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Seth Johnson | 1 Mar 2003 13:37
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Ralph Nader Busts Software Patents


(Forwarded from Boing Boing Blog.  Article text pasted below.  -- Seth)

-------- Original Message --------
    Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 06:51:32 -0800
    From: "Cory Doctorow" <doctorow <at> craphound.com>
      To: boingboing-mailblog <at> yahoogroups.com

Short, fiery interview from Ralph Nader about the disgusting state of
the US  Patent System: 

    Name one genius inventor who has gotten rich from a software 
patent. There must be some, but the system mostly benefits a  handful of
businesspeople and lawyers who don't write code.  Look at British
Telecom. It took years before BT's patent lawyers  "discovered" the
company had invented hypertext linking. Now  General Electric claims it
invented the JPEG file format. If GE is  so smart, why did it take so
many years to figure out it invented  such a popular technology? Which
genius inventors get rich on  such claims?

Link: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/view.html?pg=3
Discuss: http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/g87LfZRc8xk

--

Posted by Cory Doctorow to Boing Boing Blog at 2/28/2003 6:50:26 AM

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----
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Seth Johnson | 1 Mar 2003 13:38
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Mr. Rogers, Information Freedom Advocate


(Forwarded from Boing Boing Blog)

-------- Original Message --------
    Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:32:04 -0800
    From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeni <at> xeni.net>
      To: boingboing-mailblog <at> yahoogroups.com

Aside from being a decent and compassionate human being, Fred Rogers 
was also a champion of fair use. From the website of the Home Recording 
Rights Coalition: 

    In [the Sony Betamax] ruling that home time-shift recording of 
television programming for private use was not copyright  infringement,
the Supreme Court relied on testimony from  television producers who did
not object to such home recording.  One of the most prominent witnesses
on this issue was Fred  Rogers. 

    The Supreme Court wrote: "Second is the testimony of Fred  Rogers,
president of the corporation that produces and owns the  copyright on
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The program is  carried by more public
television stations than any other program.  Its audience numbers over
3,000,000 families a day. He testified  that he had absolutely no
objection to home taping for  noncommercial use and expressed the
opinion that it is a real  service to families to be able to record
children's programs and to  show them at appropriate times. "

    (Excerpt from Mr. Rogers' trial testimony: ) "Some public stations, 
as well as commercial stations, program the 'Neighborhood' at  hours
when some children cannot use it. . . . I have always felt that  with
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Seth Johnson | 1 Mar 2003 13:56
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P2P Legal Advisors


(Got this link from the Pho list.  Catchy snippet: "Call it file-sharing
or shoplifting, here in Holland we call it good business." -- Seth)

> http://news.com.com/2100-1023-985484.html

'Honest Thief' confronts music industry 

By Sandeep Junnarkar 
February 21, 2003, 8:50 AM PT

A Dutch company calling itself an "honest thief" has become the latest
threat to an entertainment and recording industry beset by swelling
numbers of file-swapping services. 

Operating in the Netherlands, Internet services company PGR--doing
business as The Honest Thief--plans in the spring to license its
software and provide legal advice to others who hope to set up the
newest incarnation of peer-to-peer services. 

The recording industry has succeeded in dismantling services like
Napster and Aimster by taking legal action in the United States. But The
Honest Thief, whose Web site went live on Friday, plans to take
advantage of a Dutch appeals court ruling last March that essentially
paved the way for the Netherlands to become a legal haven for
file-sharing activities. 

The appeals court said that file-swapping service Kazaa was not
responsible for the illegal actions of people using its software. That
decision is being appealed to higher court.
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Ryan Jairam | 2 Mar 2003 06:05
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RE: Mr. Rogers, Information Freedom Advocate

What a sad day in the neighborhood.

I never really did realize that Mr. Rogers was one of the witnesses in
the Betamax case, though.  I guess I owe him a million thanks, since I'm
an avid user of a modern digital time shifting device (TiVo), without
him standing up for our rights to time shift TV programs, there would
possibly be no VCR's, and hence no TiVo.

Goodbye Mr. Rogers.

-----Original Message-----
From: Seth Johnson [mailto:seth.johnson <at> realmeasures.dyndns.org] 
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 7:26 AM
To: C-FIT_Community <at> realmeasures.dyndns.org;
C-FIT_Release_Community <at> realmeasures.dyndns.org;
fairuse-discuss <at> nyfairuse.org; DMCA_Discuss <at> lists.microshaft.org;
DMCA-Activists <at> gnu.org
Subject: Mr. Rogers, Information Freedom Advocate

(Forwarded from Boing Boing Blog)

-------- Original Message --------
    Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:32:04 -0800
    From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeni <at> xeni.net>
      To: boingboing-mailblog <at> yahoogroups.com

Aside from being a decent and compassionate human being,
Fred Rogers  was also a champion of fair use. From the
website of the Home Recording  Rights Coalition:
(Continue reading)

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Seth Johnson | 2 Mar 2003 21:52
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NY Fair Use on the Broadcast Flag


PDF version of following:

> http://rm.nyfairuse.org/flag/extdoc/NPRM 02-231 Reply Comments.pdf

The FCC Public Comments Search Page is at:
> http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi

Type 02-230 under "Proceeding" to see all comments submitted.  New
Yorkers for Fair Use's comment is at:
> http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6513483420

-- Seth

Before the 
Federal Communications Commission 
Washington, DC 20554 

In the Matter of

Digital Broadcast Copy Protection

MB Docket No. 02-230

REPLY COMMENTS OF NEW YORKERS FOR FAIR USE

February 19, 2003

Jay Sulzberger
New Yorkers for Fair Use
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Ruben Safir | 2 Mar 2003 22:18

Re: NY Fair Use on the Broadcast Flag

Except your not NY Fair Use

NY Fair Use is at
fairuse.nylxs.com and is a sub-committee of NYLXS.

Ruben

On Sun, Mar 02, 2003 at 03:52:59PM -0500, Seth Johnson wrote:
> 
> PDF version of following:
> 
> > http://rm.nyfairuse.org/flag/extdoc/NPRM 02-231 Reply Comments.pdf
> 
> 
> The FCC Public Comments Search Page is at:
> > http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi
> 
> Type 02-230 under "Proceeding" to see all comments submitted.  New
> Yorkers for Fair Use's comment is at:
> > http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6513483420
> 
> -- Seth
> 
> 
> Before the 
> Federal Communications Commission 
> Washington, DC 20554 
> 
> In the Matter of
>
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horrorvacui | 3 Mar 2003 00:39
X-Face
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Re: NY Fair Use on the Broadcast Flag

On Sun, 2 Mar 2003 16:18:27 -0500
Ruben Safir <ruben <at> mrbrklyn.com> wrote:

> Except your not NY Fair Use
> 
> NY Fair Use is at
> fairuse.nylxs.com and is a sub-committee of NYLXS.
> 
> Ruben
> 
> On Sun, Mar 02, 2003 at 03:52:59PM -0500, Seth Johnson wrote:
> > 
> > PDF version of following:
> > 
> > > http://rm.nyfairuse.org/flag/extdoc/NPRM 02-231 Reply Comments.pdf
> > 

WE'VE GOT THE BLOODY PICTURE!!!!! Even though I couldn't care less, I know
that Seth Johnson isn't NY Fair Use (or whatever) and that you probably
are it... Pray, gentlemen, let's hear about it no more. I'm no activist,
I'm just an interested (and sympathetic) observer, I want to see what's
happening, get some information you don't get elsewhere, eventually I
might get involved too... Instead, I get involved into some emotional
dispute I have not the slightest idea what it's all about, can't make out
who's who and which NY or New Yorkers are for fair use or whatnot. I just
have a slight notion that the two groups and their members have basically
similar goals but (possibly just slightly) different views. Seen from the
outside (my position), it reminds of the bizarre disputes fractions,
sub-fractions and sub-sub-fractions of '68 led, where you were required to
know your Marx, Lenin, Trotsky & Stalin by heart to make out what it's all
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Seth Johnson | 3 Mar 2003 11:05
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Berman May Abandon "Piracy" Legislation


(Forwarded from DMCA Discussion list.  Article text pasted below.  --
Seth)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [DMCA_Discuss] HOLLYWOOD SUPPORTER MAY ABANDON INTERNET PIRACY
LEGISLATION
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 12:09:56 +0300
From: Vladimir Katalov <vkatalov <at> elcomsoft.com>
Organization: ElcomSoft Co.Ltd.
To: dmca_discuss <at> lists.microshaft.org

House of Representative Howard Berman from California may be softening
his view regarding the use of proactive measures by copyright holders
against peer-to-peer copyright piracy. Hollywood interests have
communicated their concerns that legislation aimed at giving them
self-help options against pirates may pose liability risks if used
incorrectly. See coverage at LATimes (registration required):

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-berman21feb21,1,4879496.story

_______________________________________________

------------------------
http://www.anti-dmca.org
------------------------

DMCA_Discuss mailing list
DMCA_Discuss <at> lists.microshaft.org
http://lists.microshaft.org/mailman/listinfo/dmca_discuss
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Seth Johnson | 3 Mar 2003 16:35
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Norwegian Appeals Court Orders Johansen Retrial


(Forwarded from Digital Copyright in Canada list)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [d <at> DCC] Norwegian Appeals Court Orders Johansen Retrial (fwd)
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 09:31:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Russell McOrmond <russell <at> flora.ca>
Reply-To: General Discussion <discuss <at> digital-copyright.ca>
To: General Copyright Discussions <discuss <at> digital-copyright.ca>

*sigh* 

---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Any 'hardware assist' for communications, whether it be eye-glasses, 
 VCR's, or personal computers, must be under the control of the citizen 
 and not a third party.   -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 02:48:17 -0800
From: Robin Gross <robin <at> NOSPAMipjustice.org>
To: robin <at> ipjusticeNOWAY.org
Subject: Norwegian Appeals Court Orders Johansen Retrial

IP Justice Media Release
March 3, 2003

Contact:  Robin Gross, Executive Director, IP 
Justice  robin <at> ipjustice.org  +1 415.863.5459
              Halvor Manshaus, Attorney, Advokatfirmaet Schjødt
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Seth Johnson | 4 Mar 2003 15:59
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6:30 pm Thursday 6 March 2003 Refund Day II: Adam Kosmin takes Toshiba


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 6:30 pm Thursday 6 March 2003 Refund Day II: Adam Kosmin takes
Toshiba to court for the refund that the EULA guarantees
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 03:31:33 -0500 (EST)
From: <jays <at> panix.com>

At 6:30 pm Thursday 6 March 2003 Adam Kosmin will appear in Queens
County Court to argue that the Refund Clause of the EULA means what it
says.  The Refund Clause says that if you buy a computer with a
Microsoft operating system already installed on the hard disk, if you do
not run the Microsoft operating system, you get a refund for the
operating system, if you ask for a refund.

Sometimes the vendor of the computer will give a refund, but often the
vendor refuses.  This refusal is not only a violation of contract, but
of consumer protection law, and of antitrust law, specifically of the
old Microsoft consent decree of the 1990s and of the recent settlement
of the large antitrust case.

Please contact TV, radio, and newspaper reporters to let them know of
this gross and long continued violation of law, a violation with the
most serious consequences for our nation's security and prosperity. 
Please contact Consumers Union and other consumer action groups.

And please come out to the Queens County Court at 5:00 pm Thursday 6
March 2003, so that we may gather at the coffee house across the street
from the courthouse.  Laptop computers running free operating systems
are needed. Knoppix disks are also useful.  We may be able to explain to
the judge some facts that are not often presented in large circulation
(Continue reading)

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Gmane