that blogs could generate traction enough to interest advertisers was viewed …

Only two days until Halloween – why do the holiday, movies, attractions, stories, etc., that trade in fright find such resonance with us? I looked into this and the bizarre rise of Internet “ghoul pools” on MSNBC.com: “It’s a dead man’s party, who could ask for more?Everybody’s coming, leave your …

Stalwart, omnipresent Farhad Manjoo calmly eviscerates Hollywood’s calls for a “broadcast flag” that would prohibit the transfer of digital television programs over the Internet, and that really entails telling electronics manufacturers how they must make their machines: On its Web site, the Motion Picture Association of America provides a handy …

Accumulating pearls of wisdom at the feet of my personal digital music guru Jim Griffin: get your collective act together or risk having government authorities slap compulsory licences on the business. In a hugely entertaining and passionate speech, Griffin expressed his clear preference for voluntary negotiations, advocating charges to be …