Win-Win

Yossi Vardi, at Harvard: "In the Internet wars, the winner will be he who is able to harness the good will of the edge."

Oh Hallow Night

Happy Halloween! [Via Rick Bruner]

Today's New Blawg

Rod Dixon writes Open Source Software Law [via Ernie Svenson]:

I am a lawyer. I also teach and write about the intersection of law and technology, particularly in the context of the social, cultural, and political dimensions of computer-mediated communications. I hope you might consider using my book [link added, out in December], if you participate in the open source community.

A recent post attempts to clarify whether an open source software license is a contract. (It depends.) For more great discussion of these kinds of issues, in downloadable MP3 format no less, OSCOM (the Open Source Content Management conference last May in Cambridge) had an excellent intellectual property panel moderated by John Palfrey and featuring Aaron Swartz, Mike Olson, Larry Rosen, and Liza Vertinsky* (MP3), and the EFF's Wendy Seltzer gave a presentation on the Berkman Center's Openlaw project (MP3).

*Check out Liza's law firm's awesome Web site.

WLF Legal Backgrounder on Intel v. Hamidi

The Washington Legal Foundation this week has published an article I wrote about the California Supreme Court's decision in Intel v. Hamidi (PDF): "California High Court Complicates Control Of Unwanted E-Mails." This case was a fun one to blog along with as it worked its way through the California courts, particularly when Ken Hamidi's lawyer Greg Lastowka dropped by after winning and confessed to being an avid Bag and Baggage lurker.

Harnessing Influence

Howard Bashman announces that his 20 Questions For The Appellate Judge interview series has had several recent exciting sign-ups, and is booked through March of next year. The February slot will feature Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt—the first, but hopefully not the last, participant from the jurists included among California's 100 most influential lawyers, as recognized by the Daily Journal.