For those whose computers keep freezing …
… here‘s a little light relief.
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Author: Eoin
Dr Eoin O'Dell is a Fellow and Associate Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin.
The Internet, and Privacy – from today’s Observer
Three columns in today’s Observer raise interesting issues.
First, Vint Cerf – If you thought the internet was cool, wait until it goes space age – sings a characteristic paean to the internet:
After working on the internet for more than three decades, I’m more optimistic about its promise than ever. It has the potential to change unexpected parts of our lives: … we’re at the cusp of a truly global internet that will bring people closer together and democratise access to information. We are all free to innovate on the net every day and we should look forward to more people around the world enjoying that freedom.
Of course, not all of that information is or will be equal. Some of it is erroneous, or unreliable, or irelevant; so we will have to acquire and apply principles of discernment and technqiues of filtering. Unfortunately, we aren’t very good at doing that now; and there is nothing to suggest we not be any better online. …
What’s the big deal?
Lessig (left) writes:
huge and important news: free licenses upheld
So for non-lawgeeks, this won’t seem important. But trust me, this is huge. … the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (THE “IP” court in the US) has upheld a free (ok, they call them “open source”) copyright license, explicitly pointing to the work of Creative Commons and others. … the Court has held that free licenses such as the CC licenses set conditions … on the use of copyrighted work. When you violate the condition, the license disappears, meaning you’re simply a copyright infringer …
The decision in Jacobsen v Katzer is excellent news, to be sure; but isn’t it obvious? It may be “huge”, in the sense that this is the first time that a court has actually said this; but this has always seemed obvious to me (which is why I use a Creative Commons licence on this site). What am I missing?…
Privacy, Oz-style
If the unlamented Privacy Bill, 2006 were to make an unwelcome return from limbo, the Oireachtas could do worse than to revise it in the light of a recent Australian example.
First, the balanced and detailed Privacy Act, 1998 (Cth) (as amended and consolidated) is an excellent starting point for any legislative development of Irish privacy law. The range and detail of its coverage, and its focus on protecting against invasions of privacy across the board, and not merely by media, make it a far more compelling protection of privacy than the flawed Irish Bill. …
University fees? Yes, Minister
Whenever I hear discussions of the funding of universities, my thoughts turn first to a classic Yes Minister (BBC | imdb | wikipedia) episode (imdb | synopsis | wikipedia | YouTube) in which the worthies in Sir Humphrey’s Oxford College lobby him against the pernicious effects of government funding policies. Much of that sketch is relevant to the current debate in Ireland about third-level tuition fees (Irish Times | RTÉ News), where it seems to me that two separate issues have been conflated (or confused) in some quarters. Moreover, one of these issues needs to be resolved before any of the other elements of the current debate can be properly addressed.
In 1996, when the Government “abolished” third-level fees, what actually happened was a little more complicated. …
Privacy 3 – 0 Press
Some own goals are Say it ain’t so, Bill; say it ain’t so!
Even if no kid ever actually pleaded with ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson (pictured) (“Say it ain’t so, Joe; say it ain’t so”) to deny his involvement in throwing the 1919 baseball World Series (dramatized in the movie Eight Men Out), it’s still a good line, and entirely apposite to title a post mourning the passing of the best copyright blog on the net.
Last Friday, William Patry announced the demise of his wonderful blog (including – I am sorry to say – the deletion of his hugely informative archives) (see update, below):
…End of the blog
I have decided to end the blog, after doing around 800 postings over about 4 years. I regret closing the blog and I owe readers an explanation. There are two reasons.
A public service announcement
From today’s Guardian:
What does a heart attack feel like?
… The “Hollywood heart attack” is dangerously misleading and because of it, many of us ignore the real symptoms until it is too late. … The Hollywood heart attack … involves dramatic chest clutching and collapse. But in reality, symptoms vary. They can be woolly, ambiguous and easy to ignore. It is very common to have a central chest pain that can spread to the arms, neck and jaw. You may feel sweaty, light-headed, sick or short of breath. You may simply feel a dull ache, mild discomfort or heavy sensation in your chest that makes you feel ill. Or there may be a chest pain that spreads to your back or stomach. Some people say the pain was like bad indigestion. …
Read more here.
Update The British Heart Foundation‘s 2 minute film Watch Your Own Heart Attack shows just what it’s like to have a heart attack first hand.…
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