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  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2130">
    <title>'Free Culture' thoughts</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2130</link>
    <description>Hi,

I just finished reading 'Free Culture' this morning and had a few
thoughts and questions on it.

Lets imagine FC were like any other book and I wanted to write a
commentary on it. A commentary where I blockquote a lot, take Lessig's
arguments chapter-by-chapter, para-by-para, and make notes or criticisms
on them. And then I want to publish this commentary.

Would I have to ask permission from the rights-holder?

Does it say something that there would a question?

--vs
</description>
    <dc:creator>Venkatesh Srinivas</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-20T16:31:53</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2129">
    <title>A Better Way for the iPhone Kill Switch: Nudges</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2129</link>
    <description>Writes Kevin Donovan on our blog:

In recent weeks, the iPhone has made quite a stir because of the
regulatory decisions made by Apple. Jonathan Zittrain raised this worry
in his book, The Future of the Internet, where he cautioned that
generativity - the nature of systems to accept input from everyone - was
being traded for sterile appliances - devices which do only simple tasks
(GPS, TiVo).

The iPhone has led a new way, called contingent generativity, that makes
generativity dependent upon an intermediary. Apple gets to decide whose
Apps are available for download and though Steve Jobs had claimed that
they would only block apps that were malicious, pornographic, bandwidth
hogs, illegal or threats to privacy, that hasn't proven true in
practice. As I noted at Techdirt, Apple is becoming a price-setting
intermediary that decided [the "I Am Rich" application wasn't
allowable][1] even though it didn't seem to break any rules. "I Am Rich"
isn't alone; [other apps which provide additional functionality have
been pulled][2] with little to no explanation.

But being an ex-ante regulator isn't enough. Apple, which is famously
closed in character, also has the ability to regulate apps already on a
user's iPhone or iPod Touch. The so-called kill switch was not disclosed
to the public until a curious user uncovered the capability. Only then
did [Steve Jobs admit the functionality existed][3], saying Apple needed
the capability but "Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we
would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull."

This position raises a number of questions, many [well][4]
[articulated][5] [around][6] the web, not the least of which is why
Apple thinks it needs a kill switch an the iPhone and not it's Mac
computers. The issues raised and trend shown by the iPhone's kill switch
is worrying and, as you might expect, [some clever engineers have found
a way to disable it for jailbroken iPhones][7], but a thread on the Free
Culture mailing list got me wondering if there was a better way to solve
this conundrum.

I think there is and I think it should draw on the scholarship of Cass
Sunstein and Richard Thaler in [their book I recently reviewed][8],
Nudge. For the uninitiated, Nudge is a book about "libertarian
paternalism" which aims to create situations where it is easier to make
the best choice while not limiting other options. Through architecting
designs that enable better decisions, or nudges, libertarian paternalism
provides a middle ground between freedom and mandates.

Apple has the opportunity to do so with the iPhone kill switch. The
intentions of the regulatory function are good: many users are, for
whatever reason, unable to avoid or fix security compromises. Apple has
experts who can help these users, but a mandatory kill switch is not the
best option. It treats all users the same and removes their ability to
run applications they desire, regardless of potential hazards. [Asheesh
Laroia][9] suggested that Apple allow users to permanently opt-out of
the system.

I would go one step further towards openness and make the kill switch an
opt-in feature. Call it AppleCare Pro for iPhone or something less
awkward. Heck, Apple could even charge for it! Make it a prominent
decision in the set-up process and allow users to revisit the option
when they desire. Provide nudges towards it when the user downloads an
App which might be dangerous (similar to how Google warns searchers they
may be entering a nasty page).

This would give the worried or non-experts the ability to have Apple's
paternalistic reach extend to their phones without compromising the
autonomy of those who want independence. Parker Higgins of the [NYU
Chapter][10] worries that those who need Apple's protection are those
likely to ignore the warnings, but I think Apple could architect a
system where they are nudged towards better decision-making without a
presumption of technological ignorance.

In doing this all, Apple should remain aware that openness and honesty
is the best option. The fact that they hid the kill switch until
outsiders found it is reminiscent of Comcast's deceptive practices
regarding BitTorrent throttling. Security is a worthy goal, but remember
that those with the most at stake, the users, should be the most
informed.

[[(Mostly) Cross-posted at Blurring Borders][11]]

   [1]: http://techdirt.com/articles/20080807/2107381925.shtml

   [2]: http://gizmodo.com/5032292/netshare-pulled-from-iphone-app-
store-again

   [3]:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121842341491928977.html?apl=y&amp;r=900154

   [4]: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/08/11/who-watches-the-
watc.html

   [5]: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/15/iphone-kill-switch/

   [6]: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10010070-37.html

   [7]: http://techdirt.com/articles/20080818/0155492002.shtml

   [8]: http://blurringborders.com/2008/07/31/book-review-nudge-
improving-decisions-about-health-wealth-and-happiness/

   [9]: http://www.asheesh.org

   [10]: http://www.freeculturenyu.org/

   [11]: http://blurringborders.com/2008/08/19/a-better-way-for-the-
iphones-kill-switch-nudges/

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/18/a-better-way-for-the-iphone-kill-switch/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-19T04:15:16</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2119">
    <title>iPhone kill-switch</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2119</link>
    <description>Writes parkerhiggins on our blog:

Last weekend, Steve Jobs revealed that Apple has built a "kill-switch"
into every iPhone to terminate any "malicious or inappropriate" programs
that somehow got through their application screening process.  Of
course, nobody but Steve Jobs knows what "malicious or inappropriate"
means, or who decides what qualifies, but this is just another way that
Apple is showing the possible downside of a highly centralized and
proprietary platform.

(By contrast, I assure you that not only does the [FreeRunner][1] have
no kill-switch, but even iPhones that are jailbroken through [less
sanctioned means][2] are not subject to the same remote control.)

This revelation by Steve Jobs shouldn't surprise anybody, as it's in
line with the traditional Apple walled-garden philosophy, but it still
represents a major step in the wrong direction.  By asserting absolute
central control over iPhones in the wild, Apple has solidified the
iPhone's status as a "tethered" device, and mark [Jonathan Zittrain's
words][3], tethering is like DRM but worse.

There are a lot of things that are appealing about the iPhone for both
users and developers: it's a beautiful, shiny device, it's in a lot of
people's hands, and it has a lot of killer features that aren't in any
other popular devices.  But really, allowing this tethering to happen
without protest strongly sends the wrong message to tech manufacturers. 
And if we're quiet about tethering now, it will be a lot harder to kill
it later.

   [1]: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner

   [2]: http://wikee.iphwn.org/

   [3]: http://futureoftheinternet.org/the-iphone-kill-switch

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/15/iphone-kill-switch/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-15T07:15:04</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2113">
    <title>University Positions on the RIAA</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2113</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Kevin Donovan</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-13T06:35:03</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2112">
    <title>Development Collaboration Session &lt; at &gt; October Conference!</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2112</link>
    <description>Writes timhwang on our blog:

One of the big issues that's come up recently on the Free Culture
national list is the desire to promote increased outreach and
collaboration on international development issues. The Free Culture
agenda is far from limited to the developed world issue that have been
the subject of our high-profile actions in recent years, and there's a
world of possibilities for FC to create real change. Access to
medicines, knowledge, and culture are an important places for activism
as Free Culture plans the next step.

The ever-awesome Kevin Donovan proposed that the Free Culture National
Conference planned for October should have a session on development and
Free Culture, and in the spirit of building action and bringing together
collaborators in advance of October 12th -- we're making an open call to
chapters worldwide who want to get involved in this new push.

If there's organizations you think we should get in touch with that
might be good collaborators with Free Culture or development/IP related
projects that you'd want to kickoff at the October conference, drop [Tim
Hwang][1] a line at tim AT roflcon DOT org.

   [1]: http://www.fabulousbitches.org/

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/12/development-collaboration-session-october-conference/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-13T00:15:04</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2101">
    <title>YouTube Yanks Free Tibet Video After IOC Pressure</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2101</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Elizabeth Stark</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-12T18:48:10</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2078">
    <title>RIAA and Universities Clash</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2078</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Fred Benenson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-12T02:46:59</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2069">
    <title>Girl Talk and fair use</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2069</link>
    <description>Writes Frank Tobia on our blog:

I've been listening to the [new Girl Talk album][1], and I must say that
it is effing brilliant. For the uninitiated, [Girl Talk][2] is an
engineer-turned-artist named Gregg Gillis who creates music by remixing
samples of others' songs without getting permission first. If you
haven't heard his stuff, stop what you're doing right now and visit [his
MySpace page][3] for a listen.

Girl Talk is claiming his creations fall under [fair use][4], which
defines exceptions to the exclusivity of copyright. If he didn't invoke
fair use, creating his album would have been prohibitively expensive at
the very least. More likely, the barriers to entry would have kept him
from ever creating it in the first place. And let me tell you, that
would be a damn shame. As I probably don't have to remind everyone,
there's something wrong when this kind of creativity could be illegal.

Fair use needs to protect creative artists, and it needs to protect
transformative works.  Law should take into account social norms and the
public interest; if people find this type of art to be valuable, then
that should factor into related legal deliberations. Likewise, Students
for Free Culture should take a strong stand on fair use. We should
discuss what areas of fair use are important to advocate for. We should
think about raising hell if Girl Talk gets hit with a lawsuit.

[![][5]][5]

   [1]: http://74.124.198.47/illegal-
art.net/__girl__talk___feed__the__anima.ls___/

   [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Talk_(musician)

   [3]: http://www.myspace.com/girltalk

   [4]: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html

   [5]: http://freeculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/fair-use.jpg

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/09/girl-talk-and-fair-use/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-09T15:15:04</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2067">
    <title>NYTimes on Girl Talk</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2067</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Kevin Donovan</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-08T05:52:46</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2043">
    <title>FreeCultureNews.Com Bite sized FC Bits</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2043</link>
    <description>Writes sarterus on our blog:

[Free Culture News][1] is a short form news blog. The format is simple:
brief summary, quotes, 2cents of commentary, links to other sources -
similar to Boing Boing or Slashdot. Reading it is an easy way to keep up
on FC related issues. It was started by [Conely][2] of [Free Culture at
Virginia Tech][3]. Their chapter use to post news up on their wiki every
week, and use these stories as starters for chapter discussion. The blog
is an out growth of their wiki, with a focus on sharing those stories
with the larger Free Culture community. The stories are not student
specific and cover everything from net neutrality and OLPC to fair use
and open access scholarly publishing.  I recommend giving it a try.

## Sample Post:

## [No Punishment for Comcast.][4]

August 1st, 2008

The FCC has voted to not punish Comast.  There will be (some) penalty
(maybe) next time.

Communications Commission voted 3-2 to uphold a complaint accusing
Comcast of violating the FCC’s open-Internet principles by improperly
hindering peer-to-peer traffic.


generally use the Internet in any legal means,” FCC Chairman Kevin
Martin said in a statement.


and was considering all its “legal options.”


Comcast. But it requires the company to cease impeding peer-to-peer
applications, to tell the FCC how the practice has been used, and to
notify customers about other network management practices it adopts in
the future.

Did we really expect anything different?

Disclaimer: I sometimes post to [FreeCultureNews.com][1] . There was an
open call on the SFFC list looking for writers a few months back. They
may still be looking.

   [1]: http://Freeculturenews.com

   [2]: http://wiki.freeculture.org/User:Conley

   [3]: http://vt.freeculture.org/

   [4]: http://freeculturenews.com/2008/08/01/no-punishment-for-comcast/
(Permanent Link to No Punishment for Comcast.)

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/06/freeculturenewscom-bite-sized-fc-bits/
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-07T01:15:03</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2041">
    <title>Random thoughts after talking to Paola</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2041</link>
    <description>Paola from Peru and I were just talking about the on-going problem of
fragmentation among our organization. She and I agreed that we need
some shared projects to which various chapters can contribute
independently. Free Culture TV (and/or Radio?) might be interesting
places to start.

It would be great if during the course of the year, every chapter was
able to submit a video or a bit of audio about their local experience
to share with everyone else. I'm not talking about the BBC, just a
minute or two to let everyone else hear your voices and see your
faces.

I'm going to set up some media-making events at the conference in
order to kick this off but you could start at anytime, of course.



What are some other simple activities we could do together?

I am always happy to participate in collaborative translation projects
to practice Spanish. Anyone have Free Culture-related material they'd
like in multiple languages?



Kevin
</description>
    <dc:creator>Kevin Driscoll</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-06T23:31:17</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2040">
    <title>Steal This Film's raw footage available and excellent</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2040</link>
    <description>


</description>
    <dc:creator>Seth Johnson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-06T22:05:55</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2029">
    <title>New Lessig Book</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2029</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Kevin Donovan</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-04T17:50:10</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2019">
    <title>The Results of Free Culture Gaming</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2019</link>
    <description>Writes Clifford Owens on our blog:

The first ever Free Culture Gaming Night went well.  You can probably
tell how much fun we had from the map!  Click on the image to see more.

[![Map of Wesnoth][1]][2]

Map of Wesnoth

Bonus points to whoever gets all the references in the map labels.  They
will be redeemable at the next meeting of Free Culture Gaming.

Wesnoth is a pretty neat turn-based strategy game with retro graphics. 
It was my first time playing, and I really enjoyed it (except for the
getting my butt kicked part).  One of these days I might actually be
good at it and beat Karen and Nelson.

We'll probably be doing another game night next week, so head over to
[Free Culture Gaming][3] to keep an eye out for more free video game
fun.

   [1]: http://freeculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/map_small.png
(map_small)

   [2]: http://freeculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/map.png (Map
of Wesnoth)

   [3]: http://game.freeculture.org/ (Free Culture Gaming!)

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/03/the-results-of-free-culture-gaming/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-03T06:15:08</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2017">
    <title>End of the Patry Copyright Blog</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2017</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Parker Higgins</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-03T04:17:32</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2012">
    <title>Freedom, fairness, and the Doha Round</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2012</link>
    <description>Writes Frank Tobia on our blog:

Turning our attention now from the problems [HR 4137][1] raises for
college students at home, we see that our government is making life more
difficult for developing nations as well. There's been some talk lately
on the FC discussion list that we should broaden our focus on freedom to
include issues relevant to developing nations. This is my first attempt
to broach the issue.

The Doha Development Round of trade negotiations originated to directly
address issues of trade impeding the world's poorest nations. These
include intellectual property issues like access to patented medicine,
as well as other issues, like agricultural subsidies. Just last week,
talks at the Doha Round collapsed, leaving me to wonder how long it will
be until the United States starts doing what's right with regard to
these critical issues.

I rediscovered Doha by hanging around on [Wikipedia][2]: a few weeks ago
I noticed a bunch of work happening on the [Doha Round article][3]. I'm
a sucker for participatory culture after all. But check out the article.
See anything missing? I see a [dearth of images][4] that would be nice
if we rectified (the one image on there today was added just yesterday).
And look, the WTO is kind enough to make a [photo gallery][5] publicly
available. It would be so great if we could include those pictures on
Wikipedia.

So, Free Culturites, I have a call to action:

Email [publications&lt; at &gt;wto.org][6] and ask if they would be so kind as to
release some or all of their photos under a free copyright license
(something like [CC-BY][7] would be fantastic). After all, it's not like
the WTO exists to make money off of its photo gallery somehow. Myself
and a fellow editor are waiting to hear back from them, and I figure
some support couldn't hurt.

Oh, and if you feel like it, jump in and help improve the article. Long
live participatory culture!

   [1]: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-4137

   [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/

   [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doha_Development_Round

   [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doha_Development_Round
&amp;oldid=229476744

   [5]:
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/meet08_photo_gallery_e.htm

   [6]: mailto:publications&lt; at &gt;wto.org

   [7]: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/02/freedom-fairness-and-the-doha-round/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-02T23:15:02</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2010">
    <title>A Free Culture Failure: Campus-Based Digital TheftPrevention Passes Congress</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2010</link>
    <description>Writes rich on our blog:

Well, crap, guys. How did we let this one slip by?

[HR 4137][1], the College Opportunity and Affordability Act just passed
Congress and is expected to be signed into law very soon.

Inside the bill is the Campus-Based Digital Theft Prevention act, a
provision which requires colleges to subscribe to RIAA-approved services
like the new Napster and to install software on the network which
monitors and interrupt transfers which they decide they don't like. This
is a mandate for a non-neutral internet on college campuses. Students
are being targeted by a cooperation between the government and the
intellectual property industry to spy on us, filter our internet and the
resources of our schools by spending our tuition costs on their DRM'd
service. And unfortunately, we let this slip under the radar.

For the full story about the passing is available on [Ars Technica][2],
who have done a better write up than I could do. I also wrote about this
[on my personal site][3] just over one year ago. It seems the bill has
been watered down slightly from the original amendment, but the effect
is the same.

But where was the opposition from Free Culture? I'm not trying to blame
anyone but myself, but I think that **we must develop a way to
constantly monitor and publicly oppose this type of legislation.**
Otherwise, what is the point of our organization if we continue to allow
things like this to happen?! We're going to be an absolute laughing
stock if we have [silly events][4] which celebrate the death of DRM when
we don't make a sound about federal legislation which requires all of
our schools to purchase products which use it. There was only [one blog
post][5] about the bill, 8 months ago. Not a peep since then, no page on
the front page about pending legislation. So I can't say that we missed
this entirely, but a single blog post doesn't affect anything outside of
our own community, which is where the problem lies. It isn't working
because it isn't enough.

So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?

First, I think we should develop a page (perhaps on the wiki?) and a
squad to monitor the progress of legislation which could be a threat to
us.

Second, we should be supporting Lawrence Lessig's [Change-Congress
Movement][6] which will stop corporations from having so much influence
over Congressmen. Particularly Democratic congressmen from California.

Third, I would personally recommend that any student should be using
secure protocols for all of their data transfers to prevent their being
snooped on and tampered with. One such upcoming protocol is [Anomos][7],
a secure and anonymous multi-peer-to-peer file distribution platform.
I'm a lead developer on this project and I will write a post on this
blog about it once our alpha release candidate is announced.

Does anybody else have any ideas about steps we can take from things
like this going unnoticed again? Let's gets some discussion going in the
comments.

Rich, [Boston University Free Culture][8]

   [1]: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-4137

   [2]: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080801-college-funding-
bill-passed-with-anti-p2p-provisions-intact.html

   [3]: http://www.thenewfreedom.net/wp/2007/07/24/harry-reid-d-nvs-
corrupt-campus-based-digital-theft-prevention-amendment/

   [4]: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/zuneral

   [5]: http://freeculture.org/blog/2007/12/14/students-open-response-
to-hr-4137-and-hr/

   [6]: http://change-congress.org/

   [7]: http://www.anomos.info

   [8]: http://bu.freeculture.org

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/02/a-free-culture-failure-campus-based-digital-theft-prevention-passes-congress/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-02T22:15:01</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2001">
    <title>Free Culture Gaming - 1st game night Saturday 8pm EDT</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/2001</link>
    <description>Writes Nelson Pavlosky on our blog:

Some folks from [Free Culture at Virginia Tech][1] came up with and,
more impressively, actually started a [Free Culture Gaming][2] club!
Every week Free Culture Gaming will get together to play free games
online with other free culture aficionados. All of the games we play
will be 100% free software and free content, as per our [standards][3].

When I asked Conley Owens, Free Culture VT founder, why he thought FC
Gaming is important, he responded:



are so great and cheap, because of gamers. And if gaming can drive
hardware, it can drive software. Right now I have tons of computer
scientist friends who only use Windows because they can't play their
favorite games on GNU/Linux. If free games were more prevalent, perhaps
they would switch. If you get the software development (and game
development) community switching to a free platform, they will in turn
help switch the world to freedom.



Hopefully that is enough motivation to join FC Gaming :)

Free Culture Gaming will be holding its first game night [this Saturday
August 2nd at 8pm EDT][4] (tomorrow night), and we hope you will join
us. For this game night, we will be playing [The Battle for Wesnoth][5],
an excellent turn-based strategy game. Sadly the Wesnoth web server is
currently down, but I think we should give them support anyway during
this trying time for them. You can still download the game from [the
Wesnoth SourceForge project][6] for Windows, Mac and Linux, and you can
still play multiplayer games if you go to Multiplayer-&gt;Connect to Server
and choose the 2nd (or 3rd) option instead of the official server.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please use version 1.4.4 of Battle for Wesnoth, or at
least another version from the 1.4 series. Older or newer versions will
not work well or at all.

Meet us in the Free Culture Gaming IRC channel at #fcgame on
irc.freenode.net to coordinate with us ([go here for details][7]), or
just join the 2nd alternative Wesnoth server and find us there. Hope to
see you then!

   [1]: http://vt.freeculture.org/

   [2]: http://game.freeculture.org/

   [3]: http://game.freeculture.org/standards/

   [4]: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=8&amp;day
=2&amp;year=2008&amp;hour=20&amp;min=0&amp;sec=0&amp;p1=263

   [5]: http://libregamewiki.org/Wesnoth (Wesnoth)

   [6]: http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/

   [7]: http://game.freeculture.org/irc/ (IRC)

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/01/free-culture-gaming-1st-game-night-saturday-8pm-edt/
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-01T20:15:02</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/1995">
    <title>Senate passes the Higher Ed Act w/ anti-p2p provisions</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/1995</link>
    <description>_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss&lt; at &gt;freeculture.org
http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
</description>
    <dc:creator>Elizabeth Stark</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-01T18:47:49</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/1970">
    <title>Civil Disobedience</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/1970</link>
    <description>I hear a lot of people in this organization speak very highly of civil 
disobedience, and it seems like some of us are just waiting for an 
opportunity to justify breaking the law and sticking it to "the man."  I 
suppose I could right a very long-winded article on why I think civil 
disobedience is a bad idea, but I'm not much of a writer, so I'll just 
say a few things that come to mind.

One example that often comes up is piracy, but I feel that that helps 
out the mpaa/riaa far more than just boycotting it all together.  I 
suppose most of you don't know this, but I used to be on the far other 
side of this discussion (about copyright/culture).  I remember arguing 
about copyright and piracy with someone in a philosophy class in high 
school (and imagine me talking like a 16-year-old version of Dan 
Glickman).  I thought that everyone who disagreed with me was being 
immature.  How ironic that over four years later I became a grad student 
and the person I was arguing with was one of my first chapter members.  
But the thing is, I *still* think that all the people in the room who 
disagreed were being immature!  It wasn't until I discovered 
*constructive* solutions like the FSF and CC that I really changed my 
mind about things.

I'm open for discussion, but if this organization ever plans a civil 
disobedience event, you can count me out of the event, and possibly out 
of the organization.

~Conley
</description>
    <dc:creator>Clifford Conley Owens III</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-01T14:07:49</dc:date>
  </item>
  <item rdf:about="http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/1959">
    <title>Free Culture TV and Yes, We’re Open!</title>
    <link>http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.org.freeculture.discuss/1959</link>
    <description>Writes parkerhiggins on our blog:

Hello, I'm Parker Higgins, I'm a member of [Free Culture &lt; at &gt; NYU][1] and
on the summer team at [the Participatory Culture Foundation][2].  Last
week, with the help of many of my friends in both organizations, I
launched two new video podcast feeds optimized for PCF's [Miro][3], the
awesome open source video player and subscription manager.  (RSS feeds
are available of course, but the enclosures are a mix of video files and
.torrent files.)

The two new channels should be of interest to readers of this blog: one
is called [Free Culture TV][4], and it contains videos about free
culture, or of particular relevance to members of the free culture
community.  There is a list of the videos on the channel's [Miro Guide
page][5], and I plan on adding many more in the coming weeks.

The second channel is called [Yes, We're Open! Free Movies, Music Videos
and TV][6] and is meant for all sorts of openly licensed entertainment. 
As the name suggests, this includes everything from very short clips to
feature length movies and documentaries, as long as it's been released
under an open license.  Again, [the Miro Guide page][7] has more
information.

So here comes the pitch: I want all the help I can get with these.  If
you know of something really great that's not on here yet, chances are
I've just missed it, and I'd love to include it.  You can e-mail me at
parker [at] pculture [dot] org and I'll get right back to you. 
Currently, I don't have plans to create original content for either
channel, but if anybody expressed interest in making or helping to make
something, I'd be happy to explore it!

Again, these channels are made for SFC and the free culture community,
so if there's something you'd like to see on it, please let me know!

[![Yes, We're Open! and Free Culture TV][8]][9]

Yes, We're Open! and Free Culture TV

   [1]: http://www.freeculturenyu.org (Free Culture &lt; at &gt; NYU)

   [2]: http://www.getmiro.com/about/#summerteam (Participatory Culture
Foundation)

   [3]: http://www.getmiro.com (Get Miro)

   [4]: http://www.freeculture.tv (Free Culture TV)

   [5]: https://www.miroguide.com/channels/7407 (FCTV on the Miro Guide)

   [6]: http://www.freeculture.tv/yeswereopen (Yes, We're Open!)

   [7]: https://www.miroguide.com/channels/7408 (YWO in the Miro Guide)

   [8]: http://freeculture.org/wp-
content/uploads/2008/08/fctvywologos.jpg (fctvywologos)

   [9]: http://freeculture.org/wp-
content/uploads/2008/08/fctvywologos.jpg

URL: http://freeculture.org/blog/2008/08/01/free-culture-tv-and-yes-were-open/
</description>
    <dc:creator>FreeCulture.org - Students for Free Culture</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2008-08-01T06:15:03</dc:date>
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