by Ron Miller

Spain's Linking Tax Taxes My Patience

Spain's new tax on linking to Spanish newspaper articles is ill defined and short sighted and ends up protecting a dying industry, while undermining a vibrant one. In fact, it makes no sense at all. http://bit.ly/1xXpBrs

Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto

Will the FCC Put Us in the Slow Lane?

The FCC's Fast Lane proposal has not gone over well with the Internet community, but can the community rise as one and put enough pressure on to stop it or will the industry lobby win out? That's the question. http://bit.ly/1iLxTdN

 

Photo Credit: Inaweofgodscreation on Flickr. Used under CC 2.0 license.

 

NSA can track every email, but it can't find a plane

For all our brains and all our computers and all our data, an airplane can still just disappear without a trace for nine days and we can't find it. 

It's mind-boggling to me that the NSA can track every email and phone call, but can't find an airplane. Do you feel safer? 

Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto

Restricting the internet is a business killer

Turkey is the latest country to slap heavy restrictions on the internet, a move that is baffling for a country that hopes to be a high tech center. But you can't try to control the masses and have a healthy business climate, and Turkey has to decide if it wants a strong internet-driven economy or control because it can't have both. http://bit.ly/1jqBunn

Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto

DRM has always been a horrible idea

For years, the reaction of big entertainment to internet disruption has been to to restrict and punish its customers with digital rights management. It always seemed counterproductive to fight the internet and their own customers, and evidence is mounting that DRM was never a very good idea. My latest on Computerworld.http://bit.ly/1fgLoCL

Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto

Time to forgive Ed Snowden

My first column for Computerworld: When Edward Snowden walked out of the NSA with all those documents he's been releasing over the last several months, he did us all a huge favor by peeling back the curtain and showing us the extent of the surveillance state. And while he surely embarrassed the US government, he hasn't put US security at risk. It's time to drop the espionage charges and let him come home.http://bit.ly/HUn2mJ

Photo credit: CanStockPhoto

EU reacts to NSA spying by proposing meaningless regulations

Surely every country that has learned about NSA spying is hopping mad, and with good reason, but the EU has reacted to these revelations in typical bureaucratic fashion: They have proposed a couple of meaningless regulations. http://bit.ly/16RzhMO

Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto

Kids Can Erase Online Gaffes Under California Law

California passed a new law last month that would let minors erase youthful transgressions from the online record. It's common knowledge the adolescent brain is still developing. Should they have to live with their bad decisions forever? http://bit.ly/17sqEGa

Photo Credit: davitydave on Flickr. Used under CC 2.0 license.

Copyright fanatics want to break the internet

You're a business person, not a content stealer, so why should you care about the MPAA and RIAA trying to legislate against piracy. Because they are trying to define access on their terms under the broadest definition, and you should be concerned about anyone trying to interfere with the free flow of information on the internet. http://bit.ly/1fuxVsu

Photo Credit: CanStockPhoto

Kevin Spacey wants to let users control the content

Actor Kevin Spacey of all people gave the entertainment an earful last week, and he said shows like his House of Cards, show that some people have learned the lessons the music industry never learned: "Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price and they'll more likely pay for it, rather than steal it."  http://bit.ly/1g0bdG7

Photo Credit:  rivier50 on Flickr. Used under CC 2.0 license.