Andy Kaplan-Myrth's Webstream

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RT @womenwhocare Great news: It is time for the pre-launch of Women Who Care! http://bit.ly/13RXBf #womenwhocare via Ping.fm Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Free Business Models and Creative Commons Licences

I've been working on Creative Commons licences for years, and thinking about business models built around open source and free (as in beer) content for just as long. Since I finished listening to the audiobook of Chris Anderson's…

Opengov.se - open government data in Sweden

Johnathan Gray over at the Open Knowledge Foundation blogs today about a private citizen in Sweden who is building Opengov.se, a free repository of government data. Peter Kranz, who runs the site, has been contacted by both civil…

Dissolving the telecoms regulator is a terrible idea: Google Voice, AT&T;, and telecommunications regulation

Apple has an exclusive deal with AT&T in the U.S., stirring up rumors that AT&T was the one behind Apple rejecting Google Voice. How could AT&T not object? AT&T clings to the old business of charging for voice…

Revolting blog of the day: This Is Why You're Fat

Double Bypass Burger A burger topped with five slices of bacon, four slices of cheese, two fried eggs, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and onion between two grilled cheese sandwiches. (Submitted by Kyle Korchran via thevortexbarandgrill) via thisiswhyyourefat.com Hilarious and…

Pamela Samuelson on the Google Book Search settlement

In this excellent article reviewing the Google Book Search settlement, Pamela Samuelson explains why the AAP and the Authors' Guild would be willing to settle with Google at this point, and with a large class of plantiffs. So…

Tenant sued for defamation by landlord

A tenant who used the micro-blogging service Twitter to complain about mould in her Chicago apartment is being sued.Horizon Group Management filed a lawsuit that has accused Amanda Bonnen of defaming the company with her tweet. She sent…

BlackBerry Fail on Bell Canada

BlackBerry Smartphone Combo plans are great for: n/a Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Active Listening on the Social Web

If a brand's ultimate goal is not just to know more but to actually have a positive impact on its relationships with consumers, that can only be accomplished by demonstrating through its actions that it's been listening. In…

Canadian copyright consultation will begin Monday!

Michael Geist is reporting today that the Canadian government will launch copyright consultations on Monday that will include online discussion forums: The Government of Canada has committed to modernizing Canada’s copyright laws, to provide meaningful rights for creators…

Radiohead manager building on Radiohead strategy with new artist-centric music label

Radiohead manager Brian Message has launched a new record label, Polyphonic, which will allow artists to keep their copyright. Although specifics details have not been released, the new company's policies look set to place emphasis on the digital…

Medical Data Breach Analysis tool now available

Khaled El Emam is an uber-Prof and Canada Research Chair in Electronic Health Information at the University of Ottawa specializing in privacy of electronic health information and technologies for de-identification of personal health information. Today, Khaled's research group…

How will United Airlines respond to getting pwned by songwriter?

Musician Dave Carroll was traveling on United Airlines when his guitar was severely damaged by baggage handlers. His efforts over nine months to get compensation from the airline having failed, he is turning to the internet and his…

Michael Jackson, Inventor

You may know that Michael Jackson owned the publishing rights to many of the Beatles's songs. He outbid Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono for the rights to ATV's catalog of songs in 1984, which included almost all of…

Open Database Licence released

The Open Knowledge Foundation has released the Open Database Licence (ODbL) a sharealike copyright licence written specifically for databases. This will be extremely useful for groups working on open data, including in the context of making government information…

Happy Canada Day!

In Canada, Mounties just walk around neighbourhoods on Canada Day. Really. I took this photo of my son and his friend with one of them to prove it. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Buy your country a beer for Canada Day!

It's Canada Day tomorrow, and VisibleGovernment.ca is launching a fundraiser to help it build tools for open government. For the cost of a beer, a pitcher, or a round, you can help Visible Government run its coming Code…

Mac spellcheck fail

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Mac spellcheck fail

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This lawyer's ethical issue about Facebook isn't really about Facebook

The Lawyerist blog today covered the ethical dilemma of a Philadelphia attorney about using Facebook to collect information in a litigation: The premise for the opinion is straightforward: a lawyer wanted to know if he could have a…

Tim Berners-Lee's thoughts on putting government data online

Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee has been focusing on helping governments put data online, and today he has some thoughts online on best practices and first steps. Government data is being put online to increase accountability, contribute valuable information…

Canadian Liberal Party supporting Network Neutrality

...Liberal Industry critic Marc Garneau surprised Internet watchers by emphasizing the importance of an open Internet and declaring that the Liberal party now firmly supports net neutrality. The party has adopted a position opposing the management of Internet…

Canadian Liberal Party supporting Network Neutrality

...Liberal Industry critic Marc Garneau surprised Internet watchers by emphasizing the importance of an open Internet and declaring that the Liberal party now firmly supports net neutrality. The party has adopted a position opposing the management of Internet…

Is music downloading copyright infringement in Canada?

There's some sparring going on in the copyright world between Michael Geist and Richard Pfohl of the Canadian Recording Industry Association. In a June 8, 2009 article "slaying" Canadian file-sharing myths, Michael Geist stated, "The law... opens the…

Digital Britain action plan

Following up on yesterday's post on the need for a digital strategy in Canada, the UK Department for Culture Media and Sport (roughly analogous to Canada's Ministry of Heritage, which interestingly does also cover sport) released the UK's…

Digital Britain action plan

Following up on yesterday's post on the need for a digital strategy in Canada, the UK Department for Culture Media and Sport (roughly analogous to Canada's Ministry of Heritage, which interestingly does also cover sport) released the UK's…

Michael Geist calls for a digital action strategy for Canada

Michael Geist is calling for a digital action strategy for Canada: In recent months, there has been growing support for a national digital strategy. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission explicitly identified the need for a strategy in…

Software And Business Model Patents are different

Over at techdirt's article about the Amazon decision, there is some confusion about the relationship between software patents and business model patents. I posted a comment to try to clear it up. Business Method patents and Software patents…

Software And Business Model Patents are different

Over at techdirt's article about the Amazon decision, there is some confusion about the relationship between software patents and business model patents. I posted a comment to try to clear it up. Business Method patents and Software patents…

Sweden's Copyfighting Pirate Party wins 2 seats in European Parliament

When the Swedish Pirate Party was founded in early 2006, the majority of the mainstream press were skeptical, with some simply laughing it away. But they were wrong to dismiss this political movement out of hand. Today, the…

Sweden's Copyfighting Pirate Party wins 1 seat (not 2) in European Parliament

When the Swedish Pirate Party was founded in early 2006, the majority of the mainstream press were skeptical, with some simply laughing it away. But they were wrong to dismiss this political movement out of hand. Today, the…

No love for Amazon's One Click patent in Canada

Michael Geist reports on an important recent decision of the Canadian Patent Appeal Board (CPAB) regarding business method patents. These are patents that companies started collecting in the United States in the 1990s but which have not been…