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Facebook's future: "Wall" or nothing?
In “The Great Wall of Facebook,” Wired’s Fred Vogelstein contends that Facebook and Google are approaching a “full-blown battle over the future of the Internet.” Vogelstein’s assessment boils down to two predictions: (1) Facebook will lead and monopolize a fundamental shift to “a more personalized, humanized” web search, based entirely on information supplied by one’s social network; and (2) the vast amount of personal information supplied to Facebook by third parties and users themselves will (barring user revolt) yield massive profits through online brand advertising. A prediction that Facebook will gain some advantage over Google through its proprietary data would be hard to argue against. But Vogelstein’s particular vision of that general future—in which Google is conquered by a News Feed search based purely on users’ networks—runs into problems.
Coming Through the Rye No More
The verdict has just come through in the US District Court of Manhattan that has effected an injunction versus a Swedish author's "unauthorized" sequel to JD Salinger's beloved "Catcher in the Rye." The judge argues that the story, revolving around the adventures of an elderly man named "Mr. C." escaping from his retirement home, does not adequately fulfill the qualities of being a parody of the iconic protagonist Holden Caulfield.
Technically Women
Inspired by a blog post last year by ZDNet's Dennis Howlett, a group of prominent women in technology have formed a new blog called Technically Women.
New leadership at Creative Commons South Africa
Creative Commons South Africa (CC Za) is now hosted at Intellectual Property Law Research, at the Department of Private Law at the University of Cape Town Law School.
Supreme Court Denies Cablevision Review
Today the Supreme Court reportedly resolved not to hear the appeal on the Second Circuit’s Cablevision decision. This denial comes shortly after the Court has received the U.S. Government's brief recommending to reject the petition.
Typography for lawyers
Through the fortunes of Twitter, @VBalasubramani (and his RT of @AdrianL), I came upon this awesome guide for lawyers who are sticklers for how their documents look - It's called Typography For Lawyers. A CC-licensed guide that will back me up on use of curly quotes and one space after periods. Yay!
The Most Important Federal Agency That Only Exists in Theory
Question--What's the most important federal agency that only exists in theory? Answer--The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out Tutorial
The wonderful website Pogo Was Right posted this video tutorial by the Network Advertising Initiative on how to opt out of behavioral targeting. I'm happy to see easy to follow instructions but continue to note the absence of an explicit promise that users who opt out will no longer be tracked.
Weegy: The Future Of Search?
Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Product and User Experience, has said that “search is in its infancy.” If you want a preview of how Internet search might change over the next five to ten years, I encourage you to check out Weegy—“an online artificial being, powered by an advanced search engine and live experts.”
Weegy uses a combination of standard search techniques, low-level artificial intelligence, and crowd-sourcing to answer user questions in fields as diverse as “Parenting & Family” and “Electronics.” Weegy is (very) far from perfect, but does begin to leverage what I consider to be the search technologies of the future.
Collaboration and the Law
Inc. magazine has published Part Two of their early look at my upcoming book, "The Laws of Disruption." (See ”When Collaboration and the Law Collide” )
Spotlight on CIS
WhatApp? is a review website for the privacy and security of online apps. Now in Alpha; stay tuned for the Beta run.
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CIS Wiki
CIS welcomes your input! We have set up a wiki to facilitate collaboration and planning. You can reach the CIS wiki by clicking here.
Spotlight on Fellows
CIS Fellow Elizabeth Townsend Gard
Non-resident fellow Dr. Elizabeth Townsend-Gard is an Associate Professor of Law at Tulane University Law School. With the help of her students, Elizabeth has developed the "Durationator," an online tool and accompanying study that tracks copyright duration in the U.S. and abroad. A beta version is expected to be released in January 2009. Their progress can be followed on her blog.
CIS Publications
Cyberlaw Clinic
Cyberlaw Clinic archive.