What’s this? A respectful piece about Linux on CNN!

Very good column by Rick Boucher on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which explains, in a short piece, exactly what’s wrong with that pestilential statute. Some quotes:

‘Section 1201 (a)(1), for example, prohibits unauthorized access to a work by circumventing an effective technological protection measure used by a copyright owner to control access to a copyrighted work. Because the law does not limit its application to circumvention for the purpose of infringing a copyright, all types of traditionally accepted activities may be at risk. Any action of circumvention without the consent of the copyright owner is made criminal.

Consider the implications. A time may soon come when what is available for free on library shelves will only be available on a pay-per-use basis. It would be a simple matter for a copyright owner to impose a requirement that a small fee be paid each time a digital book or video documentary is accessed by a library patron. Even the student who wants even the most basic access to only a portion of the book to write a term paper would have to pay to avoid committing a crime.

The day is already here in which copyright owners use “click on” licenses to limit what purchasers of a copyrighted work may do with it. Some e-book licenses, for example, prohibit the reader from reading the book out loud. Some go so far as to make it a violation of the license to even criticize the contents of a work, let alone to make a copy of a paragraph or two.’

Google reacts to third-party pop-up ads. “It seems like we’re seeing increasing confusion from users…in response to the Web-wide proliferation of pop-ups. We thought this was a good time to explain that Google does not show pop-up ads,” said Matt Cutts, a software engineer at the company.

Whatever next? Sony releases Linux for Playstation 2. According to reports, the “Linux (for PlayStation 2)” Release 1.0 kit includes:

• Internal hard disk drive for PlayStation 2 (HDD) with 40 GB capacity
• Network Adaptor (Ethernet) (for PlayStation 2) with 100 Base T Ethernet interface
• Linux Kernel version 2.2.1 (with USB device support)
• “Linux (for PlayStation 2)” Version 1.0 software distribution on two DVDs
• gcc 2.95.2 and glibc 2.2.2 with VU assemblers
• XFree86 3.3.6 with PlayStation 2 GS support
• Computer monitor adaptor (for PlayStation 2) (with audio connectors)
• USB Keyboard and mouse (for PlayStation 2)

Now all we need is Linux for the X-Box!