communication. community. cognition.
Posts tagged law
War of Words
Oct 22nd
Our Bible study on Wednesday night started with a question:
What’s the difference between happiness and joy?
War of Words
I thought I knew, but didn’t really. I had my own ideas, but was curious to know how others stacked them up. So, being the diligent linguist, I posted the same question to my Twitter and Facebook. More >
Fluid Platforms and Singing Whales
Jul 26th
Fluid Platforms and Singing Whales
There will be a theme for the next week or so. Disruption and Adjustment.
Before last week I had never heard of Ryu Murakami, but he’s at the center of an interesting case that may amplify the tremors of technology.
From Robert McCrum in the Guardian:
Earlier this month, in a manoeuvre I predict will soon be seen as a watershed, the admired contemporary Japanese writer Ryu Murakami announced that he was publishing his new book, A Singing Whale, in partnership with Apple, as an iPad download, turning his back on his regular Japanese publisher, Kodansha. The book will also include video content set to music composed by Oscar-winning Ryuichi Sakamoto.
So is there now a way to break a contract by shifting platforms? More >
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Driven to Distraction
Jul 9th
The following post may make me extremely unpopular, but someone has to say it:
Keep your laws off my cell phone.
Texting While Driving
Several states and municipalities have instituted their driving-and-cell-phone laws, and are smugly sure they have now made life safe for everyone. I have a philosophical objection to the idea that you can now ban behavior based on the standard of a “distraction,” because once the precedent is established, anything could be added to that law. For instance, it may one day be illegal to transport young children in a vehicle that lacks a sound-proof divider to keep the driver from being distracted by the children.
You think I am joking? Maybe you do, so let’s look at those hard statistics that show cell phone use is killing people. More >
Under the Hood
Apr 8th
There’s a bit of a funny meme passing around right now, and it has to do with a position taken by the Ku Klux Klan of Arkansas, in this screenshot:
The “joke” here is that members of the Westboro Baptist Church have been so vile, that the Klan is even disavowing them.
Lost in all of the irony about Hate Groups and Unpopular Protests are the three letters I omitted above: LLC.
Limited Liability Corporation.
Is this a case of the Klan trying to appear legitimate? (That’s the answer you get from their site, which I will not link to.)
If and when choose to go to court, we stand on an equal footing with our detractors, we cannot be dismissed for lack of legal standing or credibility. This is the type of thinking our detractors have feared the most! The Ku Klux Klan, LLC. is leading the way with bold innovative thinking all the while respecting the beauty and purpose of Klankraft and building on the legacy left us by all those who have gone before, remaining a positive force for good! Yes it does cost more and take more time to do things right the first time, but as the work is done it is a lasting work that will stand the test.
Likely, that air of legitimacy is not the motivation.
It is more likely an unintended consequence of the way in which the Klan was systematically taken down by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC simply took the Klan leaders to court, and sued them into oblivion.
The LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) is thus a financial move, to allow Klansmen to avoid future civil damages that would bankrupt them.
I’m willing to bet that Morris Dees and his legal team are none too pleased to see various Klan organizations resurfacing, and using what amounts to a financial dodge as a way to tout their legitimacy and enhance their messaging.
History is more fun to study through the lens of Unintended Consequences.
Hair-raising Legal Issues
Jan 11th
Legal disclaimers are often annoying, and sometimes hilarious.
The Bumpit is a toothed, plastic arc that is embedded near the scalp to provide the illusion of more voluminous hair.
Just remember, each disclaimer is there for a reason. Because someone did.
Justice in the Digital Age
Oct 20th
I was a cardboard-haired teevee news weasel in a previous life. I’ve never regretted leaving, and have no desire to be in a maelstrom today.
Two quick thoughts.
One is about the massive hoax perpetrated on the media yesterday. A group of activists spoofed the identity of the US Chamber of Commerce, and got several news outlets to bite on a phony news conference. Those outlets all reported the Chamber’s sudden (and non-existent) reversal of policy regarding climate change.
But hey – by all means let’s do a whole Fact Check segment on a Saturday Night Live sketch.
The second has to do with the legal system.
I remember covering the SEC asset forfeiture hearings for HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy. They were the beginning of his legal troubles, which culminated in fraud convictions and billion-dollar civil suits. (I wrote about Scrushy and HealthSouth quite a bit on my old blog, which remains as an archive.)
At the time, that federal judge was a stickler for technology. She was quite dismayed to find that reporters from Bloomberg, with new-fangled BlackBerry wireless devices, were able to send dispatches from the room. (Of course, in order to get a signal, they had to sit on the back row and sometimes place the device against the wall…)
Contrast that with today, where the federal judge presiding over the corruption trial of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford issued a directive to the jurors:
It’s not just that the judge was specifically acknowledging Tweets – it was the resignation that we have a technology that can’t readily be stopped.
I’m certain there have been numerous judicial conferences and seminars addressing the changing communications landscape. It would be no more fruitful to ban Twitter than it would to tell jurors they can’t go near a newsstand. He simply warned them about mixing outside information with what goes on within the boundaries of evidence.
For what it is worth, the “tweets from others” doesn’t just refer to friends and family. In this case, there are no fewer than six media outlets Tweeting from within the courtroom. I created a page where you can follow the Langford Trial real-time if you want, including the occasional video from Birmingham Weekly‘s Kyle Whitmire.
Update:
From John Archibald:
Judge is on his blackberry. I wonder if he’s following the trial on twitter. There are a lot of twits around here. #langford
