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Copyright in a networked world
So I’d suggest that WIPO start examining how the copyright system might enable and support the development of robust, efficient copyright information systems that everyone – owners, users, governments, and the public – can use to facilitate frictionless transactions related to copyrighted works. There are many possible ways to accomplish this. It should be open…
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Branchless banking/micro-finance and wal-mart
Two Microsoft related sites discussing something similar from very different perspectives Only about one-quarter of households living in developing countries have any form of financial savings with formal banking institutions. Even in countries that have experienced substantial development over the last decade or two, this statistic remains stuck stubbornly at a level that would not…
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Airbus computer and electrical problems
Whoops! From Aviation Week According to a bulletin issued by the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), an electrical fault led to a series of display and control problems. These included the intermittent failure of both pilots’ electronic displays and the uncommanded application of left rudder trim. [..] The crew also reported hearing “chattering” from…
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Free and Open Source Licenses
Interesting discussion here. But many FOSS-based transactions are not commercial in the foregoing sense. Instead, software subject to a FOSS license may come into a product without the producer knowing that this has happened or, in any realistic way, assenting to the terms. Also, the software often comes from a non-commercial party. An engineer downloads software from an…
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Corporate Law and Programming State of the Art
Big companies that want to use our software but don’t want to use our standard EULA keep sending proposed sales contracts that include a really peculiar provision. The provision asks us to guarantee, to represent, to warrant and all that stuff something which everyone knows is false: that our software has zero bugs or errors.…
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Social Network and Lessig
Two lawsuits provide the frame for The Social Network. One was brought by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, twins at Harvard who thought they had hired Zuckerberg to build for them what Facebook would become. The other was brought by Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s “one friend” and partner, and Facebook’s initial CFO, who was eventually pushed out…
