Law X.0

Verizon Opening Its Wireless Network

Flying in the face of the traditional wireless business model, Verizon has announced that it is opening its network (somewhat) to devices other than cell phones tied to the company. Details on Tech Law Prof Blog. [JH]

Who's Doing All This Searching?

Jeremy Crane reports that the top 1% of searchers performs a full 13% of all searches in a given month. If you extend this to the top 20% the number of queries increase to roughly 70%. So in contrast to the standard 80-20 pareto it appears that in web search there is roughly a 70-20 distribution. [JH]

2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index: Repression Shifting from Journalists to Bloggers

Reporters Without Borders' 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index (pdf) which indicates that government repression in some countries has shifted from journalists to bloggers, with the vitality of the Internet triggering a more focused crackdown as blogs increasingly take the place of mainstream news media. According to the report, countries such as Egypt and Jordan, that were not sentencing journalists to prison terms anymore, have been doing exactly that recently to bloggers. [JH]

User-Generated Content and the Open Source/Creative Common Movements

Franklin Pierce law professor Mary Wai San Wong's User-Generated Content & the Open Source/Creative Common Movements: Has the Time Come for Users' Rights? is now available on SSRN. Here's the abstract:

This paper, written for the 4th Asian IP Law & Policy Day co-organized by the IP Academy of Singapore (Singapore) and Fordham Law School (USA) in conjunction with the annual Fordham Conference on International IP Law & Policy, traces the development of the free software/open source (FOSS) and creative commons (CC) movements and the rise of user-generated content (UGC). In light of existing international treaty standards for copyright protection, growing global Internet penetration and various case law developments, the article considers whether the combined phenomena of FOSS, CC and UGC provide sufficient basis for a re-tilting of the copyright balance toward the user rather than the original copyright owner. Finally, the article examines whether the philosophy, rhetoric and experiences of the FOSS and CC movements make them appropriate models for copyright protection for UGC.

[JH]

Beyond the Kindle Hype

Some early thoughts are posted on Law Librarian Blog. [JH]

Is Facebook Overrated?

The article is about the advertising prospects of Facebook and MySpace. "Members of both Facebook and its chief rival, MySpace, spend on average about 3 1/2 hours a month clicking around on each site, but they get so caught up in checking out their friends' pages and updating their own that they are less likely to click through to the ads, writes Anita Hamilton in this Time article. [JH]

YouTube Video Identification

From the site:

"YouTube Video Identification will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube. We have worked with Google to develop one-of-a-kind technology that can recognize videos based on a variety of factors. As its Beta status indicates, our Video Identification is brand-new, cutting-edge stuff, so we will be constantly refining and improving it. Early tests with content companies have shown very promising results. As we scale and refine our system, YouTube Video Identification will be available to all kinds of copyright holders all over the world, whether they want their content to appear on YouTube or not.

No matter how accurate the tools get, it is important to remember that no technology can tell legal from infringing material without the cooperation of the content owners themselves. This means that copyright holders who want to use and help us refine our Video ID system will be providing the necessary information to help us recognize their work. We aim to make that process as convenient as possible." 

[rj]

Two New Online Law Student Run Publications

University of Idaho law students are launching an online Journal of Critical Studies. From the press release:

This coming spring, the University of Idaho's College of Law introduces the "University of Idaho Journal of Critical Studies," or "The Crit." The multi-media publication will provide a new and innovative forum for analyses, scholarly discussion, and critical assessment of legal, social, economic, and political issues and institutions.

"'The Crit' will not be limited to a classic law review format,” said Michael Satz, associate professor of law and faculty adviser for the student-run publication. "We want to include input from students and scholars from many disciplines. A multidisciplinary approach is important because the law is not something you can think about or practice in isolation."

"The Crit" currently is accepting audio, video, art, cartoon, text and narrative submissions. For more information, visit www.thecritui.com.

The Southern California Law Review has announced the launch of Postscript, its new online companion that will feature article responses and create an interactive venue for dialogue about Law Review and other current topics. From the press release:.

Postscript will feature material submitted by academics, judges, practitioners and law students, published in one of two categories: responses to articles published in the Southern California Law Review, and commentaries on recent changes in the law or other legal developments.

“Postscript gives the Law Review an opportunity to reach broader audiences and encourage debate and discussion,” said Jeannette Mekdara, 3L and editor-in-chief of the Southern California Law Review.

The student-run Law Review receives an overwhelming number of submissions for each of the six issues it publishes annually — generally about 2,000 submissions for the 12 available article slots. Postscript will allow students to publish more material on an ongoing basis, and continue the conversation in a more immediate forum.

[JH]