When is a “vessel” like a trademark?
I’ve been fascinated by the arcana of admiralty and maritime jurisprudence since I took Federal Jurisdiction in law school and learned that in many courts, the mounting of a silver oar before the bench symbolizes that the court is invested, for the moment, with admiralty or maritime jurisdiction. How cool is that?Read More »Raise High the Silver Oar!
Does angst about “copying” presuppose a culture that reads works as “art”? The Knockoff Economy team posted last week about… Read More »Shanzhai and Copying
We’ve posted before about the way authors/artists conceive of their role in the creative enterprise, and I thought some readers… Read More »Authors on the Nature of Creativity
The Economist has a briefing titled “Everything is connected” that wanders about the dynamics of Internet politics and policy, with… Read More »Everything Might Be Separate
Celebrated in the tech press only a week ago, the FTC inaction (and non-explanation of its inaction) with respect to search bias concerns is already starting to curdle. The FT ran a front page headline titled “Europe Takes Tough Stance on Google.” Another story included this striking comment from the EU’s competition chief:
Almunia insists that the Federal Trade Commission decision will be “neither an obstacle [for the European Commission] nor an advantage [for Google]. You can also think, well, this European authority, the commission, has received a gift from the American authorities, given that now every result they will get will be much better than the conclusions of the FTC,” he said with playful confidence. “Google people know very well that they need to provide results and real remedies, not arguments or comparisons with what happened on the other side [of the Atlantic].”
In response to allegations of search bias, Google has essentially said, “Trust us.” And at the end of its investigation into the potential bias, the FTC has essentially said the same. One public interest group has already put in a FOIA request for communications between Google and the FTC. Consumer Watchdog has requested a staff report that was reported to have recommended more robust action. Will Google, an advocate of openness in government and the internet generally, hold firm to its professed principles and commend those requests?
Read More »“Kicking the Tires” is not “Looking Under the Hood”