Cold Talked

Beppe Severgnini, in discussing his book Ciao, America: An Italian Discovers the U.S. and cultural differences between the two countries: "In America, you use the refrigerator door to communicate. It's like the Internet. The refrigerator door is the grandmother of email." [via C-SPAN's Booknotes]

Location, Location, Location

The fascinating Intel v. Hamidi case received this attention recently from the L.A. Times. [via CIS] Is there some point at which unsolicited email can pose a sufficient burden to privately owned resources to constitute a trespass? If so, is the sender's act nevertheless constitutionally protected? It's an analysis fraught with other implications, as the principles involved arguably can be applied, for example, to things like search engines. (Tangentially related: No Links Please, We're European, via Spartaneity.) As the Times article mentions, when the California Supreme Court decides this case it will be the first high court of a U.S. state to rule on the "trespass to chattels" theory as applied to Internet related actions.

Reuniting Man And Machine

I just added the donation button for the Doc Camera Fund to my sidebar so it won't fall off the page with the initial call for help. Please donate a few bucks and tell lots of friends. We're a long way from replacing the wayward device, but I'm sure every little bit will help.

The Revolution Will Be Litigated

Jury Service, a "gonzo post-human novella" by Cory Doctorow and Charlie Stross, is in mid-serialization at SciFi.com. Here are Parts I and II, for your reading pleasure. [via Boing Boing]

Bob Berring Named Boalt's Interim Dean

My former legal research and writing professor Bob Berring has been named interim Dean of Boalt Hall, according to email I received this afternoon from Louise Epstein, Boalt's Assitant Dean and head of alumni relations and development. Bob Berring's a wonderful, highly intelligent guy I've mentioned here before. Here's the press release on his appointment, and more from Boalt's site.