Analog Rights missing in a Digital World

In the blog entry "Canadians Stuck With Analog Rights in a Digital World", Michael Geist talks about how rights of Canadian consumers to "time shift" television programs (record a TV show for later viewing) in the digital era have been taken away.

Sun’s Art of Patent War

I am no expert in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War but I find Chapter 5 (English and Chinese versions) interesting. For example (emphasis added),

• 5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
• 6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

As Sun Microsystems‘ General Counsel, my blog friend Mike Dillon’s (here is my interview with Mike) latest blog entry “The Patent Arms Race” lays out some of Sun’s latest thinking in IP and patent strategy which I find fascinating and very sensible.

Following is an excerpt from Mike’s “The Patent Arms Race” (emphasis added),

To some degree, this topic has a very Cold War feel to it with companies growing patent stockpiles to use if attacked or as a form of “mutual deterrence”. But, at some point, a company needs to ask how many patents it really needs. And, that’s exactly what we did about three years ago. Up to that time Sun was filing well over 1,000 patent applications per year. But, in 2005, we made the decision to reduce our patent filings to the point that we had about 700 patents issued last year.

I love Mike’s and Jonathan’s frankness and desire to keep Sun as transparent as they can. I hope more companies will follow Sun’s examples.

P.S. Check out some of these links Mike provided in his article,

• IBM hopes to patent ‘dealing with chaos’
• a Live IP auction at IP Business Congress (June 25/26, 2008) - highly recommended - check out some of the 65 lots of IP assets. Wow.
• reconsidering patentability of business methods

BBC SuperPokes Facebook Privacy Risks

From Privacy Commisioner of Canada’s blog (emphasis added),

And while Facebook says it advises its users to “employ…precautions” when downloading applications, any Facebook user will tell you that most applications simply won’t work if you don’t agree to give the developer access to your information.

BBC’s technology program Click decided to test out this security flaw (with news video) by creating its own Facebook application meant solely to “steal the personal details of you and all your Facebook friends without you knowing”.

Sniffing for the right privacy balance

Interesting article by Ian Kerr,

Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada released two important privacy-related decisions, both addressing an increasing trend in which Canadian law enforcement agencies use police dogs to conduct random searches of public spaces.

[via Michael Gesit]

The Copyright Myths

The Copyright Myths presentation by Michael Geist (12 minutes video) this Monday. [via Michael]

Errol Morris in GQ

A very interesting profile of Errol Morris in GQ.

Ask film buffs for a list of the greatest living American directors and you may hear the name Errol Morris, the documentarian who created an entirely new way of conducting interviews, made classics like The Thin Blue Line (which helped get a man out of prison), and this month gives us the fullest, most honest look yet [in the film Standard Operating Procedure] at the people who took part in Abu Ghraib

Zimbabwe arms return to China

Very good news.

• Arms destined for Zimbabwe returning to China, official says - CBC News
• Zimbabwe arms shipment returns to China - Guardian UK
• Zimbabwe-Bound Ship Heads Back to China - NYT
• China says Zimbabwe arms shipment to return to China - AP
• Chinese arms shipment to Zimbabwe turning back: Beijing - AFP
• China's Zimbabwe arms ship turned away by African nations - Telegraph UK

An excerpt from CBC (emphasis added),

A shipment of weapons destined to Zimbabwe from China will be returned after neighbouring countries refused to allow them to be shipped through their territories, a Chinese spokesman said.

Countries neighbouring Zimbabwe refused to allow the Chinese freighter carrying the weapons, which included mortar grenades and bullets, to dock at their ports.

"This cargo was not unloaded because the Zimbabwe side was unable to take delivery as scheduled," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

[...]

Jiang said the shipment was a purely commercial transaction that broke no laws and had nothing to do with the ongoing political crisis. [K: If China wants to be a true world power, commerce can no longer be the only consideration. Of course, the Chinese gov may have wanted Mugabe to stay in power and that will be a different issue all together.]

There is no international arms embargo against Zimbabwe, and China is one of the southern African nation's main trade partners and allies.

Links: 2008-04-21

1. Tension Over Sports Blogging - NYT - a note on bloggers from credentialed news organizations
2. What Warren thinks... - Fortune interview
3. Edward Lorenz, father of Chaos Theory, dies
4. Brokeback Mountain director warns Bill C-10 means censorship
5. Filmmaker Ang Lee has no love for 'Canadian values' bill, but plenty for Vancouver
6. New Wii Games Find a Big (but Stingy) Audience - an insightful look at the Wii gaming business
7. Our Top Ten list of Privacy Act fixes - by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner

Nursery University - Hot Doc by Lawyer Marc Simon

An interest interview at WSJ Law Blog.

Canadian Stars fight Bill C-10

From CBC report (with video),

Members of Canada's film and television industry are on Parliament Hill Thursday to voice their concerns over a proposed bill that would give the government the power to deny tax credits to productions it considers offensive.

Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley, actress Wendy Crewson and Brian Anthony, CEO of the Directors Guild of Canada, are among those appearing before the Senate committee on banking, trade and commerce, asking for changes to Bill C-10, an omnibus bill proposing a host of amendments to the Income Tax Act.

"These clauses are an attack on freedom of expression and will destroy film financing in Canada," Crewson said in a news conference ahead of her presentation.

It will cause TV and film producers havoc if the tax credits can be retroactively withdrawn as financing risk will simply to too high for investors to invest and banks to make loans or interim financing available.

Space technologies stay in Canada (for now)

Hot off the press from Globe and Mail (April 10, 2 AM EST) "Ottawa rejects space firm's sale to U.S.". (Note: also see my earlier blog entry about this sale and a link to a legal opinion.)

OTTAWA — The federal government has said no to selling Canada's leading space company to U.S. interests, concluding that the deal would not be in the best interests of the country, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Industry Minister Jim Prentice made the decision to issue an initial rejection of the deal on Tuesday, when he wrote a letter to the potential buyer, Alliant Techsystems Inc. of Edina, Minn., that said the takeover of MDA Corp. would not provide a “net benefit” to Canada.

Under Canada's investment-review law, the company has 30 days to make new arguments to the minister, and Mr. Prentice must then confirm his rejection. But Mr. Prentice's move signals his intention to take the unprecedented step of blocking a major corporate takeover, in an issue that has been fraught with controversy as opponents argued that the sale of MDA could impair Canadian sovereignty.

A spokesman for Mr. Prentice, Bill Rodgers, confirmed Wednesday that the note had been sent, but he was unable to provide further details. When contacted by The Globe and Mail Wednesday night, Alliant officials responded with a two-sentence statement that indicated that they are not willing to declare the deal dead. [...]

The proposed sale of MDA Corp.'s Information Systems Unit has raised nationalist sentiment and fears that Canada could lose control of the data from Radarsat-2 in a dispute over Arctic sovereignty. [K: I agree the Radarsat-2 data has an important role in our national interest and won't trust any US companies (which has to follow US government directives in case of national security related issues). At the same time, I reject the unfair negative implication associated with using words like "nationalist sentiment".] Alliant, also called ATK, is a U.S. weapons and space contractor. The systems unit is responsible for most of MDA's operations and 1,900 employees. [...]

Some of the staunchest criticisms came from within the Conservative Party. Tory MP Art Hanger voiced sharp concerns, and Conservatives on the Commons industry committee treated the sale with skepticism.

One Conservative MP, speaking on condition he not be named, said the sale had raised a surprising backlash among Canadians, who saw it as a point of pride being peddled to the United States – which might possibly use it against Canada's claim to Arctic waters.

I think Minister Prentice did the right thing here in rejecting the sale.

*******

Update: See report by CBC (with video report) and Reuters.

Moment of Truth

I watched Fox TV’s “game show” and hit “Moment of Truth” a few nights ago and I think it had clearly crossed the line of good taste.

On the surface, it raised the basic questions of how much will someone be willing to be humiliated and had ones’ relationships with loved ones harmed in order to have a chance to win some prize money? I think Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes said it well, as I think the water pressure should have plunged as “people leapt into showers to clean off the filth after watching … The Moment of Truth“. And blogger Jordon J. Ballor has this insightful observation (emphasis added),

“But I want to pay special attention to the contestants’ motivations. They are essentially willing to air any and all secrets (what used to be called “dirty laundry”) to the public in exchange for money (or merely the chance to win money, depending on their success). That people are actually eager to get on the show as a contestant speaks to how little they truly value and are willing to “monetize” their personal relationships.“

Here is a sample clip (with 290,000+ views),

With an “update” of what happened to this particular “contestant” afterwards,

What I want to explore more are the consequences, unintended consequences, and enabling factors for a show like this to be on TV.

Consequences

Based on the one show and some YouTube clips that I’ve watched, I think it is pretty obvious that the relationships between the contestants and their family members, spouses, closed friends were deliberately designed to be damaged for our “entertainment”.

Unintended consequences

1. Some viewers may now view lie detector as a more authoritative tool than it deserves.
2. TV shows like this will undoubtedly push the boundary of “acceptable good taste” further out. If this show is “acceptable“, what’s next for the TV producers to try?
3. Our willingness to see the actual suffering and break down of relationships of fellow human beings as a form of “entertainment”. Seeing others being put through emotional torture as entertainment? Have our own moral judgment been impaired so badly that we can’t tell right from wrong?

Enabling factors

1. Put yourself in the shoes of the producers of this “game show” for a moment. The 50 questions being asked by the producers ahead of time have been designed to create maximum embarrassment to the contestants to create shock value and “entertainment” for the viewers.
2. And then the show producers have to pick and arrange the questions and sometimes invite extra guest, to the taping of the show, to embarrass the contestants and to shock the viewers to create drama and “entertainment”.
3. Ultimately, for a show like this to continue production, people have to keep watching and advertisers have to keep buying air time.
4. Do TV producers have mortal obligations to audiences? Or can they pretty much put up any shows that advertisers will pay money to put up ads for an audiences?

Not too long ago Jim Carrey made a movie call “The Truman Show” (now a classic). Here is an excerpt of the Plot (emphasis added),

The film is set in a hypothetical world, called Seahaven, where an entire town is dedicated to a continually running television show. All but one of the participants are actors. Only the central character, Truman Burbank (Carrey), is unaware that he lives in a constructed reality for the entertainment of those outside. The film follows his discovery of his situation and his attempts to escape. On the surface level, it criticizes greed, portraying people who would do anything for fame and money. Central characters fake friendship to Truman, and in the case of his “wife”, bury their real feelings of disgust.

One may ask, what kind of society will allow a baby be adopted by a TV production company, his relationships with everyone be lies and his whole life be transmitted as a TV show? I guess we can also ask what kind of society w

(Spoiler alert) Here is the lovely ending of “The Truman Show” to help washing off the filth of “Moment of Truth”. Enjoy.

P.S. TV Guide’s Joe Rhodes share his experience of “Sitting on the Moment of Truth’s Hot Seat”.

You can’t ignore child labour

I previously blogged about my friend Larry Giesbrecht’s insightful film call “Children who work“ about child labour in Egypt. It is nice to see World Vision launched a campaign to create more awareness around child labour. (look closely at the automatic revolving doors)

Michael Geist, technology law expert & Canadian Copyfighter, at Kempton’s Virtual Cafe

Michael Geist is one of the leading and internationally recognized legal expert in technology law and the fight for fair copyright. It was my great pleasure to attend a copyright workshop with him as the featured speaker at University of Calgary yesterday. Michael also took time to meet with some members of the Calgary Chapter of the Fair Copyright for Canada group.

After the Calgary chapter meet up, I interviewed Michael for a few minutes. The following is my first face-to-face interview in my Kempton’s Virtual Cafe series. I hope you will enjoy them and learn as much from them as I did.

Michael Geist Interview - Part 1 of 7

Michael Geist’s impression of meeting Fair Copyright for Canada Calgary chapter members.

Michael Geist Interview - Part 2 of 7

Michael gives an update on the copyright bill.

Michael Geist Interview - Part 3 of 7

Michael explains how to use “Access to information” as a tool to investigate and find out more information. (For example, www.onlinedemocracy.ca is a site that keeps a record of existing ATI requests.)

Michael Geist Interview - Part 4 of 7

With blog entries like “30 copyright things you can do” and “The Copyright MPs”, I ask Michael if he has always been politically active?

Michael Geist Interview - Part 5 of 7

How did Michael first get interested in internet law? And his view on the growing interest of the academics and general public in technology law.

Michael Geist Interview - Part 6 of 7

Michael talks about how internet is getting the voices of many people heard and reshaping our political processes, etc.

Michael Geist Interview - Part 7 of 7

Michael talks about current interests and focuses (including a discussion about ioptout.ca , a site that lets people opt out of annoying polling, “exempted” calls ).

P.S. Many thanks to Michael for meeting the members of the Calgary Chapter of Fair Copyright for Canada even after a non-stop day of workshop and seminar. And then spending another 30 minutes to chat with me. Thanks also go to the members of the Calgary Chapter who took time to meet and chat about Copyright and technology law issues to keep ourselves better informed of these important issues.

Funniest April Fool’s joke

I don't think Jonathan's April Fool's joke fooled any tech geeks. (smile) But I think it is safe to say his was probably the funniest April's Fool joke by a Fortune 500 CEO! And looks like Mike (Sun's GC) had some fun in providing "urgent legal support" yesterday!

P.S. I like this Google joke too.

“Lust, Caution” actress Tang banned in China

No one knows for sure if it was the sex scenes in Lust, Caution or being “unpatriotic” (to play someone “beautifying” those who had collaborated with the enemies in war) that caused actress Tang Wei to be banned in China (see news reports here, here, here, and here). What we know is the devastating effect of being deemed a “non-person” by China’s state censor (emphasis added),

“An order also went out banning any promotion of the actress, and newspaper websites were told to remove stories mentioning her. Websites also took down discussions of the ban, while attempts to search for her name on Google News were also blocked.“

Here is a trailer of Lust, Caution.

We in Canada shouldn’t be so smug as the Harper government is also trying to use Bill C-10 to censor artists’ creative freedom.

Guardian: Seven days not in Tibet

Nice video reporting by UK Guardian's East Asia correspondent Jonathan Watts: Seven days not in Tibet.

Links: 2008-03-25

1. Patent Troll Tracker & Cisco's New Blog Policy
2. Courts Resist Using the Term Patent Troll
3. The Complexities Behind JPMorgan’s $10 Bear Offer
4. Is JPMorgan Getting Too Clever?
5. JPMorgan and Bear Test the Limits
6. Bear-JPM: Legal News and Views
7. Judges Released in Pakistan, Chinese Land-Rights Activist Jailed
8. Anti-CNN and the Tibet information war
   

China, Olympics, Tibet, Dalai Lama

I love the above logo and t-shirt design, a real smart twist on a well-known brand.

I truly hope the human rights record will be improved in China. Will see how things change in the months to come.

1. Protesters interrupt ceremony for Beijing Olympics - CBC News with videos
2. Protests overshadow lighting of China's Olympic flame - AFP
3. Protesters disrupt Olympic flame lighting - International Herald Tribute
4. The Dalai Lama's moment of truth - Salon
5. China attacks Dalai Lama - Toronto Star via AP
6. Video from CP: Tibetan supporters denounce China
7. As Tibet Erupted, China Wavered - NYT

Louise Arbour - Thanks and welcome home

After having a lengthy back and forth discussion with a reader about my last post about Louise Arbour, I am so glad to have found this great audio interview (27:17 minutes mp3 file) of Louise Arbour by CBC's Carol Off (author of a wonderful book about Arbour). Watch the TV edited video interview, also by Carol, here.

Here is the CBC program intro,

"In June, Louise Arbour will come to the end of her term as the U.N.'s High Commissioner of Human Rights. Carol sits down with Ms. Arbour to talk to her about her remarkable career and some human rights concerns around the world."

This may seem a small thing but I think it also shows how small minded the Canadian government seems to be (have a listen to the interview Q&A from 23:22).

While I admire the US Ambassador to UN, John Bolton, in showing some common courtesy when the news of the UNHCHR is leaving was announced, I am actually ashamed of how my small-minded government has disrespected the UNHCHR.