] In any good community, people take care of each other. If
] someone is robbed, people put in what they can to help
] them out. Therefore, I am planning to raise $2,000 for
] this girl (the cost of her settlement), because I think
] she's been robbed by the RIAA. Other folks tend to agree
] with me.

Datatype: Raising $2000 for that 12 year old...

] Owners of the conversational websites known as weblogs
] have recently noticed that their referral logs have
] become the newest target for spam.

] Referral logs, intended to collect information on who
] visited a website and how they happened to arrive
] there, are being stuffed with bogus links. Curious
] bloggers who click on a logged link to see who
] visited their site are instead led to pornography or
] advertising sites.

MemeStreams receives lots of referral spam.

BTW, whoever wrote this article is kind of an idiot... These are not REAL refferals, so they don't have any impact on your google ranking. (duh!)

Wired News: When the Spam Hits the Blogs

] In August, Raymond, president of the Open Source
] Initiative (OSI), acknowledged that the attacker was an
] "experienced Internet engineer." In a posting to
] internetnews.com sister site Linux Today, Raymond, while
] noting that he did not actually know the identity of the
] person responsible, said, "I had been hoping, and
] actually expecting, that the attacker would turn out to
] be some adolescent cracker with no real connection to the
] open-source community other than a willingness to stand
] down when one of its leaders asked. But no; I was told
] enough about his background and how he did it to be
] pretty sure he is one of us -- and I am ashamed for us
] all."

Looks the shooting is on the other foot! This puts the Open Source community in the extremely ugly position of either turning in their friends or protecting criminals, in a very public way. Ever wonder what it feels like to be Yasar Arafat?

Open Source community responsible for DOS attacks...

" He built a prototype for what he thinks could be the future of voting: an agent that mines your online and other computer habits to extract a political ideology, and then makes voting recommendations — or more omniously, even casts the ballots for you."

Voting by Net Proxy?

] Barely 24 hours after suing alleged file swappers around
] the United States, the recording industry has settled its
] first, agreeing to drop its case against a 12-year-old
] New York girl in exchange for $2,000.

RIAA takes $2,000 from 12 year old who lives in the projects. (Can you really get more sinister then this?!)

RIAA settles with 12-year-old girl | CNET News.com

... The interesting questions are ... how much better collaborative filters will become in locating freely offered material.

Shirky: Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free Content

] After more than 20 years at Sun Microsystems Inc.,
] cofounder and Chief Scientist Bill Joy is leaving the
] company, Sun announced Tuesday.

Hmmmm....

ITworld.com - Bill Joy to leave Sun

The WIPO recently attempted to hold hearings about open source models and how they might be used in international development efforts. The United States got these hearings killed by claiming that, essentially, the only valid job for WIPO is in expanding restrictions on the use of information.

Here is something Lessig wrote on the issue:

I don't even know how to begin this story, so stupid and extreme it is.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was convinced by Jamie Love and others to hold a meeting about "open collaborative models to develop public goods." One of those models is, of course, open source and free software. Lobbyists for Microsoft and others apparently (according to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23422-2003Aug20.html)this extraordinary story by Jonathan Krim) started lobbying the US government to get the meeting cancelled. No surprise there. Open source and free software is a competitor to MSFT's products. Lobbying is increasingly the way competition is waged in America.

But the astonishing part is the justification for the US opposing the meeting. According to the Post, Lois Boland, director of international relations for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said "that open-source software runs counter to the mission of WIPO, which is to promote intellectual-property rights." As she is quoted as saying, "To hold a meeting which has as its purpose to disclaim or waive such rights seems to us to be contrary to the goals of WIPO."

If Lois Boland said this, then she should be asked to resign. The level of ignorance built into that statement is astonishing, and the idea that a government official of her level would be so ignorant is an embarrassment.

First, and most obviously, open-source software is based in
intellectual-property rights. It can't exist (and free software can't have its effect) without it. Second, the goal of WIPO, and the goal of any government, should be to promote the right balance of intellectual-property rights, not simply to promote intellectual property rights. And finally, if an intellectual property right holder wants to "disclaim" or "waive" her rights, what business is it of WIPOs? Why should WIPO oppose a copyright or patent rights holder's choice to do with his or her rights what he or she wants?

These points are basic. They should be fundamental. That someone who doesn't understand them is at a high level of this government just shows how extreme IP policy in America has become.

EFF - WIPO action letter

Please keep in mind that these are static jpgs...
Hold onto your seat...

Freak out man!!!

] "The newly proposed 'amnesty' is clearly a strategy by
] the industry to address some of the concerns I and others
] have had in this matter," Coleman said in a statement.
] "But, it raises new issues that require careful analysis
] and review. An amnesty that could involve millions of
] kids submitting and signing legal documents that plead
] themselves guilty to the Recording Industry Association
] of America may not be the best approach to achieving a
] balance between protecting copyright laws and punishing
] those who violate those laws."

Senator Cautions Those Tempted By RIAA Amnesty Offer