Planet 無 Web Logs

Without fans, there would be no music industry. Most people in the music industry understand this -- certainly the artists do.

But apparently not the lawyers who work for them.

An ardent fan of the New Pornographers (a great Canadian indie rock band that includes Neko Case, among others) recently posted a copy of a forthcoming B-side to his blog page on MOG, which permits users to upload songs for streaming to others. He then received an email from Web Sheriff, an online copyright enforcer hired by the record label, Matador.

The message essentially accuses the fan of being a pirate and makes a veiled legal threat, all the while pretending to "appreciate" what it means to be a fan.

On behalf of the artist’s label, we do appreciate that – of course – you are a fan of / are promoting The New Pornographers but, by the same token, you must also appreciate that, by posting a pirate copy of the album or tracks from the album – or, as in this case, a special ‘bonus’ track – pre-release (or linking to pirate copies), you are potentially causing considerable inconvenience and we are sure that you would not want to be personally responsible (or liable) for all of the resulting damage and disruption.

The message (along with a follow-up) is redolent with condescension, putting on a faux apologetic face while threatening escalating legal action. It is disrespectful, shameful, and outrageous.

My point here is not to debate whether Matador has a right to send notices like this -- they do. But this is no way to talk to a fan who bought the album (that's how he got access to the B-side in the first place) and took the time to share his enthusiasm by posting one song. I'm sure a polite request (like the one sent by The Decemberists just before their last album), explaining how the band feels about this, would have done the trick.

This is a symptom of a larger problem -- this is how copyright law (and too many copyright enforcers) thinks of the fan. The law treats fans as if they are to be cattle-prodded into line, as if the fan should be grateful for the privilege of being a fan, a privilege granted at the sufferance of copyright law.

That's completely, utterly, obviously, precisely backward.

Here's my question -- does the band know what is being done in their name? Have they signed off on these emails being sent by Web Sheriff to their fans? Are they getting copies of the responses that the fans send after getting threatened like this? (For that matter, are the label's own marketing people even seeing these?) I suspect not.

That's the problem. No artist would talk to a fan like this (and if they did, they should be ashamed), to the person who just bought their forthcoming album. But the copyright enforcement lawyers are on auto-pilot, without any accountability to the artists or to the fans, threatening people, suing people, and all the while insisting that this is just how copyright law works.

Pardon my French, but that's bull****.

So I'd like to ask the members of the New Pornographers -- Dan Bejar, Kathryn Calder, Neko Case, John Collins, Kurt Dahle, Todd Fancey, Carl Newman, Nora O'Connor, and Blaine Thurier -- are you cool with this? Is this how you would ask someone to take down the song, if you met them at a show, if they had just told you how much they love your music? If not, call Matador and make them fire Web Sheriff. At least get someone who respects your fans, who doesn't leave them feeling "forever disenchanted with all of you."

July 11, 2007 09:48 AM

Andy Baio : DEC's Glimpse of the Future from 1994 - marketing video pitching the very early Web to businesses; tons of vintage screen capture goodness

July 11, 2007 09:01 AM

Andy Baio : Using your Apple IIe as a Linux terminal - detailed instructions and fun photos; or, if you prefer, hook it up to your Mac

July 11, 2007 09:00 AM

Michel Barbosa, un estudiante de la Universidad Erasmus de Rotterdam, acaba de publicar su tesis que lleva como título: "Delivery of the Key Adoption Factors and Key Characteristics of Companies Using Ruby on Rails" en la que explica con bastante detalle el cómo y el por qué las empresas entrevistadas usan Ruby on Rails para el desarrollo de aplicaciones web. Un dato interesante de la tesis indica que el 92% de ellas tomaron como factor de cambio que disfrutaban desarrollando bajo esta plataforma. A parte de esta historia, estaría bien tener un nuevo tema en Barrapunto: Ruby ¿no creéis?

by deal (posted by Yonderboy) at July 11, 2007 08:27 AM

factoryjoe : Digg for iPhone - Digg for the iPhone. Slick! Saved By: Chris Messina | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: iphone, iphoneapp, digg

July 11, 2007 07:01 AM

factoryjoe : Seedcamp - Seedcamp is where Europe's top young founders can come together in one place. Saved By: Chris Messina | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: seedcamp, vc, venture, startup, europe

July 11, 2007 07:01 AM

Hobo to chick: You're looking nice this evening! [She ignores him.] Normally you look like shit.

--Lafayette & White

Hobo eating entire roast chicken: You got a quarter for some food? Haven't eaten in days.

--73rd & Broadway

Overheard by: mosugs

Hobo: Hey, look! It's everyone's favorite bum! [He's ignored.] Oh, geez, that went over well.

--Outside Gray's Papaya

Overheard by: Zach

Hobo to high school students: Hey, kids -- stay smart, stay in school... Yeah! Be cool, stay in school! Someone's got to arrest me one day!

--60th & 10th

Hobo: The fed done lowered interest rates again! You gentlemen get to keep mo' money in yo' pocket. Please donate a dollar to help me keep these financial updates as a free service.

--Beaver St

Overheard by: Big Larry

Hobo: I take American Express!

--West Village

Overheard by: Only had a Visa

Hobo: Ladies and gentlemen, please help keep our trains moving. Get out and push!

--A train

July 11, 2007 07:00 AM

July 11, 2007 06:27 AM

factoryjoe : Reduce the Size of Your WordPress Plugin Footprint - For each WordPress plugin you install, you are adding to the bandwidth/server overhead of your site. As a plugin author, there are some simple steps to take to reduce the footprint of your plugin (whether it be helping with server load o

July 11, 2007 05:02 AM

factoryjoe : I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? » Blog Archive Please, I Can Has Firefox? « - I CAN HAS FIREFOX? Saved By: Chris Messina | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: firefox, icanhasfirefox?

July 11, 2007 05:01 AM

factoryjoe : Role Manager bei im web gefunden - WordPress Version 2.0 introduces the concept of Roles. Each Role is allowed to perform a set of tasks called Capabilities. This Plugin allows you to define and manage multiple subscriber profiles - called Roles and their Capabilities. Al

July 11, 2007 05:01 AM

factoryjoe : iPhone Typing Test - Test Your iPhone Typing Speed! - Test your typing speed on your iPhone. Saved By: Chris Messina | View Details | Give Thanks Tags: iphone, iphoneapp, typing

July 11, 2007 05:01 AM

80-year-old professor showing slide of two people and an orthosis: ... And this picture is not S-and-M at all.

--Columbia Medical School

Overheard by: Shocked Student

Hipster: It's not like we can't dress her up in fishnets and tell her what to do.

--Bleecker & Cornelia

Four-year-old boy: Rough sex, make it hurt...

--Times Square

Overheard by: Suburban Liz

Chick on cell: I never told you! I ran into someone who was like, 'I don't know you, but I recognize you from a photo of you whipping another girl on my friend's fridge'!

--Penn Station

Overheard by: McF.

Computer science professor: Never implement a remove method for the iterator interface. Whoever did that deserves to be spanked for a long time. Unless he enjoys it.

--NYU

July 11, 2007 05:00 AM

Ars hits the road with a Verizon V740 ExpressCard to see what using Verizon's BroadbandAccess EV-DO network is really like.

Read More...

July 11, 2007 04:32 AM

Ars spends some quality time with a working prototype of an Intel Mobile Internet Device running KDE 4.0 Alpha 2.

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July 11, 2007 04:31 AM

Two burglars thought they were prepared to steal thousands of dollars in cash from a couple of safes but forgot to find out how to actually open them. Google to the rescue!

Read More...

July 11, 2007 04:17 AM

deusx : ectoplasmosis » Ectomo Recommends Trepanation - "Just a reminder: trepanation is a proven cure for migraines, depression, myopia, nose bleeds, sore throats, constipation, dysentery, syphillis, plague, erectile dysfunction, seizures, nocturnal omissions, homesickness, wussiness, Jewishness, Caucasi

Tags : nifty trepanation

July 11, 2007 04:00 AM

This afternoon, President Bush recycled the false claim he has made many times prior to and since the Iraq war began, inciting fear that Iraq has some connection to 9/11.

Prior to the war, Bush referred to Saddam Hussein “often in the same breath with Sept. 11,” reinforcing “an impression that persists among much of the American public.”

Today, Bush engaged in a similar rhetorical maneuver. “The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is a crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims,” Bush said.

Watch it:

var flvbushqaedaagain32024014673 = new SWFObject('/wp-content/plugins/flvplayer.swf?file=http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/07/bushqaedaagain.320.240.flv&autoStart=false', 'em-flvbushqaedaagain32024014673', '320', '260', '6', '#ffffff'); flvbushqaedaagain32024014673.addParam('quality', 'high'); flvbushqaedaagain32024014673.addParam('wmode', 'transparent'); flvbushqaedaagain32024014673.write('flvbushqaedaagain32024014673');

“It was the second time in two weeks that Bush has made the link in an apparent attempt to transform lingering fear of another U.S. terrorist attack into backing for the current buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq.” While many in the media gloss over such false statements, Jonathan Landay of McClatchy Newspapers debunked it, just as he did frequently prior to the war. Landay wrote that Bush’s claim is misleading on two counts:

1) Prior To The War, Al Qaeda Was Not Operating In Iraq. “Al Qaida in Iraq didn’t emerge until 2004. While it is inspired by Osama bin Laden’s violent ideology, there’s no evidence that the Iraq organization is under the control of the terrorist leader or his top aides, who are believed to be hiding in tribal regions of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.”

2) Even Now, Al Qaeda Is Not The Main Source Of Instability. “While U.S. intelligence and military officials view al Qaida in Iraq as a serious threat, they say the main source of violence and instability is an ongoing contest for power between majority Shiites and Sunnis, who dominated Saddam Hussein’s regime.”

False claims cultivated the war in Iraq, and unfortunately continue to sustain it.

by Faiz at July 11, 2007 03:29 AM

Get out your party hats, DeCSS coasters and t-shirts, and maybe even rip a DVD or two! July 11th is Fair Use Day, and the Pirate Party of the US calls on you to support copyright reform.

Read More...

July 11, 2007 03:05 AM

joshua : historical del.icio.us screenshots - ancient. including what might possibly be the very first shared bookmarks

Tags : del.icio.us

July 11, 2007 03:02 AM

joshua : Top 40 Most Useful, Free Mac OS X Softwares

Tags : osx swlist

July 11, 2007 03:02 AM

joshua : AppTrap - osx uninstaller

Tags : osx

July 11, 2007 03:02 AM

joshua : Skim - read and annotate pdf files

Tags : osx pdf

July 11, 2007 03:02 AM

A new report from Forrester Research suggests that Microsoft's controversial Software Assurance program provides poor value for the dollar and that many existing customers are considering abandoning the program for this reason. Microsoft assures us otherwise.

Read More...

July 11, 2007 03:02 AM

Hispanic teen #1: Yo, man, I was with this girl last night, and she was dressed all naked and shit, man.
Hispanic teen #2: Word? She was dressed all naked?
Hispanic teen #1: [Nods.]
Hispanic teen #3: Word?

--Houston & Washington

July 11, 2007 03:00 AM

The AP reports, “The FBI is gathering and sorting information about Americans to help search for potential terrorists, insurance cheats and crooked pharmacists, according to a government report obtained Tuesday.”

Records about identity thefts, real estate transactions, motor vehicle accidents and complaints about Internet drug companies are being searched for common threads to aid law enforcement officials, the Justice Department said in a report to Congress on the agency’s data-mining practices. […]

The report, sent to Congress this week, marked the department’s first public detailing of six of its data-mining tools, which look for patterns to catch criminals. The disclosure was required by lawmakers when they renewed the USA Patriot Act in 2005. All but one of the databases — the one to track terrorists — have been up and running for several years.

by Faiz at July 11, 2007 02:27 AM

Coastal areas of the world have an abundance of underused areas where traditional crops can't be grown-but plants still live there in the saline environment. New efforts are being made to find and catalog and develop both human food, animal fodder and biofuel type plants that can be grown in these areas.
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July 11, 2007 02:12 AM

43folders : Introducing the Hipster GPS | King of the Impossible - "Using the pen, write your directions on a Post-it Note; Get in your car; Place your directions at the top edge of the windshield..."

Tags : gps heh hipstergps hipsterpda lofi paper

July 11, 2007 02:01 AM

Researchers have looked at Solar output over the past few decades and have come to the conclusion that, if anything, the Sun's output has been milder than in years previous, so it can't be a major factor in the Earth's heating up right now.
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July 11, 2007 01:51 AM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office announced tonight that the House will vote later this week on a bill that would begin the responsible redeployment of U.S. troops within 120 days and complete redeployment by April 1, 2008. The Gavel has more details.

by Faiz at July 11, 2007 01:35 AM

Three former US Surgeons General testified in front of Congress and said they had all received political pressure in what should have been strictly scientific areas. They say the job is difficult because of forced censorship and they are pressured to either ignore or emphasize various medical issues based on partisan politics and whichever party is in control of the executive branch at the time.
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July 11, 2007 01:27 AM

SiCKO....As threatened, I saw SiCKO this afternoon. Great film. Everybody is right: it's Michael Moore's best picture yet, a genuinely moving and effective piece of policy evangelism. The Cuba stuff at the end was hardly necessary since he'd already rammed...

by Kevin Drum at July 11, 2007 01:04 AM

factoryjoe : On location at iPhone DevCamp | PodTech.net: Technology and Entertainment Video Network - Just a week after the debut of the iPhone, about 300 developers gathered at the Adobe offices in San Francisco this weekend for a three-day developers camp/hackathon. The goal was to hack together applications for the iPhone. Apple doesn

July 11, 2007 01:01 AM

factoryjoe : Band Passes .com - Backstage and Security Passes and security laminates. - Band Passes.com offers laminated no-border and “satin-style” stick on security credentials and passes for Bands, Special Events, Festivals, Promotions, Sports Teams and Conventions. This is the supplier we've used for multiple BarCam

July 11, 2007 01:01 AM

deusx : NestedVM - "any application written in C, C++, Fortran, or any other language supported by GCC can be run in 100% pure Java with no source changes."

Tags : compsci gcc java mips programming scary

July 11, 2007 01:00 AM

deusx : Wrecking Ball Runs Amok In Pa. Town - Local News Story - WKMG Orlando - "1,500-Pound Ball Rolls Nearly 1 Mile, Bouncing From Curb To Curb"

Tags : amok odd via:stlhood wreckingball

July 11, 2007 01:00 AM

Andy Baio : Eyes Wide Shut in 1947 Life Magazine - Life Magazine asked comics artists to draw their iconic characters blindfolded

July 11, 2007 01:00 AM

Joking clerk to bitter man holding wife's purse: Nice purse.
Man: Thanks. It came free with the relationship and subsequent castration.

--Fashion Ave

Overheard by: I think it was Dior

July 11, 2007 01:00 AM

Polar water is cold. Of course, I mean the water geographically located near the poles of the Earth, not water that is polar in nature. Steam is polar. But I digress.

July 11, 2007 12:55 AM

INTERMITTENT IRON FIST....As the New York Times reported today:China executed its former top food and drug regulator today for taking bribes to approve untested medicine as Beijing scrambled to show that it is serious about improving the safety of Chinese...

by clarson at July 11, 2007 12:31 AM

“faced a new firestorm on Tuesday sparked by a report he may have misled lawmakers in 2005 about civil liberty violations by the FBI.” Rep. Jerrold Nadler “called for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the prima facie case that Gonzales provided false statements to Congress, noting that misleading Congress is a serious crime.”

“Attorney General Gonzales has shown an apparent reckless disregard for the rule of law and a fundamental lack of respect for the oversight responsibilities of Congress,” said Rep. Nadler. “The man entrusted with enforcing our nation’s laws must also abide by them — and Mr. Gonzales has apparently failed in that duty. Providing false, misleading or inaccurate statements to Congress is a serious crime, and the man who may have committed those acts cannot be trusted to investigate himself. A Special Prosecutor is necessary to investigate this and the countless other violations of the law apparently committed by this Executive Branch.”

by Faiz at July 11, 2007 12:30 AM

Check out this giant mushroom found down in Mexico. I looked it up, perfectly edible, too.
Read More

July 10, 2007 11:44 PM

Bush performs brain surgery in Cleveland. [Plain Dealer]

July 10, 2007 11:38 PM

On the Senate floor this morning, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) said that proposals to withdraw troops and restore the strength of the armed forces are “legislating a defeat” in Iraq.

This afternoon on CNN, responding to Lieberman’s criticisms, Webb reminded the public that he was warning in September 2002 that we were “heading for trouble” if we went to war in Iraq:

I was warning about the consequences of invading and occupying Iraq well before we went in. … I don’t know where Sen. Lieberman gets his opinions about how well we’re doing. […]

You have a government in Iraq that has no power. It has very little power — it cannot compel action and it’s surrounded by armed factions that retain the power. That is not a situation we’re going to resolve without the interaction of all the countries in the region in a positive, proactive diplomatic way. And that’s what I’ve been saying for three years.

Watch it:

var flvwebbill32024014669 = new SWFObject('/wp-content/plugins/flvplayer.swf?file=http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/07/webbill.320.240.flv&autoStart=false', 'em-flvwebbill32024014669', '320', '260', '6', '#ffffff'); flvwebbill32024014669.addParam('quality', 'high'); flvwebbill32024014669.addParam('wmode', 'transparent'); flvwebbill32024014669.write('flvwebbill32024014669');

Webb is sponsoring an amendment that would restore the strength of the military by requiring every soldier who is deployed overseas to receive at least the same amount of rest when they return home. Senate conservatives have announced that they will filibuster the bill.

In a statement for ThinkProgress, Center for American Progress senior fellow Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense, said:

Regardless of whether a member supports a phased withdrawal of American forces from Iraq or continues to support President Bush’s latest escalation, he or she should support the Webb-Hagel amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill.

It takes two full years at home or after a one year deployment for a unit to become fully combat ready. Spending a year at home after a year in the combat zone is barely enough time to get themselves marginally ready physically and mentally for the next deployment. Giving them last time would mean sending units and individuals into battle who are not combat ready.

Members cannot vote against Webb-Hagel and claim they support the troops. Sending people back for another tour without the same amount of time at home as the length of their tour is wrong strategically and morally.

by Faiz at July 10, 2007 11:20 PM

Dick Cheney doesn’t want to reveal how much shit he’s classifying (all of it) and how much he’s declassifying (ha ha ha), so the other week he said something about not actually...

July 10, 2007 11:02 PM

factoryjoe : Laughing Squid » exPhone, What To Do With Your Old Cell Phone - Laughing Squid picks up on exPhone.org! Saved By: Chris Messina - View Details - Give Thanks Tags: exphone

July 10, 2007 11:01 PM

The whole freaking planet’s on fire! [Global Fire Map]

July 10, 2007 11:00 PM

20-ish guy: Can I please put my balls in your hair?!
Girlfriend: No! Knock it off!

--Staten Island Ferry

July 10, 2007 11:00 PM

More rats abandon the McCain ship. [Wizbang Politics] But you’ll still be able to find what’s left of the McCain campaign in Concord, NH this weekend. [On Call] President Shitsack gets...

July 10, 2007 10:58 PM

Bush prays for summer terror attacks. [Yahoo News]

July 10, 2007 10:52 PM

Researchers think they have found the gene that regulates the production of either good brown baby fat or the bad type, or white adult fat. In animal studies they injected the gene for the juvenile type fat and were able to force cells that would normally turn into the obesity causing white fat to switch to brown, which normally gets used to generate heat and doesn't accumulate forever like the white does.
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July 10, 2007 10:42 PM

You keep looking at my website.

I can see you there once a week in the server logs.

I'm not sure if it troubles me or comforts me that that is the only contact we have now.

July 10, 2007 10:35 PM

EDITORIAL- I'm publishing this because I was unable to find the comment refered to that this should have been a reply to, rather than a new article.  If you've seen Bill Mcgonigle's comment on this topic, feel free to copy and paste this reply there, let me know here and I'll delete this thread.   I've moved the actual reply down into the body- and it's an interesting reply and an interesting possible cause of colony collapse syndrome.

July 10, 2007 10:21 PM

AP reports:

A Senate appropriations panel chaired by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., refused to fund $4.8 million in the vice president’s budget until Cheney’s office complies with parts of an executive order governing its handling of classified information.

At issue is a requirement that executive branch offices provide data on how much material they classify and declassify. That information is to be provided to the Information Security Oversight Office at The National Archives.

Cheney’s office, with backing from the White House, argues that the offices of the president and vice president are exempt from the order because they are not executive branch ”agencies.”

The funding cut came as the appropriations panel approved 5-4 along party lines a measure funding White House operations, the Treasury Department and many smaller agencies.

Digg It!

by Amanda at July 10, 2007 10:01 PM

Khoi Vinh : Optimizing iPhone Battery Life - Practices for iPhone battery care and usage between charges and before a replacement is necessary.

Tags : Three Star

July 10, 2007 10:01 PM

43folders : Guy plays WoW on iPhone, universe explodes - Joystiq - Hey, look. It's that game I don't play on that phone I don't have. Telekinesis, though? Damn, man: that does tempt a person.

deusx : Guy plays WoW on iPhone, universe explodes - Joystiq - "Boy, if this is the future of gaming on the iPhone, then someone had better order up a load of bifocals and a side of patience, because just watching this gave us a headache."

Tags : apple gaming iphone telekinesis lol wow

July 10, 2007 10:01 PM

The NAACP held a funeral yesterday for a word, which the civil-rights group murdered beforehand in an outrageous premeditated black-on-black crime that will go unpunished, because it happened in...

July 10, 2007 09:33 PM

The percentage of Americans who believe President Bush should not have commuted Scooter Libby’s prison sentence, according to a new Gallup poll.

by Satyam at July 10, 2007 09:32 PM

In a follow-up to the article posted on May 29th, China has followed through on the death sentence of a former director of its food and drug agency.  He was executed today.

Zheng's death sentence was unusually severe even for China, which is believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined, and indicates the communist leadership's determination to confront the country's dire product safety record.

Zheng, 63, was convicted of taking cash and gifts worth $832,000 when he was in charge of the food and drug agency.

He was sentenced to death on May 29 and his appeal was rejected on June 12 by the Higher People's Court of Beijing. China's Supreme Court approved the sentence, saying Zheng "committed vile crimes and caused extreme harm to society."

July 10, 2007 09:04 PM

Look at all these Wonkette Jobs: Government Relations Assistant - CBS, Washington, DC Program Associate - Washington Program - Council on Foreign Relations , Washington, DC Project Manager -...

July 10, 2007 09:04 PM

Casio has today announced two new digital cameras whose USP (Unique Selling Point) is a YouTube optimized video capture mode. Thankfully this promises to be more than just marketing fluff as the EX-77 and EX-S880 record video using the MPEG-4 H.264 video codec, something we've been asking manufacturers to implement for some time. You can record almost 19 minutes of 640x480 video (with audio) at 30 fps on a 1 GB SD card, and of course both cameras support SDHC cards so that's an hour and 10 minutes of high quality video on a 4 GB card. Moving back to still capture capabilities for a second, both cameras have a three times optical zoom lens, the EX-S880 has an eight megapixel sensor, the EX-S77 a seven megapixel sensor.

July 10, 2007 09:04 PM

Genetics professor: So, you know, Mendel's pea plants didn't just grow all in one night.
Student: So what did he do while the plants grew?
Genetics professor: Hmmm, who knows? Look at porn?

--City College

July 10, 2007 09:00 PM

Not content to let his successor Mike Bloomberg garner all the philanthropic accolades, Rudy Giuliani’s campaign discloses above their generous May ‘06 contribution to the Red Cross of...

July 10, 2007 08:59 PM

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced his foreign policy team today, and included on the list as a senior foreign policy team member is Norman Podhoretz, who recently admitted with glee that his plan to bomb Iran would “unleash a wave of anti-Americanism all over the world that will make the anti-Americanism we’ve experienced so far look like a lovefest.

by Matt at July 10, 2007 08:58 PM

You might think that Microsoft is the epitome of high tech industry profits, but with 26% of its sales going into profits, it pales in comparison to Linear Technology's 39% profit margin. The secret? It sells lots of kinds of low-cost niche chips where there's little competition and where quality is more important than saving a few bucks.
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July 10, 2007 08:44 PM

On Friday, Sens. Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) plan to introduce an amendment restoring the habeas corpus protections stripped as a result of last year’s Military Commissions Act. The legislation would restore basic civil liberties to roughly 12 million legal permanent residents of the United States. From Leahy’s statement:

Last year, Congress committed an historic mistake by suspending the Great Writ of habeas corpus — not just for those confined at Guantanamo Bay, but for millions of legal residents in the United States. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing in May on this bill illustrated the broad agreement among people of diverse political beliefs and backgrounds that the mistake committed in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 must be corrected. This Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 has 25 cosponsors, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed it last month on a bipartisan basis.

Habeas corpus was recklessly undermined in last year’s Military Commissions Act. Like the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the elimination of habeas rights was an action driven by fear, and it was a stain on America’s reputation in the world. This is a time of testing. Future generations will look back to examine the choices we made during a time when security was too often invoked as a watchword to convince us to slacken our defense of liberty and the rule of law.

Contact your senators and urge them to support the Habeas Restoration Act.

Digg It!

by Amanda at July 10, 2007 08:40 PM

Big guns in the wireless industry like AT&T and Verizon may be prevented from snapping up prime chunks of spectrum and keeping it to themselves under a draft of the rules that would govern the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction.

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July 10, 2007 08:31 PM

You'd think a wind turbine is just a big fan used in reverse, but right now there's such a shortage of wind turbine parts that wind projects are on multi-year waiting lists, and even getting bought out by European wind energy giants just for a better place in line.
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July 10, 2007 08:30 PM

Navy admits nuclear-powered USS Enterprise headed to Iran. [IHT]

July 10, 2007 08:23 PM

With the last troops home from Iraq, the deficit paid off, George W. Bush behind bars and Dick Cheney successfully hanged, tomorrow Congress will hold hearings on the iPhone. It seems the $600...

July 10, 2007 08:22 PM

George W. Bush has also destroyed the future of his fake “hometown” in Texas. [MySA]

July 10, 2007 08:07 PM

Today’s fun fact: in China, The People’s Court has the power to execute public officials. And today it exercised that power, killing former Chinese FDA head Zheng Xiaoyu to death for...

July 10, 2007 07:59 PM

Hillary, Obama and Little Johnny doing MTV homosexual-issues debate. [Queerty]

July 10, 2007 07:58 PM

Six months ago today, on January 10, 2007, the President announced his policy of escalation in Iraq. He claimed that “if we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.”

A host of administration officials and media pundits quickly embraced Bush’s call, and asked that the American public give it a chance to succeed. Building off the work that has been done by Atrios and others, ThinkProgress has compiled a list of administration officials and media pundits who promised a reassessment after giving the surge a chance. Some examples:

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: So it’s not as if there is a date, at six months we’ll know and then we have to do something dramatic. [Time Magazine, 1/12/07]

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I think we ought to give him and the president the benefit of the doubt, give them six months and see if it can be controlled. [Fox News, 1/12/07]

BILL O’REILLY: We can’t force these people to stop killing each other. They’re either going to do it or they’re not, but now they know. Now they know. They’ve got six months and that’s it. [The O’Reilly Factor, 1/24/07]

Six months later, the cycle of violence in Iraq continues. Since Bush announced the escalation, 590 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died. Military assessments suggest that “the U.S. military’s plan to secure Baghdad against a rising insurgency is falling far short of its goal” and “no progress has been made on the political benchmarks the Iraqi government was supposed to have met already.”

Bush’s escalation has failed, and time is up for the following list of people. Read the report HERE, and let us know if there’s someone we missed.

by Think Progress at July 10, 2007 07:55 PM

Microsoft gives us an official launch date for not only Windows Server 2008, but for SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 as well.

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July 10, 2007 07:35 PM

Smash your nose onto the desktop, hard...  hurt, didn't it?

Now do it again.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, you were dumb enough to try it the first time. You'd refuse the second time, and cite "it hurt the first time!" as the reason for your refusal to repeat the experiment.

This "learning process" will then be held up as an example of what sets us above the lesser animals, we are smarter.
Read More

July 10, 2007 07:27 PM

A través de Slashdot, nos enteramos de que Canonical, la corporación que hay tras la distribución Ubuntu, ha comenzado a liberar partes del Launchpad como Software Libre. Canonical ha sido numerosas veces criticada por el hecho de mantener propietario el código que ellos mismos desarrollaban. El primer componente de Launchpad en ser liberado es Storm, descrito como un mapeador para Python de objetos a sistemas relacionales (ORM). Asímismo se ha dejado disponible un tutorial con numerosos ejemplos. La licencia para Storm es la LGPL 2.1 o superior, lo que indica que Storm será compatible con la LGPL 3.0.

by inniyah at July 10, 2007 07:21 PM

As the “IT guy” guy at a small company, J.F.L. is tasked with all sorts of miscellaneous projects, from hacking together simple programs to setting up workstations for new hires. His latest assignment involved installing some rather expensive (as in, six-figure expensive) safety training software that would allow the company to keep track of which employees needed to complete which safety training modules.

One of the big selling points of the training software was its modular client-server design. The “server component” housed all of the videos, graphics, and course material, along with a database for employee accounts and testing certificates. The “client component” was a fairly basic application that connected to the server and allowed the end user to perform a variety of actions based on their security level. In theory, it seemed like a nice and clean design. In practice… not so much.

The first hurdle that J.F.L. ran into was the client program's requirements: Windows 95/98 or Windows NT/2000 only. This presented a bit of an issue, as one of the major reasons the company purchased the software was so that it’d work under Windows XP. Fortunately, after a quick call to tech support and a few hacks to the install script, J.F.L. was able to get the client software to install.

The second issue was the maximum resolution supported by the software: 640 x 480. Everyone in the office used 19” monitors with 1024 x 768 or higher resolutions. Since tech support’s recommendation of “change the resolution before running the program” wasn’t so feasible (Windows XP doesn’t allow users to select 640 x 480), that meant J.F.L. needed to another hack to get it working. Users would just have to deal with a small, 640 x 480 window in the center of their monitor.

J.F.L.’s main issue, however, with the new training software was its database. It was an Access database sitting on a file share. While that, in and of itself, is not terrible, the program installation required that all users of the software had read/write access to the share and had full access to the Access database. This seemed a bit insecure, so J.F.L. dialed up tech support again. They confirmed it: the program utilizes a single, non-password-protected Access database and writes temporary files to the share drive. There was simply no way around requiring full access.

Out of curiosity, J.F.L. opened up the Access database file and opened up the “Users” table. It had a column that stored everyone’s password in plaintext. And if logging on as another user was too much of a hassle, one could simply make himself an administrator with a quick change to the “AdminLevel” column. This presented a bit of a problem, since it would be incredibly easy for nefarious employees to skip past all of the required training modules.

J.F.L. rang up tech support one last time and asked if there was any way around this gaping security hole. “Well,” the tech support guy replied, “it’s really only a problem if they have Access installed.”

After J.F.L. told him that all employees have Access installed. “Hmmm,” the support guy paused, “I guess we never considered that. I will definitely bring it up with the developers!”

July 10, 2007 07:15 PM

On MSNBC earlier today, correspondent Andrea Mitchell asked Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) about “the controvesy over the firing of the U.S. attorneys, in particular David Iglesias,” who the senator infamously called soon before he was asked to resign. “Would you testify if called by your colleagues on the Judiciary Committee?” Mitchell asked.

“I wouldn’t testify unless I am supposed to under our rules or unless I have to,” replied Domenici. “From my standpoint, I’m not going to talk about it because I want mine over with, if six senators can pass on it.”

“It has little or nothing to do with this case,” added Domenici, in reference to the President’s invocation of executive privilege yesterday to prevent his aides from testifying before Congress about the scandal. Watch it:

var flvDomeniciMSNBC32024014657 = new SWFObject('/wp-content/plugins/flvplayer.swf?file=http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/07/DomeniciMSNBC.320.240.flv&autoStart=false', 'em-flvDomeniciMSNBC32024014657', '320', '260', '6', '#ffffff'); flvDomeniciMSNBC32024014657.addParam('quality', 'high'); flvDomeniciMSNBC32024014657.addParam('wmode', 'transparent'); flvDomeniciMSNBC32024014657.write('flvDomeniciMSNBC32024014657');

As much as Domenici may want to believe that he “has little or nothing to do” with the attorney scandal, in reality, he is central to it.

Iglesias’ name did not appear on the Bush administration’s prosecutor hit list until Domenici talked to President Bush in a call presumably arranged by Karl Rove. Additionally, one of the aides whose testimony Bush is blocking, Harriet Miers, is also implicated in firing Iglesias at Domenici’s behest.

On December 7, 2006, the day the attorneys were fired, Miers’s deputy, William Kelley, wrote an email to Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, saying that Domenici’s chief of staff “is happy as a clam” about Iglesias being removed.

UPDATE: Emptywheel has more here.

by Matt at July 10, 2007 07:12 PM

Yesterday on CNBC, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) attacked Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) amendment that would require troops to rest for as much or more time as they are deployed, claiming that it hurts the troops. But today the Military Officers Association of America — the largest and most influential association of military officers — sided with Webb and endorsed the bipartisan amendment. (More on the Senate’s Iraq debate in today’s Progress Report.)

by Amanda at July 10, 2007 07:11 PM

McCAIN DERAILS....I guess the Straight Talk Express is finally melting down. After returning from a trip to Iraq — something hardly likely to have lifted his spirits — John McCain apparently blew up at campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief...

by Kevin Drum at July 10, 2007 07:08 PM

Little boy: Mom! Mom, look! Mo-ooom!
Mom: What, honey?
Little boy: They have douche bags! Should we buy some for Daddy?

--Pharmacy

Overheard by: Oh really?

July 10, 2007 07:00 PM

Un pobrecito hablador nos cuenta: «Las 7 maravillas del mundo no están mal, pero leo en menéame sobre "Las 7 maravillas del mundo... friki" y tampoco se quedan atrás, empezando por el Mazinger de Tarragona y pasando por el Firefox en un campo de maíz. ¿La séptima? ¡La séptima la propones tú!» De la de los campos de maíz ya hablamos en su momento.

by Yonderboy at July 10, 2007 06:56 PM

Real conservatives are getting very creeped out by all the Reaganific love for Fred Thompson, and they want you to know there’s more to being a divorced senile old Hollywood actor than being a...

July 10, 2007 06:45 PM

I've blogged a few times about the Greek wiretapping scandal. A system to allow the police to eavesdrop on conversations was abused (surprise, surprise).

Anyway, there's a really good technical analysis in IEEE Spectrum this month.

On 9 March 2005, a 38-year-old Greek electrical engineer named Costas Tsalikidis was found hanged in his Athens loft apartment, an apparent suicide. It would prove to be merely the first public news of a scandal that would roil Greece for months.

The next day, the prime minister of Greece was told that his cellphone was being bugged, as were those of the mayor of Athens and at least 100 other high-ranking dignitaries, including an employee of the U.S. embassy. [See sidebar "CEOs, MPs, & a PM."]

The victims were customers of Athens-based Vodafone-Panafon, generally known as Vodafone Greece, the country's largest cellular service provider; Tsalikidis was in charge of network planning at the company. A connection seemed obvious. Given the list of people and their positions at the time of the tapping, we can only imagine the sensitive political and diplomatic discussions, high-stakes business deals, or even marital indiscretions that may have been routinely overheard and, quite possibly, recorded.

[...]

A study of the Athens affair, surely the most bizarre and embarrassing scandal ever to engulf a major cellphone service provider, sheds considerable light on the measures networks can and should take to reduce their vulnerability to hackers and moles.

It's also a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of one of the most elusive of cybercrimes. Major network penetrations of any kind are exceedingly uncommon. They are hard to pull off, and equally hard to investigate.

See also blog entries by Matt Blaze, Steve Bellovin, and John Markoff; they make some good security points.

by schneier at July 10, 2007 06:34 PM

Avian Flu hits Virginia! [WTOP]

July 10, 2007 06:31 PM

SELLING NATIONAL HEALTHCARE....Matt Yglesias on one of the upsides of a national healthcare plan:There seems to me to be decent evidence that labor market flexibility leads to employment growth. It also seems clear that America's health care system generates substantial...

by Kevin Drum at July 10, 2007 06:30 PM

Most lawmakers break off their ties with business entities while serving in the Senate. Not Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). He is the only member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who has disclosed a direct business relationship between himself and “an entity that receives federal funds.”

Stevens continues to invest in JLS Properties LLC, owned by developers Leonard Hyde and Jonathan Rubini. Today, Roll Call reports that Hyde and Rubini have profited financially from their relationship with Stevens:

In 2004, two business partners of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) sold an empty lot in Anchorage to the National Archives and Records Administration for just over $3.5 million, more than doubling their year-old investment in the property. […]

According to a review of federal, state and local records and interviews with Hyde and federal officials, the project in Anchorage resulted in the two developers netting $2 million in profits from the sale of land they had purchased weeks before Stevens inserted the first earmark into an appropriations bill in 2002.

The money for the purchase, according to Stevens’ office, came from two earmarks worth $6 million that Stevens had included in funding bills in 2002 and 2003.

There is no evidence that Stevens received “direct benefit” from this particular deal. But his seven-year relationship with the developers has “turned him from one of the Senate’s least wealthy Members into a millionaire.” In 1997, Stevens invested $50,000 in JLS Properties; by 2003, he had earned millions. Similarly, Hyde and Rubini have “received more than $7 million in rental payments from the federal government.” Stevens and Hyde are also co-owners of a racehorse.

Similarly, the senator continues to have a relationship with executives at the Veco Corp., an Alaskan oil company, who recently pleaded guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges. The FBI is now scrutinizing Stevens’s relationship with Veco. In 2000, one of the executives hired a contractor to help Stevens remodel his house, even though “Veco was not in the business of residential construction or remodeling.”

by Amanda at July 10, 2007 06:26 PM

Well, Bush was talking on the teevee, and we were trying to watch it on CNN, but after about 90 seconds of Bush jabbering some bullshit about something making a buzzing sound or whatever, CNN just...

July 10, 2007 05:59 PM

Un pobrecito hablador nos cuenta: «Esta noche se estrena Conectados, un nuevo programa de LD TV dedicado a Internet y las nuevas tecnologías. Entre los participantes conocidos en la blogocosa están dos veteranos barrapunteros, Multivac e Isaac (que lo comenta en su blog), este último gran especialista en videojuegos. Desde los tiempos de Candyman con su Foro y su Planeta C en el mítico Canal C:, no ha habido demasiados programas interesantes de este tipo en televisión. Veremos qué tal. ¿Conocéis algún otro sobre estos temas que sea recomendable?»

by Yonderboy at July 10, 2007 05:59 PM

The key to containing zero-day exploits is treating hackers like stars, because waiting for someone else to find and fix them could take years.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 05:53 PM

ramonramon nos cuenta: «Por fin se ha publicado el programa programa de las 4JTASL, evento formativo referente del verano, y uno de los principales del panorama nacional en el calendario del Conocimiento Libre. Decir que son 52 los ponentes que participarán en este evento es importante, pero igualmente impresiona ver el nombre de los mismos y que casi todos tienen decenas de referencias en Google. También son de destacar una de las principales demandas de los participantes, y es el modelo de las JTASL, donde predominan los talleres, tutoriales y tertulias, que permiten un mayor feedback.»

by Yonderboy at July 10, 2007 05:49 PM

Richard Carmona served as President Bush’s first Surgeon General from 2002-2006. Today he spoke before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and revealed that political appointees in the Bush administration muzzled him on key issues such as “stem cell research, contraceptives and his misgivings about the administration’s embrace of ‘abstinence-only’ sex education”:

[A]lthough most Americans believe that their Surgeon General has the ability to impact the course of public health as “the nation’s doctor,” the reality is that the nation’s doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas. Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological, or political agenda is ignored, marginalized, or simply buried.

Watch it part of Carmona’s testimony:

Carmona revealed that when he tried to explain the science of stem cell research to the American public, he was “blocked at every turn, told a decision had already been made, stand down, don’t talk about it.” Additionally, political appointees were specifically assigned to “vet his speeches” and “spin [his] words in such a way that would be preferable to a political or ideologically pre-conceived notion that had nothing to do with science.” He was also barred from speaking freely to reporters.

The politicization of “America’s doctor” fits with broader White House efforts to politicize faith-based initiatives, global warming, contraceptives, and the Justice Department.

On Thursday, the Senate will consider the nomination of Dr. James Holsinger to be the next Surgeon General. Perhaps not surprisingly, Bush has this time nominated someone who has repeatedly put ideology over sound science, peddling views of homosexuality that have been rejected by the medical community.

The Gavel has more.

Digg It!

by Amanda at July 10, 2007 05:32 PM

The DC Madam’s phone records are now searchable by phone number! [DC Phone List]

July 10, 2007 05:32 PM

Just as the United States is finally getting tolerant enough to briefly consider electing a scientologist dog torturer, the “former” Nazi and current pope Joseph Ratzinger today announced...

July 10, 2007 05:19 PM

Senate says start troop withdrawal in 120 days or else; Bush Administration says “Fuck all y’all.” [AP/Yahoo]

July 10, 2007 05:17 PM

LEAD AND TERRORISM....Yesterday I got an email from a reader tying together my terrorism and lead abatement posts. "Maybe the terrorist threat would subside if only we would work to remove lead worldwide?" he joked. Ha ha. But here's Brad...

by Kevin Drum at July 10, 2007 05:16 PM

GET OVER IT, FOLKS....It's astonishing, really, that conservatives are still exercised about FDR and the New Deal 70 years after the fact. Not just in a historical sense, mind you, but in the same kind of immediate, visceral sense that...

by Kevin Drum at July 10, 2007 05:08 PM

Pues claro, para qué pagar fletes carísimos, y correr el riesgo de que las tripulaciones y los buques se accidenten mientras navegan, cuando podemos enviarles agua "embotellada" (en bolsas enormes que floten a la deriva) a nuestros vecinos canarios, desde la desembocadura de los ríos de Galicia o Asturias, usando simplemente las corrientes superficiales del Atlántico Norte. La idea no es mía claro, es de un físico australiano llamado Ian Edmons (al que he conocido vía Treehugger), pero es que en Australia están igual que aquí... abunda el agua en el norte y falta en el sur, y la corriente también va en el sentido correcto, así que ¿por qué no aprovechar el OCEAN EXPRESS y sus tarifas de transporte gratuitas? Ya me imagino a los convoys de "Agua del Miño" o "Agua del Sella" descendiendo lentamente, con la corriente, camino de las Canarias. Seguro que sale más barato que construir desaladoras o clausurar campos de golf. ;-)

by Maikelnai (posted by Yonderboy) at July 10, 2007 05:05 PM

A six-member congressional delegation recently returned from a seven-day trip that included stops in Ireland, Germany, Pakistan, Kuwait and Iraq. While in Iraq, security conditions prevented them “from meeting any Iraqis, leaving the Green Zone or staying in Iraq overnight.” Additionally, the “congressional members were required to wear full body armor, including Kevlar helmets, during the entire trip.”

by Matt at July 10, 2007 05:01 PM

Asian girl: I can't believe you blocked me from Galen.
Hawaiian boy: Well, he's bisexual, so it's fair game to both of us.
Hipster girl: But he asked her first. You totally cock-blocked your fag hag. You can't cock-block your fag hag!

--12th & 1st

July 10, 2007 05:00 PM

Heard on the Hill: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) tells Marie Claire that he was a tattletale on Tom Delay… Cindy Sheehan stabs you in the front… Family Feud theme song fills White House...

July 10, 2007 04:51 PM

It’s almost time once again for the Evans-Novak Political Forum! Twice each year, 70 lucky rich idiots get to pay for the privilege of being personally pandered to by famous politicians, live...

July 10, 2007 04:47 PM

Today, President Bush is scheduled to deliver a major speech on Iraq policy, offering “his vision for the post-surge.” The New York Times speculated yesterday that the Bush administration would be changing course in Iraq, potentially offering a drawdown of troops in the near future. Tony Snow vigorously denied the report.

Today, the Washington Post reports that the White House is not talking about a real strategy change, but instead, a “political strategy” to “shift [Bush’s] message.”

This morning, White House spokesperson Tony Snow unveiled the new message. Making the rounds on the morning shows, Snow repeatedly claimed Bush was embracing a “new way.”

Some want us to take a new look at the way we’re doing things, which is exactly what’s taking place.

This is not the beginning of the end, it’s the beginning of a new way.

That’s why we’re coming up with a new strategy.

In reality, this “new way” message is simply more of the same old escalation policy. When Fox News asked Snow if Americans could anticipate a new strategy, Snow answered, “No. What we’re really trying to report on is the new way that started about six months ago.” Watch a compilation:

var flvsnowbmcompilation332024014645 = new SWFObject('/wp-content/plugins/flvplayer.swf?file=http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/07/snowbmcompilation3.320.240.flv&autoStart=false', 'em-flvsnowbmcompilation332024014645', '320', '260', '6', '#ffffff'); flvsnowbmcompilation332024014645.addParam('quality', 'high'); flvsnowbmcompilation332024014645.addParam('wmode', 'transparent'); flvsnowbmcompilation332024014645.write('flvsnowbmcompilation332024014645');

Transcript: (more…)

by Think Progress at July 10, 2007 04:16 PM

Apple and AT&T aren't the only ones riding the iPhone hype wave; virus makers have decided to exploit would-be iPhone buyers by redirecting them to spoof sites in order to get bank and credit card information.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 04:09 PM

MAVERICK loser John McCain’s campaign continued its lengthy death rattle today as chief strategist John Weaver and campaign manager Terry Nelson “stepped down.” One official —...

July 10, 2007 03:47 PM

Chris Bowers writes, “Today Bush reached a historic milestone. His current disapproval rating in the latest Gallup poll, 66%, equals Richard Nixon’s highest Gallup disapproval rating of 66%, registered the week before he resigned from office.”

by Faiz at July 10, 2007 03:44 PM

A disgruntled Xbox 360 owner is suing Microsoft over scratched discs, a problem he attributes to poor design of the optical drive in Microsoft's console.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 03:34 PM

You may want to bring a jacket if you live anywhere near Steve K...

...and maybe a pair of shorts and some shades if you live in Perry Hall with Shawn G.

July 10, 2007 03:30 PM

Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) was one of many conservatives breaking ranks with Bush’s Iraq policy.

“It should be clear to the president that there needs to be a new strategy,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. “Our policy in Iraq is drifting.”

This morning on CNN, Alexander undercut his own stated desire to change course. While announcing his support for an amendment that would adopt the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, Alexander said, “The surge can be within this larger strategy of the Iraq Study Group.”

Watch it:

var flvlamarsurge32024014644 = new SWFObject('/wp-content/plugins/flvplayer.swf?file=http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/07/lamarsurge.320.240.flv&autoStart=false', 'em-flvlamarsurge32024014644', '320', '260', '6', '#ffffff'); flvlamarsurge32024014644.addParam('quality', 'high'); flvlamarsurge32024014644.addParam('wmode', 'transparent'); flvlamarsurge32024014644.write('flvlamarsurge32024014644');

Alexander appears more interested in maintaining the surge than in embracing a “new strategy.” The bill Alexander supports does not set a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Moreover, the Iraq Study Group report specifically argued against sending more troops to Iraq:

Sustained increases in U.S. troop levels would not solve the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq, which is the absence of national reconciliation. A senior American general told us that adding U.S. troops might temporarily help limit violence in a highly localized area. However, past experience indicates that the violence would simply rekindle as soon as U.S. forces are moved to another area. As another American general told us, if the Iraqi government does not make political progress, “all the troops in the world will not provide security.”

Alexander’s right that our Iraq policy is “drifting.” But his rhetorical tap-dance will do little to correct it.

by Faiz at July 10, 2007 03:05 PM

Hobo: The government just doesn't understand the power of my feet!
Preppy guy: I see. Go on...

--70th & Columbus

July 10, 2007 03:00 PM

You know how at some hotels, housekeeping leaves little towel animals for you? Well, at this place, they'll make you a new friend... who wears your clothes!...&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?a=tuPopNJc"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?i=tuPopNJc" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?a=HRjon19B"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?i=HRjon19B" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?a=5dXUGugq"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?i=5dXUGugq" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?a=35IUZ6Ee"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TripAdvisor?i=35IUZ6Ee" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</content>

by The Snarky Owl at July 10, 2007 02:54 PM

Science Daily — "Victor Lin, a chemistry professor at Iowa State University, has developed a catalyst that he thinks will revolutionize biodiesel production." The new technology uses a nanosphere-based catalyst that reacts vegetable oils and animal fats with methanol to produce biodiesel.
Read More

July 10, 2007 02:39 PM

Louisiana Senator David Vitter admitted yesterday to paying ladies to have sex with him and being dumb enough to use a traceable number to call up the whorehouse. Vitter’s whore love was...

July 10, 2007 02:30 PM

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) first got his start in Congress after replacing former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), who “abruptly resigned after disclosures of numerous affairs” in 1998. At the time, Vitter argued that an extramarital affair was grounds for resignation:

“I think Livingston’s stepping down makes a very powerful argument that Clinton should resign as well and move beyond this mess,” he said. [Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 12/20/98]

Digg It!

by Faiz at July 10, 2007 02:23 PM

On April 27, 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate intelligence committee that there hadn’t been a single case of the FBI violating civil liberties since the establishment of...

July 10, 2007 01:51 PM

FIC is now selling early developer models of the Neo1973 mobile smartphone with the new Linux-based OpenMoko software platform. With support for GTK and Xorg, OpenMoko has the potential to be a robust platform for mobile Linux development.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 01:48 PM

Six months ago, on Jan. 10, President Bush announced his plan to send more than 20,000 more troops into Iraq. The Gavel has highlights of what has happened since that time:

590 U.S. soldiers have died and 3,575 have been wounded in Iraq since January 10, 2007. [icasualties.org, 1/10/07-7/9/07]

At least 13,463 civilians and members of the Iraqi Security Forces have died since January 2007, according to media reports. [icasualties.org]

According to an internal military assessment, the U.S. military’s plan to secure Baghdad against a rising insurgency is falling far short of its goal. Fewer than one-third of Baghdad’s neighborhoods are under the control of U.S. and Iraqi forces. [New York Times, 6/4/07]

No progress has been made on the political benchmarks the Iraqi government was supposed to have met already. Oil sharing legislation, the reversal of deBaathification, new election laws, scheduling of provincial elections, amending the constitution and efforts to disband the militias are all languishing either in parliament or in negotiations among the three parties. [Washington Post, 7/8/07]

UPDATE: The Washington Post reminds us that the administration “initially envisioned a troop increase lasting six to eight months,” but is now anticipating “keeping the extra troops in place until next spring and then beginning to pull them back, one brigade at a time.”

UPDATE II: Atrios has quotes by various pundits from one Friedman ago.

by Amanda at July 10, 2007 01:46 PM

Test-taker: What happens if we don't know our social security number?
Proctor, in thick Russian accent: Then we dismiss your test and eat you alive!

--Edward R. Murrow High, Brooklyn

Overheard by: melanie

July 10, 2007 01:00 PM

Bush is going to keep everyone’s mouth shut about everything until he’s safely retired in Paraguay. [NYT] Nobody wants to join the Army because that means getting blown the fuck up in...

July 10, 2007 12:38 PM

This guy has a bottle taken away from him, then he picks it out of the trash and takes it on the plane anyway.

I'm not sure whether this is more gutsy or stupid. If he had been caught, the TSA would have made his day pretty damn miserable.

I'm not even sure bragging about it online is a good idea. Too many idiots in the FBI.

by schneier at July 10, 2007 11:57 AM

10-year-old gangsta #1: Yo, I got all kinds of bitches. Right now I gotta choose...
10-year old gangsta #2: Yo, what you talkin' 'bout?
10-year-old gangsta #1: I got this young bitch... I gotta choose between a girl that's my age or a younger woman.

--1 train

Overheard by: D. J.

July 10, 2007 11:00 AM

This tutorial shows how you can use Compiz, Beryl, and Metisse on a Mandriva 2007 Spring (Mandriva 2007.1) desktop (the system must have a 3D-capable graphics card). With Compiz, Beryl, and Metisse, you can make your desktop use beautiful 3D effects like wobbly windows or a desktop cube (although the desktop cube is not available on Metisse).

http://www.howtoforge.com/mandriva20071_compiz_beryl_metisse
Read More

July 10, 2007 09:46 AM

Puking girl: At least I'm getting rid of calories.
Friend helping her: That's right.
Puking girl: And I don't like calories.

--Pier 60, Chelsea Piers

Overheard by: gleebster

July 10, 2007 09:00 AM

pobrecito hablador nos cuenta: «Un programa de televisión japonés realizado con cámara oculta muestra las primeras copias ilegales del iPhone detectadas, cómo no, en China. Logos sobredimensionados, materiales diferentes, etc. Una gran variedad de copias para un teléfono que creían... único.»

by Yonderboy at July 10, 2007 08:44 AM

Oh check it out here are people who can afford hookers. [Deborah Jeane Palfrey]

July 10, 2007 07:46 AM

chonago nos cuenta: «[Vía Slashdot] Una nueva capa de seguridad del formato Blu-ray Disc llamada BD+ proporciona mecanismos que, según los expertos, harán que estos discos sean imposibles de hackear en al menos 10 años. Esta capa adicional que se suma a la ya existente AACS está ya implícita en los nuevos reproductores y películas, y la industria parece tan convencida de que será la barrera definitiva contra la piratería que muchas productoras han retenido sus catálogos para que las películas pudieran incluir esta nueva especificación. En AVS Forum no están tan convencidos de la validez de la propuesta, así que habrá que prepararse para una intensa actividad a la búsqueda de vulnerabilidades en el sistema.»

by Yonderboy at July 10, 2007 07:17 AM

Thugette: What are you doing today?
Thug: Going to Starbucks.
Thugette: Starbucks?
Thug: Yeah. What?
Thugette: That's so 1960s.

--A train

Overheard by: Dengstein

July 10, 2007 07:00 AM

THE GREEN LEAP FORWARD....In the current issue of the Monthly, Christina Larson reports that people who worry about whether China will agree to caps on greenhouse gases are missing the point. China's government, she says, genuinely wants to tackle its...

by Kevin Drum at July 10, 2007 06:45 AM

Everybody knows Louisiana politicians are really corrupt versions of the already incredibly corrupt DC politicians, so it comes as no surprise that one of them shows up on the DC Madam’s list....

July 10, 2007 06:05 AM

Magnificent interview with Michael Moore on CNN.

That was one solid intervention.

Stay tuned until the end, when Lou Dobbs has a chance to show his rethorical skills.

[Post Comment] | [Comments]

July 10, 2007 06:03 AM

Heads up! Some new patent applications have just been posted on the Peer to Patent Project website, including one from Microsoft, its first entry in the project, on a kind of system I think of as a DRM'd computerized bean counter which tracks all the media clips bought and sold in the offline system of the invention, and then pays copyright holders and their ex-filesharing pirate distributors.

No. Really.

I admit I'm sleepy, so maybe I'm oversimplifying or missing something essential, but that's how I understand it so far. The overview makes it sound like a Bluetooth thing, where you buy something without going on the Internet, and the system tracks your every move so copyright holders get paid. The goal, I gather on a quick look, is to get around what they view as the filesharing problem and the analog hole. They suggest paying "pirates" an incentive cut if they will quit filesharing for free and participate for money in this offline media economy so copyright holders can get paid.

Businesses keep thinking there *must* be a way to turn back the clock and get that total chokehold they dream about. It's like searching for the fountain of youth in Florida. I know. There is no fountain of youth in Florida.

I ask you, does it get more inspiring than this? Maybe if SCO filed a patent application on a billing method for threatening Linux end users.

July 10, 2007 05:00 AM

Little girl: I'm annoying, right? I'm annoying you, right Tío?
Uncle: Yes, you're annoying.

--6 train

July 10, 2007 05:00 AM

There seems to be a considerable amount of interest in, and confusion about, the copyright law consequences of embedding a YouTube video in your blog. In fact, the Blog Herald just ran a story suggesting that bloggers could be on the hook for copyright infringement if they embed a video that turns out to be infringing.

Well, the news really isn't that dire. In fact, I'd say bloggers are generally pretty safe on this score, at least until someone notifies them that an embedded video is infringing.

First, it's important to understand what an embedded YouTube video is -- it's a link. Just a link. Nothing but a link. In fact, here's the entire html code needed to embed EFF's Corruptibles video into a blog:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8-5INcUuoEs"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8-5INcUuoEs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

That makes the embedded YouTube video essentially indistinguishable from the in-line image links that are used all over the Web, including in Google's Image Search. In the recent Perfect 10 v. Amazon ruling, the Ninth Circuit made it very clear that where in-line links are concerned, there is absolutely no direct copyright infringement liability. So, for purposes of direct infringement, the answer to one question will generally resolve the issue: where is the copy hosted?

That leaves contributory infringement. If you link to a video that you know is infringing, or that any reasonable person would have known is infringing, and if your link materially contributes to the infringement, then you could be liable for contributory infringement -- a kind of "aiding and abetting" liability.

The contributory infringement test should leave plenty of breathing room for most bloggers. Two rules of thumb should avoid most issues -- (1) don't embed videos that are obviously infringing, and (2) consider removing embedded videos once you've been notified by a copyright owner that they are infringing.

If you want even more protection, you can register yourself as the "Copyright Agent" for your blog (requires a form and $80 payment to the U.S. Copyright Office), familiarize yourself with the requirements of the DMCA's online service provider "safe harbors" (the chief one for most bloggers will be notice-and-takedown), and take advantage of the same protections that shield Yahoo! and Google when they link to sites that may include infringing materials.

In short, embedding YouTube videos isn't that scary from a copyright POV, at least until a copyright owner takes the trouble to notify you.

July 10, 2007 04:44 AM

Thousands (and thousands) of words, a handful of big, high-resolution demonstration videos, and a brutal stress test that will get the iPhone protected by PETA. Three (and a half) reviewers enter; one score leaves.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 04:11 AM

The International Energy Agency has released a mid term report and one of their conclusions is that non OPEC oil producing nations will more or less pass a plateau in 2012 where projected demand for crude will not be able to be met because of declining reserves. OPEC is expected to take up the slack, but will be quite close to maximum possible production levels at that time, and prices will be going up sharply.
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July 10, 2007 03:42 AM

Since the launch of the USPTO's Peer-to-Patent project late last month, over a thousand public peer reviewers have participated in the pilot program, reviewing patents submitted by Red Hat, Intel, and IBM. New patents, including a DRM patent filed by Microsoft, have now been added to the lineup.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 03:11 AM

AMD slashes processor pricing, and the entire X2 line dips below $200. Rumors have also emerged that TSMC may pick up some of AMD's non-GPU fab business.

Read More...

July 10, 2007 03:01 AM

Teen girl #1: Yeah, so being Jewish is worlds of fun. We are better than everyone else.
Teen girl #2: I want to be Jewish!
Mom of girl #1: Sorry, honey, we are the chosen people.
Queer passerby: Not with that nose, honey.

--19th & 5th

July 10, 2007 03:00 AM

The widely-anticipated Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista may be arriving on users' desktops earlier than expected, although Microsoft is still mum on the issue.

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July 10, 2007 02:29 AM

OPTOMETRY UPDATE....So I went to the optometrist this afternoon and they had a whole bunch of new machines. One of them performed a retina inspection test, which they said would cost $35 and wasn't covered by insurance. However, it replaces...

by Kevin Drum at July 10, 2007 02:15 AM

EFF has obtained FBI documents showing years of chronic problems with its use of National Security Letters (NSLs). The issue first drew widespread attention four months ago, when the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General released a report [31M PDF] revealing extensive misuse of NSLs in a sampling of four FBI field offices.

These findings were, unfortunately, not surprising to critics of the Bureau's NSL power. Before the USA PATRIOT Act was passed in 2001, the FBI could unilaterally issue these demands only to obtain the records of suspected terrorists or spies. Under the changes made by the controversial anti-terrorism law, however, the FBI can now use NSLs to get telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about anybody -- without any court approval -- as long as it believes the information could be “relevant” to an authorized terrorism or espionage investigation. (The House of Representatives is considering a bill that would add independent oversight to the NSL process, but the legislation hasn't moved since March.)

In the wake of the inspector general's report, EFF filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking fundamental information about the FBI's misuse of the NSL authority, and a federal judge recently ordered [PDF] the Bureau to release information responsive to EFF's request on a rolling basis.

On Friday, July 6, the FBI made its first disclosure of 1,138 pages of documents, all of which you can view here. (Please keep in mind that this is the first of many sets of documents we'll be receiving, so this material does not present a complete picture.) Here's what we've spotted that we think is most interesting so far.

July 10, 2007 02:09 AM

With the Arctic ocean starting to thaw more and more, with open water almost year round in some areas, the economic and strategic importance of a huge coastline with the minerals and oil and gas resources potentially there is being driven home to Canadian authorities. They realized they need a naval fleet to help defend their liquid Arctic territories, but can't afford traditional heavy icebreakers in the numbers needed, so instead they are designing and building vessels that can handle up to one meter thick ice, what they call "first year ice", so that at least for part of the year when other shipping might be traversing the Northwest passage they can have adequate protection. In addition, an entirely new Arctic port and city for the new fleet will be built, location still a secret.
Read More

July 10, 2007 01:33 AM

pobrecito hablador nos cuenta: «Despues de la publicación de la nueva licencia GNU GPLv3, Samba, uno de los proyectos open source más ambiciosos, anuncia su cambio en las futuras versiones a esta nueva licencia. Sus motivos son compatibilidad con otras licencias, mejor adopción internacional y más acorde con los tiempos actuales. ¿Deberían ir cambiándose todos los proyectos open source a esta nueva licencia?»

by Yonderboy at July 10, 2007 12:03 AM

A new study by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN is indicating that over the next decade, increasing global demand for food from rising populations plus the even larger demand for biofuels will keep prices high for those commodities.
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July 09, 2007 11:40 PM

Impeach the president or Cindy Sheehan promises to lose an election. [Wizbang Politics] Wonkette knows all, if by “all” you mean unsubstantiated hearsay. [Fresh Intelligence] Colin Powell...

July 09, 2007 10:50 PM

FBI probe may finally end crooked Ted Stevens’ Thousand-Year Reich. [Washington Post]

July 09, 2007 10:27 PM

Canada’s prime minister today ordered a half-dozen naval ships to protect the melting Northwest Passage from the United States, which is plotting to seize the shipping routes and oil and fish...

July 09, 2007 09:59 PM

subienkov nos cuenta: «Leo en elpais.com que Ramoncín deja la Junta Directiva de la SGAE pues, al parecer, tras 20 años, ya ha hecho su trabajo en ella. Adorna todo con una perla en la que dice: "me da pena la gente que se agacha en el top manta". Pues no sé, pero a mí me da pena que alguien que, en otro tiempo, se presentaba como alternativo y abierto a nuevas ideas y tendencias enganche en "su andadura" -el entrecomillado es mío- con la SGAE y termine con perlas como esa.»

by Yonderboy at July 09, 2007 09:43 PM

You see, it’s no biggie that Fred Thompson was leaking Watergate investigation info to Nixon because other people were leaking stuff to the Washington Post. The public’s right to know and...

July 09, 2007 09:37 PM

The head of the National Hurricane Center has been reassigned and his deputy put in charge following a controversial statement he made a few weeks ago about the loss of a weather satellite and how much it might impact hurricane forecasting. The political fallout was swift, 20 of 50 employees there signed a statement asking for his ouster.
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July 09, 2007 09:36 PM

all of a sudden you are everywhere

July 09, 2007 09:36 PM

Ha ha! Rudy went to Florida to kiss some southern primary voter ass at a NASCAR race, and he had to learn about cars and stuff from a girl book! When he was mayor, Mr. Giuliani was not shy about...

July 09, 2007 09:20 PM

Chris Dodd is probably dropping out of the race pretty soon, though it’s not clear he was ever really in it. [Political Insider]

July 09, 2007 09:19 PM

IE Internet's monthly survey reports that the United States has maintained its #1 spot on the worldwide spammer list, and the percentage of worldwide spam from the United States has only risen.

Read More...

July 09, 2007 09:18 PM

A young Bill Clinton, a middle-aged George Bush and … well, hello little fellow! What did you have to say about the world, way back in 1992. Oh, it’s not a good idea to export all of...

July 09, 2007 09:15 PM

FDA approves Alzheimer’s Patch. [AP/Yahoo]

July 09, 2007 08:46 PM

An endurance swimmer who goes by the nickname Ice Bear because of his amazing ability to withstand cold water will shortly attempt the first open water swim at the North Pole, to help dramatize the effects of global warming, as the pole area should be frozen over, but it isn't. Still cold though......
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July 09, 2007 08:40 PM

Shame on you, Jesse Jackson! Martin Luther King would have condemned your anti-gun march, what with his well-known pro-gun stance! [CNSNews.com]

July 09, 2007 08:30 PM

In the July 2007 survey we received responses from 125,626,329 sites, an increase of 3.62 million sites from the June survey.

Related Netcraft Service: Dedicated Server Monitoring

by wss at July 09, 2007 08:02 PM

Interesting security problems from India.

by schneier at July 09, 2007 07:48 PM

Heard on the Hill: Original freedom fries crusader no longer considers Rep. Walter Jones Jr. a comrade…Harry Reid is a friend indeed…Those passports are never coming…Proposed...

July 09, 2007 07:45 PM

Google's habit of using a wide network of employee-run blogs for making official news is obviously meant as a democratic way of of sparking dialogue between the company and its users and partners, but two recent PR incidents suggest that this practice is growing increasingly treacherous for a bottom-up, rapidly growing company that has "Don't Be Evil" as a corporate motto.

Read More...

July 09, 2007 07:45 PM

We’re Never Leaving Iraq Because Companies Have Contracts In Iraq Forever [Daily Kos]

July 09, 2007 07:43 PM

Now that the president has commuted Scooter’s sentence, running with huge stories based entirely on anonymous sources is apparently A-OK! So we now feel that we can reveal to you that we may...

July 09, 2007 07:24 PM

NEW BLOG WATCH....A bit of laziness on my part combined with my vacation last week has prevented me from drawing your attention to some new blogs that are worth a look. I've already bookmarked them and will probably be linking...

by Kevin Drum at July 09, 2007 07:14 PM

DC club-goers awarded $260,000 from Allen Iverson after his thugs beat ‘em up! [FOX Sports]

July 09, 2007 07:09 PM

The Samba project has adopted the GPL3 for subsequent releases. Their announcement is below.
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July 09, 2007 07:02 PM

Not too long ago, there was a small furor in the local media about a major disaster at The State's Technology Services Division. The details were a bit sketchy – mostly because The State was “unable to comment on an ongoing investigation” – but what was reported was that, for two full days, employees of The State were unable to logon to their computers or access email, and that this caused business within The State to grind to a halt.

As the “investigation” carried on, the media lost interest in the story and moved on to more newsworthy stories like who Paris Hilton was partying with last weekend. Fortunately for us, a certain employee of The State named J.N. works in the Technology Services Division and decided to share what really was behind those fateful days.

When employees of The State came in to work following a three day weekend, they found their workstations overloaded with "cannot logon" and "Exchange communication" error messages. The Network Services folks had it even worse: the server room was a sweltering 109° Fahrenheit and filled with dead or dying servers.

At first, everyone had assumed that the Primary A/C, the Secondary A/C, and the Tertiary A/C had all managed to fail at once. But after cycling the power, the A/Cs all fired up and brought the room back to a cool 64°. At the time, the “why” wasn’t so important: the network administrators had to figure out how to bring online the four Exchange Services, six Domain Controllers, a few Sun servers, and the entire State Tax Commission’s server farm. Out of all of the downed servers, those were the only ones that did not come back to life upon a restart.

They worked day and night to order new equipment, build new servers, and restore everything from back-up. Countless overtime hours and nearly two hundred thousand dollars in equipment costs later, they managed to bring everything back online. When the Exchange servers were finally restored, the following email finally made its way to everyone's inbox, conveniently answering the “why”

From: ----- -----------
To: IT Department
Re: A/C constantly running.

To whom it may concern,

I came in today (Monday) to finish up a project I was working 
on before our big meeting with the State ----- Commission tomorrow, 
and I noticed that there were three or four large air conditioners 
running the entire time I was here. Since it's a three day weekend, 
no one is around, why do we need to have the A/C running 24/7?

With all the power that all those big computers in that room use, I 
doubt it is really eco-friendly to run those big units at the same 
time. And all computers have cooling fans anyway, so why put the A/C 
for the building in that room? 

I got a keycard from [the facility manager’s] desk and shut off the 
A/C units. I'm sure you guys can deal with it being warm for an hour 
or two when you come in tomorrow morning. 

In the future, let's try to be a little more conscientious of our 
energy usage!

Thanks,
-----

As for the employee who sent it, he decided to take an early retirement.

July 09, 2007 07:00 PM

Okay, who would most benefit from breaking into Barry Hussein Obama’s campaign headquarters in Davenport, South Dakota (UPDATE: Or Iowa?) and stealing some laptops? Take our fun...

July 09, 2007 06:59 PM

iPHONE THREAD....I'm not much of a phone person, and I really hate cell phones in general, so my opinion of the iPhone should obviously be taken with a gigantic nugget of salt. But still, I have to ask: What's the...

by Kevin Drum at July 09, 2007 06:53 PM

New research, sponsored in part by AT&T, points out that neutral networks will need much greater capacity than "smart" networks. Yet a neutral 'Net still might be the cheapest.

Read More...

July 09, 2007 06:32 PM

FILIBUSTERS....I wonder how many Americans understand that you can't pass legislation in America with 50% of the votes in Congress? How many of them understand that, outside of budget resolutions, you need 60 votes in the Senate? That a filibuster...

by Kevin Drum at July 09, 2007 05:52 PM

MORE TERRORISM....Every time I write a post like the previous one ("reducing the tolerance for al-Qaeda and likeminded jihadist groups in the Middle East is the only way we'll ever permanently reduce the threat of Islamic terrorism") I get an...

by Kevin Drum at July 09, 2007 05:36 PM

Intel bets $218.5 million on the leading horse in the virtualization race. If you're going to bet on VMware, now is the time.

Read More...

July 09, 2007 04:28 PM

A Swiss firm with the unusual name of WabiSabiLabi has launched an online marketplace and auction for security vulnerabilities, claiming that researchers need to get paid.

Read More...

July 09, 2007 04:26 PM

Now that Microsoft has declared itself untouched by any GPLv3 terms, everyone is trying to figure out if they have a leg to stand on. There is a whole lot of analysis going on, with some wondering if Microsoft is a distributor of software under GPLv3 by means of the voucher distribution and others wondering just what those vouchers included.

First, "distribution" isn't the issue with GPLv3. That is a GPLv2 question, as I'll show you. GPLv3 talks about "propagating" and "conveying", not just distribution. Propagation includes anything, including distribution but not limited to it, that would make you directly *or secondarily* liable for infringement if you lack permission. Convey means "any kind of propagation" that enables another party to make or receive copies of a work. Like selling them the vouchers, perchance? It's a much broader category of activities than just distribution, and I'll explain the terms that I think would have made Microsoft fit neatly into the "convey" category, had they not backed out. I think you'll be able to see how much more protection GPLv3 provides to your code than GPLv2.

And somehow I missed this earlier, but I now discover that if you read the marketing agreement between Novell and Microsoft more carefully than I did before, it turns out we can know what one got with the vouchers, and what they offered included software, upgrades, and support. No wonder Microsoft decided to pull the plug before any GPLv3 software began to be made available. I just don't know if that is enough to save them, since the vouchers they already sold have no expiration date.

July 09, 2007 03:33 PM

Keith W.'s high school mascot, Benny the Beaver, would not be pleased with the Bank of America's zero-tolerance-for-profanity policy.

I imagine he'd have the same problem if the mascot was Cocky, the USC Gamecocks cock.

July 09, 2007 03:00 PM

Determining usage and growth of Free software has always been a challenge. For over a decade, arguments have been held – sometimes flamewars – whose central point was the usage level of software that is freely distributed. Read on.
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July 09, 2007 01:15 PM

For the most part, the Message Queue Processor at Andy's company is not a terrible application to work with. Most changes – such as setting up a new queue, changing trigger times, and so forth – can be done by changing configuration files. At least, that was Andy's opinion before having to make a change to its code…

Andy needed to add in support for serializing on multiple recipients, which mostly meant that he’d have to throw together an overload for the Serialize method. Not a big deal, until he made the fatal mistake of declaring a variable named cOut:

void Serialize(ostream& cOut, vector<CRcpt>& rRcpt) {  ...  }

All of a sudden, this caused over fifty errors. An hour later, Andy was able to locate the following code:

// This is neccessary so we don't have errors in the code
#define COUT cout
#define COUt cout
#define COuT cout
#define COut cout
#define CoUT cout
#define CoUt cout
#define CouT cout
#define Cout cout
#define cOUT cout
#define cOUt cout
#define cOuT cout
#define cOut cout
#define coUT cout
#define coUt cout
#define couT cout
#define ucout cout
#define ucot cout
... snip ...

The single comment didn’t elaborate on why they received the errors, but it was pretty obvious: to help with the potpourri of “cout” typos throughout the code.

July 09, 2007 01:00 PM