Home / techdirt.com rss archive / September-19-2007


Harvard Bookstore Claims Book Prices Are Copyrighted
A few years ago, we had a story about a store that was kicking people out if they caught them comparison shopping via a mobile device. Obviously, a store can kick out anyone they want to, but perhaps a better approach is to actually focus on better serving the customer so that when they're done comparison shopping, they still want to buy from you (either because you have the best price, or you offer some additional convenience or service they can't get elsewhere). This issue seems to be coming up again, but with a new twist. alex writes in to let us know that the bookstore at Harvard is kicking people out for taking too many notes about pricing (via Boing Boing). When confronted about this, the store's president actually claimed that book prices were the store's "intellectual property." Of course, just because you say something is your intellectual property, it doesn't mean it is. Unfortunately for the bookstore, the law is pretty clear that you can't copyright facts...

Think Tank Bashses Paper Trails For E-Voting
A think tank has released a report bashing the idea of requiring paper trails for e-voting systems. The logic behind this uses some sleight of hand and some misdirection to make such a statement actually try to sound sensible. The key argument the group makes is that a paper trail would not increase security while increasing cost. That's actually true -- but that's not the point. People aren't asking for a paper trail to increase security. They're asking for a paper trail to make the machines auditable so the machine's ability to count accurately can be checked. In response to this, the think tank notes that the paper trail might not be perfect, so it's a waste. They point out that printers jam and the hand counts of paper trails may not be accurate either. That's nice, but again it's missing the point. Without those things, there's simply no way of knowing whether or not the computer count was accurate or whether the votes were tampered with. No one has suggested...

How Bogus Counterfeiting Stats Become Fact
We've seen in the past how easily bogus stats from a biased industry can suddenly become "fact" as the press uses the stats without questioning the assumptions or even noting the inherent bias in the numbers. Michael Geist is examining exactly how that has happened in Canada in the debate over what to do concerning counterfeit goods. Apparently, many pushing for stronger anti-counterfeiting legislation in Canada point to the RCMP's supposed claim that counterfeiting is costing Canada $30 billion. The problem is that the number the RCMP is using wasn't based on a careful study or anything -- it was based on some random claims they found online, that were actually numbers thrown around by lobbyists paid to pump up the supposed threat to (yes, you guessed it) push for stronger protective laws. Yet, because the RCMP used those numbers without bothering to explain that they just plucked them off the internet with no effort to research the actual situation, many are now assuming...

Green Tech Is A Fiscal, Not A Moral, Concern
ComputerWeekly recently ran an article discussing some of the complexities companies face when considering a slew of new "green IT" products. While the middle of the article reads more like a press release, it does conclude with a few sharp points about companies that have made the connection between green tech and ongoing waste reduction efforts. When companies consider "going green" strictly from an environmentalist's point of view -- that being green is socially responsible and is inherently a good thing to do -- most will find insufficient justification for making any significant investment. However, as more companies demonstrate that green tech investments, properly made, translate to long term cost savings, others will follow suit. It makes sense for green tech vendors to feature the efficiency improvements of their products and services because, environmental benefits aside, reducing waste and inefficiency is a practice with which most companies are already well...

Handwritten Lawsuit Accuses Google Having A Name Similar To Accuser's Social Security Number
We've seen some really bizarre and silly lawsuits filed against Google over the years, but this latest one wins hands down. Eric Goldman gets all the credit in the world for sending this one over. Someone has filed a handwritten lawsuit against Google, asking for $5 billion in damages, because his social security number, when turned upside down and scrambled spells Google. And then it gets weirder. The war on terrorism makes an appearance, as does a Burton snowboard. If you're reading this via RSS, click on through to see the filing in all its handwritten glory.

CBS More Focused On Keeping Fans Happy
It's fascinating to watch the different approaches that competitors NBC and CBS are taking to dealing with the online video market. NBC has seemed almost to have a new strategy every day, happily putting videos up on YouTube, pulling them down from YouTube, being happy with YouTube, being upset with YouTube, putting videos on iTunes, pulling them down from iTunes. It's as if NBC doesn't have a real strategy at all -- or, at the very least, different factions within the company "win" every few weeks or so. In contrast, you have CBS, who recognized the importance of online video at nearly the same time as NBC. However, rather than going with a constantly shifting target, CBS's strategy has evolved in a pretty straight line. The company quickly realized that distribution and awareness was a lot more important than protection and focused on getting videos available wherever people wanted to view them (not just where CBS could control everything). That meant syndicating the...

Turkey Bans YouTube Again; Promoting Dumb Videos Again
Back in March, Turkey banned YouTube over some silly immature videos that portrayed the country's founder in a negative light -- which is against the law. It was basically a lame video with schoolhouse insults. However, by banning all of YouTube, Turkey helped get that video a lot more attention, all over the world. So, in an effort to suppress an insulting video, Turkey managed to make that video quite popular. You would think that the folks in Turkey would have learned their lesson about how trying to suppress something online only makes it more popular. Apparently, they have not. While the original ban was lifted a few days later, apparently the courts have once again ruled that YouTube must be banned due to yet another video insulting various Turkish politicians. Nice of the courts to give this new video worldwide publicity like that.

The Death Of Moore's Law Is Greatly Exaggerated
Every so often, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore shows up for an interview, and it's only a matter of time before someone asks him about Moore's Law, and he says something along the lines of how shrinking chips is going to reach its physical limits at some point. This has actually been going on for some time, but every time it happens, someone gets excited and writes up an article with a headline about the "death of Moore's Law." Do some Google searches on the topic and you'll find hundreds of articles on it starting years ago. The latest such article comes from Extremetech, claiming that Moore Sees 'Moore's Law' Dead in a Decade, as if that's something new. Go back a few years, and you can find nearly identical articles. However, the larger point is that it doesn't matter.There are a few reasons for this. First of all, Moore's Law isn't what most people seem to think it is. It's not (and never has been) a "law." Even worse, what it means and how people interpret it has...

Is It Better To Study Economics Or Computer Science?
Economist Arnold Kling is pointing out that while fewer college students are enrolling in computer science majors, the number focusing on economics is exploding. It's probably a rather cyclical trend -- but Kling suggests this isn't necessarily a bad thing. His point appears to be that you can pick up enough computer science on the side, but that learning economics could come in a lot more handy -- even in the technology industry. Of course, he leaves out the fact that you can also pick up an awful lot of economics on the side. I'd argue that both skills are important, and it's difficult to see one being much more important than the other. If you have a proclivity towards one, then pursue that -- but if you're really skilled, why not learn both?