Hurricane Tyler, NOLA Bound?

Our two-year-old is demonstrably ready for Mardi Gras. How do I know this? Two things. First, he has taken to gleefully taking the Lord's name in vain at the slightest provocation (so, this must be something his other caregivers unthinkingly do...). "Oh my GAWD!!!" — inexplicably yet undeniably uttered with the most Linda-Richman-Coffee-Talk, un-low back vowell merged inflection. Nonstop. Everywhere.

The second, as you'll see, is the clincher. Today we were working our way toward a Sunday afternoon jacuzzi. Apparently I was moving at a pace that didn't meet with Tyler's approval (that, and/or our weaning issues could perhaps have been a contributing factor), so "TAKE OFF SHIRT!" is what I found myself commanded to do. Given the ease with and distance to which he already hurls all small, shiny objects that come his way, I feel sure he could master the bead tossing requirement in short order.

[Update, 2/20:] Oh, he is so ready for Bourbon Street! This morning he head-butted me into a shiner, first one I've had since I was his age!

The Inevitable

Two things that were bound to happen:

1. The RIAA's assertion that ripping is not fair use, as noted by Fred von Lohmann; "So your ability to continue to make copies of your own CDs on your own iPod is entirely a matter of their sufferance." Fred quotes some of the argument from MGM v. Grokster ("it's perfectly lawful"), that also refers (I presume) to the RIAA site's "Ask the RIAA" section, specifically, "What is your stand on MP3s?:" "If you choose to take your own CDs and make copies for yourself on your computer or portable music player, that's great. It's your music and we want you to enjoy it at home, at work, in the car and on the jogging trail." Note the phrasing reinforcing Fred's "suffrance" observation: "we want you..." But there's a word for the potential impact of such statements on related legal proceedings; it's estoppel.


2. Mad Kane's ode to America's favorite marksman. [Update:] And yet another, this one set to the tune of an old family favorite.

[Update:] Please see Cathy Kirkman's further Thoughts on RIAA and CD Ripping.

Chilling The Chillers

I've found it fascinating over the last several years to see how ready public access to what once were private dispute-related communications can alter the dynamics or even the nature of the dispute. Marty Schwimmer comments on another example with a well-taken word to the wise from the trademark standpoint: "In the era of the blogosphere where lawyers' letters get posted and linked to, some trademark owners may be trading the possibility of dilution for the reality of tarnishment."

[Technorati tags: public disputes; participatory law]

Tracking

Identity Rights Agreements. [Via Eric Norlin] Context/more:

• Drummond Reed, Identity Rights Agreements: "Identity rights agreements are becoming one of the galvanizing forces for a revitalized Identity Commons. One of the reasons is the oft-used analogy that 'Identity Commons should be to identity rights what Creative Commons is to copyright'. [¶]I want to take a moment to explain why I believe this analogy may be so profound – and thus why identity rights agreements may become one of the hottest topics in digital identity." [...]


• The Story of Digital Identity, with Scott Blackmer

Cloning Tips Welcome

Or podcast links. I'd love to hear Peter Menell (he's the co-founder and director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology) discuss IP and the Music Industry on Thursday, March 23, but will be on Hugh Hewitt's panel that same night in connection with the NeXus law journal's upcoming issue about blogging and the law.