machine-envy

A few weeks ago, I was having tea and cakes with a friend, talking about the usual stuff - Second Life, DRM, the BBC’s iPlayer. Together we came up with a rather implausible train of thought, which said friend dared me to turn into a piece for my New Statesman column. I think it’s turned […]

Yesterday was my first day working with the Open Rights Group. It’s going to take me a while to gain pace with the rest of the team, and the bevvy of projects they’re working on both in terms of campaigns (e-voting, more IP stuff, and the European Television without Frontiers legislation are all under the […]

I’m pleased to announce that as of 15 January next year, I’ll be joining the Open Rights Group as their new Executive Director!
Suw Charman, ORG’s outgoing Exec Director, has just posted the announcement on the ORG website. I’m looking forward to working with her, ORG’s Ops Manager Michael Holloway, and the incredibly diverse and talented […]

Some really fab coverage on Gowers in the Guardian and the Observer, starting with this Leader from Friday’s edition:
“…The report was given a guarded welcome by the recently formed Open Rights group which campaigned strongly against extending the 50-year limit, but the war is not won yet. The Gowers report is only a staging post, […]

My interview with Andrew Gowers has gone up on openDemocracy.

“‘Look at the debates that there have been on intellectual property since the arrival of the internet. They have been loud and shallow. They have been between people who say everything’s free and you shouldn’t pay for […]

The House of Commons have started debating Gordon Brown’s speech and the Gowers Review has been published online. Here it is.
I’m reading over it now. Eye-catching recommendations include:

tougher penalties for online copyright infringement - with a maximum 10 years imprisonment
consulting on the use of civil damages as a deterrent for IP infringement
business representatives sit on […]

Gordon Brown has so far made a few mentions of intellectual property in his pre budget speech, stating that a “robust intellectual property regime” was needed to encourage innovation in the UK, vital to the UK’s competitiveness in the global marketplace. He has stated that the Secretary for Industry (Alistair Darling) will announce tighter penalties […]

I’m logged on to the BBC Parliament channel this morning, awaiting Gordon Brown’s pre budget report, which should start in 15 minutes. The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property will be released after this speech.
As a precursor to the report, my column in openDemocracy asks whether the government will go with Gowers’ leaked recommendation, that copyright […]

This fortnight’s column for openDemocracy tries to add something useful to the commentary surrounding Novell’s recent Faustian pact with Microsoft. In particular, it asks whether either the deal’s nod to non-commercial developers or Moglen’s threat to legally fork FLOSS with GPL v3 are predicted by Lawrence Lessig’s recent, controversial, “two economies” theory. My thanks to […]

A little story that might be of interest to the “Piracy funds terrorism” crowd…
BBC news reports allegations today against Silvio Berlusconi and his lawyer David Mills that Mills, the estranged husband of UK Culture secretary Tessa Jowell, set up a network of offshore companies for the former Italian prime minister:
“Prosecutors say these offshore companies were […]