Ryan Tomayko

Sayre's Law —

More general version of Parkinson’s Law of Triviality (AKA “bike shedding”):

“In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the stakes at issue.”

Via this HN comment thread discussing the tendency of both Ruby and Python hackers tend to favor their chosen language with vehemence.

Typography for Lawyers —

For lawyers?!?? This site is way too useful and right to limit it to lawyers.

Court: violating copyleft = copyright infringement —

“Unlike the lower court, the appeals court seemed to understand that reciprocity lay at the heart of free software licenses. Just as traditional software firms thrive on the exchange of code for money, free software projects thrive on the exchange of code for code.”

Why You're Better Off Avoiding the iPhone —

My feelings exactly. I can’t believe I’m going to consciously purchase something that’s so over the top defective-by-design, but I’m definitely going to buy it.

Reasons Not to Use a Creative Commons NonCommercial (-NC) License —

Sold! All my stuff will soon be non-NC.

Under pressure from EMI, RIAA could disappear —

Could be huge: “rumors continue to swirl that EMI will pull its funding from music trade groups like the RIAA and IFPI, an IFPI spokesman tells Ars that the group is in the middle of a major internal review of its operations.”

The Pirate’s Dilemma —

“We live in a world where it is legal for a company to patent pigs, or any other living thing except for a full birth human being, but copying a CD you bought onto your hard drive is considered an infringement of someone else’s rights.”

ZFS Puts Net App Viability at Risk? —

Schwartz: “… we will be going after sizable monetary damages. And I am committing that Sun will donate half of those proceeds to the leading institutions promoting free software and patent reform, and to the legal defense of free software innovators.”

Gonzales proposes new crime: "Attempted" copyright infringement [news.com] —

“Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including ‘attempts’ to commit piracy.”

Senators figure out the Broadcast Flag, curse it as an abomination! —

or, “How the iPod destroyed the Broadcast Flag” :)

EU Parliament bins software patent bill —

“by a massive majority”