One of the unremarked aspects of the Enron scandal is the way the fearless US media (not to mention its UK counterpart) failed to detect that the company was a financial sham. Christopher Hitchens made this point brilliantly in his Guardian column yesterday. He says the story was finally blown by Bethany MacLean of Fortune magazine — ‘ the very model of the bright-eyed girl reporter. And that brings one to another element: the almost complete failure of the press to do its job of investigation and disclosure. MacLean happened to be an expert at figures and the reading of balance sheets: she saw some numbers that didn’t add up and asked, just like the child viewing the unclad emperor: “How does Enron make its money?” Up until then, the whole of the business press had been in slack-jawed awe of the company’s mighty attainments. And Enron used a lot of muscle to get that little story downplayed. So the current media circus conceals the fact that the journalistic profession is playing catch-up, to compensate for a long period of inertia and incuriosity. ‘
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!
“A collaboration between Cambridge and MIT, given �65.1m by the government, has so far underwhelmed academia with its achievements. Where is the money going?” So says a sceptical piece in today’s Guardian. But since the article claims that Dr. Gillian Evans is a member of the University’s Council (elementary schoolboy mistake), one wonders how well-informed it actually is.
Saying the federal government isn’t doing enough to ensure consumer privacy, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has sent an open letter to the attorneys general in all 50 states to stop what it claims are Microsoft’s unfair and deceptive business practices surrounding the company’s Passport service. Computerworld story here.
This is an experimental posting made from my Psion via a mobile phone! Just pushing the envelope!
“Distance education threatens the privacy of students and professors because online class discussions can be monitored in ways that are impossible in traditional classrooms, argues David Noble, a history professor at York University, in Toronto, and a well known critic of technology. ” From a useful review by Jeffrey R. Young of David Noble’s new book, The Digital Diploma Mill. In the light of the security-panic which has been triggered by September 11 in the US, this is something for anyone interested in academic freedom to worry about.
Well, I’ve made my contribution to the Dave Winer retirement fund and now am a fully paid-up Radio user. First time in ages that I’ve not resented paying for software.