March 2001 - cypherpunks-legacy

BREAKING NEWS!!!!
by stockcircuit＠email-it.com 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

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Independent Institute Response To Phillip Hallam-Baker ("network externality")
by Matthew Gaylor 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

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FLUENT and naif british reporters
by Blank Frank 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

Greene writes in http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/8/17361.html Presently, FLUENT can translate Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Ukrainian, Reuters says. The omissions are almost as telling as the languages included. What, no Japanese, no Arabic, no Spanish, no Hebrew, no French? Laotian and Navajo we can understand, but what have we here? Laziness, discrimination, or misplaced trust? You make the call. ® Silly lad, you believe the list is complete?? I thought reporters were supposed to think critically. "Disinfo = Diplomacy"

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Join4Free - The Sex Capitol Of The Net! => cypherpunks@toad.com
by editor＠newsletter.join4free.com 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

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On-topic?
by Eric 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

Hey Matt- LOVE Freematt's Alerts; please keep it coming. This may be a little off your beaten path, but it has affected us strongly, and I believe there's a first-amendment issue here. We run an adult site (well, more a 'risque' site), and had a good year - then donated some money to charity, and being very self-satisfied, linked to the charities from our site. They got wind of it (because of rants from some religious-righties we were battling with), and threatened to send the legal goon squads after us. The story is here: http://www.loverscaughtontape.com/nytimes.html A fan of ours entered the fray also: http://www.tdavis.org/stjude/ I hope you find it suitable to run, but thanks either way! Best, Eric ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt(a)coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, 2175 Bayfield Drive, Columbus, OH 43229 (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************

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On-topic?
by Eric 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

Hey Matt- LOVE Freematt's Alerts; please keep it coming. This may be a little off your beaten path, but it has affected us strongly, and I believe there's a first-amendment issue here. We run an adult site (well, more a 'risque' site), and had a good year - then donated some money to charity, and being very self-satisfied, linked to the charities from our site. They got wind of it (because of rants from some religious-righties we were battling with), and threatened to send the legal goon squads after us. The story is here: http://www.loverscaughtontape.com/nytimes.html A fan of ours entered the fray also: http://www.tdavis.org/stjude/ I hope you find it suitable to run, but thanks either way! Best, Eric ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt(a)coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, 2175 Bayfield Drive, Columbus, OH 43229 (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************

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Bruce Ennis, Seth Finkelstein, and Stephanie Perrin win EFF Awards
by Seth Finkelstein 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

Bruce Ennis, Stephanie Perrin, and myself (Seth Finkelstein) have been honored as Internet luminaries, winners of the 2001 Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Awards. The press release below is also available on the web, at http://www.eff.org/awards/20010305_pioneer_press_release.html __ Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf(a)sethf.com http://sethf.com Electronic Frontier Foundation Press Release March 5, 2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday March 5th, 2001 ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION (EFF) PIONEER AWARDS HONOR INTERNET LUMINARIES Ennis, Finkelstein, and Perrin Presented Awards at EFF's Tenth Annual Pioneer Awards Ceremony Contact: Katina Bishop, Electronic Frontier Foundation (415) 436-9333 ext. 101 or (617) 492-1234 - during CFP from 3/5 - 3/9 Monday, March 5, 2001, Boston, MA -- The ceremony for EFF's Tenth Annual Pioneer Awards will take place at the New England Aquarium on March 8, 2001, in conjunction with the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference this week in Cambridge, MA. The online civil liberties group chose to honor Bruce Ennis, in appreciation of his lifelong commitment to the legal defense of free expression and the First Amendment; Seth Finkelstein, for his dedication to raising the level of public awareness about the dangers to free expression posed by Internet content blocking and labeling systems; and Stephanie Perrin, for her instrumental and long-term role in advancing understanding and protection of privacy internationally and in her home country of Canada. Since 1991, the EFF Pioneer Awards have recognized individuals who have made significant and influential contributions to the development of computer-mediated communications or to the empowerment of individuals in using computers and the Internet. Bruce Ennis - Described by the legal press as one of the most influential attorneys in the country, Bruce Ennis devoted much of his life and practice to defending intellecual freedom. Bruce argued many crucial First Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts, including the landmark free speech victory in ACLU v. Reno (the "Communications Decency Act" case). Sadly, Ennis passed away earlier this year, but his contributions to free expression on the Internet live on but his contributions to free expression and press in the Internet, news reporting, political and other spheres live on. Seth Finkelstein - Anti-censorship activist and programmer Seth Finkelstein spent hundreds of unpaid and uncredited hours over several years to decrypt and expose to public scrutiny the secret contents of the most popular censorware blacklists. Seth has been active in raising the level of public awareness about the dangers that Internet content blocking software and rating/labeling schemes pose to freedom of communication. His work has armed many with information of great assistance in the fight against government mandated use of these systems. Stephanie Perrin - internationally recognized privacy and freedom of information expert Perrin spent 5 years engineering Canada's inspiring new privacy law (PIPEDA), among 15 years of important privacy and cryptography policy work, and has bridged the government, nonprofit and commercial sectors in privacy technology, policy, standards and education. Perrin has also been involved in privacy protection issues at the global scale, on the OECD Security and Privacy Committee, and made signifcant contributions to understanding technical privacy protection issues. "We, as a community of people respecting rights in technology, do not take enough opportunity to honor our own," stated Shari Steele, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Bruce, Stephanie and Seth are shining examples of the spirit and energy that makes good things happen. We're proud to present them with this year's Pioneer Awards." The judges for this year's EFF Pioneer Awards were: Herb Brody (Senior Editor, Technology Review) Whitfield Diffie (Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems) Moira Gunn (Host, "Tech Nation", National Public Radio) Donna L. Hoffman (Associate Professor of Management, Vanderbilt University) Peter G. Neumann (Principal Scientist, SRI Intl.; Moderator, ACM Risks Forum) Drazen Pantic (Media & Tech. Director, NYU Center for War, Peace, & the News Media) Barbara Simons (past President, Association for Computing Machinery, & U.C. Berkeley Distinguished Alumnus) Karen G. Schneider (Technical Director, Shenendehowa Public Library, NY) The Tenth Annual EFF Pioneer Awards ceremony will be held on the evening of March 8th, 2001, at the New England Aquarium. The ceremony and reception are made possible by contributions from Guardent, Michael Golub and Mark Belden, MEconomy, Inc, Organic, Inc, Privada, Inc., and Sun Microsystems. For more information on EFF Pioneer Awards, see: http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer.html For more information on the Electronic Frontier Foundation see: http://www.eff.org About EFF: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world: http://www.eff.org ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt(a)coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, 2175 Bayfield Drive, Columbus, OH 43229 (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************

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Bruce Ennis, Seth Finkelstein, and Stephanie Perrin win EFF Awards
by Seth Finkelstein 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

Bruce Ennis, Stephanie Perrin, and myself (Seth Finkelstein) have been honored as Internet luminaries, winners of the 2001 Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Awards. The press release below is also available on the web, at http://www.eff.org/awards/20010305_pioneer_press_release.html __ Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer sethf(a)sethf.com http://sethf.com Electronic Frontier Foundation Press Release March 5, 2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday March 5th, 2001 ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION (EFF) PIONEER AWARDS HONOR INTERNET LUMINARIES Ennis, Finkelstein, and Perrin Presented Awards at EFF's Tenth Annual Pioneer Awards Ceremony Contact: Katina Bishop, Electronic Frontier Foundation (415) 436-9333 ext. 101 or (617) 492-1234 - during CFP from 3/5 - 3/9 Monday, March 5, 2001, Boston, MA -- The ceremony for EFF's Tenth Annual Pioneer Awards will take place at the New England Aquarium on March 8, 2001, in conjunction with the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference this week in Cambridge, MA. The online civil liberties group chose to honor Bruce Ennis, in appreciation of his lifelong commitment to the legal defense of free expression and the First Amendment; Seth Finkelstein, for his dedication to raising the level of public awareness about the dangers to free expression posed by Internet content blocking and labeling systems; and Stephanie Perrin, for her instrumental and long-term role in advancing understanding and protection of privacy internationally and in her home country of Canada. Since 1991, the EFF Pioneer Awards have recognized individuals who have made significant and influential contributions to the development of computer-mediated communications or to the empowerment of individuals in using computers and the Internet. Bruce Ennis - Described by the legal press as one of the most influential attorneys in the country, Bruce Ennis devoted much of his life and practice to defending intellecual freedom. Bruce argued many crucial First Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts, including the landmark free speech victory in ACLU v. Reno (the "Communications Decency Act" case). Sadly, Ennis passed away earlier this year, but his contributions to free expression on the Internet live on but his contributions to free expression and press in the Internet, news reporting, political and other spheres live on. Seth Finkelstein - Anti-censorship activist and programmer Seth Finkelstein spent hundreds of unpaid and uncredited hours over several years to decrypt and expose to public scrutiny the secret contents of the most popular censorware blacklists. Seth has been active in raising the level of public awareness about the dangers that Internet content blocking software and rating/labeling schemes pose to freedom of communication. His work has armed many with information of great assistance in the fight against government mandated use of these systems. Stephanie Perrin - internationally recognized privacy and freedom of information expert Perrin spent 5 years engineering Canada's inspiring new privacy law (PIPEDA), among 15 years of important privacy and cryptography policy work, and has bridged the government, nonprofit and commercial sectors in privacy technology, policy, standards and education. Perrin has also been involved in privacy protection issues at the global scale, on the OECD Security and Privacy Committee, and made signifcant contributions to understanding technical privacy protection issues. "We, as a community of people respecting rights in technology, do not take enough opportunity to honor our own," stated Shari Steele, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Bruce, Stephanie and Seth are shining examples of the spirit and energy that makes good things happen. We're proud to present them with this year's Pioneer Awards." The judges for this year's EFF Pioneer Awards were: Herb Brody (Senior Editor, Technology Review) Whitfield Diffie (Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems) Moira Gunn (Host, "Tech Nation", National Public Radio) Donna L. Hoffman (Associate Professor of Management, Vanderbilt University) Peter G. Neumann (Principal Scientist, SRI Intl.; Moderator, ACM Risks Forum) Drazen Pantic (Media & Tech. Director, NYU Center for War, Peace, & the News Media) Barbara Simons (past President, Association for Computing Machinery, & U.C. Berkeley Distinguished Alumnus) Karen G. Schneider (Technical Director, Shenendehowa Public Library, NY) The Tenth Annual EFF Pioneer Awards ceremony will be held on the evening of March 8th, 2001, at the New England Aquarium. The ceremony and reception are made possible by contributions from Guardent, Michael Golub and Mark Belden, MEconomy, Inc, Organic, Inc, Privada, Inc., and Sun Microsystems. For more information on EFF Pioneer Awards, see: http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer.html For more information on the Electronic Frontier Foundation see: http://www.eff.org About EFF: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world: http://www.eff.org ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt(a)coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, 2175 Bayfield Drive, Columbus, OH 43229 (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************

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by at1last＠hotmail.com 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

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Trampling on the theory of path dependence
by Matthew Gaylor 06 Mar '01

06 Mar '01

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3OPVMLY JC&live=true Tuesday Mar 6 2001 [FT.com] Financial Times Trampling on the theory of path dependence Microsoft's judges may decide that consumer approval rather than illegal tactics led to the company's power Published: March 5 2001 19:49GMT | Last Updated: March 5 2001 20:07GMT [amity schlaes] Microsoft looks as if it may evade the dismemberment ordered in the finding sent up by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. Not only have federal appeals court judges shown some sympathy for the company's case, but the Bush administration may also revise antitrust policy and offer it a settlement. Microsoft stock's recent rise reflects these new prospects. But what about the underlying theory that convinced Judge Jackson that Microsoft needed dismantling in the first place? He leaned repeatedly towards an economic idea known as path dependence. The position that the appeals court or the Justice Department take on this issue will do much to determine Microsoft's fate. Path dependence is also a key part of modern monopoly theory generally, so has a bearing on other antitrust cases. So what precisely is it? Path dependence says that a company may gain an overwhelming advantage in a market if it manages to establish an industry standard before anyone else. That standard then becomes so powerful that it becomes a barrier to better challengers. The company, in short, creates an impregnable monopoly. The textbook example here has long been the qwerty keyboard. Its critics argue that it is less efficient than other key arrangements. Their position is that it has dominated for a century merely because one of the first manufacturers of the manual typewriter, E. Remington, adopted it early on, ensuring that it would become the standard. Path dependence emphasises, sometimes close to exclusively, the competitor as victim. Consumers are part of path dependence theory too - but only indirectly; they lose because the competitor does. Bunkum, say two professors of economics, Stan J. Liebowitz of the University of Texas at Dallas and Stephen E. Margolis of North Carolina State.* Markets are meritocracies where good products win, be they mouse traps or operating systems. An item's success is due more to its quality than to any industrial predation. Start with the qwerty keyboard. The professors argue that qwerty was hardly the competition-free gladiator that received wisdom makes out. It turns out that there were 51 rivals to Remington's qwerty at the outset. Remington's qwerty prevailed not because of market share alone but also because qwerty typists won at much-publicised typing contests. Then there is the showcase argument against qwerty: DSK, a keyboard arrangement patented in 1936 by ergonomics expert August Dvorak. Dvorak tested DSK in Chicago schools and found data indicating its superiority. In the second world war, DSK was pitted against qwerty at the US Navy. Recruits who had once performed at a measly 32 words a minute speeded up to a masterly 56. Yet the old qwerty standard still prevailed. Messrs Liebowitz and Margolis have unearthed evidence to show that DSK's superiority is something of a fable. For one thing, as it turns out, the co-author of the landmark Navy study was Dvorak himself. And later studies failed to replicate the pro-Dvorak evidence. Another supposed paradigm of path dependence is the famous Beta-VHS war. Sony's Beta, the argument runs, was a good product. But through sheer market aggression, RCA, the US distributors of VHS, managed to make VHS the US standard and so obtained an enduring monopoly. But this, the professors note, is an incomplete account. While the technology of the two products was identical, Sony took a fateful step in crafting its cassettes. It believed portability would be the most attractive feature for the cassette. It made its product smaller - but with a playing time of only one hour, in contrast to VHS, which could handle full-length films. Filmgoers, as it turned out, became big video customers. VHS won. In the Microsoft case, the company's advantage is Windows' superiority and not Microsoft's scheming. Messrs Liebowitz and Margolis criticise Judge Jackson's view that Microsoft did social damage by bundling its browser, Internet Explorer, in the Windows package. This may have hurt Netscape, a competitor, as the latter loudly claimed. But there is little evidence that it hurt the consumer, at least not in the long run. The authors offer a telling example from an older industry giant, car manufacture. In the old days, US carmakers sold vehicles without the rustproofing necessary in bitter climates. Cautious buyers then took their new purchases to rustproofing specialists for treatment. Later, carmakers incorporated rustproofing into their own product. This may have hurt America's big rustproofing company, Ziebart. It even disrupted car owner habits temporarily. But car owners in the long run were not unhappy to receive a road-ready product. Or, as the authors put it, "a rule that compels a look at consumer perception as though frozen in time will be harmful". Given the failings of path dependence, why its prevalence as a way of looking at the world? Messrs Margolis and Liebowitz argue that path dependence survives because it is an argument that suits some of the biggest players in the global antitrust drama: competitors. Jack Welch of General Electric complained last week in a different context (the European Commission's review of GE's plan to merge with Honeywell), of regulators being more concerned with competitors than consumers. But while competitors have much to lose in battles against strong companies, it is not necessarily true that their defeat is also the consumer's. That is a valuable warning at a time when vigorous antitrust action has become the norm. * Winners, Losers and Microsoft. J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis. The Independent Institute ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt(a)coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, 2175 Bayfield Drive, Columbus, OH 43229 (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************

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