The Null Device
2002/1/5
According to a US congressman, CD copy-prevention may be illegal, violating the terms of the Audio Home Recording Act, under which consumers are allowed to make copies for personal use and recording companies collect revenue for blank media.
New Scientist's Last Word column looks at the question of whether animals can recognise their reflections.
It used to be said that electrons have no passports; soon, this may no longer be so, thanks to geolocation technology, which allows Internet users' geographic and political location to be identified. This, and the will to use it (two words: Senator Alston) could mean that tomorrow's Internet will be partitioned across geographical boundaries, with content restricted according to individual nations' censorship laws.
(When it becomes a possibility, if sites not implementing geographical censorship and keeping their what's-allowed rules up to date are found to be liable, it could also serve as a means to get all those pesky small sites off the Net, reserving the medium for gigantic corporations who can afford international censorship lawyers and geolocation.)
An interesting music-review site/webzine: Gravitygirl, written by Melbourne street-press journo Anthony Carew (who also hosts the International Pop Underground show on 3RRR). (Warning: the colour scheme can be a bit hard to read.)