On Tue, 21 Aug 2001, Tim May wrote:
This is a good example of a point I made in my earlier post: academic interests shift, following trends (translation: worth of granting tenure for). Clipper and key escrow were very hot topics around 1993-95. Today, it's stuff like ICANN and Napster (with Napster fading...).
Tim makes a valid point here, but omits a companion point of perhaps greater importance, in context. Faddish as it sometimes-- well, hell, often--is, the academic side of the law is the *only* side of the law that even begins to reward originality. Those of us who actually represent people find that original thinking is the bane of most judges, unless you can make them believe the idea started with them. Any parallels in software, both as to faddishness among the "original" thinkers and leader-following otherwise? MacN