If intellectual property is the same as property, why does it have a different name?

The Girl Scouts have a page with brief points as to using songs at organization events. Know why? Because they nearly got a beatdown from ASCAP over campfire songs.

As a punitive measure, may I suggest the Scouts selectively withhold their sought after cookies from those behind the original threats.

Did you know, the first vampire movie, Nosferatu, was almost lost forever due to copyright enforcement? The filmmaker lost a decision in favor of the estate of Bram Stoker, and all known copies of the film were transferred to Florence Stoker in 1925. They were destroyed.

After Florence’s death, new copies started popping up. A classic example of something nearly lost to overzealous enforcement.

BTW, if you thinking draconian laws and requirements regarding archiving are a thing of the past, go read up on the broadcast flag.

Orrin Hatch is still pushing the much talked about INDUCE act. If I could have it my way, everywhere Sen. Hatch would go, he would face the following loaded question:

“Sen. Hatch, on June 18 of 2003, Wired news quoted you as saying ‘There’s no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws’. The following day, it was discovered that your official website made infringing use of a Javascript menu system developed by Milonic Solutions. What jail time has been served or fines have been paid as a result of this inexcusable behavior?”

Wouldn’t it be dandy if he got asked this question on a routine basis in front of mainstream reporters? Call it petty, but I think it highlights one of the failings of the extreme proponents of “intellectual property”. That being, the false notion that copyright law is always easy to make determinations on. I’d wager Sen. Hatch’s webmaster would agree.

No, not as bad as it sounds.

Our landlord is stopping by this weekend so the place must be in tip top shape. The carpet is getting steam cleaned tomorrow, that will be a great help. On the elbow grease front, I just spent 5+ hours cleaning the place (and I’m not done!). Most that time was spent in the kitchen, with special effort on the linoleum.

Now, there surely was a better way, but I took off most the dirt by hand, with a sponge. May I just tell you, it’s pretty tedious work getting down on your hands and knees and using a dinky sponge to clean a kitchen floor. About a third of the way through I turned my head around to see what remained and thought, “this is turning out much harder than I anticipated.” In the end, the first pass took over an hour. Then I mopped. Twice.

The end result however, is very satisfying. The floor may be cleaner than when we moved in. Of course tomorrow, it will be a day of tossing back advil like candy.

Remember from a week or so ago, when ABC Primetime President Stephen McPherson accused Fox networks of taking on the role of programming imitator, saying “They will steal it, plain and simple”?

I just saw an ad for the upcoming ABC reality series titled “The Benefactor”. Immediately, I thought it seemed an awful lot like the NBC show “The Apprentice”. Checking the ABC official write up of the show, you can find the following :

What would you do for a million dollars? Billionaire businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is about to find out because he is “The Benefactor,” and he’s set to give away a million bucks to a complete stranger.

Nice. Billionaire businessman. Nope, it’s not an apprentice clone. Entertainment critics from sources like The Denver Post and USA Today have not dubbed the show an apprentice clone.

These network folk truly must not see how thinly veiled their hypocrisy is.