After giving testimony at a Congressional hearing on Competition on the Internet, I began to wonder–has anyone done an intellectual history tracing the origins of worries about the power of search engines and other intermediaries? Helen Nissenbaum and Lucas Introna published an extraordinarily prescient paper on “why the politics of search engines matters” at […]

[Read more →]

TechCrunch has featured an interesting video from GumGum, a company that looks to aspire to be the CCC of online photos and videos. Capitalizing on the economics of celebrity content, it promises to “make every license a viral sales tool for the content owner” by making it appear with a right-click:

Publishers are […]

[Read more →]

I’ve long had a soft spot for bioconservatism, and been suspicious of the “dark side” of technological advances. But I’ve also had a sense that, in the end, this unease has to give way to reconciliation, lest one be “left behind.” I think the Canadian band Our Lady Peace captures that sensibility well […]

[Read more →]

Tomorrow I’ll be testifying before the House Judiciary Committee’s Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws (apparently it will be broadcast here) on the Google-Yahoo Deal. The Senate is also holding hearings. I’m happy to see this level of Congressional scrutiny because, as On the Media asked last week, what happens if […]

[Read more →]

The recent © Murakami show has provoked mixed feelings. Some of my cultured friends have dismissed it as gauche, but I’ve never seen the Brooklyn Museum more crowded. Though the exhibit was of mixed quality, I think contemporary art’s general eagerness to break down barriers between aesthetics, commerce, and politics has real emancipatory […]

[Read more →]

Nicholas Carr is one of the leading commentators on internet culture, and his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” will influence discussion of its effects for a long time. Here’s one conclusion from the piece:
Where does it end? Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the gifted young men who founded Google while pursuing doctoral […]

[Read more →]

Genericide is one of the most interesting doctrines in trademark law, and the First Circuit’s recent opinion on Duck Tours should prove interesting to scholars working in the area. Judge Howard of New Hampshire was on the panel, joining an opinion written by Judge Lipez. Lipez could have cited any of a number […]

[Read more →]

Google has recently signed an interesting distribution deal with “Family Guy” creator Seth McFarlane:
Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google […]

[Read more →]

Futurology is often derided as a pastime of trendspotters and luftmenschen. But the recent European Patent Office “Scenarios for the Future” report rehabilitated the genre a bit. I’ve mentioned before that an IP prof has to be a bit of a prognosticator; I’m happy to see Carlin Romano developing the theme (far more […]

[Read more →]

It’s hard to think of two movies conveying American joie de vivre and weltschmerz as well as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Requiem for a Dream (respectively). So why not superimpose the music from one on images from the other (in Requiem for a Day Off)?

Like Reese’s Pieces, two great movies that taste great […]

[Read more →]

Making a mixtape is so 1980s. Now you can make a muxtape:
[On the site,] you can upload . . . what the kids call playlists. [The program then streams the mp3s you chose on a url you pick.] I am not sure of the legal issues, but the system is smart […]

[Read more →]

Jonathan Zittrain has been promoting his new book on some excellent radio programs, including On the Media and On Point (with Tom Ashbrook). On OTM, the host challenged him with the query, “We don’t want blank-slate cell phones that have to be programmed. I want to buy it, take it out of the box, […]

[Read more →]

I just wanted to announce that the preliminary program for the 2008 Computers, Freedom, and Privacy Conference (in New Haven, CT) has been announced. The theme this year is “Technology Policy ‘08,” and it includes several topical panels for the election year:

Presidential Technology Policy: Priorities for the Next Executive
States as Incubators of Change
Activism and […]

[Read more →]

I’m not endorsing this post from a theory-loving prof outside of law schools, but I think it provides some good warnings about exactly how far we want to go in standardizing educational experiences:
These days, one of the more frustrating and tedious aspects of working in an institutional setting such as a secondary school, a […]

[Read more →]

Now that both Mike and I have broached the possibility that economic change could radically affect the demand for attorneys in the future, let me say a little about the relationship between the law school and the market.
Optimistically, we might praise “market discipline” for law schools. Law firms want to reduce clients’ expenses; governments […]

[Read more →]

There are many jaw-dropping statistics about globalization, but this estimate by a renowned economist may be the most worrisome for U.S. attorneys:
Practically all kinds of employment that do not require physical presence can now be offshored. According to Alan Blinder, this amounts to 22–29 percent of all US jobs. [C]ontinued retraining and improvements […]

[Read more →]

As food prices skyrocket, there is growing unrest in the developing world:
Food riots have already occurred around the world, and the World Bank predicts political and social unrest over food in 30 to 40 countries. The United Nations World Food Program spends $3 billion, but needs $500 million more just to keep up. […]

[Read more →]

Having learned a great deal at Maryland’s conference on a similar topic, I am proud to announce that Seton Hall Law is hosting a symposium on pandemic flu this fall. Proposals are due by 4/15; here is the call for papers:
No Tags

[Read more →]

According to a Stephen Carr review of Nicholas Carr’s new book comparing the economic impact of the rise of the electrical grid and the rise of the internet, it may well be:
[Carr] describes a world in which a handful of lucky and brilliant entrepreneurs uses the World Wide Computer to tap humanity’s smarts and creativity […]

[Read more →]

That’s one creative title for an article in what looks to be a fascinating issue of First Monday. The issue offers a critical take on Web 2.0; here’s Michael Zimmer on its theme:
In Technopoly, Neil Postman warned that we tend to be “surrounded by the wondrous effects of machines and are encouraged to […]

[Read more →]