EFF, Jailbreak, Copyrights And What It Means For Privacy

The press has been all over the story about the ruling that allows jailbreaking an iPhone, however another ruling occurred that I think has MUCH bigger consequences.

What do copyrighted material and your privacy have in common?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won a new legal protection for video artists and cellphone jailbreakers with this release.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won three critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) anticircumvention provisions today, carving out new legal protections for consumers who modify their cell phones and artists who remix videos — people who, until now, could have been sued for their non-infringing or fair use activities.

This is the statement that I think has huge implications.

EFF also won a groundbreaking new protection for video remix artists currently thriving on Internet sites like YouTube.

The new rule holds that amateur creators do not violate the DMCA when they use short excerpts from DVDs in order to create new, noncommercial works for purposes of criticism or comment if they believe that circumvention is necessary to fulfill that purpose.

Hollywood has historically taken the view that "ripping" DVDs is always a violation of the DMCA, no matter the purpose.

In other words, this allows original "artwork" to be edited without the owner's permission.

Now they say it can be done for "noncommercial works" but when ads are placed next to the YouTube video, doesn't this violate that?

The big picture:

I see your privacy, and your private information as your own "artwork" and with these new rulings, the floodgates are open. Privacy is like insurance, you only need it (and appreciate it) after the fact.

Does anyone else see this slippery slope?

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Solar Reaches Cost Tipping Point

The sun begins to shine for the solar industry. The cost "tipping point" has been reached where it is now cheaper to use solar instead of building nuclear.



The question is....was this tipping point reached due to global warming, or photovoltaic manufacturing efficiency?


From NY Times Nuclear Energy Loses Cost Advantage

In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower than the rising projected costs of new nuclear plants, according to a paper published this month.

This crossover occurred at 16 cents per kilowatt hour.


A list of some publicly traded solar stocks





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TheU.S. Middle Class Is Shrinking

Some "big picture" stuff from Yahoo.

There was a stat somewhere that showed that more people than ever work for the U.S. Government.

Quick, name one business the government "runs" that makes a profit...

The U.S. Middle Class Is Drastically Shrinking

The highlights.

For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together

In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.

What do most Americans have to offer in the marketplace other than their labor? Not much. The truth is that most Americans are absolutely dependent on someone else giving them a job. But today, U.S. workers are "less attractive" than ever. Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing more rules and regulations seemingly on a monthly basis that makes it even more difficult to conduct business in the United States.


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Say Goodbye To Batteries..Radio Waves Offer Low Power Source.

Soon it will be possible to power small electronic devices using just “ambient” energy from existing radio waves produced by television, radio and mobile-phone transmitters.



From N.Y. Times Say Bye Bye To Batteries

Until recently, the use of radio waves to power wireless electronic devices was largely untapped because the waves dilute quickly as they spread.

“Ambient radio waves,” Dr. Smith of Intel said, “can already provide enough energy to substitute for AAA batteries in some calculators, temperature and humidity sensors, and clocks.”

Many electronic devices are limited by batteries that fade away or can’t survive temperature extremes, he said. But, he added, “we are on the cusp of an explosion in small wireless devices” than can run on alternatives to battery power. “Devices like this can live on and on,” he said.

Don't have one of those?

Just use personal energy generator that plays off of human kinetic energy.



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You Want My Personal Data And My Time..Pay Me For It

There are two components that are becoming very valuable in the digital age.

Time and Data.

It's not just your personal information that you provide to specific sites, but the TIME you spend on them that is becoming very valuable.

Did you know that the average user spends almost 30 minutes on Facebook?

That's the longest amount of time on ANY website.

What is driving that metric up?...games.

Facebook takes the data YOU provided to them and shows you relevant ads....for thirty minutes.

A trend that is developing...consumers will soon will want to be paid for this.

Interesting article in the NY Times that highlights the growing trend I have been discussing Pay Me For My Data

On the Internet, users supply the raw material that helps generate billions of dollars a year in online advertising revenue. Search requests, individual profiles on social networks, Web browsing habits, posted pictures and many Internet messages are all mined to serve up targeted online ads.

All of this personal information turns out to be extremely valuable, collectively. So why should Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other ad businesses get all the rewards?




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Product Placement In Social Networking Games..Google's Investment In Zynga Makes More Sense

Product placement within online games..a huge advertising opportunity.

Now we know why Google just sunk a bunch of money into Zynga.

What happens when your online activity encourages you to visit/purchase from a brick and mortar retailer?

FaceBook has your profile, they can provide relevant ads to you, but online games don't have that dynamic ability..or do they?

What if there was a way an online game could change ads based on the user?

The Internet has shifted a majority of commerce from brick and mortar stores to e-commerce powerhouses. That trend may be changing.

Zynga (and their wildly successful FarmVille) have teamed up with Cascadian Farm, a subsidiary of General Mills, to drive online game players to purchase organic fruit.


Next week, FarmVille will, for the first time, offer its pretend farmers a specific food brand. Players will be able to plant an organic blueberry crop from Cascadian Farm, a subsidiary of General Mills.

The objective is for FarmVille users to learn about organic farming and green living, and at the same time, earn additional points to grow fruits and vegetables or raise animals on their virtual farms. Cascadian Farm executives say they hope that the company can expand its food niche and make itself better known by increasing awareness among FarmVille’s audience.





full story from IHT




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Google Secretly Invests In Zynga

I see this as a "if you can't beat em, join em" for Google.


Facebook, and the Zynga games like Farmville/Mafia are taking eyes away from Google and their ad revenues. Zynga is in a nice position having both Facebook and Google fight over them.

Will it matter where a game is launched from? How will Google make sure your eyes are only on their pages?

What is there is another hot game out there, not owned by Zynga?


From Tech Crunch Google Invests In Zynga, Ready To Launch Google Games

The investment was made by Google itself, not Google Ventures, say our sources, and it’s a highly strategic deal. Zynga will be the cornerstone of a new Google Games to launch later this year, say multiple sources.

Not only will Zynga’s games give Google Games a solid base of social games to build on, but it will also give Google the beginning of a true social graph as users log into Google to play the games.

And I wouldn’t be surprised to see PayPal being replaced with Google Checkout as the primary payment option. Zynga is supposedly PayPal’s biggest single customer, and Google is always looking for ways to make Google Checkout relevant.





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