Now UCITA, now you don't

Quotes from around the web:

"Further, for every job outsourced from the U.S., nine new jobs are actually created in the U.S."

By reconstructing ancient genes from long-extinct animals, scientists have for the first time demonstrated the step-by-step progression of how evolution created a new piece of molecular machinery by reusing and modifying existing parts.

EETimes is reporting that ARM Holdings have developed an asynchronous processor based on the ARM9 core. The ARM996HS is thought to be the world's first commercial clockless processor.

Why was there so much action around the Massachussets Open Document format?
Let's face it, folks: open file formats are important, but they don't make it to the front page of the
Boston Globe without another agenda pushing the story. And it's easy to
underestimate how big that agenda is and how far it goes.

It's interesting to note that Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist implicated in
scandal with Republican Tom Delay, was employed by Bill Gates' dad's
law firm "Preston Gates", a political proxy for Microsoft. Microsoft
succeeded in lobbying both Republicans and Democrats to oppose ODF.

You Have the Right to Make Fair Use of Intellectual Property. In OPG v. Diebold, Diebold, Inc., a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, had sent out copyright cease-and-desist letters to ISPs after internal documents indicating flaws in their systems were published on the Internet. EFF established the publication was a fair use. With your support, EFF can help fight to protect bloggers from frivolous or abusive threats and lawsuits.

Scientists doing climate research for the federal government say the Bush administration has made it hard for them to speak forthrightly to the public about global warming. The result, the researchers say, is a danger that Americans are not getting the full story on how the climate is changing.

This is technically a quote, since I grabbed it, but this is part of my life at work:

Remote disabling of software

UCITA's "electronic self help" and "automatic restraints" provisions give software publishers the right to surreptitiously include time bombs and backdoors in their software, exposing customers to enormous security risks.

Bug disclosures

UCITA offers protection from lawsuits to software publishers that knowingly distribute software with bugs, even if they hide the knowledge from users who suffer major damage as a result.

Sneakwrap modifications

UCITA allows publishers and on-line services to materially modify terms of an existing relationship by posting changes on their Web site, changes that are unlikely to be noticed by many users.

Freedom of information

UCITA helps make it possible for commercial entities to erect barriers against free exchange of information through libraries and academic institutions and even to put restrictions on criticism of their products.

Transfer of ownership

Common shrinkwrap license terms prohibiting all transfers of ownership in a copy would become enforceable under UCITA, undercutting basic principles of copyright law and possibly forcing companies to repurchase software they already have after corporate acquisitions, mergers, or restructuring.

Reverse engineering

UCITA could allow software publishers to unilaterally outlaw all forms of reverse engineering, even when it's done only for reasons of interoperability.

No pre-sale access to terms

Software publishers are still allowed to take the traditional "terms inside the box" approach denying customers opportunity to review terms before they buy, even in the case of online sales where providing the terms would be easy.

And now the wrap-up:

• Global economy, flat world, outsourcing is a necessary evil.
• If you personally don't believe in evolution, then good for you, stop bothering the rest of us.
• Asynch processor = awesome. Less power, less complexity, lower EMF.
  
• The intrigue of open source extends to the sordid world of politics through seedy back-room lobbyists. Who would have thunk it.
• EFF advocates that IPR does not allow carte blanche protections for the owners. The extrapolated effects can be quite far-reaching toward individual rights.
  
• UCITA, DMCA, NET... all good fun. Where was the balanced representation with the consumer at the table? The excerpts with UCITA are absolutely true: they can back-door, they can change terms at any time, and my favorite: it is illegal for you to publicly criticize a software publisher by name. hahahaha!
  

--brio, CITAM