From the monthly archives: December 2009

The textbook world is getting flat

On December 23, 2009 By

Earlier this month I was able, thanks to the organizing efforts of a colleague, to participate in a phone call with Jeff Shelstad, one of the founders of Flat World Knowledge.  I wrote about Flat World some time ago, but I want to take the opportunity (before it fades in my mind) to describe [...]

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Dissing incentives

On December 18, 2009 By

This New York Times article about “Legal Battles over E-Book Rights to Older Books” caught my eye both because of a usage I dislike in its title and because of its importance in the continuing discussion of how much incentive copyright really provides for writers and other creators.  The article focuses on a dispute [...]

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The most dangerous place on the Web

On December 15, 2009 By

The most dangerous place on the Internet may well be inside that little button that says “I Agree.”  The opportunity to bind oneself to a contract almost unconsciously abounds on the Internet, and the immediacy of the Web encourages click-through agreements that are almost never read and, if they are, impossible to understand.

The Electronic [...]

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What wasn’t decided

On December 9, 2009 By

Sometimes what a court does not decide can be more important than the actual ruling that the court makes.  One newsworthy example of this possibility is the extraordinary step taken by the judge in the file-sharing case of Joel Tenenbaum.  As this opinion piece from Ars Technica reports, Judge Nancy Gertner has finalized the [...]

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ACTA up

On December 3, 2009 By

ACTA, short for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is a multi-party trade agreement being negotiated in secret by the U.S., the states of the European Union and several other nations.  While its name suggests a laudable purpose, the prevention of international trade in counterfeit goods, the secrecy of the negotiations raise cause for concern.  As details [...]

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