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I'm Doin' a Speakin' Tour- Me Talk Good

Posted By: Harold

For anyone who goes to policy conferences (and who can ever get enough of those, eh?) and science fiction cons, I'm speaking at a couple of them over the next few months. Below is a list with links. If you actually read this thing, let me know; it gives my frail little ego something to cheer about and gives my pathetic life meaning. :-) [Read More!]

Posted: 03/17/04 19:09:58 - 4 comments

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Tales of The Sausage Factory: Unlicensed Spectrum Access II

Posted By: Harold

O.K., so what's at stake this year and how can you participate? Read below on how to help get more spectrum available for unlicensed access, help boost available power, exercise your democratic rights with your web browser, and educate the FCC and your Congresscritter.
Or you can go back to being a cynical consumer moo cow who thinks bitching and moaning about how stupid government is relieves you of your responsibilities. (Think I have an opinion?) [Read More!]

Posted: 03/15/04 13:27:32 - 2 comments

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Tales of the Sausage Factory: Gay Marraige? Mine is Pretty Cheerfull.

Posted By: Harold

Yale Law Prof. Lea Brilmayer has some interesting things to say to Congress on whether we need a Constitutional Amendment to let the states decide on gay marraige. See testimony here. I'm not the expert Professor Brilmayer is on Constitutional theory, but as a result of _Goodridge_, real legal analysis doesn't matter anymore. And therein lies the true evil of judicial activism. Will four arrogant but well meaning judges give Bush the 2004 election, trigger a Constitutional Amendment, trash civil rights for gays for the forseeable future, and undermine confidence in our judiciary to the detriment of our society as a whole? (cue Odd Couple theme) [Read More!]

Posted: 03/14/04 19:39:09 - 7 comments

There's still hope — robots fail in the desert

Posted By: John

Ever since watching the opening sequence of the first Terminator movie in 1984, in which autonomous battlebots relentlessly and remorselessly hunt down a pesky band of cockroach-like humans who refuse to be eradicated from what's left of the Earth, the mad scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration have been racing to beat the movie's date of 2029 for the ultimate man-machine showdown.

Perpaps starting to panic a little--with only 24 years to go, no credible unstoppable AI-driven land-based deathmachines on the horizon and a whole world to destroy--the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) challenged itself to “think outside the box(sm)” and so opened up the competitionto universities, entrepeneurs and even people who have no known connection to Haliblurton, Lockheed or Raytheon. [Read More!]

Posted: 03/14/04 10:49:34 - 2 comments

Legislative Wrangling Over Word Definitions

Posted By: Gary

Yesterday (March 11th), the Massachusetts legislature approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage, and instead establishing “civil unions” for same-sex couples. In this heated debate, I think neither side has noticed the the arguments over the sanctity of marriage vs. the civil rights of gays and lesbians has suddenly become a movement to amend the country's oldest constitution to legislate the definition of a word.

As a professional writer, despite all the heated debate and the heartfelt views on both sides, I have to say I find this almost amusing...
[Read More!]

Posted: 03/12/04 21:39:00 - 2 comments

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Tales of the Sausage Factory: Some Indecent Collateral Damage?

Posted By: Harold

UPDATE: A somewhat clearer explanation of Ms. Lo's commentary and what happened is now available from Time Magazine online here. As a result, I've modified my comments a bit.

Radio Commentator Sandra Tsing Lo got fired from her public radio spot for using a swear word in a pre-recorded piece that went unedited onto the air. You can hear her commentary on her experience and suddenly finding herself in solidarity whith Howard Stern here. My commentary below. [Read More!]

Posted: 03/12/04 10:14:49 - 1 comment

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Sausage Factory: a partial index to date

Posted By: John

Here's a nearly complete list of Harold Feld's “Tales of the Sausage Factory” articles here on Wetmachine. Real Soon Now I'm going to get organized and use the blog software to keep track of this stuff so I don't have to manualy copy and paste to generate lists like this. . .

On the Nader copyright case
Justin/Janet part 2
Justin/Janet part 1
The ICANN Train Wreck
Unlicensed Spectrum Access
Why Disney/Comcast Merger Sucks Rocks
On RFID
CBS Caves Again for Bush
Yet more on Fileswapping
Fileswapping — whither to in '04
ABA article:“More than a Toaster with Pictures”
On making the Wall Street Journal's Shit List
Golden Globes, Former Presidents, Media Ownership" [Read More!]

Posted: 03/11/04 23:09:46 - 2 comments

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Tales of the Sausage Factory: A Good Copyright Decision . . . Priceless

Posted By: Harold

As some of you may recall, in 2000, Ralph Nader ran an ad as part of his Green Party candidacy for President satirizing the Mastercard ads. Mastercard sued for trademark and copyright infringement.

As one can see, the wheels of justice grind rather slowly. But occassionaly they come out right. A good decision on copyright and trademark . . . which proves a point I've long been saying on the impact of footnote 14 of _Accuff Rose_ on copyright analysis (how's that for lawyer geek speak!) A copy of the decision is here. A bit of analysis below. [Read More!]

Posted: 03/11/04 12:38:44 - 5 comments

Tales of the Sausage Factory: Tales of the Sausage Factory: Indecent bandwagon rolls on

Posted By: Harold

Well the House and Senate have been busy little, ahem, beavers on the indecency front. The surprise is the provisions on media ownership. Will they survive a House vote over the opposition of the Republican leadership? Will Bush veto indecency regulation to save his buddies in big media? Stay tuned to Survivor: Washington. [Read More!]

Posted: 03/09/04 16:57:05 - 2 comments

ORSON, the Overmind

Posted By: John

Watch it grow.

(ORSON --Obedient Remote Servo-Organic Network. Read “Acts of the Apostles” for chilling details of its origin, true nature and ring-of-power-like destiny!!!)

Posted: 03/09/04 07:57:58 - No comments