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| Monday, February 24, 2003 |
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Easy: it's a commons 
Not that it makes Jack a hero or anything
| | Valenti's case might make some sense to honorable people if he worked for a moral industry. But it's built around a lie, which he repeats often -- that we're taking money out of the mouths of artists if we don't pay for the music we use. We've already figured out that almost no money goes to the artists. If you reform your industry, your moral appeal might have some weight with honest people. |
| | A small clarification: Jack works for the movie industry, not the music industry. At Digital Hollywood last September, Karen Randall, an MPAA lawyer, said the movie industry has tried to distance itself from the music industry and its customer-hostile tactics. While she still talked about a "full frontal assault on illegal downloading" and other nastiness, she made it clear that the MPAA planned to use a much softer glove than the RIAA, and has been learning from the RIAA's instructive experience. While the record industry has "alientated customers and talent" to the degree that customers think "the record companies are a bunch of suits who make too much money," she said the movie industry still enjoys a mostly-friendly relationship with its customers, and doesn't want to screw with that. That's why the MPAA hasn't "taken direct action against the kid downloading at home," she said. Talking about the carrot and stick, she added, "the stick is important, but we're thinking about how they (the RIAA) use it." |
| | Perhaps Jack's speech at Duke is an example of that thinking at work. |
| | Still, it's clear that the entertainment industry as a whole (including the music recording, movies and commercial broadcasting) are still rather hostile to the Net. |
Polyblog
| | Maybe now that Jamie's been outed, his old biz partner Craig will get back to his old blogging levels. |
The devolution will be televised
Stirred, not shaken
A Byrd out of hand
| | ... this is no small conflagration we contemplate. This is no simple attempt to defang a villain. No. This coming battle, if it materializes, represents a turning point in U.S. foreign policy and possibly a turning point in the recent history of the world. |
| | This nation is about to embark upon the first test of a revolutionary doctrine applied in an extraordinary way at an unfortunate time. The doctrine of preemption — the idea that the United States or any other nation can legitimately attack a nation that is not imminently threatening but may be threatening in the future — is a radical new twist on the traditional idea of self defense. It appears to be in contravention of international law and the UN Charter. And it is being tested at a time of world-wide terrorism, making many countries around the globe wonder if they will soon be on our -- or some other nation's -- hit list. High level Administration figures recently refused to take nuclear weapons off the table when discussing a possible attack against Iraq. What could be more destabilizing and unwise than this type of uncertainty, particularly in a world where globalism has tied the vital economic and security interests of many nations so closely together? There are huge cracks emerging in our time-honored alliances, and U.S. intentions are suddenly subject to damaging worldwide speculation. Anti-Americanism based on mistrust, misinformation, suspicion, and alarming rhetoric from U.S. leaders is fracturing the once solid alliance against global terrorism which existed after September 11. |
| | Here at home, people are warned of imminent terrorist attacks with little guidance as to when or where such attacks might occur. Family members are being called to active military duty, with no idea of the duration of their stay or what horrors they may face. Communities are being left with less than adequate police and fire protection. Other essential services are also short-staffed... |
| | In that scant two years, this Administration has squandered a large projected surplus of some $5.6 trillion over the next decade and taken us to projected deficits as far as the eye can see... |
| | In foreign policy, this Administration has failed to find Osama bin Laden. In fact, just yesterday we heard from him again marshaling his forces and urging them to kill. This Administration has split traditional alliances, possibly crippling, for all time, International order-keeping entities like the United Nations and NATO. This Administration has called into question the traditional worldwide perception of the United States as well-intentioned, peacekeeper. This Administration has turned the patient art of diplomacy into threats, labeling, and name calling of the sort that reflects quite poorly on the intelligence and sensitivity of our leaders, and which will have consequences for years to come. |
| | Calling heads of state pygmies, labeling whole countries as evil, denigrating powerful European allies as irrelevant — these types of crude insensitivities can do our great nation no good. We may have massive military might, but we cannot fight a global war on terrorism alone. We need the cooperation and friendship of our time-honored allies as well as the newer found friends whom we can attract with our wealth. Our awesome military machine will do us little good if we suffer another devastating attack on our homeland which severely damages our economy. Our military manpower is already stretched thin and we will need the augmenting support of those nations who can supply troop strength, not just sign letters cheering us on. |
| | The war in Afghanistan has cost us $37 billion so far, yet there is evidence that terrorism may already be starting to regain its hold in that region. We have not found bin Laden, and unless we secure the peace in Afghanistan, the dark dens of terrorism may yet again flourish in that remote and devastated land. |
| | Pakistan as well is at risk of destabilizing forces. This Administration has not finished the first war against terrorism and yet it is eager to embark on another conflict with perils much greater than those in Afghanistan. Is our attention span that short? Have we not learned that after winning the war one must always secure the peace? |
| | First, war is never right . There is a prevailing school of Christian ethical reflection — one from which I dissent — that teaches that disciples of Jesus may participate in warfare in defense of a just cause, on behalf of innocents, when every other means of bringing about the desired end has failed; such a situation makes participation in a war ³just,² though it does not make the war itself a positive option. |
Whack-a-jo
Don't say no, say how much
Figure $.0XX trillion, more or less.
| | They'll go public when the market looks good. End of story. |
Alive but not yet kicking
Stay retuned
| | Sheila's our projo (literally, in several meanings of the contraction) on The Case of the Burned-Down Nightclub (The Station, near her providentially-named hometown). |
Blaser's new trails
| | Britt Blaser says Asheville is "like Boulder with prettier women" (will that flush RageBoy out?), but finds an even more attractive reason to move (or at least hang out) there: Etherhydrants. |
| | He describes these as "a crotch-high solid-appearing metal post with green lights" that provide Infrared, BeamPost, Ethernet, Bluetooth and WiFi — all in one very hot little spot. |
| | Proving how close we are to the time when Net access will be a service as public as lighted streets and running water. |
| | All the technical clues point to a transparent society that collectively knows as much about its participants as did the citizens of a 19th century village. |
| | The personal means for that transparency is the PFR with geopositioning. The supporting infrastructure will be the wireless mesh of repeating stations that we the people will build without realizing that we were supposed to wait until the telecoms got their act together. |
Grannies
| | I tried to watch the Grammies last night, but I fell asleep. I woke up at one point to see Harvey Fierstein looking like Dame Edna, and at another point to see Sprintsteen and the E Street band perform The Rising. I kinda wanted to see Norah Jones do something, since she blew me away the first time I heard her on the radio (though not as much during the several thousand times I've heard her since). But I was gone. The whole thing was too much like TV. |
Training Day
| | Had a great time with the kid on the train yesterday from San Diego to Santa Barbara. At five an a half hours, it's slower than a car trip — if there are no traffic tie-ups. But we're talking about Southern California freeways here. On weekdays, it's no contest: the train wins. |
| | The trip was $53 for business class (tables, cushy chairs, snacks, coffee, 120v AC), round trip. You sit on the upper deck and see stuff you'd never witness by car, including endless beach and mountain views, plus so many square miles of lumber, piping, trucks and containers that you become convinced that Los Angeles has to be the freight forwarding capital of the world. We built out the kid's new Bionicles (cute and cuddly as scorpions) and had a great time. |
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