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Openness and the social web
A recurring theme for me is the difficulty of keeping markets “open,” in the sense of empowering customers and users with information and choice, while still permitting businesses to grow and innovate.
July 2009 / 2 min.
Write an article; find a job
Debra Bruce suggests that lawyers looking for work think about writing an article to aid in finding a job.
July 2009 / 2 min.
Using a blog to get a job
A blog can be a very useful way for a lawyer looking for work to find connections and, hopefully, get a job.
July 2009 / 1 min.
Are law schools relevant to the future of law?
Paul Lippe, a well-known Silicon Valley GC and founder of Legal OnRamp (LOR), recently posted an essay on the Am Law Daily that essentially argues that law schools, at least in their present form, are not relevant to the future of law.
July 2009 / 2 min.
WordPress and the GPL
Any WordPress theme is so entwined with the main WordPress code as to make it a “derivative work,” and thus subject to WordPress’ copyright and licensing (which is the GPL).
July 2009 / 4 min.
Should ringtones count as a “public performance”?
Should someone – either you or your carrier – have to pay additionally for a “public performance” of a song when your phone rings?
July 2009 / 2 min.
BlawgIT’s introduction to “fair use”
Brett Trout has a useful introduction to “fair use” up on BlawgIT. The goal is to help you “spot the issues” and avoid some common urban legends. Recommended.
July 2009 / 1 min.
The myth of “original creation”
Techdirt has an interesting article up about the myth of the “original creator” - the idea that copyright protects individual creators working in a vacuum come up with new, unique ideas that are not based on anything that precedes them. This is, as any author, musician, or inventor knows, not the way it works in practice.
July 2009 / 2 min.
Patent simulation study concludes current patent system hampers innovation
A recently published law review article concludes that experiments with “PatentSim,” “a multi-user interactive simulation of patent and non-patent (commons and open source) systems,” do not support the general justification of our current patent system.
July 2009 / 3 min.
Attorney ethics require effective research skills: “the torture memos”
Whatever you feel about the “torture memos,” one underlying lesson is an important one for any lawyer: failure to do effective research when advising your client can be as much of a breach of ethical rules as failure to meet deadlines.
July 2009 / 2 min.