Today's New Blawg — And Extreme Podcast!

Lots of people tune out the subway with their headphones. But how many let you tune it in with their microphone? While I don't know the answer to that question, I do know that IP litigator Ray Dowd of Small Firm Life is one of them — here's his Small Firm Life Podcast — and that I'm quite honored and touched to have been the inspiration for his foray into shall-we-say-less-than-optimal audio. I agree with Ray that even "extreme" podcasts (and plawdcasts/blawgcasts — ah, can't you just hear Regina George insisting that Gretchen "stop trying to make 'fetch' happen!"?) of the "rough and unvarnished" variety can be quite compelling, though I do love it when the folks at IT Conversations make me sound like less of a putz. Happy commuting Ray, I'm subscribed.

And happy one year birthday to Evan Schaeffer's and the Mommycasters' truly excellent 'casts, that are about as far from poor production values as one can get. (Yet often "extreme." In the best possible ways.)

Your Time And Place, Or Mine?

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing today on Digital Content and Enabling Technology: Satisfying the 21st Century Consumer. Here's coverage from Broadcating & Cable, and a Consumer Electronics Ass'n press release.

[Technorati tags: timeandplaceshifting; tivo; slingbox]

Resales And Trades, Post-Grokster

Ross Rubin has some fascinating posts at Engadget as part of his "Switched On" column: La la introduces the CD to P2P and La la, legality, and the long tail. They explore post-MGM v. Grokster legal considerations for businesses (in this instance, la la) built around the resale of copyrighted digital works. Re the business: "On la la, you can trade any CD you have for any CD you want that's available in members' collections for only $1 plus postage." Re the applicable infringement deterrents: "Together, these measures won't do much to stop even casual infringers; and it is naïve to think that traded CDs won't be ripped." Re reality: "I will never again underestimate people's tolerance for gently used items." (Yep; ask parents of young kids, for example.)

(Related: The Peerflix challenge: Rip. Flix. Churn.)

(Related: our article Grokking Grokster: Staying Out of Court and In Business in the Wake of the Supreme Court's Ruling.)

[Technorati tags: mgmvgrokster; grokster; lala; peerflix]

Search, Post-Grokster

BitTorrent search engine TorrentSpy is seeking an early resolution of the secondary liability/MGM v. Grokster issues involved in a suit against it by the major studios. Defense counsel Ira Rothken's press release has more, and a link to a PDF of the motion. Mr. Rothken sums up thusly: "The MPAA is in essence trying to outlaw the dot torrent file format."

TorrentFreak: Torrentspy tells the MPAA to sue Google.

techdirt: TorrentSpy Says MPAA Can't Reinterpret The Supreme Court On File Sharing. [via Kevin Heller's news page]

(Related: our article Grokking Grokster: Staying Out of Court and In Business in the Wake of the Supreme Court's Ruling.)

[Technorati tags: mgmvgrokster; grokster; columbiapicturesvbunnell; torrentspy]

Lingua Sandwich

Just stumbled on Wikipedia's Portmanteau Category, and list of computer and technology puns. (Context. Was grabbing the link for Pajamahadeen.)

[Update:] Ed. points out that Homonymous portmanteaux have their own entry, too. Not to be confused with hominoid portmanteaux; though technically speaking that's what they are. (What's the term for words that sound like one thing but mean another?)