Grooveshark

In our last class, we went over copyrighted material and intellectual property. During our discussuion, the web site Grooveshark was brought up. Right now Grooveshark is being sued by Universal music group. For those of you that don't know what Grooveshark is, it is a free online music site that allows users to post their own music and other users to listen to the posted music. Grooveshark also has an internet radio function similiar to Pandora.

Universal alleges that Grooveshark has some copyrighted music on its site, belonging to Universal. Here is a link that describes the details of the law suit...http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10432132-27.html. I find this interesting because Grooveshark seems to the line of how Napster got shut down, and how Pandora can contimue.

I just want to say that I love Grooveshark and I don't want it to get shut down. The purpose of this post was to bring awareness to those of you that don't know what it is. You can search for any song, put it on a playlist, and then log in from a mobile device or ipod and play your playlist. All of this can be done without illegally downloading a thing. Go check it out if you havn't.

Skype

For my next post, I want to talk about Skype. I have no idea how to use it, but I want to know how. When I move to Minneapolis to seclude myself for Bar preparations, I want to be able to see my friends and family. I do have a concern over skyping though. Are myself and the recipient the Skype messaging the only ones who actually see the transmission. Or, is there a 3rd party that has the ability to view what is being skyped?
It may be a silly thought, but it is one that concerns me. I often post about the intrusiveness of social media. While Skype may not fit exactly into that category, it is certainly a method of broadcasting information about myself over the internet.

Here is another thought. What if someone is murdered while they are skyping with a friend? The friend claims he saw the murderer on his computer. Can authorities retrieve sent transmissions if there is a compelling need? And if they can, should they be able too?

Sometimes I have no idea why i have these thoughts, but then I realize that its my nearly 3 years of law school training that makes me look at a technology that brings families in a negative light. Anyway, if anyone reads this and wants to poke fun at me either for worries or my inability to use Skype, feel free.

Dot-XXX domain

My absence from Bob's Blog is largely due to my devoted research into the recently approved dot-xxx domain. The domain, as we have discussed in class, is an attempt to organize online adult content providers into one sectioned off area of the internet world. Its potential benefits are intriguing: easier filtering for the public, reduced spam, phishing, viruses, etc., and a new arena for content providers to compete with each other.

The downside to the approved domain is that it may not be as effective in addressing the above named benefits as many believe. There remains the possibility of dot-com websites to simply double their content and register in with a new dot-xxx domain while keeping their previous dot-com. Additionally, many religious groups contend that the new domain will increase the availability for minors to view the adult material.

Whether or not the domain successfully completes its objectives remains to be seen, but does anyone else out there see a chance for the government to get involved in this venture? I have mixed results when it comes to government involvement in the private realm of business, but this could be a win-win scenario for both sides. One this is for sure, if the government did get its hands dirty with this, it better watch out for violating free speech rights.

Sheen's Korner

Charlie Sheen just came out with his new live streaming show on  the internet called Sheen's Korner. The show can be found on U stream, which apparently is a popular streaming site for celebrities. MSNBC provided a nice clip to give  potential viewers out there of what to expect. I recommend checking it out.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41938522/ns/today-entertainment/

Recently Sheen was the fastest person in history to reach 100,000 followers on Twitter due to the publicity of his dispute with the producers of the show 'Two and a Half Men'. If you haven't hear is comments yet, I highly recommend going to youtube to watch some of his recent interviews. Hilarious. Normally I am not a big fan of celebrities using their status in order to push their agendas, but I have no idea what Sheen is trying to push! For me, I just want to know what happened to this guy. I have to admit, its kind of interesting to watch him talk and act so bizarrely. I wonder if he is doing this for a PR stunt, like some have suggested, or if he is really unraveling in front of the whole world. Regardless of what I think, the public seems to be fascinated with what he has to say. When I was out and about this weekend I must have heard at least 10 people reference his "winning" mantra that he is becoming famous for. What a great example of how effective the internet can be for one person trying to share a message. Whatever that message might be.

Internet and Financial Aid

The other day I over heard some of my fellow classmates debating the idea of reforming the governments financial aid protocol for students because students are receiving more financial help from the government they actually need. Its an interesting argument for both sides. Obviously, as a student, I feel that education is an invaluable investment which the government would be wise to continue funding. Even though I feel this way, I do recognize that there are students out there that use their financial aid to fund trips, gifts, and other discretionary expenditures that have no bearing on paying for school. I think, the internet has helped facillitate the argument that students are given too much government money. My thought is this, many students advertise this on social networking sites like facebook through pictures and status updates. Bizarly, facebook targets students with sometimes personal and appealing advertising. One wesbite, studentuniverse.com makes traveling for students affordable with higher discount rates on airfair. The internet gives students more opportunity to spend their financial aid, and it gives them more opportunity to broadcast it.

I think money is money, and if you get a loan its up to you to be responisble with it. Its none of my business to comment on how people spend money. I am writing this only because I think some students further the 'reformists' by the questionable decisions they make on the internet. Money for education is fantastic and I hope it continues.

Facebook and my paper

I'm starting get sick of facebook. Sure its nice to stay in touch with all of my friends, but the web of interconnectivity is starting to make me a little worried. Recently, I have heard of a few local cases of women being harassed by former boyfrineds via facebook. The question, and we have discussed this in class, is whether or not this type of behavior is a violation of a restraining order. It gets a little stickier when the harassment comes from a made up accounts, created for the sole purpose of stalking and harassing others. How can you prove that your ex-spouse is posting comments on your wall when he is doing it through one of his family members accounts? Is it just me, or is the internet getting too intrusive?

So with this in mind, I am thinking about internet harassment as my paper topic. I need to find other websites besides facebook, thedirty.com, and myspace to research. If any body has happened to read this, and knows of other intrusive websites, please feel free to comment! Thanks

Sports and the internet

I was commenting on the eye broccoli blog about how irritated I am with the constant flood of news on the websites of major media outlets. I wrote about my tendencies to filter out much of what is written due to much of the biased and rushed reporting that is a staple of the modern day media. I began to feel a little bit negative after that post. I can think of many positive aspects of real time news reporting on the internet. In fact, I just got done checking a fantasy basketball team, and I am truly amazed on how much that industry has been affected by the medias handle on internet. The constant flow of information coming from the sports world has allowed millions of people to educate themselves in sports. Following any team in the world and betting on any team or athlete in the world is just a click away. 

I know I know...sports is just.....sports. But for many, turning on a baseball game at the end of the day has always been a great way to relax. Now, folks can relax and make a little bit of money at the same time. Can't complain about that.

Cairo and Journalism

To add to my last post....I was driving home from class tonight and decided to turn on little AM radio. The topic for discussion was the situation in Cairo and how reporters were trapped in the country. The on air personality, we will call him Dan, asked his guest, Pat, who is a reporter for WCCO news in Minneapolis, what his thoughts were about the reporters being harassed in Egypt. Here is a brief summary of what I heard Pat say: Cairo is where every reporter wants to be right now; the reporters should feel safe in Cairo because of the presence of  cameras and mass media attention the protests are gathering; 141 journalist deaths were reported over seas in 2010; CNN had damaged equipment and could not shoot live footage and ; NBC was shooting its coverage from a hotel room.

The two things I am thinking are: (1) Will the whole world turn into a bunch of animals if our governments try to take our Internet away? (2) This is just reinforcement for my decision not to become a journalist! I know there are more politics involved in the whole Cairo fiasco than just the Internet, but it scares the living daylights out of me thinking that a country would turn itself upside down when the Internet goes out.

P.S. Hats off to all the journalists out there risking life and limb to bring us that big scoop!

A legal guide to the internet?

So....I started to get into this blogging thing, and thought that I might start another blog. After I created the blog, I realized that if I wanted to post pictures or logo's, I might be making some copyright violations. It got me thinking, how in the world did so many people create their websites and blogs, without running into trouble with copyright violations? Sure, its easy to go ahead and do the research to make sure that you are not violating any copyright laws. I am guessing, however, that of the millions of people out there that are constantly blogging,  many of them don't even consider that they are treading over copyright issues. This got me thinking even further; why aren't people formally educated to inform them what they can and cannot do. Is there material out there that alerts the common person of potential legal issues that can arise from their actions? If not there should be.

A Journalist's Dilemma

When I read the Branzburg case, it made me think of my career choice. When I first started college, I strongly considered going into the journalism field. I always enjoyed communicating with others whether it was simply conversing, writing, or debating. The notion of being able to write an article, and having it published to the rest of the world was intriguing. I also thought the lifestyle was appealing with all of the traveling, and interesting people I would get to meet along the way. I guess when it all boiled down to it, I thought it would be a unique way of living. Looking at this in retrospect, I am more than happy that decided not to enter the journalism field. Its a tough gig. It turns out that I don't want to travel for work. In fact, the lifestyle of a professional journalist does not appeal to me one bit anymore!

The Branzburg case also reminded me of the dilemmas that many of these writers face. Do you risk your losing freedom to keep a source under wraps, or do throw away your livelihood and your reputation  in order to stay out of court (or jail). Journalists get paid to write good stories and in order to do so, they have to get their hands dirty. In this era, there are different avenues in which journalists can get their view across. I understand that. But looking at this from my perspective, I have to ask, is it worth it? I know I am not the first person to write about this, but doesn't it seem counter intuitive for the public to promote journalism as a truth finding function of our nation and to promote the trust between journalist and confidant, yet watch our government over the years use every tactic it can to compel journalists to break that trust?

First Post

Today I am officially a blogger. I am not certain what information I will be sharing yet. All I know is that I am happy to be here.