Spamicles writes "A judge has delayed his ruling on the eBay patent infringement case. eBay has been involved in a legal dispute over the use of its popular "Buy it Now" button, which allows consumers to skip the bidding and purchase items on eBay directly. The patent suit was filed six years ago by MercExchange L.L.C. In May of 2003, a jury ruled in MercExchange's favor finding that eBay did in fact infringe on the patent, but in 2005 the US Supreme Court ruled that MercExchange was not automatically entitled to a court order blocking the offending service, essentially handing a victory down to patent reform advocates. However, the ruling by the Supreme Court does not affect the final judgment of the court."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Yesterday we mentioned that various special interests have convinced some in Congress to hold off on patent reform. To some extent, this is fine, since there are plenty of problems with the patent reform being offered. However, the reasons for holding off aren't because of that -- but because some big patent holders are upset at the few good things in the bill. In the meantime, Ed Felten picks up on a key point. Howard Berman, the main sponsor of this bill, responded to the requests to hold off voting on it by saying there's no reason to since "all of the interested parties" have been heard from: "independent inventors, universities, bio-technology, pharmaceutical, software and financial services industries." Ed Felten asks "who's missing from that list?" Oh, right. The citizens the government is supposed to represent. This isn't specific to patent reform of course. Just about any legislation tends to call in folks from the various industries it will impact -- but rarely bothers to speak to the actual citizens they're supposed to be representing. Of course, it's not easy to "represent" the views of the citizenry, especially since the citizenry doesn't always know enough to know what's best overall. However, it certainly should be possible to bring in experts who can look at the impact not just on businesses, but on society as a whole.

MarsBar writes "The BBC is reporting that Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been awarded The Order of Merit, a royal award granted directly by the Queen. Previous recipients have included Florence Nightingale, Sir Winston Churchill, Bertrand Russell, Graham Greene, Sir Edward Elgar, Mother Teresa and Margaret Thatcher."

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It really is fascinating to see how ridiculously clueless Major League Baseball is when it comes to promoting the sport. It has, consistently, focused on short term gain at the expense of fans. It's a strategy that works only if you think that your fan base isn't going anywhere. That may be true for older fans, but new fans have many different choices in sports to pay attention to -- and consistently making life difficult will mean a smaller and smaller audience. Last month, MLB trotted falsely claimed that using a Slingbox to watch content that you had legally paid for was illegal. It's not. This week, MLB is back in court to argue that it owns the facts associated with a game, including things like player names. They're appealing the case they lost last year, claiming that any online fantasy league needs to pay Major League Baseball for the privilege of promoting the sport.

Fantasy baseball has been a huge boost to Major League Baseball. It's helped increase interest in the game -- and especially increased interest in players outside of one's hometown team. That means more watching of games (more commercial money), more attending games (more ticket and food money) and more purchasing of clothing and apparel. It also keeps fans who would otherwise stop being interested from going away (especially if a favorite team is out of the running). It's been hugely successful. However, the top brass at MLB, rather than recognizing the promotional benefit of all this and how it's helped them tremendously, insist that all of these fantasy leagues need to pay up for using the names and stats of real players. They claim that it's the same thing as getting a famous person to endorse your product, though any moron in a hurry knows the difference between a fantasy league and a player endorsing the product. Luckily, it sounds like the Appeals Court judges are leaning towards affirming the decision, noting that: "MLB is like a public religion. Everyone knows (the players') names and what they look like. This is just part of being an American, isn't it?"

FatherBash writes "Friday marks the final day for citizens, corporations, and paid spinmeisters alike to file comments with government regulators on Net Neutrality. Wired has the story with a link to the FCC page where you too can throw in your two cents."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Re yesterday's post on AT&T.

Gary Secondino wonders if Apple supports them. AT&T is the exclusive service provider for iPhone.

Jake asks if they might also guard against Slingbox users on behafl of Major League Baseball.

Xeni Jardin: Snip:

“Our law enforcement resources are seriously misaligned,” NBC/Universal general counsel Rick Cotton said. “If you add up all the various kinds of property crimes in this country, everything from theft, to fraud, to burglary, bank-robbing, all of it, it costs the country $16 billion a year. But intellectual property crime runs to hundreds of billions [of dollars] a year.”

Link (thanks, Fred von Lohmann)

DruCipher writes "CNet.co.uk is running a very funny article about Andrew Lim, the resident mobile phone reviewer, trying to live without all his favorite gadgets. The article sees Andrew try to survive without a mobile phone, a computer, an MP3 player and a TV. At the end of his technology detox he feels more relaxed without all his gadgets but cracks after a few days, 'Like all proper detoxes, though, my zen-like calm didn't last for long. Once I'd finished my gadget starvation, I was straight back to the tech binging. A remote control gun you say? Yes please!'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mark Frauenfelder: The Disinformation Company has just published a couple of books that sound excellent. One is called Who's Watching You?: The Chilling Truth About The State, Surveillance, and Personal Freedom, and the other is called Who Really Runs the World? The War Between Globalization and Democracy.

Who's Watching You?: The Chilling Truth About The State, Surveillance, and Personal Freedom

Like a scene out of the hit series 24, the government has used the threat of terrorism and the corresponding climate of fear to erode our freedoms; we no longer have the ability to live our lives away from the prying eyes of hidden cameras. Our government is truly tightening its grip on us by watching and recording nearly everything we do. They do this because they know they can and because knowledge is power. But exactly who are “they” and why do they want to know so much about us?

Who’s Watching You? includes chilling, accurate and up-to-date descriptions of the methods the government (and private company proxies) uses to watch us. Essential reading for everyone concerned about privacy and freedoms of speech and association, even–perhaps especially–if you don’t plan on doing anything wrong.

Who Really Runs the World: The War Between Globalization and Democracy

The world is a mess. It’s constantly at war, things cost too much and the average person struggles to survive against powers it can barely see, let alone control. It appears so at odds with common sense, in fact, that it begs a fundamental question: Who really runs the world?

Who Really Runs The World?looks at the conspiracies in everyday life, both hidden and not-so-hidden. It examines actual people, businesses, social networks, corporate alliances and the dark forces of conspiracy and secret history that hold them together. Writing soberly and with authority, the authors address myriad conspiracy theories with open minds. The conclusions they reach may shock and scandalize some people–especially those who fervently believe in democracy–but will fascinate everyone.

Who's Watching You? |Who Really Runs the World?

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps had an interesting op-ed in the New York Times several days ago, spelling out what he sees as the failure of broadcasters to live up to the public-interest requirements of their licenses. It's hard to find much fault in what he says, both because he highlights the shoddy job many broadcasters do, but also the failings of the FCC in ensuring they live up to their end of the bargain. Unsurprisingly, the piece evoked a response from the head of the National Association of Broadcasters, who (with a straight face, we presume), touted broadcasters' "public service commitment". That's a pretty laughable claim, and as Orbitcast points out, it's undermined by the NAB's backing of a bill that would ban satellite radio companies from airing local content, including Amber Alerts and other emergency information. If the NAB really had the public interest at heart, why would it try and limit the ways in which this sort of information could be distributed, and to create its own monopoly on local content? Hypocrisy from the NAB -- shocking, we know.

Xeni Jardin: "For those still doubting the authenticity of the history of the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats (BB Links 1, 2), hopefully this rediscovered footage will put any skepticism to rest," says Ape Lad.

Video Link on Ape Lad's blog, direct YouTube link.

maximus1 writes "Microsoft says that the tiny photo on the Windows Vista Business Edition installation disks is an anti-piracy feature. The tiny photo of three grinning men — less that 1 mm in size — is one of several images incorporated into the hologram's design intended to make it harder to replicate a Vista DVD, according to Nick White on Microsoft's Vista team blog. 'The real story is interesting, but conspiracy theorists will be disappointed to learn that it is not the result of a deliberate attempt to deceive,' White wrote."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Freebird writes "The US Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction today, and much of the discussion centered around Frontline Wireless' proposal to create a commercial wireless broadband network that would also be used for public safety. 'Under Frontline's proposal, the FCC would auction off 10 MHz from the commercially available spectrum and offer that to the highest bidder. The winner would also be given (free) 12 MHz out of the 24 MHz currently allotted to public safety.' Some senators were skeptical, especially Ted Stevens of Alaska who had a 'long and testy interchange' with Frontline CEO James Barksdale. 'He seemed to be zeroing on criticisms that the Frontline proposal was simply a way for a new company to get a huge discount on a prime chunk of spectrum by playing the "public safety" card.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The news that the Chinese government is banning access to Flickr spread pretty quickly, and wasn't all that surprising, given China's constant internet filtering. However, it's a bit more surprising to hear rumors that Germany is limiting access to Flickr as well (right after Flickr launched a German version as well). It's unclear what various government think they're accomplishing when they try to ban or limit a site like Flickr. It's just images -- and those images can (and will) be posted in many different places. Blocking this one site won't stop images from becoming available on other sites, and constantly trying to ban or limit each and every site the government doesn't like isn't going to be possible. It's just going to make more people wonder what the governments are afraid of.

jcgam69 writes "When it was discovered in 2005, some thought Eris should be considered the 10th planet of our solar system. Everyone still considered Pluto a planet then. At first, Eris was thought to be slightly larger. Now — with the help of Eris' moon — Eris is known to be 27% more massive than Pluto. If Pluto had remained a planet to the entire community of astronomers, surely Eris would be considered the 10th planet."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Xeni Jardin:

Actual headline: "FBI tries to fight zombie hordes."

Actual headline: "Baby monitor picks up space video from NASA."

Plague of locusts strikes an airport in Japan.

Nazi squirrels, fuck off!

Dude dresses up in crocodile cosplay in order to study crocodiles. (via)

HOWTO make pants from meat. Warning: do not attend any birthday parties for pit bulls while wearing these.

Artist Vanessa Beecroft simulates a spontaneous genocidal die-in in Darfur for her latest performance art project.

Mars Rover found "puddles" on the planet's surface.

(Thanks, Kevin, Ragan Robinson, Jeff, axlrosen, Kasey, Susannah Breslin, John Parres, Bonnie)

Mark Frauenfelder:
Jim says: "I saw the Christian Archie comics on Boing Boing and thought you might like this one (from my personal collection). And thanks for the boingboing. Great stuff."