Darknet

The e-Book test: Do electronic versions deter piracy?

David Pogue in the NY Times: The e-Book Test: Do Electronic Versions Deter Piracy?

Related: John Caddell at FutureLab: Must We Give away Digital Creative Works?

Charging by the byte to curb Internet traffic

NY Times: Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic. Excerpt:

Some people use the Internet simply to check e-mail and look up phone numbers. Others are online all day, downloading big video and music files.

For years, both kinds of Web surfers have paid the same price for access. But now three of the country’s largest Internet service providers are threatening to clamp down on their most active subscribers by placing monthly limits on their online activity. ...

What an absolutely atrocious idea, to penalize the most creative, connected, productive people in the nation.

Verizon Wireless to open its network

NY Times: Verizon Wireless to Open Its Network.

In a major shift for the mobile phone industry, Verizon Wireless said yesterday that it planned to give customers far more choice in what phones they could use on its network and how they use them.

Lessig's new mission: fighting corruption

Author and Stanford Prof. Lawrence Lessig, one of the leading figures in the digital rights movement, has a new cause: understanding and fighting corruption. Today's San Jose Mercury News has a Q&A with him. Excerpts:

Lessig wants to tackle something far more elemental - the very nature of corruption. Why do some people subvert or short-change their ideals for money or some other inducement? Lessig sees this in politicians, in doctors, in lawyers, in academics, and yes, in journalists. And once he understands corruption, he wants to build a movement to stop it. ...

Lessig: We've all gotten use to money buying influence in the context of politics. But I was intrigued by my fellow academics who were allowing themselves to get in situations where it's hard to believe that money wasn't influencing them. When you go to Harvard Law School and you say to a professor that we'll give you money to do research in certain areas, or on certain subjects, it's sure pretty hard to not see how that affects how people do their jobs.

So it sounds like this effort will encompass influence peddling, conflict of interest and ethical issues as well as corruption.

Cross-posted to Socialmedia.biz.

What Netflix could teach Hollywood

NY Times: What Netflix Could Teach Hollywood.

Push to create standards for documents

Friday NY Times: Push to Create Standards for Documents.

With government records, reports and documents increasingly being created and stored in digital form, there is a software threat to electronic access to government information and archives. The problem is that public information can be locked in proprietary software whose document formats become obsolete or cannot be read by people using software from another company.

To cope with the problem, 30 companies, trade groups, academic institutions and professional organizations are announcing today the formation of the OpenDocument Format Alliance, which will promote the adoption of open technology standards by governments. ...

Feeding the commons

Adam Fields, one of our main tech whizzes over at Ourmedia, wrote a blog piece about the commons and monetizing streams instead of individual content.

Feeding the commons is about ongoing effort. Releasing your work to as many people as possible gets you attention for the next thing you do. It’s so simple. It’s not about selling any one thing anymore, it’s about selling your stream.