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UPDATE: Lessig decided not to run….

Lawrence Lessig just lobbed a bombshell on his blog in this entry. To summarize, Dr Lessig has decided to shift his activism and focus from technology, the Internet, & IP to, quite simply, corruption. Dr. Lessig is and has been a towering figure who has contributed an incredible legacy of thought and activism, his lack of full-time involvement will be sorely missed. If you have missed any of his books make it a point to read them. They are just as relevant today as they were when first written. And if you have never had an opportunity to see Dr Lessig give a talk, run over to youtube, you will be absolutely delighted at his ability to captivate an audience.

I am excited to see where Lessig goes next. He is a unique and deep thinker, one that will bring a fresh perspective to the fight against corruption. In his latest blog entry Lessig cites Obama’s book and Gore’s presentations as inspirations for his change of focus. He alludes to a “Republican of Prominence” as providing the final push that resulted in his decision to move away from his “traditional” issues.

I sincerely hope Dr. Lessig well on his new focus, he will need it.

The RIAA's Cary Sherman has a Nov 13, 2006 must-read editorial on CNet. In it Sherman calls CEA's President Gary Shapiro statements "extreme", Sherman goes on and describes what he sees as the limits & definition of fair use. Why all the brouhaha? The just recently launched digitalfreedom.org site sponsored by the CEA. If you haven't checked it out I urge you to do so now and while you're there make sure to sign the petition.

My own editorial: The CEA is doing very important work in defending the right of consumers to consume and enjoy media the way THEY want to and not in some manner tightly controlled by the RIAA. Pay close attention to what the new congress does, traditionally the Democratic party is very close to the traditional supporters of the RIAA & the MPAA (lawyers & media companies) and may try to strengthen laws that further restrict consumer's ability to use media that they lawfully own. The best refutation of Sherman's arguments are in Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture. You can find Free Culture online either as a pdf or as MP3's, its a must-read for all 21st century consumers.

It is imperative that everyone support competition and a level playing field in the tv space. Please sign the petition (https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr007=80dnu42g11.app6a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=261) to force the cable companies to allow innovation in television. Of course all this might be for naught as internet TV may allow us to get around the cable companies completely.

Fascinating stuff in the virtual gaming world, SecondLife. Its becoming apparent that SecondLife can no longer be considered just a game. Something more is happening there. Its a rough raw experience but its getting better all the time.

 It seems that Marc Bragg is suing SecondLife because he discovered a flaw in their system. Over at the SecondLife forums Nimrod Yaffle posts what may be the method used:

What he did was look at the auction ID and put it at the end of the regular auction URL, so he got access to the auction before it was actually started by LL. It was not on the main auction page because a linden had not set it up yet, so it was 0.00 min price.

Clearly Marc discovered and exploited a bug. The case may get thrown out quickly because it is clearly spelled out in the TOS that Linden Labs can terminate any account for any reason. Hopefully, though, the courts will use this case to start taking up the question of virtual worlds and the law.

Marc's actions resulted in the termination of his SL account. But should that be allowed? Virtual worlds present some very interesting legal questions. As virtual worlds become more and more part of people's lives will the ultimate punishment of banishment for life be allowed without the courts stepping in? Should a user be completely cut-off from close friends and even loved ones? The company hosting the virtual world?

There is significant opportunity for an enterprising judge to really move the legal world into the 21st century. Lets see who rises to the challenge.

The grey old lady has a great editorial from Michael Crichton on a massively important patent case. The case turns on whether or not a “fact” (in this case the relationship between homocysteine levels and vitamin B12) can be patented. Check it out and be shocked at the continuing attempts to expand the domain of ip rights.