Category Archives: uncategorized

All The Rave

From All The Rave: Judge Walsh assumed that if he ruled against the asset sale, Napster would be liquidated. But the facts were so egregious that he had no choice. There were a number of grounds to rule as he did, Walsh said, but he cited just one — that Napster hadn’t met its burden of showing that its negotiations with Bertelsmann had been at arm’s length. “It seems abundantly clear that Mr. Hilbers had one foot in the Napster camp and one foot in the Bertelsmann camp, and was so fundamentally conflicted that I believe that the transaction was tainted,” Walsh said from the bench. Sigh.

Cyberspace

John Perry Barlow: Cyberspace, in its present condition, has a lot in common with the 19th Century West. It is vast, unmapped, culturally and legally ambiguous, verbally terse (unless you happen to be a court stenographer), hard to get around in, and up for grabs. Large institutions already claim to own the place, but most of the actual natives are solitary and independent, sometimes to the point of sociopathy. It is, of course, a perfect breeding ground for both outlaws and new ideas about liberty.

But the Internet does apparently have a patron saint. Or will soon.

These people need to stop whining. I’ve done it, if only for a little while. It’s not so bad.