Uncle Steve takes a Magical Mystery Sledgehammer to the RIAA Part One: The Wind-up. . .

Today, Steve Jobs posted an open letter on Apple.com basically decrying Digital Rights Managment (DRM). From the column, which is a fascinating read:

Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.

While an unprecedented statement from a CEO in its own right, I believe this is just the opening salvo in a larger move.

Check this out. Lemme drop some pure rampant speculation on y'all:

I think Steve's preparing the playing field for his big move. He's coming out in a big, public, P.R.-friendly way against DRM because he's about to announce that Apple Inc.(or even Steve on a personal level) has bought Apple Corps., and will license the Beatles catalogue exclusively to iTunes, DRM-free. This announcement will possibly come on 20 Feb, at Apple's rumored media event.

I've said this before, and I'll keep saying it until I'm proven otherwise. Given the recent and unprecedented capitulation by Apple Corps. in their lawsuit against Apple Inc., alleged money issues for Paul McCartney stemming from his infamous divorce, and Steve's flaunting Beatles tracks in his iPhone keynote (apparently without recrimination from Apple Corps.), it's within the bounds of rational speculation that something like this could happen.

If Steve Jobs can pull off buying the Beatles' catalogue, and selling it on iTunes DRM-free, it would be a HUGE coup against DRM, and a big ol' slap in the face to the Big Four record companies and the RIAA. It would show them that you can take music that's been available for free in the internet forever, and sell it without having to resort to DRM. It would validate Jobs' original rationale for the iTMS, namely that all else being equal, although illegal downloads will always be there, people will pay for 'decent' quality, stable downloads, and album art. It might also spur them to eliminate DRM from their own music, in order to remain competitive in the digital space.

Again, this is pure speculation, but it makes sense, on the surface. I'd love to hear what others think about this.

So much for 'doing no evil'

Fresh off of admitting that accepting censorship from China was a bad move, Google fucks up again. From The Times of India:

Google Earth agrees to blur pix of key Indian sites
NEW DELHI: President APJ Abdul Kalam's concerns over Google Earth providing detailed and unhindered view of ‘sensitive' Indian establishments have been addressed, courtesy a formula which allows users uninterrupted access to the ‘eye in the sky' while camouflaging key installations.

Fuzzy, low resolution pictures and distorted building plans is how the government and Google Earth have agreed to get around concerns that images of sensitive military and scientific establishments available on the Web could either allow unauthorised snooping or become a ready reckoner for terrorists.

I have to question the rationale given by the Indian government. While altering sensitive sites in order to prevent terrorism sounds great in print, most terrorist attacks occur in public places, such as cafes, along bus routes, or financial centers. (tinfoil hat) Anyone interested or capable of assaulting a secured site probably has access to other satellite or mapping systems and additional intelligence, be it through another online map service or through more covert means (/tinfoil hat).

This is yet another example of the governments of the world using the catch-all 'to prevent terrorism' excuse in order to justify placing a stranglehold on their so-called sensitive information.

It's only a matter of time until it becomes too difficult or impractical to suppress information on a large, public scale like this. Information does want to be free, after all. When that starts to happen, governments will have to fundamentally alter their relationship to the people in general. There will be a higher degree of transparency, hopefully accompanied by a larger outcry for accountability.

Possible Cure for Cancer... and it's even Open Source!

According to this New Scientist article, a team at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, have found that dichloroacetate (DCA) kills lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but not healthy cells.

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.
It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs.

Not only is this a very promising new direction in cancer treatment, it's also one where pharmaceutical company profiteering will have little effect. See, DCA cannot be patented, as it has been in use for many years. On top of that, it's dirt-cheap to manufacture. So there is very little profit margin in this drug, as compared to other patented designer drugs that can me marketed and sold at a premium. That's the good news. The bad news is that because there is little incentive for profit in selling this drug, there is little interest on the part of big pharma to subsidize the clinical tests needed to really see if this is effective in real cancer patients. This seems like the kind of thing that Bill & Melinda would totally go for. Let's see if it pans out.

Must-know terms for the 21st Century

Via Warren Ellis' blog, a list of must-know terms for the 21st century, from the Sentient Developments blog, by George P. Dvorsky. A fascinating list, covering terms and concepts from Bayesian Rationality to the Technological Singularity (my favourite). Definitely worth a read, and makes for a good half hour of link surfing. If anyone is curious as to some of the most important concepts in modern futurology,* this is a good place to start.

* Ben, I'm thinking of Natty here, so send her this way.

The Pirate Bay Strikes Again! or: I'm moving to Sealand.

After successfully fighting off the RIAA, and coming to the defense of Allofmp3.com, the Pirate Bay is now trying to raise money to buy the microcountry of Sealand, off the British coast. Ostensibly, this would place the Pirate Bay in a sovereign country where no intellectual property laws are recognized, therefore allowing the 'Bay to keep doing what it does best without the constant shadow of another raid or whatnot looming over their horizons.

The Pirate Bay is accepting donations, in exchange for citizenship if the deal goes through. If they can't raise enough money, they say they'll buy some other island, and declare it a sovereign nation.

If ever there was a nation I would want to defend, this would be it. Yarr, mateys.