Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

FTAA 3rd Draft Leaves ICANN/UDRP Provisions Unchanged, Unagreed, and Probably Optional

Posted on November 21, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

The third draft of the FTAA is now online. The Revised Intellectual Property Chapter, FTAA – ALCA – ZLEA – FTAA Draft Agreement – 2003 – Chapter XX, is still crawling with brackets (meaning there is no agreement), and Art. 13, which I criticized recently, is unchanged — but now it seems the whole chapter may be optional!

Not Geniuses has links to summaries of the overall course of the negotiations. It seems to have gone in the direction of 'FTAA a la carte' — and the IP provisions appear to be among the optional ones.

Of course this means the US will step up its pressure to put IP rules into bilateral trade agreements, but overall this is still progress.

Posted in Law: Trademark Law | Comments Off on FTAA 3rd Draft Leaves ICANN/UDRP Provisions Unchanged, Unagreed, and Probably Optional

Cat in The Hat, The Movie, Falls Flat

Posted on November 21, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

The film does not shine
It's a ripoff, they say
Which we knew in advance
From the adverts they play

Continue reading →

Posted in Kultcha | 1 Comment

Is “Is the Blogosphere Sexist?” The Right Question?

Posted on November 21, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

David Pollard (who has a wonderful, wonderful Blog called How To Save the World asks, Is the Blogosphere Sexist?. I think it's a fine essay, but I wonder if it's the right question.

First, I'd like to know, 'Compared to What'? I teach on a faculty that has far fewer women then men, so I'm prepared to believe there is a fair amount of sexism remaining in society. (On the other hand, we have had three female Deans in our fairly short history, including one whose ghost all but still walks the halls, so it's not all bad news here.) So the question may not be “are blogs sexist” but rather “to what extent to do blogs replicate or transcend existing patterns of behavior”.

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Posted in Blogs | 1 Comment

Alcee Hastings Won’t Run For Senate

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Hastings Decides Against Fla. Senate Bid. Well, although he had a shot at the nomination, he had no real chance to be elected. Which is sort of a shame, as he is a very impressive human when seen up close.

I guess this partly explains the mystery of Hastings's endorsement of Lieberman — Hastings didn't care about the tactical implications for a Senate race because he wasn't making one.

Posted in Florida | 2 Comments

Notes From FTAA Fontlines

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

FTAA IMC. It looks from this page as if the police in Miami are on a hair trigger — which fits with everything we've been reading in the local press for the last couple of weeks. It would be tempting to dismiss this web page as agitprop — and it may be — but certainly the cops came armed for bear.

The mainstream media reports, Thousands march peacefully after early clashes. It starts off with how great things are, but the further you go into the article, the less great they sound — although so far at least there have been no major incidents, just many minor ones.

Even the boosterish Herald reports,

Among those arrested today: Marc Steier, an attorney with Miami Activist Defense, which defends the rights of protesters. He said he was seized by police early this morning and charged with obstruction of justice as he attempted to assist protesters.

''I didn't last 25 minutes on the street,'' he said.

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Posted in Miami | Comments Off on Notes From FTAA Fontlines

Money Map: A Great Way to Display Information

Posted on November 20, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

This is a simply wonderful way to display one type of information: a map of the US showing where candidates are getting their money. (Via Joho The Blog.)

Posted in Internet | 1 Comment