Comment: Re:The corollary is,,, (Score 1) 474
Someone doesn't know what he's talking about, but I don't think it's @asukasoryu.
How Tech Policy Is Like German Forestry->
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binarybits
binarybits writes "James C. Scott's Seeing Like a State, which examines how modern states came to understand and control their subjects, is legendary in political science circles. In an essay for Cato Unbound, I examine the parallels between the mechanisms of control Scott describes and the legal powers that modern software and media companies use to control technological evolution and, with it, consumers themselves. Read on to learn what 19th Century German forestry techniques can teach us about modern debates over software patents and the DMCA."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Justice Stevens, Champion of Internet Freedom->
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by
binarybits
binarybits writes "Monday was Justice John Paul Stevens's last day on the bench. I've got an article examining his record on tech policy issues. He wrote a number of decisions that were crucial to the development of the digital economy. He wrote the court's strongest anti-software-patent decision in 1978. In 1984, he narrowly saved the VCR from extinction, writing a 5-4 majority opinion holding that "time shifting" was fair use. And in 1997, he wrote the Supreme Court's opinion striking down software patents. Everyone who appreciates their DRM-free music players, free software, and the uncensored Internet owes Justice Stevens their thanks."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Please Read My Blog (Score 1) 944
My Slashdot number is almost an order of magnitude larger.
Comment: Re:yet another hit piece on libertarians (Score 1) 944
How is it a hit piece on libertarians?
Comment: Re:Lakely is not "Libertarians" (Score 1) 944
Um, OP is a libertarian. And nowhere did I generalize to all libertarians.
Comment: Re:Please Read My Blog (Score 1) 944
I've been a Slashdot member a lot longer than you have.
Comment: Re:Where have you been? (Score 1) 944
I'm not allowed to express the same opinion more than once?
When Libertarians Attack Free Software-> 1
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binarybits
binarybits writes "I've got a new article analyzing the unfortunate trend of libertarian and free-market organizations attacking free software. The latest example is a policy analyst at the Heartland Institute who attacks network neutrality regulations by arguing that advocates have "unwittingly bought into" the "radical agenda" of the free software movement. I argue that in reality, the free market and free software are entirely compatible, and libertarians are shooting themselves in the foot by antagonizing the free software movement."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Cato !Free Market (Score 1) 242
Several Cato scholars (including me and Cato's president) wrote op-eds on the other side of the warrantless wiretapping debate. We're a think tank, not a lobbying outfit, so we don't have a "party line"--sometimes that leads to scholars writing things that most people (including me in this case) don't consider libertarian.