Bloggasm » law

Some Thursday links

Simon — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:17:04 +0000

So I was hoping to have a new feature article published by today but unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish it last night. So it looks like it won’t be posted until Monday. In the meantime, here are some media-related links for your amusement.

1. Ever wonder what domain names Google has purchased? It’s always interesting to get hold of one of these lists because sometimes it gives you some insight into future plans for an online company. Well, now we have such a list. I shudder to think what kind of product Google Poo will be.

2. Popular science fiction writer John Scalzi posted a short story online about a week ago and based it on a Radiohead-like honor system for payment. At the end of the week, he posted how much money has been donated. It comes out to about 5.9 cents per word, which isn’t a bad rate for short fiction.

3. Media Shift has an interview with a creator of the Smoking Gun. What’s interesting is the site pulls in so many readers with only three staff members and a very simple Web 1.0 mindset. They’re only just now considering adding blogs to the site.

4. Conde Naste, which mainly focuses on magazine publications, is vastly expanding its online presence. They recently acquired some travel blogs and reportedly are poised to buy up more blogs in the future.

When rap albums get you busted

Simon — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:33:56 +0000

Police in Richmond are using a locally-made rap album they found in a crack house to try and solve some crimes. Apparently the rap artist, in the album, brags about crimes both he and others committed, in enough detail that they can actually get leads.

via outsidein

When journalists free prisoners

Simon — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:59:48 +0000

I’ve always been interested in the kind of journalism that leads to prisoners being released after investigations show they’re innocent. The American Journalism Review profiles Pete Shellem of HarrisburgÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Patriot-News who has already freed four prisoners who were wrongfully imprisoned.

Let’s reward Paris Hilton for drunk driving

Simon — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:29:34 +0000

I’m not sure what annoys me more, the mere fact that ABC News was willing to pay Paris Hilton $100,000 for a post-jail interview, or the fact that doing so would basically be financially rewarding her for attending jail in the first place.

My main reason for hating when journalists offer interview subjects vast sums of money is the possibility that it could become a precedent in the US. As a journalist, I hate the thought of paying for an “exclusive interview” with a subject.

Google Books pulls Yahoo and MSN into its legal battle

Simon — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 17:48:19 +0000

Google Books, which might or might not be a sinking ship depending on outcomes with copyright lawsuits, has decided they’re pulling Yahoo and MSN down with them with subpoenas issued to both companies:

New developments in online selling and the lawPublishers and authors are taking Google to court over its programme to digitise the libraries of four US universities, Oxford university library and the New York Public Library.

Google has said that it will subpoena two of its fiercest competitors, Yahoo! and Microsoft, for information relating to their own book scanning operations as part of the case. The information being sought by Google includes project costs, lists of books, estimates of sales and details of discussions with publishers.

I’ve always been a supporter of Google Books from the very beginning, and I think they might have a good chance of working out through my limited knowledge of copyright law. If nothing else, they can scan all books in the public domain, and then have publishers submit their books to be scanned, like Amazon does.

American Idol’s father sues publisher

Simon — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:07:54 +0000

After Fantasia Barrino won American Idol, a book was published by Simon&Schuster called Life Is Not a Fairy Tale , followed by a TV Movie. Now, her father is filing a lawsuit over what he claims to be false statements about him

In papers filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Joseph Barrino is seeking damages from Simon&Schuster, which released”Fantasia: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale”in 2005. The book was made into a TV movie, starring Fantasia, that aired on the Lifetime network in August.

Among the details disputed by Joseph Barrino: that he was hostile to the music industry, that he asks his daughter for money when she visits him, that his children’s musical careers were more important than their education.

I guess anyone can see the irony that he’s suing for $10 Million against the accusations that he was greedy for money.

Have you broken the law and want to write a book about it? Don’t go to Canada

Simon — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:26:44 +0000

So, let’s say that you just spent ten years in prison for some infamous crime and you’re now getting out so you can finally write your bestselling memoir about your brilliant run-in with the law. It turns out that a new law just passed in Canada tells you that you’re now not allowed to profit off your criminal acts at all:

Alberta lawmakers have taken steps to ensure crime doesn’t pay — at least for convicted criminals seeking a market for their stories.

Cabinet passed an order this week that will bring the Criminal Notoriety Act into effect Oct. 1.

The law, passed last fall, prohibits convicted criminals from receiving money for recounting their crimes for books, movies or the Internet.

Perhaps one day this will also be extended to people related to the crime in some way, like somebody on the jury or a dectective or lawyer. Many can remember the case of the Michael Jackson juror who had already signed a book deal before the trial even started. Perhaps one can argue that if there’s a factor of potential money in play, it could influence how they act before the verdict is decided. Possibly the most famous case of this is In Cold Blood. The film Capote seems to suggest that he actually started hoping that they’d be executed, just so he could finish his book. Imagine how things would have been different if Capote hadn’t been allowed to write the book in the first place.