ARTS & FARCES internet

Business

Some things never change: Microsoft is back to its evil self, helping the Russians stifle dissent by seizing computers under the guise of confiscating pirated Microsoft software. Clifford J. Levy, writing for the New York Times, reports, “Across Russia, the security services have carried out dozens of similar raids against outspoken advocacy groups or opposition newspapers in recent years. Security officials say the inquiries reflect their concern about software piracy, which is rampant in Russia. Yet they rarely if ever carry out raids against advocacy groups or news organizations that back the government.”

ESRD

With more than 350,000 people in the US on dialysis, at an estimated cost of about US$75,000 each per year, dialysis is a painfully expensive proposition, absorbing about six percent of the Medicare budget. The costs associated with in-center dialysis could take a steep plunge if implantable artificial kidneys work as expected. A prototype of the first implantable artificial kidney has been unveiled by the University of California San Francisco. If successful, the device could allow current dialysis patients to lead lives closer to the norm. Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, writing for cnet, reports the development team “hopes to apply silicon fabrication technology with specially engineered compartments for live kidney cells so that the model will be roughly the size of a coffee cup. It will include thousands of microscopic filters and a bioreactor to act as the metabolic and water-balancing control center that is lost when a kidney fails.” The team has established the feasibility of the device in animal testing and plans clinical trials in five to seven years.

Intellectual property

Michael Geist has followed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations closer than anyone else on the planet. Geist’s latest update is an analysis of the latest version of the draft agreement, (.pdf; 221KB) first leaked by KEI. The member countries are close to agreement on the internet enforcement chapter, according to Geist. This chapter is especially contentious because of the US’s attempt to globalize the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) including extensions like “three strikes and you’re out.” Geist writes, “In the face of opposition, the US has dropped its demands on secondary liability [internet service provider liability] but is still holding out hope of establishing digital lock rules that go beyond the WIPO Internet treaties and were even rejected by its own courts.”

Media

National Public Radio (NPR) has launched its ARGO Network, a collection of 12 topic-centric newsblogs hosted by affiliates across the US. The project received funding to the tune of US$3 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Knight Foundation to help “fill the growing gap in local news offerings.” What’s most interesting about the Argo blogs is the targeted, niched approach to news—something that’s seemingly impossible for an organization like NPR. One of the Argo blogs, On Campus, based at Minnesota Public Radio, focuses on higher education in the state. Other blogs in the network cover the environment, immigration, poverty and global health, law, New York politics, local music in Philadelphia, learning, the military, and healthcare reform. Lois Beckett, writing for SFWeekly, has the best analysis I’ve found.

Privacy

Privacy rights extend way beyond customary thinking. Consider Paul Karl Lukacs’s April account of his return to the US from China that’s just now bubbling up on the net. Lukacs was detained at San Francisco International Airport by federal authorities for refusing to answer any questions about his travels outside the country’s borders. When asked by a passport control officer why he was in China, Lukacs replied, simply, “none of your business,” and refused to answer any questions with a declarative “I’m not going to be interrogated as a pre-condition of re-entering my own country.” It took 30 minutes and five federal officers before one was well-versed enough in US law to acknowledge Lukacs’s right to privacy and not answer their questions. As Lukacs notes, “A returning US citizen has an obligation to provide proof of citizenship ... [and if] returning with goods also has an obligation to complete a written customs declaration.” In his update, dated 11 September 2010, Lukacs eloquently writes, “Moreover, the existence of the right of privacy is usually based on whether people have a current expectation of privacy in a certain situation. To the extent that people decline to assert their right of privacy, it slips away. Lack of vigilance by citizens begets more government power.” Would that more US citizens would follow Lukacs’s lead.

Publishing

The Internet Content Syndication Council (ICSC) has proposed a set of content syndication guidelines for review by its membership and, eventually, the online media industry. Intended to counter the growing problem of crappy content on the internet produced by the content farms, the ICSC sees the devaluing of professional content as a big problem. The guidelines call for formal editorial processes, date stamps, clearly labeled corrections, and prominent display of writers’ credentials.

Technology

Apple, most likely in response to the inroads being made by Google’s Android mobile device operating system, has relaxed its rules on how developers can build applications for its iOS mobile devices. Jenna Wortham, writing for the New York Times, reports “Shipments of smartphones using Android grew by 886 percent during the second quarter from a year earlier.” Wortham’s reporting, like most of that in the corporate media, focuses on Apple’s relaxing of rules for reviewing and approving applications for sale in its iTunes App Store, glossing over the really big news. Apple has completely reversed its position with regard to outright banning of third-party development tools—specifically Adobe’s Flash. In another surprising move, Apple’s announcement included new terms specifically allowing third-party advertising on the company’s iOS devices.

CloudUSB is a minimal Ubuntu 10.04 system installable on a USB stick that acts like a standard installation. It integrates with Dropbox to provide both secure and nonsecure storage directories.