You know what would be cool? If I could use my fortune to establish a prize for doing nothing! Imagine it... "And the Nobel Prize for doing Jack Shit goes to..."
Maybe I’m just too young to realize that it’s always been effed up this way, but when I was a kid, I used to think it meant something to hear that someone had won a Nobel Prize. Now it is clearly just a leftist love fest with no real accomplishment value whatsoever.
Congratulations, President Obama, on your meaningless award that you got for playing basketball with the boys in the White House instead of bowling giving the world hope. Great Success!! High Five!!
Ralph Lauren — for sending DMCA take-down letters in an attempt to suppress some negative blog commentary about the photo below, e.g., comments like “Dude, her head’s bigger than her pelvis” (source).
Clothing producer, The North Face (TNF), recently got a lesson in how bad trademark enforcement decisions can make a company look silly. It seems a St. Louis teen thought that it would be amusing to create a clothing line parody, calling it “The South Butt,” — south being the logical opposite of north and butt being… well… you get the idea. TNF was not amused, however, and they set their attorneys to attack mode, sending a cease and desist letter to the college freshman (source).
TNF’s letter asserted that use of the “South Butt” logo (pictured below) constitutes an infringement of their own federally registered trademark (pictured above). On its face, TNF’s claim is not so unreasonable. As any trademark owner (who has a decent attorney) can tell you, trademark rights can be lost if you don’t enforce them. TNF must, in order to maintain its ability to sue legitimate infringers, actively look for unauthorized uses of its logo. However, owning federal trademark rights does not mean you can stop every use of your mark that you don’t like. Federal trademark law was created to prevent consumers from becoming confused about the source of goods, not give complete exclusionary rights in logos, words, and phrases. It certainly wasn’t meant to give companies the power to stifle criticism — a point that corporate attorneys seem to frequently fail to explain to their clients.
I was reminded of this little gem last night as I was driving home from work… after dark…
If you’ve never read this commencement speech by Neal Boortz, you really should. Take a few minutes and read it all the way through. If you have read it before, it doesn’t hurt to read it again.
I am honored by the invitation to address you on this august occasion. It’s about time. Be warned, however, that I am not here to impress you; you’ll have enough smoke blown your way today. And you can bet your tassels I’m not here to impress the faculty and administration.
You may not like much of what I have to say, and that’s fine. You will remember it though. Especially after about 10 years out there in the real world. This, it goes without saying, does not apply to those of you who will seek your careers and your fortunes as government employees.
This gowned gaggle behind me is your faculty. You’ve heard the old saying that those who can – do. Those who can’t – teach. That sounds deliciously insensitive. But there is often raw truth in insensitivity, just as you often find feel-good falsehoods and lies in compassion. Say good-bye to your faculty because now you are getting ready to go out there and do. These folks behind me are going to stay right here and teach.
On Friday, President Obama appointed the first “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator,” a new position created last year by the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (a.k.a. the PRO-IP Act). While many criticized that legislation as further enlisting U.S. law enforcement to do the dirty work of the RIAA and MPAA, some of those same voices are praising the president’s choice of Victoria A. Espinel as a fair compromise.
“We believe she will be fair in her approach to intellectual property enforcement issues,” said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a left-leaning digital-rights advocacy group. (source)
This commentator hopes that Ms. Espinel’s understanding of the complex landscape of international trade, combined with a history in academics — where the value of citation and accretion is recognized over draconian exclusion — will help move copyright policy towards something a bit more sensible than life-plus-70.
If you dig on any of the post punk acts that are around today (e.g., Fall Out Boy, 30 Seconds to Mars, Hawthorne Heights), then do yourself a favor and check out this little-known group.
Clothing producer, 
