The Revolution will be Litigated. [via] [via]

The above article covers the IP battle over Guy Debord’s chess-like Kriegspiel game.

Friday! Let’s see what we’ve got…

• RI v. TP:  Ray Beckerman at Fordham IP Conference.
• Ars Technica: Blog commentary is no substitute for academic peer review. Surprise!
• Techcrunch: Craigslist - now with blog. As if the “Missed Connections” and “Casual Encounters” didn’t keep you busy enough… [via]
• Slashdot: Net neutrality and Canada, eh.
• Crooks and Liars: “Abortion” banned from world’s largest database on reproductive health?
• WP: Verizon chief says, “Net neutrality is bad, but cell phone watches are obviously going to be awesome.” This post will self-destruct in 5…4…
• WVWV: Who’s your favorite female blogger? [via] Give ‘em props, because The Daily Show sure isn’t.
• School Library Journal: ALA speaks out against NSLs.

And, since we’ve been a little obsessed with music this week (go see Shine a Light!), here is my Muxtape. Go forth, listen, be merry…and Muxtape. Leave us your mixes in the comments!

Happy weekending!

Goddamn April 1st. The Internet is a minefield of BS today.

We can only hope that this new intellectual property legislation is a joke, too.

Sadly, I don’t think it is. A whole “Department of Intellectual Property Security?” Man, oh, man. This is gonna get ugly.

T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, knows a thing or two about monopolies. Now they want a slice of the color spectrum and, apparently, Engadget is getting in the way. [via]

From GIZMODO: Intellectual Property Donor Sticker Proves Your Unrealistic Arrogance After You’re Dead.

Ars Technica: Overreaching “compilation” rule pulled from PRO-IP Act.

Some of you may be aware of the PRO IP Act that’s been circulating around Congress.

For those of you that aren’t aware, PRO IP (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property) is a major revising of existing copyright policy - specifically the “one work” policy - to create stiffer penalties for copyright violation. Yes, that’s right. Stiffer penalties. And, not surprisingly, it has received copious amounts of support from the MPAA and RIAA.

Eight public interest and industry groups recently released this paper discussing the sweeping dangers of the PRO IP Act. [via]

More inside…

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So, in honor of today’s big game, we wasted most of yesterday trying to come up with a clever post that would juxtapose New England’s proclivity towards spying on their opponents with the PATRIOT Act. But, after a case of Honey Weiss and half a bottle of Jack, we ended up watching the complete season 3 of The Girls Next Door (we will never not carry a torch for Barbi Benton) while Ben performed 27 different Google image searches for Tom Brady.

As a consolation, here’s a little intellectual property drama some of you may remember from last year’s Super Bowl ads: The Whitest Kids U’ Know vs. Budweiser.

Ars Technica has two fantastic articles covering the relationship between intellectual property laws and innovation. Their model? Models.

The first article, which appeared last fall, covers a paper (originally published in the Virginia Law Review) that discusses why the fashion industry thrives despite widespread piracy. The paper holds that copying, rather than dragging down the industry, actually helps to fuel it. Liberal, open IP standards encourage innovation and drive the vicious fashion cycle - last year’s colors, yesterday’s hem lines - which, from time to time, makes victims of us all. I highly, highly recommend this article.

The second article covers recent developments in both the United States House and Senate that would authorize stronger, stiffer IP regulations in the fashion world. Because, apparently, a group of men who rotate only two colors of neckties would know exactly what is best for the fashion industry. Go figure.