Monthly Archives: February 2010

Via Reihan, a trade group called the International Intellectual Property Alliance is apparently lobbying the US Trade Representative to treat preferential adoption of free software as equivalent to copyright infringement. Bobby Johnson at the Guardian explains: Last year the Indonesian … Continue reading →

The last time I wrote about the Founders’ Visa concept, I wondered how the law would be drafted to prevent the creation of “sham” startups. Senators Kerry and Lugar have now introduced legislation modeled on Graham’s proposal, and it provides … Continue reading →

If it was hard for senior American officials in Vietnam to get a straight story about how the war was going, it was much harder for senior officials in Washington to do so. Not only were they several thousands miles … Continue reading →

Not everyone in the US military was surprised by the American failure in Vietnam. Two people who clearly saw what was coming were Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann and Colonel Dan Porter, officers who were stationed in the Mekong Delta … Continue reading →

Recently Steve Jobs issued a Fatwa against “overtly sexual content” on the iPhone. Some Apple employee apparently decided that selling bathing suits to women is an “overtly sexual” activity, and blocked the app. I had an argument with Adam Thierer … Continue reading →

The author of The Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam, was a young reporter who had his first stint in Vietnam in the early 1960s, at a time when the US commitment was relatively small and the prospects for American … Continue reading →

Incidentally, if you doubt that remix culture can produce works of lasting artistic value, you’ve probably never seen “Ten Things I Hate about Commandments.” It never gets old:

Following up on his video on the evolution of remix culture, Julian contrasts top-down and bottom-up visions of culture: Current intellectual property law frowns on “copying” as opposed to mere “influence.” If I write and record a song that is … Continue reading →

I’m at Students for Free Culture’s annual conference. As I said a couple of weeks ago, I think the growth and enthusiasm of the free culture movement is really exciting. When I was an undergrad at the University of Minnesota, … Continue reading →

I’ve said before that if you want to understand the limitations of hierarchical organization, a good place to start is with the world’s most powerful hierarchical institution: the US military. And to study the military’s flaws, the obvious place to … Continue reading →