The blog
Writing & notes
Essays, notes and reflections on technology, law and life.
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Photography Equipment
My equipment Current as at December 2007. Canon EOS 350DMy trusty 350D has seen better days: the rubber viewfinder was lost somewhere in the Czech Republic, the shutter is a tired veteran of a hundred thousand frames and cries with each reflex, the housing is worn to a mirror finish in parts. And yet, it… Read more →
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New Site Design: Jaani.net v 1.08
This post commemorates the launch of jaani.net/ v 1.08. The website back-end has been completely revamped. It now runs a state-of-the-art Drupal-powered content management system loaded to the hilt with customised modules and extensions. Read more →
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Art collection
Since I can’t afford a real art collection, I thought I would seek out and make virtual copies of my favourite out-of-copyright paintings and sculptures in the highest resolution and most accurate colour available, and collate them here. Below you’ll find art listed by genre and sorted by artist. Click on a painting name to… Read more →
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Andersen v Monsoon Multimedia Inc: Enforceability of the GPL to be Tested in US Court
The GNU General Public License (‘GPL’) is about to be tested in a United States court. Two developers have brought suit against a company using open source software in its commercial product without disclosing the downstream source code. Their cause of action is copyright infringement — that is, that the defendant’s conduct falls outside the… Read more →
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That the Bill Be Read a Second Time… More Thoroughly
While conducting some research on extraterritorial copyright infringement, I noticed a new bill that was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament today. The Cross-Border Insolvency Bill 2007 (Cth) (second reading speech) is essentially designed to transplant the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law into Australian law. Among its… Read more →
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White Cows in Green Fields? Gateway Shareholder Class Actions Proceed
Last September, Gateway Inc, a United States manufacturer of consumer computer hardware, announced its intention to accept a takeover offer made by Acer Inc, the American subsidiary of a Taiwanese hardware and systems manufacturer. Acer offered cash consideration of USD $1.90 per share, valuing Gateway at just under USD $710 million. It seems that some… Read more →
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Plaintiff Wins YouTube Defamation Action
A Finnish teacher has won a defamation action against his 15-year-old student, who posted an injurious video on YouTube. The video was filmed at a school party and depicted the teacher singing (poorly, one presumes). On YouTube, the video description read ‘Karaoke of the mental hospital’. Whether this in itself would be defamatory in a… Read more →
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Criminal Copyright Infringement Sanctions against Simpsons Movie Pirate
According to this press release issued by the Attorney-General’s department on Friday, a search warrant was executed at the premises of a 21-year-old Sydney man, who was arrested on charges of commercial copyright infringement. The accused is alleged to have made a bootleg copy of The Simpsons Movie with intent to distribute commercially. In this… Read more →
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Breaking news: Kiefel appointed Justice of the High Court of Australia
According to a report in The Age online, Justice Kiefel of the Federal Court of Australia has been appointed as successor to Mr Justice Callinan, who must retire by 31 August 2007. Ms Justice Kiefel was born in Queensland and studied at Cambridge. Her Honour has handed down some important trade practices, immigration and taxation… Read more →
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Survey finds teenagers disrespectful of copyright
This piece is almost Onion-worthy for its obviousness. According to a study conducted by Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times, teenagers don’t understand copyright law. This is hardly surprising, given the complexity of modern copyright law and its increasing misalignment with actual consumer behaviour (such as format-shifting and time-shifting): “Among teens aged 12 to 17… Read more →