InfothoughtSeth Finkelstein's Infothought blog (DMCA, Google, censorware, and an inside view of net-politics)New Frontiers in Top-Level-Domain Business Models!- June 29, 2008 Commenting on ICANN approving new TLD process, I wrote this for a mailing list, responding to a post about The Money is What Matters! A _Guardian_ column I wrote about this last year is relevant: http:www.guardian.co.uktechnology2007aug23guardianweeklytechnologysection.internet "The domain name system is full of rent-seekers, speculators, squatters and various scammers." I've seen some of the shenanigans that go on. We've about to be inundated with clever schemes...http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001358.html Jimmy Wales now making BIG BIG speakers fees, "Harry Walker Agency"- June 25, 2008 Some images are unfortunate: The Harry Walker Agency, "The World's Leading Exclusive Speaker's Agency", announced exclusive representation of Jimmy Wales for speaking engagements. In an amusing juxtaposition, the front page of their website now has him right above Karl Rove. And that gives you a sense - both intentionally and unintentionally - of the sort of level he's now inhabiting. This type of agency charges megabucks for its clients. The exact number for Wales isn't given, but from...http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001357.html What's In Jimmy Wales's Repudiated _Observer_ Article- June 24, 2008 The Observer has a For the record correction: Last week, we ran an article - 'It's the next billion online who will change the way we think' - under the byline of Jimmy Wales, explaining at the end that it was an edited version of a conversation with the Wikipedia founder. Mr Wales agreed to the piece on the condition that he have final editorial approval but unfortunately this proved impossible before publication. Mr Wales wishes to make clear that he repudiates the piece, and that it...http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001356.html Media Bloggers Association AP Bogosphere links- June 20, 2008 I don't have much to say about the Media Bloggers Association AP controversy, except that the surrounding circus was an incredibly demagogic and corrupt affair that drove home again - if yet another proof were needed - how much pandering to the mob is the key to blog success (and hence how much I've wasted my time). Read Shelley Powers: What's particularly sad about this recent variation of the AP fooflah, isn't so much that the MBA is representing "all" bloggers so much, but that people...http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001355.html My _Guardian_ column on Internet Privacy Norms Argument- June 19, 2008 "Judge fell through the web's open doors" http:www.guardian.co.uktechnology2008jun19hitechcrime.internet New technologies bring new ways for people to embarrass themselves - just ask the prominent and colourful judge Alex Kozinski I didn't pick the title, but it's OK I put the issue in the context of competing concepts of "everything not explicitly prohibited is permitted", versus "everything not explicitly permitted is prohibited". By the way, I did some statistics regarding the readership.http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001354.html Yahoo Search Engine Spiders Directories From File Paths- June 15, 2008 I just did an experiment and confirmed that the Yahoo spider will try to search a directory from a file. That is, if it sees a URL like http:example.comstuffjump.avi , in addition to retrieving that file, it'll try the URL http:example.comstuff . Though Google won't do that (nor will Microsoft). It's easy to test this yourself if you have a website where you can see server logs. This practice has some significant implications for people who claim that trying truncated URLs is improper behavior..http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001353.html How "alex.kozinski.com" worked (Judge Alex Kozinski "Porn Site" Follow-up)- June 14, 2008 Original research! Not an echo!!! Following up the "Porn Site" of Judge Alex Kozinski kerfuffle, and all the discussion of private vs. public norms, I've been trying to figure out exactly how the web site was configured. We know the controversial material was in a directory called "stuff", hence it was http:alex.kozinski.comstuff I've found a key piece of evidence. In June 2004, Alex Kozinski sent a public letter in HTML, humorous nominating himself as part of a "Judicial Hottie...http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001352.html Judge Alex Kozinski "Porn Site" links- June 12, 2008 Some resources on the Judge Alex Kozinski "Porn Site" story: A closely watched obscenity trial in Los Angeles federal court was suspended Wednesday after the judge acknowledged maintaining his own publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos. Quick overview: "Judges Gone Wild" In one of the wonders of the Internet, much of the material itself has been collected elsewhere: What "Stuff" was on Judge Kozinski's Personal Website USLaw.com has been able to partially.http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001351.html Obligatory ISP blocking deal agreement post- June 11, 2008 I feel morally obligated to write about the ISP blocking deal agreement. However, I can't see what I'd write on my blog will do any good in the world, especially given the inflammatory nature of the topic. I'll leave it other people - people who have far bigger platforms and more social protection - to do at length the civil-libertarian counter-point that child pornography is a horrible horrible thing and anyone involved in it deserves the worst possible punishment, but we should not have...http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001350.html Nick Carr: "Is Google Making Us Stupid", and Man vs. Machine- June 10, 2008 Nick Carr has an essay "Is Google Making Us Stupid", where he applies a certain effects-of-tech-on-humans framework to Google. I know Nick is a very smart and learned man, so I read his thoughts carefully. I suspect there will be a certain amount of noise in reaction to what he wrote, as some with less regard for him will take away a superficial impression and go into standard techno-utopian rants against that ("Luddite!" is a tip-off you're reading one of these). However, I'll try to outline.http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001349.html |