Posts tagged as:

Law

Balloon Boy Family gets $42,000 Bill

I don’t know why this bill reached $42,000 when anyone who has ever seen Mythbusters could have told any observer with authority to initiate this search and tracking fiasco that the balloon was impossible to carry a child unless it was a newborn made of rice crispy treats. Then there are the people who could [...]

Read More...

Is the Microsoft Bing, News Corp Deal the Search Index Version of Dumping?

So, Microsoft is trying to get News Corp to de-index from the Google search engine and presumably stick to Microsoft Bing. I think this is a bit unethical because the intent isn’t to provide a superior service and thus attract consumers of either end; it is all about throwing money at the solution and creating [...]

Read More...

Director of Social Media has New Meaning at STLtoday.com

This is an interesting day for the concept of my course of interests. This blog is about the merging of Business, Technology, and Ethics. And a couple of days ago, they merged in such exquisite fidelity that I had to comment on what I think is going to turn out to be a big pile [...]

Read More...

Bandwidth Caps if you operate above 70% of allowance for 15 minutes?

Well, this is pretty bad for Comcast customers [I am one], and I’m not happy about it at all. Slashdot and TheInquirer have articles up about Comcast FCC filings that suggest that if you go above 70% of your full bandwidth allowance for 15 minutes, you’ll be capped for 15 minutes [at least] until congestion [...]

Read More...

Know what a SLAPP suit is? The producer of Vermonster Beer does. Now. Thanks Hansen Beverage Company!

I’m waiting for Monster Cable to sue them next, but in either case this is less about Trademark protections, and more about competition for any derivation of the term Monster. Which, in the context of Vermonster beer is far from being in the competitive space.
This is pretty much what I would call a SLAPP suit. [...]

Read More...

I guess I don’t think big enough. NY City Police Stop-and-Frisk 1.2 people per minute?

I must be a small thinker when it comes to population safety, control, etc. Because I was reading this Yahoo News article between reading the Health Care Bill [I'm reading it slowly because I'm waiting for some action on our Government's part... if it gets amended/modified before I complete my paper, I have to edit [...]

Read More...

Google Deactivates Account that Received Email Sent to Wrong Account

Remember that bank that sent an email to an incorrect Google account? Well, Google locked the user out, basically treating the user as a criminal. A court ordered Google to do the deed, so I suppose it isn’t Google’s fault that a user is being treated as a criminal even though they didn’t do anything. [...]

Read More...

Eminent Domain, Kelo, New London Development Corporation

So, Don Surber wrote a follow up on an AP report by Katie Nelson. Back around the AP story, I wrote a paper on Eminent Domain for a law class. It included the origin, history, and modern use of Eminent Domain. It was brought about by the New London case in the Supreme Court. New [...]

Read More...

Rocky Mountain Bank about to sing the blues.

So, Threat Level [Wired], by way of Information Week, has a story about how Rocky Mountain Bank agent(s), sent an email to the wrong GMAIL account, including a document that should not have been sent at all containing sensitive information pertaining to nearly 1400 customers. When the agent couldn’t get a hold of the recipient [...]

Read More...

Just because you don’t see them, it doesn’t mean you aren’t being followed.

In an article, paper, and series of commentaries regarding the same; Anonymity takes a hit based on research that re-identified the movie picks that were anonymized by NetFlix for their NetFlix prize.
Paul Ohm, who writes on “Freedom to Tinker” which is a blog about technological policymaking, has spurred the discussion into just what it means [...]

Read More...

Please help your local libraries…

If you don’t, I’ll have to get a Kindle or other ebook reader for my wife because she reads over one book a week casually. Since May, 26 books have fallen to her reading habits. Since I don’t like the Kindle anymore…DRM issues, DRM issues, Changing functionality after purchasing. I’ll take anything other than a [...]

Read More...

Project Indect could be the most Orwellian sounding project yet.

So, in an effort to out do the MIT team, it seems the EU has put together Project Indect. The more I read about this, the more intriguing it becomes. Tying it to the DNA database in the UK, full time monitoring of the entire society for abnormal behavior… we are on the cusp of [...]

Read More...

Have documents in Google Apps you want private? Better get busy.

Google is going to start indexing documents contained in Google Apps, for search results. Basically that seems to mean that anything from spreadsheets to presentations to notes contained in a doc anywhere in Google Apps will be popping up in search results. In two weeks. You have two weeks, according to “Marie” who is listed [...]

Read More...

MailFire, MailGuard, and MailAmi.com, I miss my spam firewall.

So, it has been several years now that I moved on from my patent nightmare and the firm that I was working with is no more. No small surprise there. The attorney I was working with, who I think got more of a workout cashing my check than doing any due diligence, has probably forgotten [...]

Read More...

How does something like software “sell out”?

You have no need for store shelves, packaging, or sales agents… no need to pick, pack, and ship… it is on-demand, and can be distributed completely electronically around the world, including specific versions for specific regions. Yet, it is selling out in England? As well as Japan?
This idea of false scarcity in the software [...]

Read More...

← Previous Entries