Cyberlaw

PhD, competition & publicity

This blog lives a quite, laid back existence. But when I wrote a post asking for help to design the cover of my Phd thesis things exploded (original post here). Since I wanted to spread the information and since I thought it might be a fun idea I asked for the information to be posted on BoingBoing â?? it was posted there. It has also been posted on some of my favourite blogs: Lessig Blog, Karl Jonsson, Det perfekta tomrummet, Foreward & Patrik’s Sprawl.

The effect of this publicity? Take a look at my stats. I dont think that this picture needs any comments!

In addition to this I had no idea that I was going to annoy designers so much by asking what I asked. Take a look at the comments to my post and you will see that the one thing you do not ask a designer for is help. Definitely touched a raw nerve there.

Anyway I have received some contributions already and I will present them all on the 10 May so that they can all be seen and maybe arrange some sort of voting procedure.

Posted on by mklang

Phone Tracker

The technology to track via mobile phones has been around for a long time. Despite this, most telecoms have been slow to offer this ‘service’ to a general public. Most probably this delay has its background in the need for more sofisticated administrative and technical solutions rather than ethical questionmarks.

The telecoms company Sprint has now begun to offer its Family Locator service

Sprint Family Locator gives you and your family peace of mind in the palm of your hand.

Locate Your Children in real-time, from either a registered “Parent” mobile handset or from the web.

Safety Checks let you know that your children have arrived at home or school on time.

For Only $9.99 a Month have quick, easy, and secure access to the location of up to 4 Sprint-Nextel handsets.

The emphasis is on paranoid parenting (Furedi 2001) i.e. to scare parents and create insecurity so that a need for a solution. This makes accepting the solution offered (in this case the family locator) is the only sensible thing to do. Never mind the fact that spying (even on your own children) is wrong. That those spied upon will devise creative solutions to avoid being spied upon. And that all systems such as these once implemented will be abused through some form of function creep.

Earlier similar posts: Spying on Cars and Privacy, GPS and Children.

Posted on by mklang

Book Cover Design Competition

My phd thesis goes to the publisher in May and I need a book cover for the work. My own attempts have been less than exciting so here is a competition for all you creative people.

Design a cover for my thesis and I will use it. Your work will appear on the 200-300 copies printed, you will naturally recieve full credit for your work and a copy of the book.

The title of the work is “Disruptive Technology” the undertitle (which should not appear on the cover) is “The Effects of Technology Regulation on Democracy”

All submissions need to be in by May 10.

Spread the word!

UPDATE (13 April)

Some questions about the competition & thesis.

Format: Not entirely fixed but approx: Height 23 cm, width 15 cm, length 260 pages.

Colours: No limitations other than the budget does not allow glossy photo-quality covers.
The basic argument of the thesis is: While governments talk about the advantages that technology may bring to the democratic process they are more concerned with streamlining administrative procedures rather than promoting true democratic interaction. When unconventional/innovative uses of technology appear the regulatory desire is to prohibit rather than promote. A draft version of the thesis is available here.

The thesis will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license

Posted on by mklang

DROA Scammers

I received a snail mail letter from Domain Name Registry Of America (DROA) warning me that some of the domains I own will soon expire and should be renewed.

Since DROA sends its offer of re-registration several months before expiry they come before the â??originalâ?? registrar. The text, name and the US flag logo make the reader think that this is a public service offer. The fact that it is snail mail adds to the trustworthiness of the scammer. In reality it is a reasonably clear offer to change to a different domain registrar.

The scam is an attempt to get users to re-register their sites with this new company for prices which are much higher than many other registrars. DROA attempts to mimic the look and feel of a public service and fool people into paying heavily for their service.

By Googling â??domain registry of americaâ?? you easily can find lots of hits about their dishonest marketing practices.

Posted on by mklang

Anti-Lessig Reader

To help those who disagree with him. Lessig has created a wiki called the Anti-Lessig Reader.

The aim of this page is to build a collection of content that criticizes my work…My aim is to create a simple source for “the other side of the story.”

Posted on by mklang

Silence of Dissent

As early as 2002 the Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have been considered using biometrics to beef up security. SAS state in a press release dated 2002-05-06 that they are evaluating biometrics to improve check-in and embarkation procedures. In the press release (reported here in the Swedish newspaper DI) they refer to the 9/11 attacks (naturally â?? what else?).

On 30 March 2006 the Swedish Data Inspection has given SAS permission (Swedish Press Release) to use fingerprints on domestic flights to ensure that persons handing in luggage are also on the flight. The goal is to have 1.4 million passengers voluntarily leave their fingerprints to a local database. When the passenger begins her flight the information in the database is erased.

Naturally the scheme is a violation of personal integrity. The Data Inspection legitimises its decision by pointing out that the data is only stored for a brief time and that the system is voluntary.

By waving the flag of freedom of choice the Airline company, the Data Inspection and others are practicing the art of spin to a marvellous degree. Any and all complaints against a voluntary system can be easily ignored. The critic can be derided since the system is voluntary â?? if you donâ??t like it then donâ??t do it.

This is, I believe, to miss the whole point.

We have all been taught to defend our rights but the question is then why people do not react when things like this happen in front of their eyes? The reason is that we are prepared to fight the strong foe but we have no defence against the â??Salami Tacticâ??. The Salami Tactic is the opposite of brute force it is hardly even a fight. It entails taking over something slice by slice. Each step in itself so small that it is not worth retaliation â?? Any protest against a slice being taken can again be defended by the freedom of choice argument. The critic is over-reacting. If someone was to attempt to take the whole salami at once reactions would be legitimate. Not to react would be a sign of weakness. To react when someone takes a slice is a sign of a petty mind.

This is the weakness of a strong democracy.

The voluntary nature of this scheme, and indeed others like it, undermines the present rights argument since we cannot fight. The voluntary nature of the scheme is also problematic when this scheme gradually becomes the norm. Then the person wishing to maintain the voluntary status and not participate is seen by everyone as being difficult and relatively socially inept.

There will be no protests, there will be a rush to accept this scheme. Everyone will sing its praises: frequent fliers will sing about efficiency, police about security and the airline will sing about profit. Those who will not sing will sit in embarrassed silence while another slice of our rights is lost forever.

Posted on by mklang

Copyright Europe

A proposed ammendment in German copyright will remove the small scale copying for private home consumption. If this proposal is accepted all copying of copyrighted material (in Germany) will be illegal. (via Suburbia)

The French Parliament supported a stricter implementation of copyright (nicknamed the Vivendi-Universal Amendment). The change sets the fine for each downloader/filesharer at 38 euro per download and 150 euro per upload. Spreading software “obviously” intended for illegal file sharing can be punishable by three years imprisonment and up to 300 000 euros in fines. (via Free the Mind)

Not a good week for the file sharers…

Posted on by mklang