Creative Commons
I love xkcd
Beautiful animation based on xkcd comic 442. Sharing through CC can create some amazing derivatives, but we already knew that. I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.
e-commerce
Cookie Law: regulatory failure
There are some things in life that are so wrong at every level that as soon as they see the light of day deserve a big fat “FAIL” caption. That “Mission Accomplished” banner. Boy bands. Any movie bearing the words “A Film by Michael Bay”. Misplaced CCTV cameras. The latest Read more
ACTA
The Great Intermediary War
When the history of the Internet is written down (again), the annals of the years 2009 and 2010 will describe the consolidation of social media, the rise of Twitter, but more importantly, it will be known as the period when regulators and industry tried to tackle intermediaries. This has been Read more
Blogging
Freedom to be obnoxious?
Nobody knows how it happened, but Stephen Fry was declared sometime last year the King of the Internet. However, His Royal Tweetness seems to have lost some of the vibrant love for all things participatory. During a social networking conference, he is quoted as saying: “I don’t know about you Read more
Enforcement
Digital Economy Bill and orphan works
So, the Digital Economy Bill has been unleashed upon an unsuspecting public (if we exclude the twittering and blogging classes of course). The Bill is already being scrutinised by various parties, and the veredict seems to be worrying, as it implements three strikes disconnection, as well as other seemingly abusive Read more
Copyright
Queen announces disconnection for file-sharing
As anticipated, Her Majesty the Queen has announced the implementation of measures against file-sharers, including notices and disconnection. The measures will be part of the Digital Economy Bill, which also proposes tougher classification for video games, and new powers to Ofcom regarding local news services. While the Bill’s text is Read more
Academia
Nano postmodern Feminist carbon sustainable robots micro blogging cold-fusion
(Via Mathias Klang) Excellent PhD comic:
Announcements
IGF webcast
My colleague Abbe Brown is in Egypt attending the Internet Governance Forum (not jealous, honest). She has sent this announcement, which I reproduce: On 18 November I am running a workshop at the Internet Governance Forum in Egypt at 8am – 9am (2 hours ahead of the UK) “Towards Access: Read more
ACTA
ACTA: How not to negotiate wide-ranging bilateral agreements
Bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are strange beasts. They are usually drafted to get two countries or regions to open up their markets, therefore contain all sorts of harmonising provisions which will bring the contracting parties’ laws closer to one another in order to ease trade. One of the topics Read more