( Since DRM doesn't work, neither will technology solutions to privacy problems. )

Tags: copyfighting

HBO CTO Bob Zitter claims DRM only has detractors because of the branding - he suggests "Digital Consumer Enablement" instead. Ars technica say: why stop there?

Tags: copyfighting

On Tuesday I took part in a workshop run by the UK Patent Office as part of their consultation re an ongoing proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament/Council on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. ( Although my own views on software patents do not align with current UK government policy, I appreciated their outward-looking approach, enjoyed participating in the workshop, and found the side conversations fascinating. )

Tags: copyfighting, software_development
Current Mood: pleased

( A new buzzword for a concept important in debates about restrictions on digital copying has appeared. )
I like this terminology. I think it is an effective invention.

Tags: copyfighting
Current Mood: amused

( A public domain dedication, done as an entry so I can link to it from elsewhere. Plus some more general wittering in the comments. )

Tags: copyfighting

( EU software patents are back again. Rant follows! )

Tags: copyfighting
Current Mood: angry

I was clicking around this evening looking for resources regarding software patents.

( Why were you doing that? )


Anyway, after following a trail of links around the globe I happened on one particular UK advocacy site and went looking for contact details on the maintainer's homepage. And there I saw an interesting little service named GeoUrl.

( What's that, then? )

Tags: copyfighting, software_development
Current Mood: pondering

Why is there no pretty-much-free service for downloading arbitrary (i.e. you specify the content completely) ring-tones to one's mobile?

Background and disclaimers: like many, I have an interest in where copyright is going. Unlike many, I do not own a mobile phone and hence don't really know enough about them to make this post. But I saw a TV ad the other night to download the Mission Impossible theme as a ringtone for various popular makes of phone, and it got me involved in a thought experiment that seemed interesting because perhaps you can use it to draw some lines in the sand over attitudes to copyright.

( Read more... )

Tags: copyfighting
Current Mood: curious

Creative Commons is an attempt to workaround some of the bugs in the current copyright regime by making it easy to license one's work under a variety of useful standard terms or mark it as public domain, and to identify and search digitally for such work.

If you already knew that, and are sufficiently interested in some of the licensing intricacies that determine how well the idea will work, you should know they've recently added comment facilities to their news blog and are seeking opinions on a few proposed changes. One in particular that I commented on was requiring attribution of credit to including quoting a suitable URI. (I worry about using a specific technical concept like a URI in a license whose term may be hundreds of years.)

Whilst in commentary mode, I also brain-dumped a list of the issues I think are most important in implementing a software environment for the creation of machinima in a forum where a brave soul has explained they are undertaking such a task.

Tags: copyfighting
Current Mood: creative