Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Children Who Blog

Posted on October 20, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Amazingly, Google has no entries as of yet for “children who blog”. There are, however, several items on “kids who blog,” including this Christian Science Monitor item. Most of them seem to be about teenagers, especially girls.

I mention this, because all of a sudden I now have two kids who blog. It was Elder Son (age 10) who suggested he could have one at something.discourse.net. I didn't like the idea of a blog open to the world, so we compromised on one that will be served from a different second-level domain name, and is password-protected so that only family members can read it. Fortunately my hosting plan allows me to serve several domains for the same price, and I had an underused one hanging around. Younger Son (age 7), who perhaps already has a keener sense about the dangers in the world (he has, after all, experience of dealing with Elder Son…), enthusiastically agreed with this idea.

So now the kids have an online newspaper they can update when they like, and we have an easy way to share digital pictures with a far-flung family. And the non-blogging relatives can send messages to the kids by posting comments. Don't know if it will last as an enthusiasm, but if it does it should be fun.

Posted in Blogs, Personal | Comments Off on Children Who Blog

IP Justice Says that FTAA Got Infected With Lousy IP Rules

Posted on October 20, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

I generally avoid trade law and trade treaties, on the grounds that life is too short. The way trade law is going, however, I may have to make some exceptions. I've already had to read up on the dispute settlement rules in major trade treaties to teach International Law, which I'm doing for the first time this year.

Now, IP Justice, a civil liberties group, has just published FTAA: A Threat to Freedom and Free Trade. In it they analyze the Intellectual Property parts of the draft Free Trade Area of the Americas Treaty which is intended to go into effect in 2005. Their summary is scary enough that I think I'll have to go read the full agreement and see if it is as bad as they say. [Note: Headline corrected.]

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Posted in Law: Copyright and DMCA, Law: International Law, Law: Internet Law | 1 Comment

The Greatest UCC Cartoons in the History of the World

Posted on October 20, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Cool dudeMy colleague William H. Widen is not your typical law professor. For one thing he practiced commercial and corporate law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore from 1984 to 2001, spending more than a decade of that time as a partner. Most law professors have some practice experience, but few have as much as that. For another thing, he has a wicked taste in movies, and wild taste in aphorisms (is it true that “business law is about as complicated as Donkey Kong”?). And did I mention he's pretty slick at programming interesting web sites on the Uniform Commercial Code? Including one that invites students to play a game he designed called Ultimate Commercial Code! [Admittedly there he has the advantage of being married to serious techie.] And, to top it off, he's fascinated by the Uniform Commercial Code, a subject most law professors do not necessarily find scintillating. In fact, he's so fascinated that it's almost contagious.

Then there are his cartoons, “Tales From The Code.” I think it's safe to call these the Greatest UCC Cartoons in the History of the World, if only because they are probably the only Uniform Commercial Code cartoons in the history of the world. But if there was another UCC cartoon or two, these are funnier. Start with Episode One. Beware, though. You might learn something.

Posted in Law: Everything Else, U.Miami | Comments Off on The Greatest UCC Cartoons in the History of the World

Loving Your Opponent to Death

Posted on October 19, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Not Geniuses has a pretty smart appraisal of California AG Bill Lockyer's otherwise bizzaro revelation that he voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Basically the theory is that it's a smart and cynical move,

Bill has never voted for a Republican before, he voted no on the recall, he couldn't bring himself to vote for a candidate Californians didn't like, and now he can start working with Schwarzenegger an ally? He's praying that his optimism isn't misplaced and setting up a context for Arnold to con him? He's setting up a whole [expletive deleted] storyline for Arnold to fit into if he missteps even once! And it gets better.

Arnold will [expletive deleted] up, this much is guaranteed. He may block some of Lockyer's liberal policies, thus angering Californians. He may cut services we don't want cut, he may play partisan politics, he may screw with environmental legislation, he may anger Latinos, he may fail. No matter what he does, Lockyer is going to run against him — and he is going to run against him as an experienced politician who was sucked into Arnold's aura of optimism and saw first hand that it was but a sham.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Loving Your Opponent to Death

Uzbekistan, Our Ally In the Iraq and Afghan Conflicts, Is Boiling Prisoners

Posted on October 19, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

Here's a candidate for humanitarian invervention (particularly if you belive Iraq was one): Uzbekistan. According to this article in the Guardain, Ambassador accused after criticising US, the government of Uzbekistan—an important ally in the war against whatever it is we are fighting, and which receives a US bribe subsidy of half a billion dollars per year, sounds like, well, Iraq.

The UK embassador to Uzbekistan was undiplomatic about certain local customs, like the jailing thousands of political prisoners, and the government boiling some of them to death. So, he's in trouble. His friends blame pressure from the US. The UK denies the pressure (but they would, wouldn't they?). The Guardian suggests that instead of being outspoken about the Uzbekistan's abuses, the US government supports the regime.

The important thing here is not the details of a British ambassador's career. The important thing is what this reminds us about the side effects of the Administration's obsession with Iraq. Add the entrenchment of the murderous regime in Uzbekistan to the calculus the next time someone explains how the world is better off without Saddam.

How many other murderous regimes is it worth entrenching to get rid of one?

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Posted in Politics: International | 2 Comments

Ask Yahoo!

Posted on October 18, 2003 by Michael Froomkin

I have just discovered 'ask Yahoo'—mostly answers to questions I never cared to ask, but with a sense of humor. Some questions, though, I really was curious about the answers:

Posted in Internet | 4 Comments