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International Law

Freedom to Differ

A blog that speaks freely about legal issues facing the media and the internet. It mainly covers issues relating to the legal regulation of the internet and the media, but at times Constitutional law issues and politics are discussed. While the focus is on Australia, developments in other nations around the world are considered as well.

Post Frequency: 25.4/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 09:11:39

Raging Against the Machine

Posted on January 27, 2008
Lee Siegel, the author of a book published this month titled Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob, really doesn't like the social web: (Hat tip: Mashable.)

I don't get it

Posted on January 26, 2008
I've seen this ad for the Commonwealth Bank several times now and I still don't think I get it. Moreover, I don't think it is going to get anyone to bank with the Commonwealth Bank. Anyway, let me know what you think ...

Are you happy?

Posted on January 26, 2008
Mashable's Paul Glazowski asks, does social networking make you happy? And, well, the answer I have for you is pretty simple: online social networking upsets people. Funny, eh? Yeah, in some respects, such a conclusion is really very humorous. Perhaps too humorous...

Bill Clinton: "Screw It, I'm Running For President"

Posted on January 26, 2008
A very funny story from The Onion: After spending two months accompanying his wife, Hillary, on the campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton announced Monday that he is joining the 2008 presidential race, saying he "could no longer resist the urge...

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The internet in 1996

Posted on January 26, 2008
eKarjala looks back at the internet as it was in 1996: In 1996, the Internet Archive began archiving the web for a service called the Wayback Machine. They've now archived 55 billion web pages. That's enough web pages that if you were to print them all out using your roommate's...

Thinking long term

Posted on January 26, 2008
The Observer's John Naughton on the First Law of Technology: The First Law of Technology says we invariably overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their longer-term effects. The invention of printing in the 15th century had an extraordinary short-term impact: though scholars argue about the precise number,...

Facebook extends platform

Posted on January 26, 2008
All Facebook, an unofficial Facebook blog, comments on a significant but under-reported development: I surely did not see this coming anytime soon but Facebook just released their JavaScript client library than enables developers to extend their applications to their own websites...

An author explains why he pirated his own book

Posted on January 26, 2008
Techdirt observes that a best-selling author believes that pirating his own book helped sales tremendously: We've been seeing more and more examples lately of content creators recognizing how they benefit from giving away their content for free. What's most amusing, however, is that every time we point out an example,...

The Facebook economy

Posted on January 26, 2008
Knowledge@Wharton has posted an interesting piece titled "Scrabulous and the New Social Operating System: How Facebook Gave Birth to an Industry": Most industries do not begin on a single day, but it's easy to see Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's presentation on May 24, 2007, as the starting gun in an...

"All this online sharing has to stop"

Posted on January 26, 2008
While Charles Arthur sympathises with the music industry, he says they need to get in line: The IFPI - the International Federation of Phonographic Industries - is the global music industry organisation whose very name tells you how long ago progress overtook it...

Google to kill domain tasting

Posted on January 26, 2008
Good news from Google, according to the Domain Tools Blog: A confidential informant says Google will stop monetizing all domains if they are less then five days old. This potential new policy change by Google could stop all Domain Tasting in its tracks...

Widget watch

Posted on January 26, 2008
Clint Boulton at Google Watch says the world is warming to widgets: This just in: Google doesn't lead every market it's in. No, it's true. According to the latest November 2007 widget stats from comScore, Google has the sixth widest widget-viewing audience with more than 19 million viewers...

What is "Asia" and what is "Commons" anyway?

Posted on January 26, 2008
Following the Workshop on Asia and Commons last week, Rebecca MacKinnon reflected on the highlights of the workshop: For me, the two most thought-provoking sessions at the Workshop on Asia and Commons last weekend were a panel on Saturday afternoon called "Commons: Cultural Perspectives from Asia" and Sunday's final brainstorm...

What copyright law and plane crashes have in common

Posted on January 26, 2008
At Concurring Opinions Bruce Boyden explains what copyright law and plane crashes have in common. After explaining system accidents resulting in plane crashes, Boyden asks: How does all of this relate to copyright? Copyright law is badly designed to relate to humans...

Muse Knights of Cydonia

Posted on January 26, 2008
Knights of Cydonia from Muse finished number one in the Triple J Hottest 100 today. This is the strange but brilliant video clip for Knights of Cydonia:

A Facebook friend is anything but a friend in need

Posted on January 25, 2008
The Guardian points out that you can't always expect your Facebook Friends to stand by you: If ever evidence were needed that a Facebook friend is anything but a friend in need - the declining cyber-support for the man named today as history's biggest rogue trader speaks volumes...

Zenware

Posted on January 25, 2008
In a piece for Slate, Jeffrey MacIntyre seeks a distraction free desktop: If your computer desktop is anything like mine?and, brother, it is?you've paved over every spare pixel in an iconistan of clutter. Desktop design originated in a wistful visual metaphor, the clean, still work surface, encouraging users to productive...

The power of P2P

Posted on January 25, 2008
CNET News.com's Marguerite Reardon defends of peer-to-peer technology: Peer-to-peer technology has gotten a bad rap for years, but a group of Internet service providers led by Verizon Communications is working to harness the technology to reduce network traffic and speed up video downloads on the Web...

What now for The Dark Knight?

Posted on January 25, 2008
The Wall Street Journal wonders whether the marketing for the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, will change following Heath Ledger's death: For nearly nine months, Internet-savvy movie fans have been tantalized by a Web marketing campaign to slowly unveil the new look for one of Hollywood's most popular characters:...

Obituaries for young, living stars

Posted on January 25, 2008
On Tuesday this week (the morning of Heath Ledger's death), the San Francisco Chronicle published a story titled, "Debate rages over prewritten obituaries for young, living stars". Ledger's tragic, unexpected death seems a case in point: It's never been a secret that when people die after long and distinguished careers,...

FoxNews Alert

Posted on January 25, 2008
A very important FoxNews Alert during Red Eye, a late night chat news/comedy show on FoxNews:

2008 Bloggies

Posted on January 25, 2008
You can vote for the Eighth Annual Weblog Awards (The 2008 Bloggies) here.

Happy Australia Day!

Posted on January 25, 2008
Happy Australia Day to all my readers, whether Australian or not. Given it is Australia Day you may want to check out the recently established Aussie Bloggers blog here and the Aussie Bloggers forum here.

Is your IP address private?

Posted on January 24, 2008
Following some talk from Europe that IP addresses are personal and should be private, Techdirt asks Is Your IP Address Your Personal Information?: Some European politicians in charge of "privacy" issues have decided that your IP address should be considered personal info, along the lines of your name or address...

How do you compete against free music?

Posted on January 24, 2008
Ars Technica's Nate Anderson explains why Last.fm's free music won't replace your music collection: Can music companies compete against "free"? Sure they can; it's an issue I addressed in yesterday's feature on the changing nature of the music business, and confirmation came today from the oldest of old-guard sources, CBS...

Banning banks in Second Life may be problematic

Posted on January 24, 2008
In an article FindLaw's Writ, Anita Ramasastry considers the consequences of banning banks in Second Life: Just last week, Second Life, an online virtual world, banned unregulated banks from its cyber-realm. Linden Labs, the operator of Second Life, announced that only banks or other financial institutions (such as investment companies...

ABC on MySpace

Posted on January 24, 2008
The ABC and BBC have embraced MySpace, according to The Australian: MYSPACE users will soon be able to share some of their favourite Australian television shows after the signing of a new deal with the national broadcaster. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and its British counterpart, the BBC, have signed...

Are your parents on MySpace?

Posted on January 24, 2008
CNN looks at how teenagers and young adults are apprehensive when parents and others encroach upon what they see as "their space": Scott Seigal was awakened one recent early morning by a cell phone text message. It was from his girlfriend's mother. His friends' parents have posted greetings on his...

Learning from failure

Posted on January 24, 2008
Wired takes a look at eight of Apple's most notorious flops. Find out what makes the list here.

"Facebook the dangers of Web 2.0"

Posted on January 24, 2008
Professor Jonathan Zittrain, the Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation and Director of Graduate Studies at the Oxford Internet Institute, has a fascinating post on Facebook applications: I love Facebook ? it?s a great way to keep up with friends and acquaintances, and it?s got a gorgeous interface...

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