Copynot: IP Industries Sans Robust IP Law

So, after reading Suzanne Vega's article about remixes of her Tom's Diner song, I was discussing IP law with JK and for some reason the fashion industry and its complete lack of IP protection (as a norm, they could use it) came up, and we further discussed magicians and chefs as two other IP industries that do not use IP law to protect their intellectual assets. I don't believe comedians do either.

So, no, intellectual "property" industries don't need robust legal protection for their assets.

Microsoft Advertisements

This post is not about those completely nonsensical Seinfeld and Gates ads. And no, talking about the ads in this case really isn't a good thing, since we question the sanity of Microsoft's decisions.

This post is about the more recent "I'm a PC" advertisements from Microsoft. These ads remind viewers of the Apple ads. We think about Apple the entire time. We think how seriously Microsoft must take these Apple ads and the products behind them. Microsoft wants us to take Microsoft seriously, so, we in turn have to take seriously the things Microsoft takes seriously, and that's Apple. 

Great when your competitors are paying for ads that make consumers think about you as something to be reckoned with.

Pigs are Flying

Just moments ago, I was watching the intolerably advertisement-filled NFL halftime show to see how the Pats are being demolished, so far, by Miami, and what snippet of a song does the NFL use for an NFL ad? Yes. You guessed it. Everyday Is Like Sunday. Ok they used some cover version probably made just for the ad, and they only used that one line, but, I'm speechless (besides this paragraph, which means I'm not speechless at all). 

R.E.M. & N.M., "Photograph"

...television's just a dream...

I have always loved that song, and that's the best line.

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE)

Ok, let's be honest, until it has shipping products merely talking about it is advertising vaporeware, but, let's talk about it, or, more accurately, let's steal from the NYT and discuss that.

"...deliver a product to the consumer that's better than free," said Mitch Singer, chief technology officer at Sony Pictures and the lead architect of DECE.

What a horribly marketing thing to say. Better than free? Sure, catchy slogans can be helpful, but a working product is better. Better than free should make you all react with not possible.

There are "several precedent-setting principles" that DECE would bring about. "Participating devices and services will be interoperable regardless of differing brands or corporate provenance" is one. I really thought I could play any CD on my Apple computer, my Sony car walkman (16 years old), my Sony PS2, my Microsoft Xbox 360, or in my car, regardless of publisher. And I'm pretty sure I can play MP3s in a lot of places. DVDs and region codes, well, that was an industry idea wasn't it? 

"DECE would allow an unlimited number of copies of a video to be created or burned onto a disc." CDs aside, that would be very different from DVDs. I have read industry hacks lamenting the CD and praising the DRM on DVDs, but I knew (and so did you) that we don't listen to such people. Of course they don't mention how much it would cost, but it's better than free, so, well, I don't know what that means. They pay us to copy it, perhaps. That's certainly less than free, but is it better? 

This one is rather incredible:

The consumer would even have the option of not storing the copy at all, but rather streaming it from a server-based "rights locker" that can be tapped from any location.

Recall how the RIAA sent their lawyers after MP3.com to stop something similar in 2000.

So, don't believe it until you see it, and even then be doubtful. Economists have shown how lowering costs reduces piracy (I have an article on it somewhere), but most of the industry seems to stick to their old ways. Apple gets it ($0.99 songs with weak DRM to keep consumers and the industry happy). We will see what happens.

Geography

I am going to a wedding in.... somewhere. Somewhere I have never heard of, PA. But the geography is rather striking in the current Google maps satellite view, with NE/SW ridges running to the south and bumpy hills to the north. Ha! It's my old friends,  the Appalachians!

Science! CERN!

Awesome. The Large Hadron Collider! Between this graphic at the NYT and a five-part series of PhD Comics, we've got it covered.