Blue Sky On Mars

Thoughts on Building Software Products
July 31, 2001

Why I Agree With Tasini

by Kevin Dangoor

In New York Times v. Tasini, freelance writer Jonathan Tasini sued because the NY Times published an article of his online without his permission. I agree with the Supreme Court and with Anupam Chander’s article on the issue, in which Chander states that the case may have an impact for Napster.

In all of the talk about Napster, it has seemed like musicians are pretty powerless in the music industry. That is true, because musicians sign away their copyrights when they sign up with a major label. However, writers are a different story. They often retain their copyrights and just give a license to a publisher for a specific use.
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July 31, 2001

Project Censored

by Kevin Dangoor

Noam Chomsky writes ProjectCensored.org: “They fall in a domain in which corporate-state interests are rather different from those of the public. That such stories would tend to be downplayed, reshaped, and obscured â014″censored,” in the terminology of the projectâ014is only to be expected on the basis of even the most rudimentary inspection of the institutional structure of the media and their place in the broader society.” Project Censored looks like a very valuable resource for people who are willing to consider issues that the mass media may not be willing to publicize.