Innovators’ Patent Agreement
Twitter says it plans for its future patents to be subject to an “Innovator’s Patent Agreement,” which will prevent them from being used “to impede the innovation of others.” Seems like a good thing,...
View ArticleAnother way to liberate books
image credit: andresmh via flickr (cc) While the logical way to make most books conveniently available to more people is to greatly reduce the scope and duration of the copy-prevention privilege known...
View ArticleFeeding a growing population on an earth that isn’t
image credit: Antwelm via flickr (cc) Yesterday’s Guardian carried a very encouraging report from India, where rice farmers are multiplying their production figures by carefully and methodically...
View Article“We need an anti-Rentier Campaign” says Michael Lind
image credit: Erick_ckB via flickr (cc) A nice series of three short articles (h/t Gloria Picchetti) in Salon by Michael Lind, explaining the difference between an entrepreneur — who may become wealthy...
View ArticleGMO crops don’t even increase yield
image credit: Stuart Williams via flickr (cc) Here’s a program note from ABC indicating that yield of GMO crops is no greater than conventional crops. Unfortunately there is no formal citation of...
View ArticleGetting back to blogging — just in time for football
Football Cake by Sweet Pea 0613 via flickr(cc) After a couple of months’ diversions, I hope I am getting back to something like regular blogging, starting with a nice article — as far as it goes, at...
View ArticleMore propaganda I am too slothful to review
Graffito image by Horia Varlan (cc) via flickr A new report “Copyright Industries in the U S Economy” has been released by the IIPA (A conspiracy of seven associations of copyprivilege holders). I...
View ArticleIt matters how we own what nobody produced
Tenant farmers paid rent here [I]n Bill Clinton’s encapsulation of political strategy, “It’s the economy, stupid.” But the success of an economy can only be measured by its growth. Since growth...
View ArticleMore stuff that’s still true about location and “intellectual”“property”
Photo by Jimmy Emerson, DVM, (cc) via flickr Anyone reading this blog might get bored with the number of times I say that Henry George was right, and is even more right today than in his own time....
View ArticleStorytelling can be patented
credit: mpclemens via flickr(cc) We already knew that computers, equipped with proper algorithms, could write stories pretty much indistinguishable from the work of professional journalists working...
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