COPYCENSE

"Somewhere between the live music showcases on Sixth Street and the endless schmoozing that ran well past midnight, the deep-fried drunkfest known as South by Southwest also squeezed in some discussion of technology and how it’s changing the music industry.

"In the tradition of the annual Austin music festival, which ended last weekend, panels covered both the industry and artistic side of the music game. Labels and managers, after all, are just as interested as the artists themselves in how the internet, digital downloading and other technologies are turning the music business on its head."

Michael Grebb. P2P: Music’s Death Knell or Boon?. Wired.com. March 22, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"The Americans For Fair Electronic Commerce Transactions (AFFECT) coalition has announced its Stop Before You Click campaign promoting its 12 Principles for Fair Commerce in Software and Other Digital Products.

"My long-time readers know AFFECT as the organization that succeeded in stopping the spread of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). UCITA, an incredibly customer-unfriendly model state law pushed by Microsoft and friends, was hurriedly enacted in Virginia and Maryland before interest groups opposed to it could effectively get organized.

"While UCITA itself is still dead for the most part, unfortunately its spirit is still with us in the DMCA and other legislation. So AFFECT formed a task force to draft a set of principles for fair dealing in digital products."

Ed Foster. Why You Should Stop Before You Click. The Gripe Line Weblog. March 11, 2005.

See also:
AFFECT. Stop Before You Click. No date.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Representatives from the FBI and the privacy community on Tuesday clashed over how provisions in a 2001 anti-terrorism law known as the USA PATRIOT Act are being used to access information.

"’We at the FBI do not want your secrets, unless of course you are a terrorist or a spy,’ Valerie Caproni, general counsel for the FBI, said at a conference sponsored by the American University National Security and Law Society.

"Caproni downplayed the controversy surrounding the law, which has been criticized as giving the government too much investigatory and surveillance powers."

Chloe Albanesius. FBI Official, Privacy Advocate Clash Over PATRIOT Act. GovExec. March 22, 2005.

See also:
Edward Epstein. Left and Right Unite to CChallenge Patriot Act Provisions. San Francisco Chronicle. March 23, 2005.

"If you have recently bought an IBM ThinkVantage computer, a Dell Optiplex, or one of a whole range of laptops from Toshiba, HP/Compaq or Samsung then you may have got more for your money than you realised.

"Inside your shiny new PC is an extra chip called the trusted platform module (TPM) that can be used for a range of hardware-based security features.

"Eventually the TPM will be built into the main processor itself, and if the trusted computing group has its way then you will find one in every piece of hardware you own, from mobile phones to TV set top boxes to children’s toys."

Bill Thompson. What Price for ‘Trusted PC Security’?. BBC News. March 18, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"If the thought of backing up e-mail evokes feelings of dread, spare a thought for Australia’s librarians who are racing against the clock to digitize millions of decaying photographic images before nature has its cruel way.

"While IT managers may worry about whether their document management solutions are legally up to scratch, photographic curators – charged with the safekeeping of Australia’s pictorial history – have to deal with a pervading smell of vinegar as their cellulose assets shrivel and die."

Julian Bajkowski. Race Against Time to Digitize Decaying Images. ComputerWorld. March 23, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"About 36 million Americans – or 27% of internet users – say they download either music or video files and about half of them have found ways outside of traditional peer-to-peer networks or paid online services to swap their files, according to the most recent survey of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Mary Madden and Lee Rainie. Music and Video Downloading Moves Beyond P2P. Pew Internet and American Life Project. March 23, 2005.

Mary Madden and Lee Rainie. Music and Video Downloading Moves Beyond P2P (.pdf) March 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.