] A ruling this week from the U.S. Copyright Office could
] strengthen manufacturer Static Control Components Inc.'s
] (SCC's) defense against a copyright infringement lawsuit
] by Lexmark International Inc. that is expected to have a
] broad impact on the market for low-cost, third-party
] printer cartridges.

Pretty silly that Lexmark was using DMCA to beat down toner cartridge clones...

'course the recurring ink cartridge revenue was the only reason Dell got into the printer business in the first place.

ITworld.com - DMCA grounds shaken in Lexmark cartridge case

] On Tuesday, The LOC announced four classes of work that
] will be exempt from the DMCA's specific prohibition
] against circumvention of technological measures that
] control access to copyrighted works. The exemptions did
] not include making back-up copies of DVDs.
]
] Under the LOC's triennial review of DMCA non-infringing
] uses, exemptions were granted for (1.) decoding lists of
] Web pages or directories blocked by Internet filtering
] software, also known as censorware; (2.) circumventing
] obsolete digital rights management devices called
] "dongles" that prevent access due to malfunction or
] damage; (3.) accessing computer programs and video games
] distributed in obsolete formats; and (4.) accessing
] ebooks for which the publisher has disabled the
] read-aloud function or the ability to use screen readers
] to render the text into a specialized format, such as
] Braille for access by the blind.

Interesting what got exempted ... and that academic research *didn't* get exempted...

DVD Back-up Software Developer Vows Fair Use Fight

Heh.

Fact Squad Radio: We're don't have an agenda... no... really...

] Bulldozer maker Caterpillar Inc. wants to bury Walt
] Disney Co.'s "George of the Jungle 2" movie, which it
] alleges in a lawsuit filed late Tuesday in Federal Court
] in Peoria, Illinois, infringes on its trademarks.

Sigh...

CNN.com - Caterpillar sues over 'George of Jungle' - Oct. 16, 2003

] Of all the candidates for the Democratic nomination,
] Howard Dean raised the most amount of money over the
] Internet. On March 15th, the Dean campaign launched the
] first official weblog in presidential campaign history,
] six days after Dean himself first stumped in the
] blogosphere. What follows are Dean's principles for
] Internet Policy.

Dean's Principles for Internet Policy

]
] ASHINGTON, Oct. 6 — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand
] a ruling by a federal appeals court allowing Arkansas
] officials to force a convicted murderer to take drugs
] that would make him sane enough to be executed.

Bunch of other SC bits here.

Ruling Allows Forcible Drugging of an Inmate Before Execution

] But a growing number of legal and medical experts are
] warning that the apparent tranquillity of a lethal
] injection may be deceptive. They say the standard method
] of executing people in most states could lead to
] paralysis that masks intense distress, leaving a
] wide-awake inmate unable to speak or cry out as he slowly
] suffocates.

Critics Say Execution Drug May Hide Suffering

] Remote attestation works by generating, in hardware, a
] cryptographic certificate attesting to the identity of
] the software currently running on a PC. (There is no
] determination of whether the software is good or bad,
] or whether it is compromised or not compromised.
] "Identity" is represented by a cryptographic hash,
] which simply allows different programs to be
] distinguished from one another, or changes in their
] code to be discerned, without conveying any sort of value
] judgment.) This certificate may, at the PC user's
] request, be provided to any remote party, and in
] principle has the effect of proving to that party that
] the machine is using expected and unaltered software. If
] the software on the machine has been altered, the
] certificate generated will reflect this. We will see
] that this approach, although elegant, proves
] problematic.

READ THIS!

EFF: Trusted Computing: Promise and Risk

] For its part, Verizon has been stressing the privacy
] implications of allowing the use of DMCA subpoenas to
] become more widespread. It's backing Brownback's bill,
] which requires that a lawsuit be filed before an Internet
] user be unmasked. (The exact language: "An Internet
] access service may not be compelled to make available to
] a manufacturer of a digital media product or its
] representative the identity or personal information of a
] subscriber or user of its service"--unless, that is, a
] civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution is pending.)

more backlash against DMCA subpoena foo

] Read "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus" and then see Al on the "Fair
] and Balanced Tour"

Supply Side Jesus