this is mikel.org — Page 293 — Michael Boyle's weblog

More DMCA fun!

May 3, 2002 by Michael Boyle

This time the story comes to us from Tom Murphy, who has been asked to remove a program he developed to do nothing more than change a flag contained (in the clear) in a typeface file. The askers? Agfa Monotype and ITC. Judging by the standards that lawyers and companies are attempting to apply, any pencil or pen is a “circumvention device” under the DMCA.

As has been widely reported

May 2, 2002 by Michael Boyle

, the publishers of DallasNews.com seem to need a smack with the clue-stick. Check out 4B: “If you operate a Web site and wish to link to this Site, you may link only to the home page of the Site and not to any other page or subdomain of us.”

Uh, sorry, but which page I link to on the open internet is my business, not yours. If you don’t want links to your content, don’t put it on the internet. And if you can’t figure out a way to make money off putting material on the open internet, that’s your problem. Deal with it.

Tonight

May 1, 2002 by Michael Boyle

: First
Wednesday with the whole YULBlog gang. I’ll be there but a little late, as I am also teaching my first class of the summer session tonight.

Recombinant blogging about groceries

May 1, 2002 by Michael Boyle

Ed (who I know very well) reports on the possible closing of Warshaw’s, around the corner from my place, citing Maggie, who I also know, and M-J (who wrote the story for Hour), who I know even better. I’m sure a lot of people are crying about this possibility, but although I appreciate the benefits of truly local businesses, Warshaw’s is/was expensive, has/had terrible produce and a worse selection than most places in the area, and is absolutely filthy from top to bottom. Good solid local businesses are important in an era such as this: Warshaw’s just isn’t one of them.

Chillingeffects.org

April 30, 2002 by Michael Boyle

: The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse. “Do you know your online rights? Have you received a letter asking you to remove information from a Web site or to stop engaging in an activity? Are you concerned about liability for information that someone else posted to your online forum? If so, this site is for you.”