Fearing the Digital Age

For John, BLUF:  It's like a big wave, you have to ride it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

From The Washington Post and writer Joel Achenbach we have a tirade against the 21st Century and the Internet, headlined "THE RESISTANCE".  As the article says,

They are the digital dissenters.

They see tech companies tracking our every move.

They want to go back to the basics – to a world where the interests of humans come before robots, algorithms and the needs of Silicon Valley.

They are the Luddites of our day.  They want to hold up their hand and scream STOP at progress.  They are Progressives who hate progress.  But, because my buddy Juan Paron is relaxing in Florida and I am up here in Winter, such as it is, he sent the article along to see what I thought.

Here is what I thought:

Sure, this resonates with me.  I think NSA knows too much about me.  On the other hand, I am the sort of "lateral thinker" who believes that when Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) gets serious they will not go for targets in NYC, but for the Mall of the Americas or somewhere in Lowell, MA.

Yes, tech companies earn too much money.  Isn't it scary that a college dropout like Bill Gates is making billions?

On the other hand, I think Uber and Lift are great things, providing a 21st Century taxi service.  What they are doing is breaking the monopolies of the 20th Century and destroy that path to graft and corruption.  It is providing freedom and making an assault on $100,000 taxi medallions.  It is providing an entrance for the little guy.

Sure, the camera on my computer, staring at me, can be (may be) used by some clerk at DA or HHS to spy on me and see me making and eating peanut butter crackers while I type this.  But, so what?  There is a line out there that if they cross it the People will rise up and shut them down.  It has happened before.  Fortunately for them this is the USofA and it doesn't happen that often, not like France, which is on its Fifth Republic, and that is not to mention the various "Empires" and "Monarchies" since we agreed our own Constitution.  And you see how I just dropped a Link to some article with more details, if you want them.  That is thanks to the Internet.

What really scares me is "The New School", in New York City.  There is where the self-appointed do gooders, who would regulate our lives for our own good, hang out.  It is one thing for some CPO to tell some Seaman Second what is good for him, but it is another for some Progressive PhD or Artist or Do-Gooder to tell all of us what is good for us.

So, back to Astra (reminds me that I watched After the Thin Man last night).  From the article "She says she’d like to see more government-supported media platforms — think public radio…"  Why would I want more progressive pabulum?  Not that I have to listen to listen to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck or that PhD from San Francisco, but I want the FREEDOM to listen to whoever manages to get on the airways.

Then we have "Taylor is skeptical of the trope that information wants to be free; actually, she says, information often wants someone to pay for it."  She totally misunderstands "information wants to be free".  It wants to be free of restraints, of being hidden, of laws and rules that violate common sense.  A prime example is Copyright.  The Constitution says Congress can set rules for Copyright.  And they have and they keep extending it from those early, common sense, limits.  Now it seems to go on for ever.  Today it is good for 105 years.  The heirs of Walt Disney have copyright on Steamboat Willie (or could, if they played their cards right).  Tyranny!  Are these progressives growling about that?

Then there is Douglas (“I’m on Team Human!”) Rushkoff, whose upcoming book is titled Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus.  Supposedly it provides "a primer on the rise of capitalism, central banks and industrial culture.  He suggested that civilization started making wrong turns in the Middle Ages.  Centralized currency — not good. In the early days, every community could have its own coinage.  We need to 'rebirth the values of the peer-to-peer bazaar culture.'”

We want to go back to the Middle Ages and take a different path?  The Middle Ages were not all that much fun.  On the other hand, today fewer on in poverty than ever before.  Capitalism, for all its faults and evils, brings people out of poverty and allows them to live a decent life.  These people are wacko.

But, to wrap this up, I would like to think about The Donald for a second.  Where did he come from?  Two places.  One is the last 7 years of President Obama and the other is the Media.  Well, giving credit where credit is due, The People deserve a lot of credit.  The Progressives are incredulous that The Donald keeps polling well, and they keep waiting for him to crash and burn.  But, the People are not happy and not happy with either party.  The worst is the Republican establishment, which keeps winning control of Congress and then does nothing with that control.  Then there are the Democrats, who think the event in San Berdoo was all about "gun control".

And a Happy New Year.

Regards  —  Cliff

Copyright To Get Worse

For John, BLUF:  Will it impact City Life?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

With a delicious sense of irony, I copy the whole post from Law Professor Ann Althouse:

"I had a Supreme Court Justice tell me it’s over for me," said Drudge.

"They’ve got the votes now to enforce copyright law, you’re out of there.  They’re going to make it so you can’t even use headlines...  To have a Supreme Court Justice say to me it’s over, they’ve got the votes, which means time is limited...  That will end [it] for me – fine – I’ve had a hell of a run…."

Drudge added "that web users were being pushed into the cyber ‘ghettos’ of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram":  "This is ghetto, this is corporate, they’re taking your energy and you’re getting nothing in return – nothing!"

There you have it.  Our Congress is going to make the Mickey Mouse Copyright laws even worse.

And, those of us blogging on news articles are not going to be able to mention the article.

This will definitely limit the publics discussion of current events.  That will, in turn, lead to a more ignorant public.  I guess it will help the Democrats.  It definitely won't help those of us who believe in truth, justice and the American way.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Daiku

For John, BLUF:  A wonderful performance and tradition.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

From Mental Flosswe have this short article on Beethoven's Ninth being performed in Japan.

In Japan, it's an end-of-year tradition to sing "Ode to Joy," the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  The song is so well-known in Japan that it's known simply as daiku, literally "number nine."  In Osaka, a 10,000-person-strong "Number Nine Chorus" of amateur singers performs daiku every December, to thundering effect.  While there are some professionals involved (the soloists and orchestra), the Number Nine Chorus is largely a community effort.  And the sound of 10,000 singers, trained or untrained, is unbelievable.

And a link that doesn't work.

However, this link worked for me a few minutes ago.  Here is a You Tube version of this year's performance.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Illustrated On the Road

For John, BLUF:  Copyright again.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Lowell's Jack Kerouac is mentioned in the Althouse Blog. Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

President Obama's Gamble

For John, BLUF:  I tend to think of President Obama as cautious, but this latest move has risks.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

I am not saying that I fully agree with Chris Muir in his characterization of President Obama's actions yesterday, but I think he does catch a part of the truth.

For those who don't know the three folks in the background, contact me off line.

As for the President's actions, probably legal, but he did go out of his way to stick his thumb in the eye of House Speaker John Boehner.

More important is the question of (1) if this is all legal and by the Constitution, (2) why did he wait lo these five plus years to make this happen?  Was it neglect or dereliction of duty?  That is the question the Main Stream Media should be asking today, not recommending adding to the Mickey Mouse Copyright Laws to include a tax on single works of art to be paid back to the original artist.  That is not nearly as important as the question of what the President is up to and not up to.

Is The Boston Globe just slow off the mark or are their Lordships in the Editorial Office unable or unwilling to speak truth to power, at least to Democrat Party power?  And the Dynamic Duo at The [Lowell] Sun?

Regards  —  Cliff

Curse of Benghazi

For John, BLUF:  The Copyright Laws are broken, badly.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Ninth Circuit Court has ordered Google to take down the short video, Innocence of Muslims.  This is the video that the Administration blamed, initially, for the attack on our facility in Benghazi, Libya.

The Court's ruling was based on the theory that individual bit players have individual Copyright privilege and can force recall or suppression of a total work of art by exercising their copyright.

I wonder if the lose copyright power if the film producer edits out their bit?

Google is correct to be concerned about the implications of this ruling.

On the other hand, this could just be part of the larger "Curse of Benghazi", where everything that touches the case goes haywire.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who Owns Your Kid's Drawing?

For John, BLUF:  Here is a School Committee out of control and demanding copyright privileges for the work of kids and teachers.

Copyright in these United States is out of control!

And it will bite us, bad, as it stifles creativity.

First off, copyright periods are getting longer and longer.  Soon the heirs of Lincoln will be on us about use of the Gettysburg Address.  Eventually the descendents of Moses will be complaining about people freely using the Ten Commandments.

And in Prince George County, Maryland, outside Washington, DC, the School Board is considering rules to make the work of teachers and students—and students—copyrighted with the rights assigned to the School District.

Here is the lede:

A proposal by the Prince George’s County Board of Education to copyright work created by staff and students for school could mean that a picture drawn by a first-grader, a lesson plan developed by a teacher or an app created by a teen would belong to the school system, not the individual.

So, your First Grader colors a picture and does a good job at it, the work belongs to the school.  Not a big deal if it is on the frig, but it could be a big deal if you post it on your blog and your blog has advertising.  What if you Eleventh Grader does a science fair project and it turns out to be innovative?  What about a Twelfth Grader's essay for college?

And, it just isn't in school, per this paragraph from the article

It’s not unusual for a company to hold the rights to an employee’s work, copyright policy experts said.  But the Prince George’s policy goes a step further by saying that work created for the school by employees during their own time and using their own materials is the school system’s property.

Here is Professor Ann Althouse's comment:

God forbid that teachers might become entrepreneurial about their creations and amass personal wealth.  It's important to keep them inside the system, teaching their wards that the government needs to possess everything in order to ensure that no one gets more than her share.

Copyright in these United States is out of control!

And it will bite us, bad, as it stifles creativity.

If you create something and keep it to yourself, fine.  If you create something and put it out there, there comes a time when you need to release it to the rest of us to tinker with.  Think of it as being like your children, who become independent when they turn 18, or 21.

For those of you quick to blame President Obama for things gone wrong in this nation, don't blame him for this.  This is squarely on Congress.  While this particular incident is from a School Committee, the general trend has been set, over the years, by the US Congress—the people we send back to Capitol Hill election after every election.

I hope our School Committee, and our Commonwealth Department of Education is NOT going to engage in this kind of thing.

Hat tip to the Althouse blog.

Regards  —  Cliff

Worst Law of 2013

For John, BLUF:  There are too many laws and too many people making them.

Political strategist Derek Khanna, writing about issues of government and technology for The Atlantic, gives us "The Most Ridiculous Law of 2013 (So Far):  It Is Now a Crime to Unlock Your Smartphone".

In some situations, first time offenders may be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned for five years, or both.

And a law, not from Congress, but from The Library of Congress, through delegated authority.  Promulgated this month, with eleven more to go this year.

The size of the penalty is so US Attorney Carmen Ortiz, down in Boston, can bully the accused into accepting a plea bargin, rather than having to face a trial, where the judge can say no (see the Caswell Motel forfeiture case) or the jury can bring common sense to the courtroom.

Copyright law is out of control and is a prime example of the adverse effects of corporations and trade associations having undue influence on Congress members.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Darrell Issa and Copyright

For John, BLUF:  Copyright laws are holding us back as a People.  There is some small movement on the Republican side.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Representative Darrell Issa to the rescue.  He says he is going to write legislation that makes it clear you can "rip your legally purchased DVD so you can watch it on your computer or iPad.  Seems like "fair use" to me.

There should be little doubt that our copyright laws are broken.  In the mean time the Democratic Party is beholding to Hollywood and other interested parties and the Republican Party is floundering.  [Link Separation Here]  Here is the Memo that pulled the draft Republican House paper and the paper.

Hat tip to The InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

DoJ Action Supports Hollywood?

Here is an alternative view of the takedown of the Internet site Megaupload.  This happened at about the same time the crescendo against SOFA and PIPA peaked.  The article is titled "MegaProtectionism For The Record Companies?".  Here is, literally, the bottom line:

Copyright protection is a legitimate problem in the digital age, but if the speculation here turns out to be accurate, the Justice Department has been used to facilitate the crib death of a legal competitor to the RIAA.  If that pans out, we've got a much bigger problem than piracy to worry about.

I fully agree with all of this paragraph.  Copyright protection is a legitimate problem and if this raid on Megaupload was corrupt we have much bigger problems that piracy to worry about.

From the Comments Section, this cynical view:

Kim Dotcom's downfall is that he couldn't get big enough fast enough to buy him some politicians.

Lazarus Long's classic quote:  Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded -- here and there, now and then -- are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people.  Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people slip back into abject poverty.  This is known as "bad luck."

I would say that for a portion of the population the conduct of Operation FAST AND FURIOUS does nothing to ease such concerns.

Was this the kind of signal Lobbyist Chris Dodd was looking for?

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

SOPA Support

Over at Left in Lowell is a link to a good, albeit longish, discussion of SOPA and PIPA.  Yes, I am driving you through Miss Lynne's blog to get to the link.

In the mean time, here is the Althouse blog talking about how some other "left wing" blogs are up in arms over who is and isn't supporting SOPA.

Regards  — Cliff

Citizens United vs Googe vs SOPA

Over at the Althouse blog the question is asked, if you are against Citizens United, are you against Google opposing SOPA/PIPA?  Wikipedia?

Regards  —  Cliff

Knowledge Diminished

Some of you may have noticed that when you enter a subject in Wikipedia it comes up and then goes black, with some political advertising.  I don't disagree with the message, but it is politics.  Some folks trying to shut down our intellectual life as we have come to know it are policking to get drastically bad laws put on the books about intellectual property.  What is especially disappointing is people like Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) are supporting this dross.  The good news is that people like Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) are opposing it.

Here is an article at Wired, explaining it.

To be frank, copyright is morally right and also good for the economic well being of this Nation and it's People.  What is not good is denying "fair use" and prolonged copyrights.  With Wikipedia down, and my copy of the Constitution elsewhere in the house, I can't quickly check, but as I recall, the initial period, 200+ years ago, was seven years.  Where did they get that?  I am betting from Moses.  Remember all those rules about resting on the seventh day and the seventh year, to increase long term productivity?  Sadly, since the early days of our Republic the number of years before the copyright goes to rest has just grown.  Some would allege it was all to protect Mickey Mouse.  Then along came Righthavan, which tried bullying bloggers.  Righthaven had the lawyers and the money to bully others but the courts—those defenders of our Rights as [English]men (and women)—stepped up are putting an end to that sort of bullying.

This does remind me of how the Music Industry dealt with new media.  Very poorly.  Everybody lost something.

From the Insapundit is this web site for electronically expressing displeasure to your elected Representative and Senators.  Good, but even better is picking up the phone and calling the local office of the Honorable Niki Tsongas [(978) 459-0101] and talking to the nice young man who answers the phone.  Identify yourself as a voter in the district and say you are against these new copyright laws under consideration.  52 Seconds.  Then there are the two senators.  Senator Kerry's Boston office isn't nearly as quick picking up the phone.  I gave up and called the DC office and got bumped to bumper music, but a nice young lady did pick up and say the Senator hasn't taken a position on "PIPA" (one of the two bills under consideration), but the Senator is for a free and open Internet.  She also told me the Boston office may just be very busy.  [(202) 224-2742].  Our Junior Senator, Scott Brown [(202) 224-2646], is, per the lady who answered, definitely opposed to these bills.

Ball's in your court.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mickey Mouse Copyright Laws

The US Congress keeps pushing out the date copyright protection expires.

It has moved from protecting the author to protecting the author's grandchildren.

It is clearly not the worst thing Congress has done in my lifetime, but it is indicative and it is encouraging of actions that discourage creativity.

Worse, for all those folks who rail against Republicans who advocate the elimination of death taxes, this is the worst kind of elimination of death taxes.

See this example for what should today be in the public domain under the Copyright Act before 1978, but is now sequestered under the 1976 Copyright Act.

All laws should sunset at some point, to be re-voted by a new Congress.  I recommend every ten years.  Same for the State level.

Regards  —  Cliff

Bloggers Quoting News Reports

Shock and Awe!

Over at Wired we have an article that talks to another Righthaven lawsuit gone awry.

I thought the Federal Judge might have gone a little over the top, but with Righthaven pressing the envelope, they should have understood that things could get out of control.  The judge ruled the full lifting of an editorial for a blog was OK.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff