Dialcom Networks (Madrid, Spain) has launched a plug in that turns Skype into a video conferencing tool. The product, Spontania video4skype, runs only on Windows2000 or WIndows XP and is currently in beta (0.8.3). Reportedly, it will host up to four connections for a video conference. Apple’s iChat with Tiger also supports up to four video participants. The challenge for consumers is the lack of communication standards; we have video chat balkanization that mirrors the problem with e-mail in the early 90s. Perhaps the MacIntel machine will smooth the way.
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The Supreme Court remanded a copyright case to the lower courts, unanimously ruling in MGM v Grokster that the summary judgment ruling against MGM was in error:
One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, going beyond mere distribution with knowledge of third-party action, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device’s lawful uses…
On the record presented, respondents’ unlawful objective is unmistakable. The classic instance of inducement is by advertisement or solicitation that broadcasts a message designed to stimulate others to commit violations. MGM argues persuasively that such a message is shown here…
In addition to intent to bring about infringement and distribution of a device suitable for infringing use, the inducement theory requires evidence of actual infringement by recipients of the device, the software in this case. There is evidence of such infringement on a gigantic scale. Because substantial evidence supports MGM on all elements, summary judgment for respondents was error. On remand, reconsideration of MGM’s summary judgment motion will be in order.
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The line that comes into your house and provides you with telephone service, by law, is open to competition. As a result, homeowners can shop for the best deal for long distance and DSL services. The line that comes into your house and provides you with cable TV, on the other hand, is insulated from competition, based on a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in NCTA v Brand X Internet Services. (Dissent: Scalia, Souter and Ginsburg)
The crux of the ruling is this: telephone companies are regulated as “telecommunications services” and are required to open their lines to competition. As far as internet services are concerned, this means that independent ISPs buy access to the network at wholesale and then sell that access to their customers.
This became a Supreme Court ruling because, in 2000, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that cable provided both information and telecommunications services. Subsequently, the Republican-led FCC ruled that cable is only an information service, exempting cable companies from opening their lines to competition. Anyone who uses the Internet today or who has heard of Voice Over IP knows that this ruling flies in the face of reality.
Consequently, telephone companies must compete not only with cable firms but also with alternative DSL providers. It was the competition with alternative DSL providers that spurred innovation. I’ve had DSL since late 1998, provided by Covad over a Qwest phone line. That’s the only way I could get DSL — Qwest told me that I was too far from its central office. And at that time, the local cable provider did not offer cable-modem service.
Thus, in an Orwellian twist of logic, a ruling that limits competition is being touted as a benefit for consumers. From the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the industry’s principal trade association:
Read the rest of this entry »
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Interested in eDemocracy? Then check out the
International Symposium on Local E-Democracy in Minneapolis, MN on
July 26-27.
This is the world’s first international conference focused on local e-democracy. Although it will still be highly relevant to all levels of governance. Plenary panel speakers and small group sessions on the symposium agenda will highlight leading e-democracy activities from all levels of government and society. If you are interested in governance and citizen participation in the information age, this conference is for you.
The conference includes a field trip to “the ‘wired’ chambers of the Minnesota State Legislature and Northfield, Minnesota’s community blogging efforts.” Organizers expect 50 to 100 participants. I predict it will sell-out quickly.
Tags:
eDemocracy,
Government
Politics,
Blogs
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Interested in eDemocracy? Then check out the
International Symposium on Local E-Democracy in Minneapolis, MN on
July 26-27.
This is the world’s first international conference focused on local e-democracy. Although it will still be highly relevant to all levels of governance. Plenary panel speakers and small group sessions on the symposium agenda will highlight leading e-democracy activities from all levels of government and society. If you are interested in governance and citizen participation in the information age, this conference is for you.
The conference includes a field trip to “the ‘wired’ chambers of the Minnesota State Legislature and Northfield, Minnesota’s community blogging efforts.” Organizers expect 50 to 100 participants. I predict it will sell-out quickly.
Tags:
eDemocracy,
Government
Politics,
Blogs
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With no fanfare, the LA Times introduced, and then closed, a wiki designed to provide online readers with a way to respond to or edit LAT opinion pieces. Read about the launch, the obit and the post mortem, all on my About.com politics blog.
Yes, there were mistakes, not the least being the choice of a collaboration tool, which needs consensus to operate effectively, for a divisive topic: the war in Iraq. Not having a core community to monitor the discourse also proved fatal. But it was a brave effort, and I view this as a glass-half-full (not half-empty) exercise:
[W]hat is the advantage — to the paper, to its readers — of having a wiki “reply” to a newspaper editorial? If the paper is trying to provide a voice for its readers, perhaps it would be good to post every editorial as a blog entry. Use blogging technology to allow individual comments, creating an online version of the print “letters to the editor.”
Does this experiment mean that wikis and newspapering are like oil and water (see Jarvis)? Not necessarily. Most issues — whether they are “big” ones like Iraq or “small” ones like rezoning — have more that two sides. The media, however, almost always treat an issue like it’s a ball game. Wiki technology could provide a voice for those other, perhaps more nuanced, points of view.
Why would anyone participate in a mainstream media wiki or blog when they can easily (and cheaply) start their own? I can think of two reasons. First, potential readership: MSM websites have more eyeballs than the average blog site. Second, potential to affect the MSM, a non-trivial reason given that most Americans still get their news offline and much (most?) TV and radio news (like much blogosphere commentary) rests on newspaper reporting.
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