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FREE AT LAST

It finally happened. Kevin Mitnick is once again a free man. And heís got a job, and seems to be getting some respect, as well. Heís also got the governmental OK to get back on the web again.

Read the content of Kevin Mitnickís book that the publishers chose not to include. You can find it on-line by reading The Register. The intro to that Register page is equally interesting. Mitnick has co-authored his book, ìThe Art of Deceptionî with William Simon (no, not the one with the same name who was Treasury Secretary during the Nixon administration; heís since passed away). The Register is always a reliable, good read!

As mentioned in this space recently, Mitnickís story is one worth reading. Particularly if one has read the John Markoff side of the Mitnick story. Markoff, a technology and computers writer for the NY Times, decided to become ìthey guy who owned the Mitnick story.î He proceeded to break a bunch of journalism rules (ethical, mostly), sandbagged Mitnick in some ways, and went on to make all sorts of money in his guise as the Mitnick expert and authority.

In a decent and fair world, the so-called Sonñof-Sam Victimís Compensation Law would be properly applied to this case, and give Mitnick the lionís share of the proceeds Markoff glommed off the Mitnick story. Markoff is to Mitnick what Ken Starr ñor maybe Rush Limbaugh-- would have liked to have been to Clinton.

Wow! Verizon does the right thing.

Even Verizon, that telco conglomerate considered by many to be a close cousin to the Great Satan, does not want to cooperate with the Big Brother is Snooping On You aspect of the recording industryís inane attempt to use the courts to keep the internet from being a promotional or ancillary distribution arm of their commerce.

Letís hear it for Verizon, going to court and spending that legal budget on protecting their usersí right to maintain privacy. Thou shalt not snoop on the PC user!

Yes, Verizon did the right thing in this case. Next I expect pigs to fly.

STUNTED STREAMS

On the related topic of the record companies, privacy, piracy, and governmental snooping . . . some of New Yorkís local public radio broadcasting streams have fallen victim to the evil ways of Big Brother, and Big Brotherís Promo Machine, the record companiesí who support the DCMA.

Check this out, from the Tuesday (January 21) NY Daily News.

And this, from the WFUV site.

This group is surprisingly behind the times in its coverage or position.

The one sure and reliable source, of course, for the latest, is found on the EFF's site.

An anonymous poster, in a comment on Larry Lessigís blog,offers keen insight into just how big a problem these matters are, and the perilous situation that is the reality wrapped around these debates:

ìNow what are we going to do? The general public has no clue and doesnít care about these issues. The public doesnít care to understand the effects of copyright monopolies. Only geeks know about this issue. And we all know geeks have no ability to launch an effective sustained publicity lobby campaign. Heck, most cant even get girlfriends. How are they supposed to get the public fired up by about how Disney is taking advantage of public domain while refusing to let the public have access to their own derived work. Itís unrealistic to expect any mobilization from geeks.î

The Larry Lessig battle, aka ìThe Eldred Caseî is one very sad moment in our new-paradigm state of things. Perhaps it isnít yet over. Perhaps more than just the aforementioned geeks will awaken to the repressive and restrictive lawmaking being promoted and perpetrated by the paranoid, the avaricious, and the clueless swines.

Declan McCullaghís site has some excellent photo coverage of Lessig and the Eldred case.

BACK TO THE KITCHEN!

Hillary Rosen steps down as Chairman and CEO of the RIAA. Try as I did, it is impossible to keep from using the obvious phrase here: ìIf You Canít Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Kitchen!î
Well, in this case, maybe leave the heat of one kitchen and go home to oneís own.

Rosenís quote, citing her reasons for leaving as having young children and wanting to devote more time to them, also inspires the imagination to the sardonic and sarcastic. Yes, sheíll stay home, and have a conniption when one of those kids innocently starts playing an MP3 on the playroom PC, downloaded from one of those services or sites that Hillary has spent her recent professional life attempting to prevent, crush, destroy, eliminate.

Canít you picture it in your mindís eye, or in your mindís ear, hear the dialogue? ìNo, Junior! Donít play those BAD mp3ís! Thatís a criminal offense!î And will Hillary then send a few pennies to the author, the artist, the holders of mechanical or licensing rights, the publishers, to right the wrong inadvertently and innocently committed by her precious progeny?

These kids will no doubt need to see therapists in later life. ìYes, Dr. Schadenfreude, me and all my siblings and cousins had to hide Napster and Kazaa from our mother! Sheíd always be checking the computers, and it was as though she would be delivering a stock speech, the way sheíd rant on about piracy. And we didnít have enough money to buy CDs after she left the RIAA! Doctor, for all those years weíd gotten addicted ñ Mom kept us in supply of all those promo and freebie CDs. Then she thought weíd kick it cold turkey. But no! We NEEDED that music. And there it was, being SHARED on all those servers by all those nice people.

"How could mother do this, telling us that sharing was bad, after all those years of Mr. Rogers and Barney and others, telling us we had to learn how to share? Oh, doctor, will I ever be cured? It seemed so normal and correct to download!"
Imagine this: Hillaryís kids decide to support this site http://www.boycott-riaa.com/ ! See Mom faint.

Back to the present. Maybe, now that sheíll be staying at home, taking care of her children, Hillary will be concentrating on Diaper Control Mothering Activities. Yeah, thatís the ticket. Her own personal DCMA.

Good RIAA Laugh

Check out this RIAA comic and this lovely RIAA sweatshirt.

And this on-target and amusing graphic, taking it to the limit (as the Eagles would sing, but as the RIAA would not have you download):