Today the Federal Circuit decided Chamberlain Croup v. Skylink Technologies, also known as “the garage door opener case,” which considered several interesting and important questions about the scope of the DMCA. The Federal Circuit affirmed. From the opinion: We conclude that 17 U.S.C. § 1201 prohibits only forms of access that bear a reasonable relationship […]
Archive | August, 2004
U.K. bans car ads for showing gun:
Bloomberg.com reports: Ford Motor Co., the world’s second biggest carmaker, has had a television commercial for its Land Rover brand banned by the U.K. communications regulator after it was judged to “normalize” the use of guns. The advertisement, which featured a woman brandishing a gun later revealed to be a starting pistol, breached the Advertising […]
Online poll screw-up
I’ve long declaimed against online polls, largely because they involve self-selected samples — that X% of the people who chose to participate voted in a particular way tells us next to nothing about what the public at large, or any other segment of the public at large, thinks. But MSNBC has managed to come up […]
Smearing Soros:
It’s innuendo, but it’s pretty repulsive innuendo (at least unless Dennis Hastert has something to back it up). From Fox News Sunday, Aug. 29, 2004: [Host Chris] WALLACE: Let me switch subjects. You both had very deep reservations about McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform before it was passed. In fact, I think you say in your […]
Another Crime-Facilitating Speech controversy,
this time over IndyMedia’s posting of delegates’ “names, home addresses, e-mail addresses and the New York-area hotels where many are staying.” The Secret Service is investigating. I’m not sure whether such postings break any existing laws, or whether a law could indeed ban them consistently with the First Amendment. While such speech may indeed facilitate […]
Impeaching Blair?
Iain Murray (Edge of England’s Sword) has several posts on this; go here and scroll down, and also see here. I’m not sure I agree with the last post, which argues: It occurs to me that impeachment may actually have been the subject of implied repeal under the much-derided (by me among others), but nevertheless […]
Old TV Campaign Ads Never Die,
they just go on the web. Or so you might think after spending some time with The Living Room Candidate, which has collections of presidential campaign ads for every presidential election since 1952. I laughed my way through the Ross Perot ads from 1992, and found lots of other great stuff, too. (Hat tip: Is […]
University of Montana Law School Ordered
to let Prof. Natelson teach constitutional law: As I reported in early July, quoting a local newspaper: University of Montana professor Rob Natelson, accusing the Law School of discriminating against him for years because of his conservative political views, has asked the state Board of Regents to overturn a decision denying him the opportunity to […]
Political Conventions and Campaign Finance:
Political conventions don’t generate any actual news these days, but look on the bright side: conventions are week-long campaign commercials that the major party candidates don’t have to buy. Not that the conventions themselves are free, of course; according to this website, the GOP convention is expected to cost around $64 million.
CELL PHONE RESPONSES:
Three ideas suggested about cell phone regulation (assuming that cell phones and driving impose a cost through riskier driving–a contested proposition, as was noted): 1. Impose a ban/fine: This is Law & Econ 101, so I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t think of it myself, but as usual Jonathan Klick was able to straighten […]
More from Max Boot:
Another interesting column — don’t know if it’s right, but it’s definitely worth reading. Here’s an excerpt: One of John F. Kerry’s most damning accusations against President Bush is that he has made America a global pariah, thereby undercutting the international cooperation we need to win the war on terrorism. . . . Opinion polls […]
REPUBLICANS MAY BE YANKEES OF POLITICS:
Ugh–I hate the Yankees.
Cheeleaders for Truth:
Who knows, this could be the next big story in the presidential campaign. Thanks to Wonkette for the link.
Don’t call your daughter
Alexia, which turns out to mean — and in English, not in Hebrew or Greek — “Loss of the ability to read, usually caused by brain lesions.” (Thanks to A Word A Day for the pointer.) According to 1990 census data, 0.003% person of the female population of the U.S., which is to say about […]
THE CELL PHONE, MAYBE NOT-SO-MENACE:
Larry Ribstein notes that the evidence remains somewhat ambiguous on the effects of driving while talking on a cell phone. In particular, as Larry suggests and I should have acknowledged more explicitly in my initial post, any costs associated with cell phone use should be balanced against the benefits, especially in terms of potential social […]