(Thanx Fifi!)
Coney Island Baby
6 hours ago
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Dutch Court Says That Copyright Owners Are Better Off When People Are Downloading From Unauthorized Sources
Here's a bit of a surprise. According to this report, beyond just the FTD ruling we wrote about last week, there was another copyright case decision in the Dutch appeals court of The Hague, which stated that "since downloading from illegal sources for private use was permitted under Dutch law," it's actually to the advantage of copyright owners that such sites exist.
Of course, part of the reasoning for this is that there's a private copying levy, and the court was arguing that unauthorized downloads should be taken into account when calculating that levy. So, this could mean higher subsidies and "you must be a criminal" taxes in the Netherlands. Still, the argument is somewhat striking:
Of course, part of the reasoning for this is that there's a private copying levy, and the court was arguing that unauthorized downloads should be taken into account when calculating that levy. So, this could mean higher subsidies and "you must be a criminal" taxes in the Netherlands. Still, the argument is somewhat striking:
With reference to statements made by the Minister of Justice, the Court argued that the legitimate interest of the right holders is more adequately protected in a regime that allows downloading from illegal sources. In view of the Dutch government's statements, such a levy system better ensures that compensation is due to right holders for the use of their work.
I'm not convinced that's actually true, but it's still quite surprising to hear a court say it like that. I would imagine entertainment industry lobbyists are banging down Dutch doors right now...
wikileaks UK Government has issued a "D-notice" warning to all UK news editors, asking to be briefed on upcoming WikiLeaks stories.
Friday, 26 November 2010
North Korean shelling heard near Yeonpyeong
South Korea reported sounds of artillery fire emanating from North Korea today, but said it appeared to be routine training. The news came hours after Pyongyang warned that the South's joint drill with the US was pushing the peninsula to the brink of war.
Seoul-based broadcaster YTN said the shells appeared to have landed within the North, away from the disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea.
The firing came days after four people on a nearby island were killed in a Northern artillery attack. Pyongyang said that was a response to shelling by the South, which was conducting a live-fire drill exercise.
Seoul said its troops did not fire towards the North. But Pyongyang's foreign ministry said yesterday that shells were "bound to drop inside [the North's] territorial waters". It does not accept the Yellow Sea border, drawn unilaterally by the US at the end of the Korean war.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the few dozen residents who remain on Yeonpyeong fled to emergency shelters as they heard the distant explosions this afternoon.
Earlier the North had threatened "a shower of fire" in a statement carried by its official KCNA news agency, warning: "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the [North]."
It added that it was "ready to annihilate enemies' stronghold" and said its forces "precisely targeted and struck" South Korean artillery units on Tuesday.
Pyongyang often issues bellicose warnings when military manoeuvres are due in the area.
The US has dispatched an aircraft carrier group led by the USS George Washington to take part in training with the South Korean navy from Sunday. The exercises were planned before this week's attack but had been postponed with the US citing scheduling conflicts.
Beijing has expressed concern about the exercises in the Yellow Sea, which lies between Korea and China. But its protests were far more muted than the complaints which saw off plans for drills there earlier this year.
The US is pressing China to restrain its ally and a White House official said Barack Obama is likely to discuss the Korean situation with President Hu Jintao within days.
Domestic criticism of Seoul's response to the bombardment has continued despite the defence minister's resignation yesterday.
Hundreds of South Korean veterans demonstrated in the border town of Paju today, accusing the government of being too weak.
"The lazy government's policies towards North Korea are too soft," said Kim Byeong-su, the president of the association of ex-marines.
"It needs to take revenge on a bunch of mad dogs. We need to show them South Korea is not to be played with."
Tania Branigan @'The Guardian'
Disparity and consequences
Technology – particularly the Internet – was hailed as “the great leveler” in the early days, and indeed it many ways it has been.
But I was struck by a comment on someone’s post today, that both of his grandchildren – 4½ and 7½ – were getting iPads in their xmas stockings. “Really?” I thought. Those things are not cheap, and I don’t believe childproof.
But what struck me wasn’t the obvious display of disposable income (shocking to my thoroughly calvinist upbringing lol – still working on that), but that those kids are being handed – handed- the future keys to success: technical aptitude. And what that means is increasingly society will be delineated by the “haves” and “have nots”, since the kids in the “haves” group will have such a clear, relevant advantage.
Now I’m not a social crusader. I get that “life isn’t fair” and that there have always been inequities between the rich and poor, with all the associated privileges, be it access to better food, medicine, investment opportunities, recreation, etc. But it just seems that there’s never been something with quite as much power to create so much disparity. The kids with early access and education using it will thrive in the future, the rest will not.
We need to make sure that the kids in the “have not” group have at least a chance of success in the future where technical savvy is a requirement. Moral obligations aside (I’m not a fan of using morals to make an argument), but from a pragmatic perspective: among the ranks of those underprivileged kids could be the next brilliant programmer, leader, designer who makes life better for us all.
I’m sure all of this has been dicussed and anticipated many times, one of the results being the “One laptop per child” program. But we need to ensure that in the US as well, we provide a system that supports the training and development tools to all the kids in our country. How else are we as a nation going to stay competitive on a global basis?
(BIG thanx to Linda, who explores "the intersection between technology, business strategy, and psychology" at her wonderful blog.
Go on subscribe - you know it makes sense!!!)
Richard Lloyd's apres Thanksgiving smoke!
Richard enjoys a little Tobacco, after dinner with the Patterson's. No photoshop here baby, just Richard doing what he does best -- stuff nobody else would dare to...(Unless you an an Ononomou Indian from Venezuela)
Via Facebook
Is This Really the End for Ahmadinejad?
Casual Iran observers tend to portray the country's most prominent political division as that between fundamentalist hard-liners and secular moderates. In reality, however, the struggle for Iran's future is a three-way fight waged by the different branches of conservatives that control the parliament, the presidency, and the theocracy. The Green Movement may have stalled, but the parliamentary opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has only grown stronger and more assertive over the past year -- culminating in a recent push to charge the president with abuses of power warranting impeachment. Those efforts are coming to a halt under orders from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who fears that the parliament's attempt to assert itself against the president will also be at the expense of his own power base, the country's conservative mullahs.
In fact, this isn't the first round of infighting among Iran's leaders. In July 2009, legislators warned Ahmadinejad that they would seek to oust him as the chief executive if he continued acting in an autocratic manner. Ahmadinejad responded by claiming the executive branch is the most important one of the government.
Ahmadinejad has also clashed with parliamentarians over his prerogative to influence the activities of the Central Bank. As financial hardships mount on common Iranians, in part due to mismanagement and in part from international sanctions, their elected representatives are blaming the president and his bureaucrats for the economy's woes.
It's a naked power struggle that has cloaked itself in ideology. Ahmadinejad and his cohorts in the executive branch of Iran's government increasingly reference secular Iranian nationalism. They recently celebrated an exhibition honoring Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire over 2,500 years ago; they have also been known to castigate influential mullahs for diminishing Iran's greatness, going so far as to encourage the separation of religion from the government. Meanwhile parliament speaker Ali Larijani and his legislative supporters present themselves as adherents to the fundamentalist traditions of Shiite Islam and as true believers in the velayat-e faqih, Iran's system of governance by Muslim jurists.
But at its root, the infighting is motivated by differences over pragmatic political strategy. At a time of economic stagnation and international isolation, Iran's power players are all competing to put their stamp on national crisis management...
Continue reading
Jamsheed K Choksy @'FP'
Damien Hirst’s Medicine Cabinets
Among the most iconic pieces in artist Damien Hirst’s controversial body of work — a bizarre mix that includes dissected animals, a pickled shark, dot paintings, spin paintings, butterfly assemblages, a rotting cow’s head, and diamond-encrusted skulls — are the Medicine Cabinets.
The first two cabinets, which were made in 1988 by the then 23-year-old Hirst in his London kitchen, contained pharmaceutical packaging from his recently deceased grandmother’s medicine cabinet. He followed these sculptures, Sinner and Enemy, with a suite of twelve cabinets that were titled after the tracks on the Sex Pistols debut album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Four of the medicine cabinets from the series were exhibited in Hirst’s degree show at Goldsmiths College of Art in 1989, but the whole group has never been shown together — that is, until now.
New York’s L & M Arts has assembled the artist’s Sex Pistols medicine cabinets, along with Sinner and Enemy; a monumental four-part cabinet, titled The Sex Pistols, from 1996-97; and a cache of actual Sex Pistols’ memorabilia into a comprehensive overview of this important chapter in Hirst’s dynamic career. The gallery also collaborated with the artist’s publishing company, Other Criteria, to produce a catalogue that includes an essay by art scholar Arthur Danto, some punk prose by the notorious James Frey, a catalogue raisonné of the complete medicine cabinets, and a hilarious conversation between Hirst and former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, who’s an outspoken radio disc jockey in Los Angeles.
Damien-Hirst: Medicine Cabinets is on view at L & M Arts through December 11.
Paul Laster @'Flavorwire'
The graphic language of Peter Christopherson
RIP Peter Christopherson
I learned today of the passing of one of my creative heroes.Peter Christopherson.
I wouldn't call him a household name but his design work as part of Hipgnosis is sure to be found in many households.
These classic album covers for Pink Floyd and the early solo albums of Peter Gabriel are some of his best know works as a graphic designer.
Christopherson was also a key member of the highly influential Throbbing Gristle.Again not every body's cup of tea.
But without TG there would be no Nine Inch Nails or Depeche Mode for a start.
Peter also made his mark as a director.He directed several commercials and music videos for the likes of Silverchair, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, Van Halen and more.
A true creative renaissance man. He will be sorely missed.
Stan Lee @'BrandDNA'
(A sad day indeed Stan!)
NaomiAKlein UK students R showing us all how it's done. Don't want 2 get robbed blind? Make your country ungovernable. #thanksgiving
♪♫ NIN - Gave Up (Broken)
trent_reznor I awake to sad news. RIP Peter Christopherson - friend and huge inspiration. http://bit.ly/fAwO6G http://bit.ly/dIvd3V
Wikileaks documents show Turkey helped al-Qaida
...Other documents show that the US has supported the PKK, which has been waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984 and has been classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization since 1979. The US military documents call the PKK "warriors for freedom and Turkish citizens," and say that the US set free arrested PKK members in Iraq. The documents also point out that US forces in Iraq have given weapons to the PKK and ignored the organization's operations inside Turkey...
Primal Scream to work with Kevin Shields on Screamadelica 20th Anniversay reissue
Primal Scream have just announced that they will we releasing a remastered version of their seminal 1991 album Screamadelica in March next year to mark the 20th Anniversary of the album’s release. Exciting as this is, turns out that not only have they remastered the album, but they got legendary My Bloody Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields to help out in the process along with original producer Andy Weatherall.
Speaking to NME, singer Bobby Gillespie said that Shields was an obvious choice for the project. “He’s just really good with sound and frequencies, we thought it was a fun thing to do. Kevin, Andrew [Innes,Primal Scream guitarist] and myself went down to the mastering room. Kevin’s the one person in the world that all remastering engineers would hate to see walking into the studio, when we walked in the guy nearly had a fucking heart attack!”
Shields has worked with the group before, playing with them live from 99 to 06 as well as working on their album Xtrmntr and Evil Heart.
The reissue that will see see the album repacked with bonus material, falls in line with the band’s Screamadelica live shows, that will see the band play the album in it’s entirety for the first time, the show landing on our shows in January as part of this year’s epic Big Day Out festival.
Michael Carr @'Musicfeeds'
Thursday, 25 November 2010
A simple change in the law could open up online access to the BBC's archives
In the melee of the last days of the Labour government, among the casualties were clauses in the digital economy bill that would have solved the intractable problems that stand in the way of giving public access to this country's great archives of radio and television programmes.
Think of George Orwell and W H Auden, of Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, of any British artist or musician you can name. The BBC's archives are a treasure trove of their work, of interviews with them and discussions and documentaries about them.
But the BBC can't make them available to us, as it would like to, because of the prohibitive administrative costs of clearing the rights.
All this was set out in the Digital Britain reports that prompted the inclusion of those clauses in the bill. After running a pilot project to clear the rights for 1,000 hours of archive programming for online use, the BBC calculated it would take 800 people three years of full-time work to clear the rights to its archive, assuming that all rights owners could be found and that every one was prepared to grant the rights.
At a time when the BBC has just had hundreds of millions of pounds removed from its annual income for the next six years, its archive project is not going to be given the kind of money it would need to spend on administrative work of that scale.
But nor should it need to when there is a simple, fair and equitable solution at hand.
The government should move now to reintroduce the orphan works and extended collective licensing provisions, which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were instrumental in removing from the digital economy bill when they were in opposition.
They sided with a lobby campaign mounted by photographers against these provisions, effectively sealing up archives in which photographs either form no part (radio), or in which they are of relatively small importance (television).
Reintroducing those provisions now would give us legitimate access through online on-demand services to that wealth of dramas, documentaries, histories, debates and interviews that can tell us so much about the society and world of which we are the inheritors.
We can read about it in books, but radio and television tell it and show it in ways that the written word cannot match. Rights owners have nothing to fear: the statutory scheme was designed to safeguard their interests, to ensure they would receive fair remuneration and that the integrity of their rights would be respected. Few of them would prefer their work to be made available on illegal services instead, but where there's a vacuum, that's how it will be filled.
Buried in the depths of David Cameron's plans to create a silicon valley in London's Olympic park was a statement that all digital media content providers should welcome, and the importance of which deserves more recognition than it has been given. The accompanying review of the UK 's intellectual property regime is to look at "barriers to new internet-based business models, including the cost of obtaining permissions from existing rights holders".
Creating a silicon valley in London's East End, however, will not be an easy task. By contrast, what a simple thing it would be to steer a short enabling bill through parliament to remove the barrier that rights-clearance administrative costs pose to opening up the broadcasters' archives.
Stephen Edwards @'The Guardian'
Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson RIP
chris_carter_ Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night. Words cannot express our grief.
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