I loved this one…
PhD Comics by Jorge Cham
digital
The Information Society for None
Free the Mind has blogged about the report Cultural industries in the context of the Lisbon strategy [PDF] being discussed in the European Parliaments Committee on Culture and Education.
Article 9 in the report attempts to address online piracy and should be seen as a step in the right direction. The authors have reached the understanding that …criminalising consumers so as to combat digital piracy is not the right solution.
However the committee members did not agree with this and several of them have submitted proposals for changes [PDF]. The most serious is the proposal from Christopher Hilton-Hearris. His proposal will force Internet providers into action and to close the accounts of those caught violating others copyright:
This cooperation of Internet service providers should include the use of filtering technologies to prevent their networks being used to infringe intellectual property, the removal from the networks or the blocking of content that infringes intellectual property, and the enforcement of their contractual terms and conditions, which permit them to suspend or terminate their contracts with those subscribers who repeatedly or on a wide scale infringe intellectual property
He even proposes that the EU-Commission launch pro intellectual property campaigns to the general public and as a subject in schools. He is not alone in his suggestion to cut off Internet supply to those involved in copyright violations. The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has recommended the Committee for Culture and Education to:
Calls on the internet service providers to cooperate in the fight against internet piracy and enforce their contractual terms and conditions or terminate contracts with subscribers who infringe intellectual property rights. Internet service providers should apply filtering measures to prevent copyright and stop existing infringements
Photo hear hear by massdistraction
This is an extremely simplistic and naive approach to the problem of copyright violation in digital environments.
Now that politicians are actively attempting to shut down connections the dream of creating an inclusive society based upon a technological infrastructure (for example Information Society for All) seems to be on its way out.
Why is banning people from the Internet a bad idea?
The Internet has been promoted and become our most basic communications infrastructure (obviously my focus here is Europe since this is where the proposal is being discussed).
1. The punishment does not fit the crime: We have changed the way Banks, Post Offices, ticket sales, hotel booking, insurance (etc, etc) work and banning someone from the Internet will be tantamount to branding a symbol of guilt onto the person. Not to mention the increased costs involved in time and money. Indeed why should copyright violation prevent me from online banking?
2. Group punishment: If an Internet connection is involved in copyright violation this does not mean that all those dependent upon that connection should be punished. The actual violator may be underage or the network may be open to others.
3. Privatizing the law: The ability to punish copyright violators should not be delegated to private bodies. Internet providers are not equipped to mete out legal punishments.
The proposals seen above are simplistic, naive and dangerous they show a fundamental lack of understanding not only of technology or its role in society but also a lack of understanding of the role of communication in a democratic society. The actions of the politicians proposing such measures show that they are not acting in the interests of the individuals they are there to serve.
Shipwrecked!
Yesterday I managed to be extremely careless. I was working with one of my websites via an ftp program and was not being observant enough. I thought that I was somewhere else when I began happily deleting files and folders in preparation for a major reworking. I did think it was strange that there were so many files and folders but this thought did not ring any serious alarm bells.
Later I discovered that I had deleted all the files for the digital-rights site. Soon after I found out that my web host does not do backup recovery. I was devastated.
Fortunately most of the content is in the database I had not touched that. So after spending some time re-installing wordpress and adapting it to my needs I managed to bring back my blog. Unfortunately the images were not stored in the database this means that all the images all the images are gone now gone.
But at least the blog is back. And I have learned some valuable lessons: beware of multi-tasking, look twice before deleting and maintain better backups (even of non-essential material).
photo Shipwreck wide 2 by Subindie (CC ATT-NC-SA)
Piracy is inevitable
The Wall Street Journal have an interesting article on the upcoming file sharing case involving the Pirate Bay. In the article Showdown Looms Over Pirated Media-Directory the WSJ presents a balanced view of the situation but writes:
While Sweden might seem to be an unlikely harbor for pirates of any kind, weak copyright laws, lax enforcement, high broadband penetration and general antipathy toward the entertainment industry have made it a file-sharing free-for-all.
This opinion that Sweden is somehow exceptional when it comes to file sharing has been cropping up a lot recently – both in print media and in conversations and I must say that I am surprised. Yes, the Pirate Bay is a Swedish outfit but anyone who thinks it is a problem in Sweden has fundamentally misunderstood the situation.
Ask around most teenagers in most countries are involved in copyright violations. Most of this is copying music and films. A bit more difficult (but not much) is to get an honest response from adults. Many adults are doing the same thing.
Remove all of Sweden and the Swedes and you would not significantly impact world copyright violations. Remove the Pirate Bay and you would have created nothing more than a hiccup or temporary annoyance.
The pirates are all around you. This is not about weak laws and lax enforcement it is about a fundamental change in the way in which we view right and wrong in relation to copyright and having the technological base with which to act.
It’s all about the digitalization of copyrightable material coupled with the development of technological gadgets such as iPods, iPhones, cheap storage and good broadband. Piracy is inevitable.
Dangerous Technology
An Australian advertising campaign is aimed at raising awareness to the dangers of listening to music via headphones while in traffic.
DDB Sydney has released a print campaign to raise awareness of the fact that the number of teenagers dying as a result of listening to ipods whilst they cross the road is beginning to reach “epidemic proportions”. I like the art direction of this campaign, even though i would have liked to see some different executions. Maybe use other models of the iPod. (adgoodness)
OK so there are a lot of teenagers with headphones but it’s not only teenagers. I am not only talking about my own experience – look around! Things that may have been known as being in the realm of the teenagers are now firmly part of adult and middle age life. And they are here to stay. If I end up in an old folks home I totally expect there to be wifi, network games and all the other toys that I depend upon.
Is the people's car a good idea?
The Indian Tata corporation have presented their new car the Tata Nano at a car show in New Delhi. The car is being described as as a people’s car due to it’s low price (100,000 rupees or $2,500). It will go on sale later this year. The main market for the car is to provide cheap motor transportation to developing countries. The Nano is a four-door five-seater car with no extras (no air conditioning, electric windows or power steering) and has a 33bhp, 624cc, engine at the rear.
Simply looking at the specs above make me concerned. I would not like to be among the five people in this car when it gets hit by a truck.
Is producing a cheap people’s car really a good idea? While I am pretty sure that Tata Motors will sell lots of cars I did not mean this question as a risk analysis in a business venture.
Considering the experiences of all highly motorized countries the car has caused plenty of trouble. The implementation of a personalised transport technology means that it will become a natural part of the infrastructure. It will be used and the costs to the environment in the forms of pollution and overcrowding will be felt.
In addition to this the personal car has also changed the way in which we organize ourselves socially. Were we choose to work, live and socialize depends very much upon the transportation possibilities around us.
But is it fair for someone living in a motorized community to preach the environment and social change? Sure these are the downsides to adding to the amount of cars on the roads. But what about the needs of the people to travel in countries where cars are today an un-affordable luxury? Should the motorized societies be allowed to preach to the non-motorized from the driver seats of our SUV’s?
(via BBC online)
Real academics walk the walk they talk
Like most academics I know, I tend to say yes to most offers to do extra work. Your schedule seems too full? No way! Of course you accept to give a lecture, write a chapter, hold a seminar, write a short text, give an interview…
Therefore at the beginning of the new year I doubt that I am alone in playing Tetris with my calender in a vain attempt to fit in all the things I promised and still find time to work with the mundane everyday task of research. Despite being aware of this I have already promised to do several things besides my actual work for example:
- Book chapter on digital resistance in Swedish
- Revise two research papers
- Review two research papers
- Write a commentary on the GPLv3
- Launch a new journal
- Teach in Lund & Göteborg
- Lecture in Stockholm
- Hold a seminar in Göteborg
And it’s still only January. I must be more protective of my time or I shall be totally unable to implement my major plan for being a productive academic. Why is it that most academics seem to be only too happy to say yes to all the extra work? In the past I had an idea that if I turned an extra task down I would never be asked again. This may be true but it is still not really a strong reason for saying Yes.
Part of me says Yes because I am flattered simply by the fact that I was asked. Another part of me says Yes because I want to show that I can do the job. The academic system that schooled me taught that many of the extra tasks we do (for which the only reward is a dubious honor or community recognition) are all part of the way in which an academic should behave. Part of the norms which make up the academic community. In a sense the extra work is not our reward but it actually defines who we are as academics. Or could it just be that I am a glutton for punishment?
Running inspiration
It’s cold, it’s dark and I’m tired. This is not really the inspiration I need to put on my running gear and go out. I browsed around flickr hoping to find something inspiring but no luck. I came across this image which was very nice but does it make me feel like running? Nope. Nice photo though.
Photo by Kookalamanza
There is no disguising the fact that some days exercise is boring. But some days it is nigh impossible to get out of the chair. So admitting this online helps. It may be the wrong weather but that cannot be helped, it’s time to get dressed and go. Thankfully my iPod is loaded and helps me divert my attention from the running. It’s loaded with different lectures and podcasts. The latest is a series of lectures on the history of China. So it’s out into the darkness and into the Ming dynasty.
Privacy International Ranking 2007
Privacy International has released its Privacy Ranking for 2007 (28/12-2007).
The picture is a detail of the report’s privacy map. Where black is the worst, pink/purple is bad, red is not good and so on. Privacy International writes about its own report:
The most recent report published in 2007, is probably the most comprehensive single volume report published in the human rights field. The report runs over 1,100 pages and includes 6,000 footnotes. More than 200 experts from around the world have provided materials and commentary. The participants range from eminent privacy scholars to high-level officials charged with safeguarding constitutional freedoms in their countries. Academics, human rights advocates, journalists and researchers provided reports, insight, documents and advice…The new 2007 global rankings extend the survey to 47 countries (from the original 37) and, for the first time, provide an opportunity to assess trends.
The report shows that the situation is worsening. Read the report here.
Trysil
Off to bed soon. All the packing is done. The skibox is on the car and we are heading off to Trysil. The weather looks good (between -2 tomorrow and -13 on Monday) so my first skiing experience should be a good one. The main part of my first skiing will be cross country rather than alpine but I hope to try the latter as well.
Photo jmcunnin2000
Besides the fun of buying “functional” clothes and equipment that boggles the mind (for example ski wax!) their is a technique to be mastered (source wikipedia): herringbone, diagonal stride, double pole with kick, and double pole.
- Herringbone: This technique is used for climbing steep hills. A walking or running action with splayed skis and without any glide. The poles are planted alternately behind the skis. A distinctive herringbone pattern is left in the snow.
- Diagonal stride: An exaggerated running action with parallel skis and a glide on each stride. The poles are planted alternately on the opposite side to the kick. For experienced skiers this technique is used uphill. Less experienced skiers also employ the diagonal stride on the flat.
- Double pole with kick: Both poles are planted simultaneously to give a powerful thrust. As the poles swing forwards again a single leg kick is made. This technique is used when the skier is still moving too quickly to diagonal stride, but is having difficulty double poling (typically on slight uphills or at the bottom of a long hill, just before switching to diagonal stride).
- Double pole: As above but without the kick. During some long races, in reasonably flat terrain, competitors double pole for the majority of the course
So having purchased the clothes, looked up the information online and read-up on the technology I am prepared to go where I have never gone before and make a total ass of myself, again 🙂
Check out the Trysil webcam.