The first day of the Yale A2K conference saw a great many interesting presentations. Luckily, most of them are summarised in the conference wiki, thanks to the thrifty students doing this important legwork. For example, Jack Balkin gave an overview of the many different topics that the slogan "A2K" refers to. Davinia Ovett showed how Read more »
The Yale A2K conference has started today in the afternoon, and what a whale of a conference it is. Even during the opening panel and a short coffee break, I have already run into a number of people I was (and am) extremely keen to meet. Academics such as Yochai Benkler and Sisule Musungu mingle Read more »
Today I arrived in New Haven, CT, USA, where I will be attending the Yale Access to Knowledge conference. The schedule promises very interesting panels and discussions. I am excited about the opportunity to personally meet some of the most forward-thinking people in copyright and patent reform. On Sunday, I will be moderating a panel Read more »
My favourite think tank, Tom "I won’t say who pays my bills" Giovanetti, has taken the time to do a little writing on the Yale A2K conference coming up in two weeks. This blog entry shows Tom at the top of his game. Don’t miss it. Among about a bazillion other things, Tom takes issue Read more »
As Thiru reports, WIPO has published a draft text for the proposed broadcast treaty. This treaty, if adopted, is going to establish a new layer of monopoly powers. Working somewhat like copyright, these monopoly powers would be given to a broadcasting institution merely for broadcasting something. Weirdly, there is the idea of a "webcasting right": Read more »
The usually excellent IP Watch is running a story on the effects of the proposed new German copyright law. The article centers on the chilling effects the draft law would have on research. One researcher’s scenario: “I will not be able to just use our highly sophisticated universitynetwork to read that publication,” said Rainer Kuhlen, Read more »
The new EDRIgram is out. As usual, it gives you an overview of the past month’s most important events in the European digital policy scene. Contents are: 1. Telecom data to be retained for one year in France2. Internet under attack on election day in Belarus3. Slovenia : Draft Police act endangers privacy4. Creative Commons Read more »
Though I saw this a bit late, it’s still a great text. In the New York Times, Michael Crichton (of Jurassic Park – fame) writes about how absurd patents in the US have become. He uses the case of a mere natural fact being patented for a well-done, very readable show of what’s wrong with Read more »
After the science journal Nature conducted a study comparing Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica, the flagship of dead-tree-based knowledge is up in arms. This is because the study found that Wikipedia was just as good as its time-honored printed ancestor. As the BBC reports, a "scholarly slamming match" is in full swing. While Britannica finds Read more »
The first panel of the afternoon – “New political paradigms” – was a rather visionary affair. Predictably, it has the conservative minority steaming. Declan McCullagh of Politech, whose presentation this morning centered exclusively on the US (how Hollywood has bought the Democrats), was rattled by the suggestion of Tunisian professor Mohamed Ben Ahmed, who said Read more »