January 2012 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Re: [nexa] Licenze "capestro" per chi pubblica con iBooks Author di Apple

by bernardo parrella

purtroppo non c'e' affatto da meravigliarsi, apple simili lucchetti li ha messi da tempo e non fa che stringerli ulteriormente, al confronto quelli MS dei vecchi tempi fanno ridere... e la cosa non riguarda solo queste licenze o ibooks author, e' l'intero sistema/policy apple che e' del tutto blindato, follia pura! anche questa e' la legacy di mr. jobs... ma il punto piu' importante e': se gli utenti non fiatano, e anzi amano e corrono a comprare tutti i loro (esosi) gadget e software, perche' mai apple dovrebbe cambiare? senza parlare degli utenti italici, per carita'... (io uso mac da sempre, e some linux, ma assolutamente nient'altro dei loro prodotti) >I have never seen a EULA as mind-bogglingly greedy and evil as Apple's EULA for its new ebook authoring program. >Exactly: Imagine if Microsoft said you had to pay them 30% of your speaking fees if you used a PowerPoint deck in a speech. > Professional cynic Paul Carr <http://pandodaily.com/2012/01/19/apple-restricting-sales-of-ebooks-uh-yeah-…> says that's just how Apple rolls; he says we'll complain and then we'll genuflect and then we'll like it. >Is this what the world is to come to? To a clean, crisp, cold beauty of high-end consumer goods that promise to empower but only under the watchful eye of the world's most profitable corporation? Why does it have to be this way, Apple? --b. ============ > Due interessanti articoli: > > Qui > http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_apple_why_does_it_have_to_be_like_… > > E qui: > http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apples-mind-bogglingly-greedy-and-evil-licen… > <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apples-mind-bogglingly-greedy-and-evil-licen…>

Jan. 22, 2012

COMMUNIA policy paper on proposed amendments to PSI Directive

by Giuseppe Futia

Today the COMMUNIA International Association presents its second policy paper<http://www.communia-association.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/120122commun…>. The paper is a reaction to the European Commission’s proposal to amend the Directive on re-use of public sector information<http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/psi/docs/pdfs/opendata2012/r…>(2003/98/EC). COMMUNIA is supportive of the Commission’s suggested changes to the PSI Directive — most notably the decision to include cultural heritage institutions into the scope of the amended Directive. Access to and re-use of public sector information (PSI) has been one of the issues that has featured prominently in the work of COMMUNIA. The EC proposal to amend the PSI Directive is aligned with one of COMMUNIA’s January 2011 policy recommendations<http://www.communia-association.org/recommendations-2/> (#13), which states, “The PSI Directive needs to be broadened, by increasing its scope to include publicly funded memory organisations – such as museums or galleries – and strengthened by mandating that Public Sector Information will be made freely available for all to use and re-use without restriction.” [...] Continua qui: http://www.communia-association.org/2012/01/22/communia-policy-paper-on-pro…

Jan. 22, 2012

IMAIE: una storia italiana

by Corrado Druetta

Qualcuno l'avrà già visto, annunciato nei tg nazionali: http://youtu.be/yARc1GnSw_M L'idea è alquanto originale (per una volta, non è il solito comunicato cartaceo...)e conferma ciò di cui spesso si è parlato, in NEXA ed in lista: c'è qualcosa di stonato nella gestione della "gestione collettiva", qualcosa che comincia (finalmente) a non andare a genio neppure alle stesse persone che dovrebbero beneficiarne. Corrado Druetta

Jan. 22, 2012

Licenze "capestro" per chi pubblica con iBooks Author di Apple

by Federico Guerrini

Due interessanti articoli: Qui http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_apple_why_does_it_have_to_be_like_… E qui: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apples-mind-bogglingly-greedy-and-evil-licen… Ciao, Fed. -- www.federicoguerrini.com Il mio ultimo libro: Vivere Social http://www.bol.it/libri/Vivere-social.-Manuale/Federico-Guerrini/ea97888971…

Jan. 22, 2012

Bel profilo di Danah Boyd sul NY Times

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Un bel profilo di Danah Boyd, con anche un estratto dei principali risultati delle sue ricerche. juan carlos January 20, 2012 Cracking Teenagers' Online Codes By PAMELA PAUL WITH her coordinated zebra-striped scarf, tights and arm warmers (arm warmers?), spiky out-to-there hat and pierced tongue, 34-year-old Danah Boyd provides an electric Gen Y contrast to the staid gray lobby of Microsoft Research in Cambridge, Mass., which she enters in a flurry of animated conversation, Elmo-decorated iPhone <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/iphone/index…> in hand. In a juxtaposition that causes her no end of mischievous delight, her laptop bears a sticker of Snow White, whose outstretched arm gently cradled the Apple logo. But Dr. Boyd --- a senior researcher at Microsoft, an assistant professor at New York University and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard --- is a widely respected figure in social media research. With a number of influential scholarly papers under her name, she travels relentlessly, tweets under the handle Zephoria and has fans trailing her at TED conferences, at South by Southwest and elsewhere on the high-tech speaking circuit. She is also a kind of rock star emissary from the online and offline world of teenagers. The young subjects of her research become her friends on Facebook and subscribe to her Twitter feed. [...] Continua qui: www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/fashion/danah-boyd-cracking-teenagers-online-cod…

Jan. 22, 2012

A wild week for the Net

by David Post

http://volokh.com/2012/01/20/a-milestone-week-for-the-net/ ******************************* David G. Post Professor, Beasley School of Law, Temple University David.Post(a)temple.edu 215-204-4539 In Search of Jefferson's Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace http://www.tinyurl.com/jeffersonsmoose Work: http://www.davidpost.com Music: http://www.myspace.com/davidgpost *******************************

Jan. 21, 2012

RWW: "International Reaction to Megaupload Indictment: This Means War"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

International Reaction to Megaupload Indictment: This Means War <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/international_reaction_to_megaupload_i…> By Scott M. Fulton, III <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/author/scott-fulton.php> / January 20, 2012 4:30 PM A sizable chunk of Internet traffic went dark yesterday. No, I'm not talking about a SOPA protest. The #91 Web site on the entire Internet, Megaupload, was taken down <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/megaupload_shut_down_anonymous_retalia…> after U.S. authorities executed a warrant to seize its Virginia-based servers and arrest four of its proprietors in New Zealand. To give you some perspective: On Google AdPlanner's scale, Walmart.com is #97. Social document sharing service Scribd.com is #90. Huffington Post is #86. To pretend it's a revelation that Megaupload trafficked in illicit material is like Claude Rains being "shocked, /shocked/ to find that /gambling/ is going on in here!" That said, its "front parlor," if you will, had many legitimate customers who had posted non-infringing files. So the big question that Colombia's NTN24 news anchor Mónica Fonseca* asked me was essentially, "What has happened to everyone's files?" [...] Continua qui: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/international_reaction_to_megaupload_i…

Jan. 21, 2012

Un celebre matematico e l'open access

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Il celebre matematico inglese Timothy Gowers, professore a Cambridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Gowers) sul suo blog spiega perchè da questo momento in avanti non collaborerà più con Elsevier (sostenitrice, tra l'altro, di SOPA/PIPA) . juan carlos Gowers's Weblog <http://gowers.wordpress.com/> Mathematics related discussions Elsevier --- my part in its downfall <http://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/elsevier-my-part-in-its-downfall/> January 21, 2012 The Dutch publisher Elsevier publishes many of the world's best known mathematics journals, including Advances in Mathematics, Comptes Rendus, Discrete Mathematics, The European Journal of Combinatorics, Historia Mathematica, Journal of Algebra, Journal of Approximation Theory, Journal of Combinatorics Series A, Journal of Functional Analysis, Journal of Geometry and Physics, Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Journal of Number Theory, Topology, and Topology and its Applications. For many years, it has also been heavily criticized for its business practices. Let me briefly summarize these criticisms. [...] Continua qui: http://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/elsevier-my-part-in-its-downfall/

Jan. 21, 2012

Re: [nexa] Fwd: [ NNSquad ] The Megaupload Mega-Mess: When Innocents Are Crushed

by Stefano Quintarelli

questo e' un aspetto molto interessante. nell'ordinamento italiano, un evento di questo genere, che conseguenze ha per gli utenti ? vicino a casa mia, anni fa, hanno bloccato costruzioni per ipotesi di riciclaggio da camorra. chi aveva versato la caparra e' rimasto fregato perche' e' stata spesa ma le case sono sequestrate. ma nel digitale ? se uno compra smartcard rubate, ad esempio ? cosa dicono gli avvocati in lista ? On 21/01/2012 20:49, J.C. DE MARTIN wrote: > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [ NNSquad ] The Megaupload Mega-Mess: When Innocents Are Crushed > Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:17:11 -0800 > From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren(a)vortex.com> > To: nnsquad(a)nnsquad.org > > > > The Megaupload Mega-Mess: When Innocents Are Crushed > > http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000933.html > > > By now you no doubt are aware of the massive (and probably > unprecedented in terms of Internet scope) international seizure by the > U.S. of the Megaupload file sharing service and many of its principal > characters. Word is that famed attorney Robert Bennett will be > representing the Megaupload defendants. > > The scale of the operation -- with agents swooping in like ninjas -- > and the way the various governments involved are touting the results, > seem more in line with the plot for the James Bond film > "Goldfinger" than a copyright enforcement action. But as far as > I know, there weren't nuclear bombs ticking away in the Megaupload > data centers, set to explode and make everyone's data radioactive. > > But for innocent users of Megaupload, including vast numbers of paying > users who have been using the site for completely legitimate file > transfer purposes, their data might as well be radioactive now, or > simply "blown to bits" in a mushroom cloud. > > Because despite the fact that Megaupload seems to now be in > "Whac-A-Mole" mode, popping up and vanishing under various IP > addresses, for most users their data has effectively been sucked into > the Roach Motel, past the event horizon into a black hole of > government evidence and assets forfeitures. > > Let's be clear -- there does appear to be plenty of evidence that the > operators of Megaupload were indeed engaged in a criminal enterprise > at some level, that made a lot of money based on copyright > infringements. > > To the extent that this is true, they and any users who knowingly > participated in their scheme deserve to be punished, but with all due > process rigorously observed. > > But what of the innocent users of Megaupload? Where is their due > process in this game of international data seizures? > > There is something extremely disquieting in this picture of > governments (especially when reaching into other countries) > preemptively shutting down Internet services on which law-abiding > persons depend. > > The U.S. government in particular has become extremely enamored of > seizing assets prior to trial, and in some cases not returning them > intact to users in the case of their being found innocent. Auctioning > off such seizures has become a tidy little profit center. > > This behavior can be viewed as problematic on its face when innocents > are involved, but the extension of this sort of logic to the Internet > world and cloud-based data storage services could be catastrophic. > > One analogy is the safe deposit boxes in a bank. There are certainly > cases where the government seizes specific boxes, or states sell off > the content of "abandoned" boxes (both controversial issues, I should > add). > > But the Megaupload case is more akin to the government seizing every > safe deposit box in a bank because the bank owners (and possibly some > percentage of the safe deposit box users) were simply accused -- not > yet convicted -- of engaging in a crime. > > What of the little old lady with her life savings in her box, or the > person who needs to access important documents, all legitimate, all > honest, no crimes of any sort involved. > > They are -- to use the vernacular -- screwed. > > Whether or not the legitimate users of Megaupload ever get their data > back (possibly after it has all been rifled for goodies by various > governments), it's clear that honest users who have depended on > Megaupload are being seriously injured right now by this sort of > government action, which seemingly equates impounding a stolen car > with shutting off access to vast quantities of non-infringing users' > data, without obvious recourse for those users. > > While acknowledging the government's legitimate interest in taking > action against specific large-scale copyright violations, the > requirements of due process and in particular the protection of > innocent parties must have priority. > > You don't arrest everyone at a football game because a wanted criminal > may be among the crowd. At least, not unless you're attempting to > channel the old East German "Stasi" secret police sensibilities. > > Our ability to confidently use the ever expanding array of important > and useful cloud-based data services of all kinds rests on the > assumption that our data will be safe from government overreaching and > intrusions into the affairs of law-abiding citizens and their > property -- including their data stored on remote Internet servers. > > Otherwise, we may find ourselves figuratively in much the same > position as 007, strapped to a table with a laser beam moving > inexorably up between our legs, wondering if our next data transfer > may be our last. > > "Do you expect me to talk?" > > "No, Mr. Bond. I expect your data to DIE!" > > As Shakespeare wrote, "the most unkindest cut of all." > > We must do better than that. > > --Lauren-- > Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com):http://www.vortex.com/lauren > Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility:http://www.pfir.org > Founder: > - Network Neutrality Squad:http://www.nnsquad.org > - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance:http://www.gctip.org > - PRIVACY Forum:http://www.vortex.com > Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy > Blog:http://lauren.vortex.com > Google+:http://vortex.com/g+lauren > Twitter:https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein > Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com > > _______________________________________________ > nnsquad mailing list > http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad > > > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa -- blog.quintarelli.it www.ilsole24ore.com

Jan. 21, 2012

Fwd: [ NNSquad ] The Megaupload Mega-Mess: When Innocents Are Crushed

by J.C. DE MARTIN

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ NNSquad ] The Megaupload Mega-Mess: When Innocents Are Crushed Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:17:11 -0800 From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren(a)vortex.com> To: nnsquad(a)nnsquad.org The Megaupload Mega-Mess: When Innocents Are Crushed http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000933.html By now you no doubt are aware of the massive (and probably unprecedented in terms of Internet scope) international seizure by the U.S. of the Megaupload file sharing service and many of its principal characters. Word is that famed attorney Robert Bennett will be representing the Megaupload defendants. The scale of the operation -- with agents swooping in like ninjas -- and the way the various governments involved are touting the results, seem more in line with the plot for the James Bond film "Goldfinger" than a copyright enforcement action. But as far as I know, there weren't nuclear bombs ticking away in the Megaupload data centers, set to explode and make everyone's data radioactive. But for innocent users of Megaupload, including vast numbers of paying users who have been using the site for completely legitimate file transfer purposes, their data might as well be radioactive now, or simply "blown to bits" in a mushroom cloud. Because despite the fact that Megaupload seems to now be in "Whac-A-Mole" mode, popping up and vanishing under various IP addresses, for most users their data has effectively been sucked into the Roach Motel, past the event horizon into a black hole of government evidence and assets forfeitures. Let's be clear -- there does appear to be plenty of evidence that the operators of Megaupload were indeed engaged in a criminal enterprise at some level, that made a lot of money based on copyright infringements. To the extent that this is true, they and any users who knowingly participated in their scheme deserve to be punished, but with all due process rigorously observed. But what of the innocent users of Megaupload? Where is their due process in this game of international data seizures? There is something extremely disquieting in this picture of governments (especially when reaching into other countries) preemptively shutting down Internet services on which law-abiding persons depend. The U.S. government in particular has become extremely enamored of seizing assets prior to trial, and in some cases not returning them intact to users in the case of their being found innocent. Auctioning off such seizures has become a tidy little profit center. This behavior can be viewed as problematic on its face when innocents are involved, but the extension of this sort of logic to the Internet world and cloud-based data storage services could be catastrophic. One analogy is the safe deposit boxes in a bank. There are certainly cases where the government seizes specific boxes, or states sell off the content of "abandoned" boxes (both controversial issues, I should add). But the Megaupload case is more akin to the government seizing every safe deposit box in a bank because the bank owners (and possibly some percentage of the safe deposit box users) were simply accused -- not yet convicted -- of engaging in a crime. What of the little old lady with her life savings in her box, or the person who needs to access important documents, all legitimate, all honest, no crimes of any sort involved. They are -- to use the vernacular -- screwed. Whether or not the legitimate users of Megaupload ever get their data back (possibly after it has all been rifled for goodies by various governments), it's clear that honest users who have depended on Megaupload are being seriously injured right now by this sort of government action, which seemingly equates impounding a stolen car with shutting off access to vast quantities of non-infringing users' data, without obvious recourse for those users. While acknowledging the government's legitimate interest in taking action against specific large-scale copyright violations, the requirements of due process and in particular the protection of innocent parties must have priority. You don't arrest everyone at a football game because a wanted criminal may be among the crowd. At least, not unless you're attempting to channel the old East German "Stasi" secret police sensibilities. Our ability to confidently use the ever expanding array of important and useful cloud-based data services of all kinds rests on the assumption that our data will be safe from government overreaching and intrusions into the affairs of law-abiding citizens and their property -- including their data stored on remote Internet servers. Otherwise, we may find ourselves figuratively in much the same position as 007, strapped to a table with a laser beam moving inexorably up between our legs, wondering if our next data transfer may be our last. "Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond. I expect your data to DIE!" As Shakespeare wrote, "the most unkindest cut of all." We must do better than that. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren(a)vortex.com) http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad

Jan. 21, 2012