Public Nuisance |
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Random commentary and senseless acts of blogging.
The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
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Monday, July 01, 2002
The Law Is Silent Not only is this story hilarious, it appears to be true. Sure it sounds like something The Onion dreamed up, but that's the problem with being a satirist these days. You have to be on your toes or reality will scoop you. Tom Lehrer (or maybe Paul Krassner) said he gave up satire after Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize because he couldn't think up anything stranger than that.
A producer named Mike Batt has released an album which includes a 1 minute track of silence. Representatives of the late John Cage are now threatening to sue Mr Batt on the grounds that Mr Cage has already composed a silent piece and now holds the copyright on silence.
It is not yet clear whether Mr Cage's copyright extends to related media. Will radio stations have to pay fees every time they go off the air? Will the fees be extended to TV stations, or does the test pattern they broadcast with their silence make it an original work?
Is silence also intellectual property on the internet? If I have to pay the Cage estate every time Blogger crashes, I'm definitely getting a new hobby.
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