Dave Farber has been named chief technologist at the Federal Communications Commission. This is good news.
Farber, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the classiest people in the telecommunications business. His combination of brains, skill, integrity, vision and curiosity makes him a perfect choice for this post.
The FCC has been making some bad choices lately, notably its repeated cave-ins to the new telecom oligopolists who are bent on reducing, not expanding, choice for customers. But Farber’s appointment helps ensure that the commission won’t be making its decisions, good or bad, on the basis of faulty information.
Entertainment Industry Versus Free Speech, Round One
A potentially epic battle is shaping up in a San Jose courtroom, as the entertainment industry tries to put the clamps on Internet sites that post — or eve point to — a method of decrypting the foolishly weak security in DVDs. This fight is about free speech, intellectual property and power.
Some details in my Sunday column.
$10 Million for Domain Name? Show Me
The owners of the Year2000.com domain say they’ve auctioned off the domain name for $10 million. I’ll believe this when the deal closes and someone proves — not just claims — that the transaction actually occurred.
I’m not going to hold my breath…