Clay Shirky on the insoluble domain name problem

Typically thoughtful essay. Quote:

“Unfortunately, what made domain names contentious was simply that the internet became important, and there’s no putting the genie back in that bottle. The legal issues involved actually predate not only ICANN but the DNS itself, going back to the mid-70s and the earliest decision to create memorable aliases for unmemorable IP addresses. Once the original host name system was in place — IBM.com instead of 129.42.18.99 — the system was potentially subject to trademark litigation. The legal issues were thus implicit in the DNS from the day it launched; it just took a decade or so for anyone to care enough to hire a lawyer…”

From Dave Winer…“Here’s some exciting cross-pollination. Ben Hammersley, writing in the Guardian, explains how Web services are the province of the little guy. Analysts who follow the BigCo’s, please read this piece and consider the point of view. Blogger’s competitors (including UserLand) have adopted and even extended the Blogger API, so the same tools can be used to create content for the centralized Blogger app, or for Radio running on the desktop. This is the process by which new technology enters our culture, also known as bootstrapping.”   [Scripting News]

Blogging craze spreads to mainline journalism!

Even the National Review has one, it seems.

DaveNet: How To Start a Weblog (For Professional Journalists).  [Scripting News]

FT.COM bites the subscription bullet

It will begin charging for premium content this month. There will be a lot of free stuff on a day-by-day basis, but everything over seven days old will be available only to subscribers. Which leads to the thought: what happens to all the links Webloggers like me post to FT.com stories? Presumeably they will all lead back to the subscription gateway — a dead end for most followers of those links. Net result: the FT will be cited less on the Web. Which will be a shame because actually it’s a damn good paper.