Today's links

Podcasting Part II of "The Internet Heist": Big Content wants to plug your A-Hole!
Comprehensive synthesis of the technological, ecological and political critique of blockchainism: It's all about the externalities.
Eating invasive species: How to structure an invasivorism that doesn't hunger for more invaders.
This day in history: 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2021
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 13 Feb 2022"

The Internet Heist (Part II)

From broadcast flags to the analog hole

The anti-piracy “You Wouldn’t Steal A Car” title-card, modified to read “You Wouldn’t Steal the Future.” — FACT (modified)

Note: This is Part II in a series; Part I is here, Part III is here.

Last week, I began the story of the Broadcast Flag, a law that would make it illegal to build a general-purpose computer unless it conformed to a set of privately negotiated restrictions. The law had been promised by Billy Tauzin, then a lavishly corrupt Congressman, and its contours were being hammered out in an inter-industry body called the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (BPDG), convened by the MPAA and attended by movie studios, TV studios, broadcasters, consumer electronics companies, and PC companies.

Continue reading "The Internet Heist (Part II)"

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