Archive for June 2006
The Googleplex Grows
“On the banks of the windswept Columbia River, Google is working on a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing. But it is hard to keep a secret when it is a computing center as big as two football fields, with twin cooling plants protruding four stories into the sky.
“The complex, sprawling like an information-age factory, heralds a substantial expansion of a worldwide computing network handling billions of search queries a day and a growing repertory of other Internet services.
“And odd as it may seem, the barren desert land surrounding the Columbia along the Oregon-Washington border — at the intersection of cheap electricity and readily accessible data networking — is the backdrop for a multibillion-dollar face-off among Google, Microsoft and Yahoo that will determine dominance in the online world in the years ahead.”
John Markoff and Saul Hansell. Hiding in Plain Sight, Google Seeks More Power. The New York Times. June 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
End of Congress Breeds Net Neutrality Rush
“The latest Net neutrality provisions in a mammoth Senate communications bill stopped short of giving Internet companies and consumer advocacy groups all the assurances they’ve requested.
“Unveiled formally at a briefing here for reporters on Monday, new provisions in the latest draft of the sweeping Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act would allow the Federal Communications Commission to police subscribers’ complaints of “interference” in their Internet activities and to levy fines on violators.
“Specifically, the bill would require all Internet service providers to adhere to what the proposal calls an ‘Internet consumer bill of rights.’ But critics say the latest draft refrained from addressing a major complaint of advocates of network neutrality–that is, the idea that network operators should give equal treatment to all content that travels across their pipes.”
Anne Broache. Senate Panel Proposes Net User ‘Bill of Rights’. News.com. June 19, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- U.S. Congress. Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act (S. 2686). June 22, 2006.
- Ars Technica. Senate Bill Compromise Paves the Way for “Net Neutrality Lite.” June 18, 2006.
- Talking Points Memo. Net Neutrality Senate Vote Tally. June 15, 2006. (Last update.)
- Anne Broache. Net Neutrality Field In Congress Gets Crowded. News.com. May 19, 2006.
- U.S. Congress. Internet Freedom Preservation Act. (.pdf) Undated draft. (Courtesy of Public Knowledge)
- The Conservative Voice. What the Misguided Have Missed Regarding Network Neutrality. May 9, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Lessig & Publisher President Debate Google Lawsuit
“The D; All Things Digital session featuring Random House’ Richard Sarnoff and Lawrence Lessig provides a candid picture of the difference of opinion about the meaning and value of copyright. Lessig, a lawyer, is reported to have lambasted Sarnoff for “unleashing” Random House’s lawyers to “suck value out of [the information] economy.” Predictably, because it’s easy to dislike lawyers (and because, as a lawyer, Lessig sounds noble making this statement) he got riotous applause.
“But I think it’s a little too easy to applaud lawyers complaining about lawyers when the problem is a question of, as Lessig said, “the digital destiny of American culture or world history” The lawyers are the sideshow, the problem is how to pay for the culture Mr. Lessig wants to preserve, and lawyers aren’t the experts I’d rely on for culture. After all, with rare exceptions, lawyers don’t produce writing or video or music that anyone would want to read, see or hear except to pass a test.”
Rational Rants. Lessig’s Razor. June 1, 2006.
Note: An abbreviated transcript of this speech appears in a special section published Monday, June 19, 2006, in The Wall Street Journal.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Lessig & Publisher President Debate Google Lawsuit
“The D; All Things Digital session featuring Random House’ Richard Sarnoff and Lawrence Lessig provides a candid picture of the difference of opinion about the meaning and value of copyright. Lessig, a lawyer, is reported to have lambasted Sarnoff for “unleashing” Random House’s lawyers to “suck value out of [the information] economy.” Predictably, because it’s easy to dislike lawyers (and because, as a lawyer, Lessig sounds noble making this statement) he got riotous applause.
“But I think it’s a little too easy to applaud lawyers complaining about lawyers when the problem is a question of, as Lessig said, “the digital destiny of American culture or world history” The lawyers are the sideshow, the problem is how to pay for the culture Mr. Lessig wants to preserve, and lawyers aren’t the experts I’d rely on for culture. After all, with rare exceptions, lawyers don’t produce writing or video or music that anyone would want to read, see or hear except to pass a test.”
Rational Rants. Lessig’s Razor. June 1, 2006.
Note: An abbreviated transcript of this speech appears in a special section published Monday, June 19, 2006, in The Wall Street Journal.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Bill Gates To Cease Running Microsoft in 2008
“After more than 30 years, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates concluded this week that it’s time for him to start moving on.
“Some analysts and investors believe he might just be right.
“A day after Gates detailed plans for a two-year transition from his day-to-day duties, the company’s shares closed up 3 cents, at $22.10. It wasn’t a ringing endorsement by any means, but it also wasn’t the negative reaction that easily could have accompanied such an announcement from someone who so deeply personifies a company.”
Todd Bishop. Gates’ Decision ‘A Good Thing’ for Microsoft. SeattlePI.com. June 17, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- Forbes.com. Bill Gates Time Line. June 17, 2006.
- Robert Weisman. Gates’s Successor Has Tough Act to Follow at Microsoft. Boston.com. June 17, 2006.
- Bill Virgin. Can Bill Gates Really Hit Delete? SeattlePI.com. June 16, 2006.
- Michael Kanellos and Ina Fried. Microsoft’s Mixed Scorecard. News.com. June 15, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Congress Discusses “Patent Trolls”
“U.S. politicians appeared sympathetic on Thursday to tech companies’ cries for help combating what are commonly called ‘patent trolls’ –companies that supposedly hold patents for no reason other than coaxing inflated settlements out of wealthy corporations.
“California Democrat Howard Berman said he was concerned about the patent holder who ‘spends not a cent on development…(and) patents every monkey he kisses. All he does is spend his time sitting around waiting, (hoping) that he can make enough of a case that it might infringe on his monkey that somebody will pay him to go away.’
“Each of the politicians has already put forth his own proposal aimed at improving what some decry as a broken patent system, though those suggestions remain works-in-progress while competing interests try to work out the best language. Both Berman and Smith said Thursday that they’d like to see new laws enacted this year. But that may prove tough because of an abbreviated election-year calendar.”
Anne Broache. Politicos Mull Action Against Patent System Abusers. News.com. June 15, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. Oversight Hearing on “Patent Trolls: Fact or Fiction?” June 15, 2006.
- Public Knowledge. H.R.2795: The Patent Reform Act of 2005. Undated.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
E$PN Goes Premium
“American office workers can watch every play of the midday World Cup soccer games on their desktop computers — but only if they subscribe to the right Internet providers.
“In a strategy inspired by cable television, the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN sports network offers online broadcasts of the World Cup and other sporting events as premium Internet programming. Internet providers who want to offer the service, called ESPN360, must pay special fees for the right to carry it, in the same way that cable TV systems pay Disney to carry ESPN’s TV shows. So far, a handful of Internet providers, including Verizon Communications Inc., Adelphia Communications Corp., and Charter Communications Inc., have signed up for ESPN360, making it available to about 8 million US households.
“It’s a policy that could help Disney and other companies find new revenue streams for their entertainment offerings.”
Hiawatha Bray. ESPN Selling Premium Content to Net Providers. Boston.com. June 15, 2006.
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