Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Let’s Ban Footnotes Too!

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Judge Posner has proposed that we ban hyperlinking in order to save newspapers.

Expanding copyright law to bar online access to copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent, might be necessary to keep free riding on content financed by online newspapers from so impairing the incentive to create costly news-gathering operations that news services like Reuters and the Associated Press would become the only professional, nongovernmental sources of news and opinion.

Copyfight says that this is Proof That Even Very Smart People Can Say Very Stupid Things. Brilliant as Judge Posner most undoubtedly is, and will full respect for his many true contributions to legal thinking, this is far from the first such example he has provided us. (Recall Posner on rape, or on baby-selling.) Which, along with a certain degree of unpredictability, is why he's not on the Supreme Court, even though most lawyers would rank him as at least one of the most brilliant legal scholars of his generation.

Posted in Law: Copyright and DMCA | 12 Comments

A Few More Dan Froomkin Links

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

dan.jpgWashington Post Ombudsman, part II: Froomkin Departs, Leaving Angry Loyalists And Questions (“Institutionally, The Post is now responding by circling the wagons … when I was able to start querying editors yesterday, a wall of silence was erected.”)

And don't miss the readers' comments….

Other voices:

But I'm not supposed to say anything.

Posted in Dan Froomkin | 3 Comments

Dan Froomkin’s Final WashPo Column

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

My brother has posted his final column at the Washington Post, White House Watched.

I'll post information about his next gig when it's official, probably no sooner than it appears at whitehousewatch.com. Meanwhile, there's always the archive.

Dan is slated to speak next week at the Personal Democracy Conference in NY — a fun event that I probably would have gone to but for this vacation thing.

Posted in Dan Froomkin | Comments Off on Dan Froomkin’s Final WashPo Column

Firefox Anti-Ad-Cookie Plugin

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out (TACO) :: Firefox Add-ons:

Sets permanent opt-out cookies to stop behavioral advertising by 40 different advertising networks, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and nearly all other members of the Network Advertising Initiative.

Recommended. Even if you have a cookie-blocker (or SpyBot Search and Destroy), this is better, since those just delete cookies, leaving you open to the next one that comes along. This places the opt-out cookie and protects it.

Posted in Software | 2 Comments

How to Out E-Mail Eavesdroppers

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Who is snooping on my email? – Privacy guru Richard M. Smith explains how to tell if someone is reading your email, and perhaps even whom.

You'll need your own web page, with access to server logs. Plus you'll need to be willing to have a file on you, if you don't already. (And for the last step you'll need snoopers dumb enough to use a traceable IP number.)

Posted in Internet | 3 Comments

Why You Shouldn’t Run BitTorrent Over Tor

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Chris Brunner .com: Why You Shouldn't Run BitTorrent Over Tor

It begins:

If you didn't already know, Tor is a distributed anonymity network that allows anyone to use the Internet to both browse the web and publish information without giving away his or her identity.  It's a wonderful step in the direction of privacy and it serves an increasingly important role in today's world.  As far as usability goes, Tor clearly has more potential than any anonymity network that I've ever seen.  Tor could very easily be the most powerful tool that we as everyday people have to combat the gradual removal of our personal rights and freedom.

However, as of right now its most likely cause of death is not an organization or government, but rather its own users who in some cases, perhaps out of ignorance, take advantage of privacy the Tor network affords them by hiding behind it to steal software, movies, and music.  I'm not going to sit here and claim that I haven't pirated my fair share of all of the above; that's not what this is about.  Before you use BitTorrent on Tor, please stop and consider the effect this has on the Tor network.

And there's more….

Posted in Internet | 1 Comment