The Great Anti-IP Manifesto

We, the denizens of the Free Internet World, as represented by I, Lord I. Hate U. Declare:

1) That the internet has finally toppled the Western world promulgated concept of Intellectual Property.

2) That art, literature, cinema, and other forms of self expression should be free to everyone.

3) That there should be no division between the first and the third world when it comes to access to all forms of knowledge that has previously been protected by the oppressive intellectual property laws.

4) That technology should be free. That Bill Gates should be glad that people are using his program, even if they paid nothing for it.

5) That the creators of Napster, Emule, and other peer to peer sharing programs be declared by the Vatican as saints.

6) That they be declared by every nation as national heroes.

7) That they be given Nobel Prizes for literature, peace, and all other such prizes that may even be remotely connected to their work.

8) That the internet should not be used for commerce of intellectual property. Porn sites be FREE!

For further explanations and musings with regards to this manifesto, purchase my book for $14.99 entitled "The Anti-IP Manifesto" at all Amazon stores and other specialty bookstores. Anybody caught with book-alikes and xerox copies of any portion of the book shall be punished severely.

Nyek.

The Embattled Flying Serpents

It's an inevitable response that Snakes on a Plane will be considered as awful. It doesn't venerate good taste or put upon a pedestal norms of morality or propriety. It is what it is basically, snakes on a friggin plane. Take it as that, and for me it's a pretty good idea. No fuss about putting political statements or what not, who needs those when the TV, even comedy shows, invade our minds with images of Dubya and wars. I just want my motherfuckin snakes on that motherfuckin plane.

The class believes that the internet response to Snakes on a Plane is bad. However, it is the internet that championed the film. The internet has given rise to a new breed of critics (mostly bloggers whose criticisms are based on internal impulses than film school-thought mechanisms) who are slowly taking over the roles of Ebert, Roeper, and all those print media film critics. Whether these blogger critics have anything substantial to say, it is what the new generation listen to. The "it's cool" vernacular defeats the "It doesn't match up Godard's visual innovations and thus a waste of my valuable time" definitions of art film snobs who mostly comprise the pool of print media critics. It's logical, the mass public would rather listen to critics who adhere to mass appeal rather than film snobs.

Is this the end of print media criticism as we know it? Maybe. I don't think anybody listens to critics nowadays. Their words do not generally transform into income or lack of income. Most of the year's blockbusters were lashed by critics, so why are they there in the first place if they cannot shepherd the movie-going flock? Well, they're there because there is still room for good taste in this earth. Good taste does not generally mean that Snakes on a Plane is bad. It is a good brainless flick, and it's disposal of good taste makes it an unpretentious good film. Those with good taste, say "aye!" and follow me to the cineplexes to watch another dose of Snakes on a Plane.

I saw the SoaP trailer in eastwood i think around a month ago. I initially thought it was a B movie until I saw Samuel L. Jackson. Pretty cool. I told my date we ought to watch it just so we can see SL Jackson...then i forgot about it.
Ok, the movie was not Spiderman, or Batman or American Pie calibre, fine... but it's really no excuse to have bad marketing strategies or a bad movie, period.
You can't blame bloggers for the bad turn out. there was too much room for speculation about the movie when New Line apparently didn't even let critics view the film before releasing it. I can understand that critics can be a bit detached, but that doesn't mean they're right all the time or that people follow whether they say to go watch a movie or not (i.e. Da Vinci Code,ugh..'nuff said).
The internet and blogging worked for the Blairwitch project because the producers of the film FED the bloggers or the critics what they wanted them to talk about. Before the movie was released for the public there was already a buzz that the movie was for real.
Blogging is powerful and helpful if people keep in a good strategy in mind. Unfortunately, New Line took too bold a risk in letting bloggers have a free reign over their own product. They let the shit hit the fan even before it got turned on, and when it did, well... at least they learned a valuable marketing lesson.

CYBERCOP

After listening to the CyberCop and the lectures we’ve had so far in Infotech, one of the issues that always seem to creep up is the apparent lack of understanding of most of our lawmakers and members of the judiciary on the subject matter of cybercrimes. Even Mr. CyberCop admitted to having almost zero knowledge of computers, much less the internet, when he and his team were thrust into the LoveBug Case due to US pressure. That hit years ago and still we have yet to pass a law that will specifically deal will cybercrimes. So what is it? Incapacity to comprehend? Laziness to study? Or plain stubbornness?
Well in any case, it doesn’t seem like the “older ones” will be gaining enough ground on the issue any time soon. Hopefully, their breed will just die out in the relatively near future.
In the mean time, let’s turn to CERTs. Call it the pro-active non-government solution. (http://www.ph-cert.org/) “Computer Emergency Response Teams” are usually volunteers. There are CERTs in almost all countries where there is internet access. Unfortunately, CERTs do not have the authority prosecute or to make arrests, especially in countries (like ours) which do not have definitive legislation on cybercrimes. The most that they do is that: respond and then troubleshoot.

And then there was a knock..

As DinofayeDino continued to grow, his interests and imagination knew no limits, playing with toys and games and whatever he could find. And as with his imagination, his craving for attention was equally as boundless. He demanded constant attention from his caretakers Dino, Faye and Dino so much so that their lives were solely centered on him.

Everything was done through the internet as much as possible to maximize their time with the blog baby. Shopping for clothes, foodstuffs, toys as well as their business were now done through the internet as the baby would shriek and cry if any of them left the house. And yet everything was still blissful and sweet and nice for the blog baby and his caretakers for they loved him so.

All this changed one day as a loud knock boomed throughout the house. There was someone at the door. The blog baby cried and Faye quickly picked him up and carried him away as Dino went to answer the door.

“What the frock is wrong with you? Why did you have to knock so loud” shouted Dino.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I had knock so loud. I’m just here to serve you summons from the BIR” the man politely replied.

He handed an envelope to Dino and made him sign a piece of paper which Dino proceeded to do with a dazed look on his face.

“Summons? For what?” asked Dino finally. But at that time the man had already left.

Looking through the summons, Oggs noticed that it was for a hearing regarding supposed tax evasions as the caretakers had allegedly not been paying the taxes due from their internet business. Dino, still confused at this point asked Oggs why they were being charged with tax evasions. And Oggs patiently read the allegations to Dino.

As Faye listened to what Oggs had read, she had a realization.

“What’s the matter with the two of you? There’s no need to be scared,” Faye calmly said, “they cannot charge us with tax evasions since there as far as I know there has been no ruling regarding the tax liabilities of people when it comes to things sold on the net. When it comes to sales taxes, there is a need to first determine the tax situs or the location of the tax liability and the tax nexus, or the ‘link to where, geographically, a tax should go from an Internet transaction.’[1] And since there has been no ruling on the matter, it can’t be accurately determined where we are supposed to pay taxes since it is not sure where we should pay since our business is purely virtual and does not even have an hq. Even American laws and jurisprudence are not decisive on the matter. Some say it should be at the place of purchase while others say it should be at the place of delivery and even some go the extent of saying that ‘only companies that maintained a physical presence in the state could be liable to pay state use taxes.’[2] And since these so-called experts aren’t even sure what more can they expect of us, right?”

And with that, the three caretakers smiled.


[1] http://www.unlv.edu/Colleges/Urban/pubadmin/papers/psmith.htm
[2] Quill vs. North Dakota 504 U.S. 298 Available: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-0194.ZO.html

DON’T BE A VICTIM.

Did you see that video clip of Cardona getting slapped in the face? Or how about that one on Karel? And didn’t Malou talk about that one OLA case she handled over the summer about some cell phone scandal of a girl and a guy doing something frisky and it got sent to a whole bunch of people? Anne Curtis and Richard Gutierrez getting snuggly? And the most gruesome one of all: Si MAHAL naliligo gamit tabo?

People who have mobile phones capable of receiving files through MMS or Bluetooth or video streaming know what we’re talking about. It has been the most recent urban phenomenon: “cell phone scandals” or just really amusing video-clips…

Is there a way to regulate these kinds of information? Convergence has made it possible for people to transmit videos such as those we mentioned above. It has allowed for the integration in the cell phone of functions such as the transmission of voice and digital information as well as other capabilities. This makes the cell phone truly a wonderful device for spreading such interesting bits of entertainment.

Do we even have to regulate it? According to Uncle Ben: “With great power comes great responsibility”… The messages being transmitted and received through this kind of communication technology simply does not allow for regulation of the content being transmitted. The users should be the ones responsible for the effects of transmitting such data. Or in the case of the people involved in scandals, they should just stop allowing themselves to be videoed and not blame cell phones for their predicament.

Privacy has been the creeping issue surrounding the movement towards convergence. It’s been discussed in the creation of legislative policies regarding such technologies around the globe. There may be some forms that may allow a clear cut view of how to regulate information dissemination using convergence technologies, but not all forms of technology are privacy-issue-free… To date, regulation of cell phone transmissions seems to be totally out of the question given the strict privacy laws that we have in the Philippines.

By the way, check out http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TR501/page29.htm for more "Convergence" info.. We found it mejo interesting.

Meron lang kaming question, WON convergence tech is involved: who owns the data which has been sent but yet to be received? Sinong may-ari at the time na 1s and 0s pa lang un message? La lang… good night.

Mr. Bill Bigmouth and His Cause

After the intense events inside the hospital, the caretakers of Dinofayoggs, Dino, Faye and Oggs, agreed to avoid trouble and hassle as much as they can. That plan came tumbling down when the trio and the blog baby encounter an angry mob just outside the hospital premises.

I don't know what you've been told
but Microsoft is earning gold
While we're here with computers old
Bowing all to what's been told

The military-like chant echoed from one side of the street to the other, as if every building of that bustling community was chanting with the angry mob. Oggs hugged Dinofayoggs and tried to keep the blog baby asleep despite the multitude of people chanting in an orc-like fashion.

I don't know what you've been told
but foreign corps are just so bold
That PC system they've just sold
is very ancient to what they hold

A sniff and a slight bubbling noise came from the blog baby, and almost instantly, Dinofayoggs gave a tremendous cry. Panicking and without any knowledge on how to keep babies asleep when they've been disturbed by a tumultous racket, Oggs gave the crying blog baby to Faye, and went forward.

"What the frock is all this about?" shouted Oggs.

From the multitude came a miniscule guy with a weirdly oversized mouth carrying a piece of paper.

"I, my comrades, is Mr. William Bigmouth, you can call me Bill for short," politely declared the mob's representative.

"This, my dear friend, is a sign up sheet, and my role here, my frenzied fellow, is to ask you to sign this sheet and give a contribution of a few pesos for our noble cause," calmly continued Bill.

"And what noble cause is that, my over-assuming bigmouthed friend?" sarcastically remarked Oggs.

"Yeah, what noble cause is that, my short and puny comrade?" repeated Dino.

"Yup, yup, yup, what? What? What? asked Faye, who was currently changing the diaper of the crying blog baby.

"Let me explain, my impatient grumbling pals," answered the slightly offended Bill. "We are rallying because of Section 52 of the Philippine Commerce Act which states, and I quote, unless otherwise expressly provided for, the interpretation of these Rules and the Act shall give due regard to the Act's international origin - the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce... you may clap now."

Nobody clapped. Silence.

"So what?" asked Faye, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, my neanderthal mistress," annoyedly remarked Bill, "can't you see that our country, the Philippines is clearly not yet fully progressed into an electronic community. Therefore, we cannot really compete with other nations so as to justify making something a foreign element created part of the law of our land. That section, if you've read completely, asks us to seek guidance from the model law, for interpretation of the law. I tell you now that our governmental systems aren't completely connected to the Internet as compared to the governments of the United States, Korea, or Switzerland. Does that mean that we have to keep up with the Jones and whatever technological advancements they utilize in their commercial systems? I cannot agree to that lest Bill Gates and other technology companies keep consumer systems generally low-priced for third world counties like ours... It's just fair, right?"

"But I sincerely think that that provision just provides an answer to whatever is lacking in our legislation, I got no problem with that," smugly said Oggs.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Dino.

"But think about this, fellows, you only see the small picture," added Bill, "The big picture here is the fact that the Philippines is not entirely electronic. If international laws, which I may add is very very nebulous since it doesn't have standards to follow. The UNCITRAL's rules are pretty vague and can be open to advancements from whatever nation that will advance technology, and sadly, the Philippines just follows that. Given international contracts where a Philippine company is a party, that company is completely outnumbered given its technological deficiency and the fact that the model law is more attune to modernity rather than keeping the third world nations happy."

"I guess, anyway, we just want to get past your angry mob so here's a twenty peso bill and just write there, Dinofayoggs. Goodbye." abruptly ended Faye.