Archive for October, 2003

SCO Violating GPL

Tuesday, October 28th, 2003

Last night I download the source for the 2.4.20 Linux kernel from SCO’s website. The Linux kernel is copyrighted by its authors, as all computer code is, and in the case of the Linux kernel, the authors have chosen a Copyright License called the General Public License or GPL. In SCO’s latest court document in [...]

My Comment on Dean’s Blog

Sunday, October 19th, 2003

[I just posted this comment below on Dean's blog.]
Hello Dean supporters and Staff!
I want to ask something of Governor Dean. First, let me say that I’ve donated to the Dean campaign, have a Dean bumper sticker on my car, and a Dean poster in my Apartment window. He is, in my opinion, Democrats’ (and America’s) [...]

FCC to Put an End to General Purpose Computers?

Thursday, October 16th, 2003

Slashdot readers know of the potential threats of Palladium/Trusted Computing and of the “Fritz chip“, and a past Slashdot piece even warned of the MPAA’s push to have the FCC implement a so-called “broadcast flag”. Now the Washington Post reports that the broadcast flag will soon be a reality. The soon-to-be-passed FCC Rule Would Control [...]

Patent Suit Killing Online College Courses

Friday, October 3rd, 2003

The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting that Acacia Technologies is suing colleges for patent infringement. Acacia claims to hold five patents that cover streaming media used in online courses and wants colleges to license the technology to the tune of 2% of all online course revenues. Virgil Varvel, a computer-assisted-instruction specialist for the University [...]

CAGW Press Release Misunderstands Open Source

Wednesday, October 1st, 2003

This press release from the Consumer’s Against Government Waste lambasts the state of Mass. for adopting open source software. Here’s the letter I wrote them trying to steer them away from their misunderstandings:
Hi,
Your press release at: http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=news_NewsRelease_09302003b
seems to exhibit a couple of misunderstandings that, if corrected, would likely lead to a change in the position [...]

Car-Loan Rates Marked Up More for Blacks

Wednesday, October 1st, 2003

Here’s the headline: Car-Loan Rates Marked Up More for Blacks, Report Says. Now, under the insane Proposition 54 that voters will decide on October 7, it would be impossible to even do the research that demonstrated this form of discrimination. Stop the Information Ban. Vote NO on 54.

P2P Legal Defense Fund

Wednesday, October 1st, 2003

This is an extremely interesting use of the internet and the power of collaborative action. Check out the Downhill Battle P2P Legal Defense Fund. Whether you just think legal expenses are too high for normal people and sympathize with the little guy all the way to Copyright Abolitionists this site is for you. You can [...]