Entries Tagged 'US' ↓

Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg has published a piece on the extremely limiting role that US mobile carriers have forced on consumers in the US: Free My Phone.

A shortsighted and often just plain stupid federal government has allowed itself to be bullied and fooled by a handful of big wireless phone operators for decades now. And the result has been a mobile phone system that is the direct opposite of the PC model. It severely limits consumer choice, stifles innovation, crushes entrepreneurship, and has made the U.S. the laughingstock of the mobile-technology world, just as the cellphone is morphing into a powerful hand-held computer.

As bad as things are in the US, they’re that much worse in Canada, where the same conditions apply - except that here, we get to pay a huge premium for the “privilege”.

Google Public Policy Blog. I’d like them to clarify, as a matter of public policy, what permissions they are seeking, if any, related to published books and more about their position on scanning in printed works, in or out of copyright.

Re-Thinking The War II. Rethinking the war not in terms of geopolitics or anything, but in terms of the damage it has done to the US. To me, this is one of the most important aspects and always has been.

The Patent Busting Project. “The new EFF initiative seeks to document these threats [to small organizations targeted by holders of bad patents] and fight back against them. EFF has pledged to file “re-examination” requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), asking the agency to revoke patents that are having negative effects on Internet innovation and free expression.”

interesting that so many (now) San Franciscans who keep weblogs like Canadian music like Sloan and the Tragically Hip. Although both are fine bands with long histories, in general they are very poorly known and appreciated in the US. I wonder if I can read anything deeper into the coincidence? Probably not a good idea.

My brother, who lives in New York, told me a funny story about going to see 54:40. They were just at the tail end of a long tour - and in Canada they’ll easily fill a large hall with 2000 people or more. So they show up at a smaller place and start setting up - and their guitar techs and roadies and whatnot (not a ton of these guys, but enough) worked hard to get it all set. They’re an all-pro band. My brother was there early and overheard the bartender say, “who the fuck do these guys think they are with their entourage?” Which was pretty funny, and somewhat telling.

A huge band here (the Hip will sell out arenas and stadiums, no problem, and charge just less than Sarah McLachlan for a night) often books a 200 seat bar in many cities in the States.