“SOPA’s sponsors aspire to grant absolute control to copyright holders, and would trample free speech and a thriving remix culture on their way to that singular aim. But control is only one route to compensation. The recording industry itself has repeatedly (and successfully) lobbied to force composers and lyricists to accept a governmentally set compulsory license.”
Tag: 01.20.12
SOPA And PIPA: How The Web Won The War
“The web-wide protest launched last Wednesday against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) made this much clear: Whatever happens with the ill-conceived legislation, which could essentially shut down any site at any time for vague ‘copyright violations,’ the larger battle has already been won.”
Jacobean Revenge Tragedies Enjoy A Vogue
“On the face of it, few things seem more remote to 21st-century Britain than the world of Jacobean tragedy … So what is it about these violent and baroque plays … that haunt our contemporary imagination? What kind of culture did they spring from? And why are they once again filling our theatres?”
The Economics Of iTextbook Publishing
“Textbooks are big, heavy and expensive. iPads are compact, light and very expensive. However, if you set aside the question that the vast majority of students won’t be able to afford the $500-plus price of an iPad, Apple’s business model for selling textbook is pretty appealing from an economic standpoint.”
How To Do Shakespeare Badly (And How To Get It Right)
“One thing that helps to make Shakespeare watchable is not condescending to your audience, not making your audience feel stupid. Seriously.”
Street Art Goes Down Under – And Strikes It Rich
“Never has street art been so romanticised and the artists’ works so highly sought-after.”
What Does The Shutdown Of MegaUpload Mean For Other ‘Cyberlockers’? (Not A Lot, Probably)
“Not so long ago, the industry was upset about kids moving 3 megabyte MP3s around on Napster. Today, it’s common to see 35 gigabyte compilations of, say, seven seasons of the TV show House, all conveniently bundled together. (Note that that’s ten thousand times bigger.)”
Speaking Of Towers, Seville’s In Trouble As Well
London’s sites aren’t the only ones in danger of losing their heritage: In Seville, “the half-built Pelli tower is casting a growing shadow across one of the country’s most-visited cities and over a cluster of 13th-century buildings which have been designated a world heritage site by Unesco.”
The Shard May Kill Heritage At The Tower Of London
“Unesco may soon strip London’s two most prominent tourist sites, Westminster’s Parliament Square and the Tower of London in the City of their world heritage status. Chief reason is the towering Shard, which will be western Europe’s tallest building, now looming over both of them from its launch pad on the south side of London Bridge.”
Ellsworth Kelly At 88: Still Colorful, Still Painting, Still Abstract
“Ellsworth has been fearless in his commitment to the limitless possibilities of abstraction,” said James Cuno, chief executive and president of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles. … “With concentrated imaginative power he has made some of the most beautiful and important paintings of the Modernist era. And he is at the height of his powers, not elegiac but ecstatic, filled with the wonder of seeing the world afresh.”