This week in the white spaces- August 31, 2007 Every once in a while I look in on the white spaces, to see how things are going. You'll recall that the white spaces are unused, non-contiguous ("swiss cheese" ) frequencies between broadcast stations around the county. Commr. McDowell of the FCC has said that initial rules for the white spaces will be released sometime this fall. If the white spaces are made available on an unlicensed basis for use by opportunistic, "smart," low-power mobile devices, entrepreneurial...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/31/3197916.html Two good things- August 30, 2007 The received wisdom here in the U.S. is, according to Gregory Sidak of Georgetown, that prohibiting telecommunications companies from entering vertical markets is a bad idea:In general, statutory barriers to entry are strongly disfavored by scholars of regulatory economics. In practice, they are surprisingly costly to implement in technologically dynamic industries, they invite abuse through rent-seeking behavior, and they run the risk of harming consumer welfare.Well, the EU telecom...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/30/3195561.html Immobility- August 29, 2007 As cars overflowing with stuff crawl slowly towards dorm rooms and apartments here at the University of Michigan, it's worth spending a moment to consider some mainstream news reports that share a downward-sloping psychic curve.Regulators all over the world would like to have a say about U.S. lending policy, the Times tells us:Politicians, regulators and financial specialists outside the United States are seeking a role in the oversight of American markets, banks and rating agencies after...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/29/3193156.html Yearly- August 28, 2007 Today was the day I finished off my cyberlaw syllabus. You should take this course! It's got life, death, technology, transfiguration, and plenty of cases in which Perfect 10 is the plaintiff or Google is the defendant (or both). More tomorrow.http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/28/3190979.html The transition to digital and the death of common sense- August 28, 2007 Two news items interestingly connect today: First, the airing of Ken Burns' new documentary, "The War," is causing broadcasters some anxiety, because it contains four fleeting expletives. From SFGate.com:Many public broadcasters aren't sure whether the FCC will fine public television stations for airing 'The War,' and the FCC hasn't revealed its position. That uncertainty is placing the broadcasters in a difficult position. They must either show a documentary in a form...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/27/3188158.html State secrets- August 24, 2007 It's common knowledge that companies that provide access to the internet cooperate with law enforcement. The telephone companies have always been closely tied to emergency responders and the police -- in times of need, people reach for telephones, and this close cooperation has allowed many rescuers to reach panicked callers. But the cooperative relationship springing from law enforcement's surveillance needs is just as close.In the NSA spying scandal, the administration has...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/24/3182250.html Artistry- August 24, 2007 Fifteen minutes before the film was supposed to start tonight, a slight trim man in a madras shirt bounded towards the front of the theater. I'd noticed the organ keyboard facing the audience before he came in, and I'd idly thought about people sitting through silent movies accompanied by virtuosos staring up at the screen. But then this guy came flying down the aisle and sat down on the bench, his back to the ten or so people scattered around the theater. It took him a long...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/23/3179489.html All the beautiful things in the world- August 23, 2007 That's the title of a short film that plays when you visit the Morgan Library. J.P. Morgan went in search of beautiful things, and tried to buy as many as he could. Speaking of beautiful things, here are a few more words from Walter Pater:I have said that the peculiar character of Botticelli is the result of a blending in him of a sympathy for humanity in its uncertain condition, its attractiveness, its investiture at rarer moments in a character of loveliness and energy,...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/22/3176849.html Carl Malamud- August 21, 2007 Carl Malamud is doing his best to make historical court decisions visible online. This is inspirational - it took a huge fight for the online publishers to give up on controlling ownership of citations to page numbers in court decisions.As the comments to this Tim O'Reilly post make clear, there are several places online where current court decisions are publicly available. I frequently go to the Cornell Legal Information Institute. But the historical data is hard to get...http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/21/3173117.html Humanism and E911 (2004-2007)- August 21, 2007 Here's an uplifting thought that has nothing to do with internet policy:For the essence of humanism is that belief of which Pico della Mirandola seems never to have doubted, that nothing which has ever interested living men and women can wholly lose its vitality -- no language they have spoken, nor oracle beside which they have hushed their voices, no dream which has once been entertained by actual human minds, nothing about which they have ever been passionate, or expended time and zeal.That's.http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/20/3171506.html |