meta-roj

since this is such a popular subject right now, and i’m overwhelmed a bit with trying to invent financial models for things that should happen, i’m just going to drop a bunch of “to comment on” links related to drm here, and let the meta-roj readers do their own commenting for a while…

for background, start with drm destroys value [kevin marks, september 5, 2003] and why microsoft should get out of drm [cory doctorow, june 17, 2004] [wiki, audio]. (and, of course, the whole meta-roj blog, or at least the stuff in here, and here and here and here and here 🙂 )….

now, onto the busy newsy stuff…

Distributed Computing Industry Association Urges Motion Picture Association of America to Serve Consumers by Licensing Peer-to-Peer Digital Distribution Channel and Embracing Consumer File-Sharing [pr newswire, june 17, 2004]
Digital music protection improves, but it’s still not perfect [iht, june 21, 2004]
Permissions on Digital Media Drive Scholars to Lawbooks [new york times, june 14, 2004]
P-Cube offers DRM application [rcr news, june 15, 2004]
Biometric DRM is ’empowering’ says iVue maker [the register, june 11, 2004]
Biometric DRM [slashdot, june 6, 2004]
DRM? Dude, that stuff will mess you up… [good morning silicon valley, june 18, 2004]
Beastie Boys 5 Boroughs DRM flak [p2pnet, june 20, 2004]
Cory Doctorow on Digital Rights Management [slashdot, june 18, 2004]
Managing digital content [express computer, june 21, 2004]
Toshiba to launch new Gigabeat hard-disk audio players [pc world, june 21, 2004] (toshiba embraces microsoft drm)

Q&A with Philips’ Gottfried Dutiné [business week, june 21, 2004]

Q: How about Hollywood?

A: People are afraid of change. Back in the 1920s, when the first AM radio stations were appearing, people were worried about the livelihood of musicians. Hollywood is only now waking up. They have ignored the impact of digitalization for years. One thing that’s waking them up now is the role is Microsoft (MSFT ): They’re saying, ‘If they control [digital-rights management], we’re in deep s–t!'”

The challenge is to create solutions that benefit the entire value chain, from creators to consumers. Digital-rights management is absolutely key. We have lots of patents, including on DRM and watermarks. [Philips is a co-owner, with Sony (SNE ), of InterTrust, which just settled a lawsuit with Microsoft.] We’re practically in the driver’s seat on this, and that’s why we’re negotiating with everybody.

friendship force

as reported at boingboing, you can now mark up cory’s presentation on drm.

dive in. both feet.

we all hop.

barry’s posted his spin on the hot contraband drm news.

busy week on the drm front… cory did his thing and the slashdotters did their thing to the beastie boys and macrovision did their thing too. busy busy busy.

something barry brought up, and i feel like i should’ve brought up… these aren’t really cd’s – philips doesn’t like this stuff either.

one thing the bush administration apparently hasn’t learned from previous republican adminitrations is how much trouble a little lying can cause…

i draw your attention to the “9/11 commission vs. bush administration” prize fight on the subject of the iraq-al qaida connection.

the prize is the truth.

to refresh your memory a bit, the bush administration has made many efforts, both bold and covert, to prevent the commission from doing its job – all the way back to opposing the formation of the commission in the first place.

Bush Opposes 9/11 Query Panel [cbs news, may 23, 2002]

President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11

Cheney Rejects Broader Access to Terror Brief [new york times, may 20, 2002]

Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he would advise President Bush not to turn over to Congress the August intelligence briefing that warned that terrorists were interested in hijacking airplanes, and he insisted that the investigation into Sept. 11 should be handled by the Congressional intelligence committees, not an independent commission.

cheney himself was apparently point-man to block formation of the commission, exerting influence even after the administration’s public endorsement.

Cheney: Investigators, Keep Out [newsweek, 21 october, 2002]

Dick Cheney played a behind-the-scenes role last week in derailing an agreement to create an independent commission to investigate the 9-11 attacks. Last month the White House endorsed the formation of the panel. But on Thursday, hours after congressional negotiators hailed a final deal over the scope and powers of a 9-11 panel, Cheney called House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Porter Goss, sources told Newsweek.

Later that day Goss told a closed-door conference committee he couldn’t accept the deal, citing instructions from “above my pay grade,” sources say. Goss later said he was referring to other House leaders, not Cheney. Goss wouldn’t discuss his call from the VP but said it wasn’t the “determining factor” in his stand.

and after waffling (ahem) on that, it’s worth noting that the chair of the commission is a presidential appointment, one thomas h kean, which makes this not a strictly congressional endeavour. in any case, kean was the second choice for the chair, but henry kissinger wouldn’t disclose his client list to take the job.

anyway, we eventually got a commission, and i won’t bore you with quotes for all the other obstructions, but there’s news about the administration blocking funding, withholding documents, delaying security clearances for commission members and a myraid of other delaying and obstructionist tactics – even sending condoleeza rice out on the talk-show circuit to make the administration case while claiming that she couldn’t address the same questions under oath.

and these backfired, it would seem, with the administration being backed into supporting an extension for the commission, which pushes the report release date further into the election year – july 26. that leaves about three months for the administration to re-spin the report.

since then, bush and cheney testified together (odd, that – everyone knows you separate the witnesses so they can’t influence each other, and so you can find contradictions in their stories). there’s also some questions about chain-of-command that this joint-testimony brings up (the vice president is specifically not in the chain of command, yet he apparently gave shoot-down orders on september 11), but that’s something for another day. even with that testimony, the commission has come forward suggesting it has found no connection between iraq and al qaida. and then it really starts to hit the fan.

A vice president unbound [us news and world report, 6/28/2004 (!)]

“Do you know some things that the commission does not know?” I asked Cheney. “Probably,” he said.

excuse me? you’ve been asked to provide all relevant documents and given testimony, in private, to a group of people tasked with determining the facts of the events surrounding september 11 – people who were scrutinized for months and ultimately given the highest security clearances – operating under a chair picked by the administration, and you’ve still withheld information?

flop around on this for a moment – either the iraq-al qaida connection is relevant to the events of 9/11, and thus within the purview of the commission, or it’s not part of the story, in which case you shouldn’t be out making the case.

ok, you can stop flopping. isn’t that sort of statement just begging for a reponse?

9/11 Panel Wants Evidence From Cheney [ap via abc news, june 20, 2004]

“We would certainly welcome any information bearing on the issue of assistance or collaboration with al-Qaida by any government including Iraq,” said commission member Richard Ben-Veniste. Commission chairman Thomas Kean and vice chairman Lee Hamilton made similar comments to The New York Times.

the bluff has been called, time to show the cards, gentlemen.

i thought i’d finally bring margaret cho to the meta-roj blog… i was going to write some elaborate piece on how intelligence and integrity are becoming endagered species, and i wanted to hook it in with her concurring view that they are minorities and make some bold assertions, but i guess she and i have smething else in common: we’re lazy.

so, instead of a big philosophical piece about integrity and honesty and diebold and christie key and 97 radio and honesty in general, i think i’m just going to make some passing comments on politics for now and give ejovi a hot tip – get margaret booked for the stadium. she’s got some things to say.

Indignant, Ignant Rumsfeld, margaret cho

I do not want to be anyone’s captor, nor anyone’s torturer.

have the principles of america been compromised to the point where these events crop up at random, and the best we can do is disavow our own government?

They Turned off the Mic, margaret cho

They passed me, looking apologetic. “We wish we didn’t have to do this,” they all said with their eyes as they launched in to a rousing rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama.”

sometimes you gotta make the scene instead of apologizing for the circumstances… and there’s a scene planned for new york in a few months. margaret, andrew… andrew, margaret. margaret’s upcoming tour schedule isn’t posted yet, but someone should hook that up for september 1 if at all possible.

a republican

That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

welcome to the new world….

draft bruce [ejovi]

A friend of mine, Andrew Rasiej has put Giants Stadium on hold on the very same day of the convention. The goal is simple, to sell out Giants Stadium and attract enough coverage to overshadow the Republican Convention on the very same day.

in the same vein as building social capital for the spirit of america, ejovi is a good guy. his friends are good guys. andrew is a good guy (and not just because of the music and education work). bruce is a good guy. i can’t really say much about the people at giants stadium, but… no matter. it’s an interesting approach to politics, so you are encouraged to help draft bruce.

and, thanks to the glory of the hyperlink, you don’t have to take my word for it (although you should, of course)… you can find a little more on each of these people just one click down the net….

update: [joi’s on board, too – even faster than me]

vocalist