I certainly would like to point people to another great way to keep up with the best posts around – Colin Samuels’s Round Tuit. I really liked this week’s entry, #53. Way to go, Colin, and thanks for getting around to sharing these posts with us.

Internet Law
Eric Goldman’s post on the new book “The Next Digital Decade” is well worth reading. The book itself is a free PDF download. Eric says:

What makes this book so special is that *every* essay I’ve read is top-notch. In contrast, in many essay collection books, the essays are spotty—some great, some clearly inferior. Berin and Adam did a fantastic job curating the collection. They also did a nice job tying the essays together into coherent chunks.”

Homeland Security
Critics of the Department of Homeland Security often point out that it is “Security Theatre.” Art Carden asks the incoming Republican House of Representatives whether we really need a Department of Homeland Security or a TSA. He says:

“The Department of Homeland Security and the TSA are clear examples of trading something to get–not nothing, but actually less than nothing because they actual imperil our safety. If we are serious about the Constitution and serious about security, we will get rid of them.”

In the New American, Jack Kenny writes about DHS’s policy of laptop seizures:

There appears to little choice for those confronted by border agents demanding their computers and cell phones. Refusing to yield them means the traveler won’t be allowed back into the country, in essence a sentence of exile. Since most people like to return home from their travels at some point, compliance is virtually assured.”

Wikileaks is still in the news. This week, Glenn Greenwald writes in Salon that the Obama administration has been caught lying about the severity of the damage done by Wikileaks to US interests. He says:

“And this, of course, has been the point all along: the WikiLeaks disclosures are significant precisely because they expose government deceit, wrongdoing and brutality, but the damage to innocent people has been deliberately and wildly exaggerated — fabricated — by the very people whose misconduct has been revealed. There is harm from the WikiLeaks documents, but it’s to wrongdoers in power, which is why they are so desperate to malign and then destroy the group.”

Cybersquatting
Venkat Balasubramani had a great post on a novel theory of “contributory cybersquatting”.

It’s tough to say whether this cause of action will alter the landscape for either cybersquatting or dilution, or whether this is a scenario where the court let the contributory claims move forward since Microsoft alleged primary claims for cybersquatting that on their face look strong. (Courts seem to have this bad habit.) If it sticks, it seems like a broadening of the scope of ACPA liability, which courts in the Ninth Circuit seem willing to do. “

The Comcast/NBCU Merger
Be sure not to miss Susan Crawford’s great initial analysis of the FCC’s conditions on the proposed Comcast/NBCU merger:

“Now that Comcast is deeply invested in content as well as distribution, there’s a substantial risk that it will wield its power to favor its own programming. It has a built-in conflict of interest.
Because Comcast doesn’t face real competition for bundled services (very-high-speed wired Internet access, voice, video) in the communities in which it operates, that conflict of interest isn’t constrained by market forces.
The agencies have established conditions that they believe will mitigate the risks of the transaction for the public. Some of the conditions have to do with protecting competitive online video services that have the potential to constrain the pricing of Comcast’s pay-TV services.”

Wiretapping
Radley Balko writes about another Illinois resident who has been charged with violating Illinois’s eavesdropping law for recording conversations with police. She had recorded her conversations with Internal Affairs officers after reporting her alleged sexual assault by a police officer.

“So five months later, they’re still investigating a possible sexual assault by a police officer. But they had no problem immediately arresting, charging, and jailing the woman who tried to report it. That would seem to send a pretty clear message about how seriously the city takes police misconduct.”

DMCA Takedowns
Jonathan Bailey had a great post this week discussing the Chilling Effects website. Jonathan doesn’t fear it, and explains why you shouldn’t fear it either:

“If you are ashamed of the notice or are uncomfortable with public scrutiny of your actions, you should probably not be filing the notice in the first place.”

Amen!

Computer Security
Galrahn’s post on “Our Flawed National Cyber Security Focus” is well worth reading. I liked this part the best:

“This is the best advice for those who think about cyber warfare issues: The reason no one understands cyber warfare is because nobody understands cyber warfare. Repeat that sentence until you get it. Cyber warfare is people, not networks. Think of domain as terrain, and attacking the network is like bombing the ocean. Security in cyber warfare is measured by mitigation, risk assessment, and resiliency; and measures that go beyond those areas almost always do more harm than good and do not represent security at all – rather represent attempt at control.”

Personally, I think we’re bound to see more Cyber Warfare like the Stuxnet worm. I liked Jack Newton’s discussion of Stuxnet in Slaw:

“Widely believed to be designed by the US and Isreali governments, the main targets of the Stuxnet worm were industrial controllers made by Siemens. While used in thousands of factories for legitimate manufacturing processes, the Siemens controllers targeted by Stuxnet were also used to enrich uranium at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. To ensure Stuxnet did not cause any collateral damage, the worm’s programmers were careful to ensure only the specific configuration of machines known to be present at the Natanz plant would be targeted by the worm.”

Still, Bruce Schneier reminds us that “Cyberwar is Overhyped.”

Chris Soghoian had a great post on the history of the “Do Not Track” header. It’s well worth reading.

I also liked Michael Geist’s post on the uproar in Canada over usage based billing.

Domain Names
For a look back at 2010 in domain names, be sure to read Elisa Cooper’s domain name year in review post. Number four struck a chord with me:

4 – US Government seizes domains linked to illegal file sharing and counterfeit goods.

Copyright
I liked the analysis at the Bright Spark blog of the European Court of Justice’s take on the copyright protection for graphical user interfaces:

“The Bright Spark considers that the ECJ cannot be saying that a GUI is necessarily protected by copyright if it constitutes the author’s own intellectual creation. No EU directive purports to provide a complete list of the requirements for copyright protection – indeed, the requirement that the work constitutes the author’s own intellectual creation comes from a judgment (Infopaq) and not a directive. In particular, EU law does provide that some types of work (e.g. computer programs) must be given protection in domestic law, there is no directive purporting to provide an exhaustive list of types works which must be protected.”

Trademarks
I liked Pamela Chestek’s article explaining a decision of the 11th Circuit regarding the ownership of the UNIX trademark.

Twitter (And Other Social Media) Use by Lawyers
You can certainly follow me on Twitter, but don’t count me among the Twitterati. Among the Illuminati, perhaps, but not the Twitterati for sure. That’s why I really enjoyed the Time Blawg’s account of “Law Firm Twitteratigate: The Whole Story.” Some good questions are asked at the end:

“Do you think we need to measure law firm effectiveness on Twitter and if so how should we do it? Why do the smaller law firms appear to be managing Twitter better than the big law firms? What should the big law firms be doing to improve their lot on Twitter? Any other thoughts?”

Be sure to read Antonin Pribetic’s great take on the “Social Media Marketers” – he proposes a new label for those who follow such advice – the “Flawg.”

“Flawg”: noun. A legal blog without any substantive legal content that is created, monetized and promoted exclusively for profit. A Flawg will often contain posts about the latest legal tech gadgets, or the how to gain new clients through the awesome power of the internet, in the absence of anything remotely legal to discuss;
“Flawger”: noun: someone who flawgs. Usually, a non-lawyer/social media law marketer, (but also a disbarred/suspended/unemployed/underemployed/retired/or failed lawyer who quit) who writes blawg posts about how to write blawg posts, SEO, ROI, iPads, cloud computing, top ten lists, and enjoys attending law marketing conferences and twittering about using #hashtags.”

Macintosh
The big Apple news this week was Steve Jobs’s medical leave of absence from Apple. My personal take is get well soon, Steve, and I really don’t need to know more about why. Still, Ashby Jones raises the question – Does Apple owe its investors a better explanation as to why due to its obligations under securities laws? Apple has faced other lawsuits recently over its apps disclosing information to third parties, so it is interesting that when it’s its founder’s personal information Apple is tight lipped. Still, if it were me, I’d certainly want my medical information private. Let’s give him the same respect, folks.

Apple recently introduced its App Store for Macs, but Apple is currently fighting with Microsoft over the genericness of the term “App Store.” After all, generic terms cannot become trademarks. See coverage here from Marty Schwimmer and here. from Paul Stanfield.

For those of you lawyers with iPads (not me yet), Greg Lambert of “3 Geeks and a Law Blog” has a great review of a new way to stay up to date with your blog reading – the Curator HD app. For those of you considering getting an iPad, Tablet Legal had a great series recently on apps a lawyer would use. Personally, I’m waiting for Version 2 at least, as my Macbook Pro does all an iPad does (and more).

Miscellanea
I liked the Vidster’s summary of happenings with DNA, cold cases, and funding for forensics at the Defrosting Cold Cases blog.

I liked Brian Tennenbaum’s take on those who went to law school for the wrong reasons and are now complaining that there are no jobs, their student loan debt load, etc.

You *have* to check out Big Legal Brain. It’s soooo funny! Here’s hoping I don’t verbiate my nouns too much. You see, I’m hoping I haven’t borked this Blawg Review too badly.

If you missed it, be sure to read last week’s Blawg Review in honor of Martin Luther King by Gideon.

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Blawg Review #295 is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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May 25th is Towel Day every year, in honor of Douglas Adams, so please bring your towels to:

Aria Bar, at the Fairmont Chicago hotel
200 North Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60601

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We start at 6 PM.

Hosts are @blawgreview and @insidecounsel. More information on the meetup is here. The hope is that some people attending the SuperConference will like to stop down and meet some of the best legal minds. And, we get to be social with social media!

Those who have indicated they are coming are:

@adriandayton – Adrian Dayton
@amyderby – Amy Derby
@Chris_McGeehan – Chris McGeehan
@CW_Schneider – Chris Schneider
@cyberlaw – Kevin Thompson (that’s me!)
@dgulbran – Dave! Gulbransen
@econwriter5 – Gwynne Monahan
@internetcases – Evan Brown
@JeremyKissel – Jeremy Kissel
@Kashhill – Kashmir Hill
@Molly_McDonough – Molly McDonough
@pzura – Peter Zura
@rdd – R. David Donoghue
@scottgreenfield – Scott Greenfield
@windypundit – Windy Pundit – Mark Draughn

If you are coming, and are not on this list, please direct message or @reply me on Twitter.

Ed Post
Dave! Gulbransen
Kevin Thompson

Towel Day Tweetup – May 25, 2010 is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Last year on Towel Day, I hosted Blawg Review #213. This year, I’ll be participating in a blogger meetup for those attending the SuperConference here in Chicago. For details, see the post here, or follow me on Twitter – @cyberlaw.

For more on other Towel Day activities, check out Towelday.org. Towel Day is held in honor of Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and other great works. Douglas suffered a permanent existence failure in 2001, and so we carry a towel in his memory. Why a towel? Because they’re so useful!
As the Guide itself says –

“A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”

Towel Day is May 25th, every year! is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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In 1965, the best selling science fiction book of all time, Frank Herbert’s Dune, was first published. Parts of it had been published in serial form in a magazine in 1964, but as near as I have been able to determine the first publication was in March, 1965. So, this edition of Blawg Review is in honor of the 45th anniversary of my favorite science fiction novel.

Mind you, Dune is not my most favorite movie – the 1984 David Lynch version has sure polarized fans. Lynch considers it his worst failure. When the movie was re-edited for TV, he had his name removed (an Alan Smithee film) and even created a special credit for the screenwriter – Judas Booth – for his name removal there as well. A Sci Fi channel miniseries is the most complete version of the story filmed to date, but even that had to compromise some of the story. And that’s a shame, because the novel is an amazing piece of literature. Most sci fi novels before Dune had one or two major ideas per book, but Dune emerged fully formed with layers upon layer of complexity, with deep ideas of religion, politics, the messiah complex, revenge, prophecy, technology, and ecology, to name just a few. I hope the planned film remake that keeps getting postponed will do the book justice.

Dune is often credited with raising awareness of our planet as a living complex organism, and has also been credited with supporting the movement now known as Earth Day. March 22, 2010 is also World Water Day, which makes Dune particularly relevant. On Arrakis, water is the most precious resource. The culture of Arrakis is based around the lack of water, so much so that spitting is a sign of respect (a gift of the body’s water) and when the main character, Paul Atreides, cries at a funeral people are amazed that he is giving water to the dead.

It took Herbert six years of research and writing to create the complex plot and worlds of Dune. The story is set 20,000 years ahead of our time, after an anti-technology jihad and the diaspora of mankind across the galaxy. It’s set mainly on the planet Arrakis, the desert planet which is the only source in the universe of the spice Melange. Melange is the source of power in the universe, as the Spacing Guild’s navigators rely on the spice to navigate between worlds, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood require it for their rituals, and the rest of the universe is addicted to it for its life-extending powers.

Duke Leto Atreides is sent by the Emperor to take over the planet Arrakis from his family’s arch-nemesis, the Harkonnens. He brings his 15-year old son Paul and his mother, Jessica, who is the Duke’s concubine. Jessica is a Bene Gesserit (some call them witches), and Paul is revealed to be the end result of a centruries-long breeding program that the Bene Gesserit have undertaken in secret.

The Harkonnens, though, haven’t given up Arrakis and its wealth so easily, and together with the Emperor have conspired to eliminate the Atreides once and for all. The Duke knows he is coming into a trap, so he reaches out to the humans living in the desert, the Fremen, with the hope that they will be allies. The Duke’s son, Paul, and his mother, Jessica, escape after the Harkonnen attack into the desert, where they meet up with the Fremen. The Fremen have a legend that a messiah will come from off world, and they believe Paul could be that person who leads them to true freedom. Without giving too much of the story away, Paul has to learn to adapt to their ways and become their leader.

Dune is an amazingly layered story that rewards a careful reader, or better yet a re-reading. Personally, I’ve re-read Dune once a year ever since I first had my mind blown upon first reading it. My best guess is that was in 1981, when the 4th book God Emperor of Dune was published.

My first three Blawg Reviews (42, 93, and 144) bore some relation to the number. For 256, I can tell you that the sequel, Dune Messiah, is 256 pages long. Also fitting into the general internet law themes of my Blawg, I was happy to be reminded by Colin Samuels that 256 is also the number of characters in an 8-bit byte.

I was pleased that my Blawg Review #213 was selected as Blawg Review of the Year for 2009, but in my humble opinion it has more to do with the outstanding fellow legal bloggers who submitted their pictures with their towels. My hat is off again to those hoopy froods who know where their towels are. A reminder – Towel Day is May 25th every year.

What’s in a name?
“He needs a naming, Stil.” – Fremen

Over the course of the book, Paul Atreides has many names. He becomes Usul, then Paul Muad’ib, the Lisan al-Gaib, the Mahdi, the Kwisach Haderach, and then the Duke. All of these names referred to the same man. Dr. Kynes is also known as Liet, the Fremen leader. The naming of blogs has been a popular topic this week. Venkat Balasubramani and Robert Ambrogi have led this discussion. Others with good advice include Kevin O’Keefe, Ron Coleman and Eric Turkewitz. [Some worry that Eric needs to change his name because of this earlier post criticizing two sentences in an opinion.] Tom Mighell recently renamed his newsletter as The Mighell Marker for similar reasons. When you give a name to a blog, does that limit the type of content you can post there? Personally, I have toyed on and off with the idea of multiple blogs as well over the years, and the fact that I’ve kept blogging just at one place should tell you how I’ve answered that question. I may have posts on other sites from time to time, but this blog is my digital home.

The ecology of Dune
“I Am a Desert Creature!” – Dr. Kynes

When he set out to write Dune, Frank Herbert had one particular scene in mind – The Imperial planetary ecologist, Dr. Kynes, has been caught helping the Atreides and is left in the desert to die by the Harkonnens. That chapter is a compelling read because it is the planet which kills him. Kynes knows and understands what is happening to him. In an early version of the story Kynes was the hero of the book, but Herbert quickly scrapped that version because there was no conflict. Instead, he chose Kynes to introduce the science of ecology to his readers. At the end of the book, Appendix I is devoted to the Ecology of Dune. Herbert was smart enough to include this text as a reference rather than include it within the novel itself, but it still is a fascinating read.

Kynes’ dream was to transform Arrakis into a paradise where no man would want for water. That is what endears him to the Fremen, and when he realizes the Atreides share this dream he decides to help them despite his orders from the Emperor.

Zach Hiatt of Graham and Dunn had a nice post where he celebrated his 100th post, as well as St. Patrick’s Day, by looking at the environmental impact of dying the Chicago River green. As a Chicagoan I found this environmental post of great interest.

Also, of interest to those of you in Chicago, the John Marshall Law School will be hosting the “Green Issue Symposium” on April 9th. It’s free, but you must pre-register soon. One of the speakers is Maureen Gorman of my firm, her topic is “What Does It Mean To Be Green: A Short Analysis of Emerging IP Issues in “Green” Marketing.”

Holly Doremus of the Legal Planet blog had a good post on the fact that CO2 gas emissions can be a local problem as well as a global problem.

At RealClimate, a post earlier in the week on rainfall in the Amazon was followed up with a rebuttal. This is exciting stuff when a topic like the environment can be debated so openly with such respect.

Lawyers as Mentats
“It’s easier to be terrified by an enemy you admire.” – Thufir Hawat

In the post-technological jihad society of Dune, there are no computers. A rule which came out of the jihad is “Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man’s mind.” Instead, human minds have developed beyond the capabilities of any machine, and these men are called Mentats. There is no evidence of lawyers in Dune, instead the role of lawyer as trusted advisor is served by the Mentats. A mentat can have many jobs – the Atreides mentat, Thufir Hawat, is also Master of Assassins. The Baron Harkonnen has twisted his mentat, Piter DeVries, into a killer, but Piter is still capable of the master plan involved in the conspiracy with the Emperor to overthrow the Duke. Paul’s father had hoped Paul would become a Duke Mentat.

If my proposed talk for IgniteLaw on March 24, 2010 had been accepted I would have talked about how we as lawyers can still use technological tools, but we must not lose sight of the fact that we must still be lawyers providing advice using human reason. Good science fiction, like Dune, can serve as a warning to help us prevent certain futures.


Cathy Gellis understands this point quite well. She wrote about how we’re so dependent now upon those who wrote the software for our hardware, we’ve become a nation of button pushers. I especially liked this part:

“But all this software comes at a cost. For one, and this might be a blog post of itself, our reliance on software to run everything is removing us from the physical world. While we are becoming smart when it comes to programming, we are becoming stupid in terms of every other technology. A child who grows up pressing buttons will be a sophisticated button presser, but will he be able actually build anything worth having software to control? In subordinating the mechanical we are losing our mastery over our physical world while at the same time becoming entirely dependent on programmers to control unseen software for us.”

In my opinion, we as lawyers must always understand what our systems are doing for us so that if they go down we can still practice law.

I also believe I’ve never seen a Blawg Review quite like Cathy’s tribute to Huey Lewis.

Baron Harkonnen
He who controls the Spice, controls the universe! – Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

In the movie and the miniseries, he’s the “floating fat man” at the center of the dark pit of excess and sinful pleasures which is Geidi Prime. In the book, though, he doesn’t float per se, the Baron is merely aided in carrying his large girth by these suspensors built into his flesh. The thought was that of his 350-plus kilos, he only has to worry about carrying fifty of them. Add this excessive floating to my list of problems with both the film and miniseries adaptations.

For his Blawg Review #245, Charon QC did a “Darth Vader” edition. The Baron is like Vader in his presence, but unlike Vader is never redeemed. As a Doctor Who fan myself, I had to laugh with Charon QC this week over his post about a Twitter exchange he had over the tax status of the new Doctor, Matt Smith.

I couldn’t imagine the Baron approving of criminalizing the Internet, he would instead have wanted to suck it dry. After all, he had an invasion to pay for. The Spacing Guild isn’t cheap, especially at military rates. He also wouldn’t cry too much over the false analogy between torture lawyers and detainee lawyers, as David Luban wrote about.

The Lady Jessica
“My children are not freaks! – Lady Jessica

Mother to Paul, and concubine to Duke Leto, she takes on a new role as the religious leader of the Fremen in order in order to have a chance for survival. Jessica had been ordered by the Bene Gesserit to bear a daughter to Leto, as part of their breeding program, but instead she bore a son. The Bene Gesserit had hoped a daughter could be wed to the Harkonnen heir and seal the breach between the families, but that was not meant to be. She paid the price for her decision, but what a price!

One of the great strengths of Dune is its strong women characters. The Bene Gesserit are strong women, but I am always struck by the inner strength of Jessica and Chani when I read the book. In fact, the last line in the book is from Jessica to Chani, talking about Paul’s political marriage to Princess Irulan, while it is Chani who has Paul’s love –

“Think on it, Chani: that princess will have the name, yet she’ll live as less than a concubine – never to know a moment of tenderness from the man to whom she’s bound. While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine – history will call us wives.”

Niki Black’s Blawg Review #254 was in honor of International Women’s Day, National Women’s History Month and the 30th anniversary of the National Women’s History Project. This week, Niki discusses the iPad and its impact on law, and was pleased to announce that her book with Carolyn Elefant, Social Media for Lawyers, is being published by the ABA. A preview version will be shown at Techshow this week. Carolyn (who hosted Blawg Review #215) has a nice post this week as well on looking at what solo and small firm attorneys really earn.

Good job and kudos to two of the strong women of the legal blogosphere.

Duncan Idaho
“We thank you, Stilgar, for the gift of your body’s moisture. We accept it in the spirit with which it is given.” – Duncan Idaho

If you read the later Dune novels, you will know that despite dying in this book, the Atreides swordmaster is reborn again and again as a clone (or Ghola). He’s an especially important character in the 4th book, God Emperor of Dune. He’s the closest of the Duke’s advisors in age to Paul, and he’s as close to a friend Paul ever had.

Another thing that keeps arising from the dead are these check scams targeting attorneys. Jim Calloway has a good post on how to avoid these scams. For those of you with long memories, Jim hosted Blawg Review #49. Another good post on avoiding email scams comes from Brett Trout. Brett hosted Blawg Reviews #106 and #148.

Kevin Heller has resurrected his TechLawAdvisor blog, after working for the past five years for employers with restrictive social media policies. Welcome back, Kevin. He hosted Blawg Reviews #12, #58, and #79, but I couldn’t get those links to work.

Gurney Halleck
“For they shall suck of the abundance of the seas and of the treasure hid in the sand.” – Gurney Halleck

Quick with a quotation, a song or a knife, Gurney Halleck served Leto as one of the Atreides Swordmasters. In the beginning of Dune, he practices weapons with Paul, and teaches him to always be ready for a fight. The technology of personal shields in Dune is interesting, a quick attack is blocked while a slow weapon is allowed to enter the shield. Of course, the Fremen don’t use shields, especially since their use in the desert results in the calling of a worm. And death shortly thereafter.

Gurney was a loyal friend to Paul and his family. One of my friends, Evan Brown, had a great post this week on a recent New Jersey case involving anonymous speech and the posting of pictures of an honor student playing beer pong. Since the Plaintiff couldn’t make a prima facie case of defamation, the anonymous poster was allowed to remain anonymous. Did you know that Evan was also the host of Blawg Review #10?

Speaking of anonymous speech, I was pleased this week to help the EFF in serving as local counsel to file an amicus brief on this topic. To obtain a copy of the brief, please visit the EFF site. Some of you may recall that Blawg Review #93 is in honor of the EFF and its first major case.

The Worms of Arrakis
“Bless the Maker and all His Water. Bless the coming and going of Him, May His passing cleanse the world. May He keep the world for his people.” – Fremen saying

Ordinary people on Arrakis live in fear of the sandworms, as large ones are about 400 meters and can swallow a spice harvester whole. The Fremen’s ritual weapon is the crysknife, ground from one of their teeth. At the end of the book, Paul uses the worms to implement the most impressive use of a Shock and Awe tactic ever seen in Science Fiction, IMHO. The movie and the miniseries don’t really do a good job of portraying the sheer mind-blowing effect that it has upon the Emperor and his troops to realize that the most powerful and most feared thing on the planet is a mere riding animal to the Fremen.

Alia Atreides
“I told you,” Alia said. “My brother comes.”

Born into the full consciusness of a Bene Gesserit due to the actions of her mother, Jessica, Alia is never fully sane. She also was never really a child. Jessica may insist that her children are not freaks, but Alia is. The Bene Gesserit may call her the Abomination, but later in life she becomes known as St. Alia of the Knife. She is an important character in Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

Jessica got the job as the Fremen Sayyadina partly because the current Reverend Mother Ramallah didn’t know Jessica was pregnant. Douglas Keene wrote an interesting post on employment discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace. I wonder if Jessica would have had a claim?

“God created Arrakis to train the faithful.” – from The Wisdom of Muad’Dib by the Princess Irulan

Stilgar
“I am a Naib,” Stilgar said, “never to be taken alive. I am a leg of the death tripod that will destroy our foes.”

The leader of a Fremen community, or Sietch, he takes in Paul and Jessica. He serves as a father figure for Paul, and Paul has to find a way to take power without having to call Stilgar out for single combat. It may be the Fremen way, but Paul knows he needs Stilgar to carry out his plans for Arrakis.

I wonder if the Fremen could have learned a better style from Victoria Pynchon, the author of this post on the differences between mens and women’s negotiation styles. Victoria last hosted Blawg Review with #234.

Dr. Wellington Yueh
“Remember the tooth!” – Dr. Yueh

Imagine the Hippocratic Oath taken to the level of mind control, and you will understand why no one would suspect that the Suk conditioned doctor could be the traitor to bring down the Atreides. But, the Harkonnens had his wife. Yueh is quite sure she’s already dead, but he cooperates with them out of a glimmer of hope. Leto’s death is the price Yueh is willing to pay for a chance to kill the Baron Harkonnen…

This week, Jim Calloway posted a link to an article on representing unpopular clients. Think Piter deVries or the Baron Harkonnen deserve adequate representation? How about the Emperor Shaddam IV? The Beast Rabban? How about Yueh?

Medical care in Dune is certainly much better in the cities as opposed to out in the desert. David Harlow wrote this week about his interview with Peter Neumann about the role of cost-effectiveness research in health care policy. Did you know that the HealthBlawg last hosted Blawg Review with #211?

The Spacing Guild
“The Spice must flow.” – Guild Envoy

Dependent utterly on the Spice for their gift of space navigation, the Guild’s navigators have become super-human. They are never seen by ordinary people, as they have become mutated by the Spice. They have become capable of folding space. The Guild controls commerce throughout the galaxy by setting the rates for transportation. As the Guild is dependent upon the Spice, that is the leash that can be used to control them…

One thing spice is used for is to make filmbase. Filmbase is then used by the Atreides Propaganda corps to spread their message about the “Good Duke Leto.”

“We mustn’t run short of filmbase,” the Duke said. “Else, how could we flood village and city with our information? The people must learn how well I govern them. How would we know if we didn’t tell them?”

Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice had three good posts this week about PR and bloggers, on being “edgy,” and the cult of personality around those who are unwilling to say anything “edgy.”

I really liked these parts –

“I’m not going to name names, because my purpose isn’t to attack you but to persuade you to exist. There are blawgers who agree with everyone, wholly divergent positions notwithstanding. There are blawgers whose posts are so tepid, so devoid of substance, so safe, that no one could disagree with them. God forbid they write anything that takes a position, that means something.”

and later in that same post:

“Have some pride in yourself. Stand on your own two feet. If you actually have something to say, have the guts to say it. If you have nothing to say, control the urge to make noise anyway. But if the noise comes out, be lawyer enough to face the challenge.”

As an added bonus, he talks about those monetizing their Twitter streams by sending out paid tweets. I don’t know about you, but $174.38 per tweet isn’t enough to make me risk losing my audience on Twitter. People forget how permanent the Internet really is, tactics like this could really come back to burn someone who later wants to be treated as a professional. Perhaps like a burnt pizza pie.

Speaking of blogging to brand, I liked the article Ron Coleman linked to here. It is a good summary written for non-lawyers about Ron’s brand. Ron last hosted Blawg Review #242.

Count Hasmir Fenring
“Mark him well, Feyd! A killer with the manners of a rabbit – this is the most dangerous kind.” – Baron Harkonnen on Count Fenring

Count this character’s short shrift in the movie and the miniseries to be one of my biggest disappointments in both. Left out of the movie, and reduced to a mere Mentat advisor to the Emperor in the miniseries, in the book Fenring is a most interesting character. He is a failure of the Bene Gesserit breeding program, a genetic Eunuch. His wife did her best to warn Jessica of the upcoming doom from the Harkonnens. He is the one character that Paul cannot see with his prescience, and the one that could have killed Paul if he chose to. He chose not.

Fenring is one person I can see being engaged in the “bias, intimidation and harassment” discussed by Marc Randazza in his post. A 16-year old kid said some hurtful things towards African-Americans over a Wal-Mart PA system, and the police did not just investigate this prank but they also charged this kid with a crime.

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” – Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Thanks for reading! The photos throughout of the Libyan desert are taken by Luca Galuzzi.

Blawg Review #256 is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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My undying gratitude to the Sherpas and to Ed for helping make Blawg Review what it is. And, to emeritus Sherpa Colin Samuels for being Colin Samuels.

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble… is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Welcome to the Towel Day edition of Blawg Review! Towel Day began in 2001 as a tribute to Douglas Adams. Some of you may recall that my Blawg Review #42 was also a tribute to Douglas. The first Towel Day was held on May 25, 2001, two weeks after Douglas’s untimely permanent existence failure on May 11, 2001. Today in the United States it is also Memorial Day, a day in which we remember those soldiers who have died in service to our country. While Memorial Day is always the last Monday in May, it only rarely shares the May 25th date with Towel Day. For prior Memorial Day editions of Blawg Review, check out #’s 8, 59, 110, and 161. Interestingly, if you want to know why VFW chapters often give poppies in return for donations, check out this link. Also, Dan Hull at What About Clients has a nice thoughtful piece about looking back, remembering, and embracing life.

Towel Day is also a memorial, but a geeky one. Douglas Adams was a well-loved author of many fine works, but he’s best known as the author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a quirky and funny science fiction comedy classic. Douglas managed to write five novels in the “ever more increasingly misnamed” trilogy before his passing, which first got its start as a radio drama. It later became a successful TV series, and finally a movie in 2005. Douglas had tried for years to get the movie off the ground, but did his death four years earlier keep him from appearing in the movie? No, at one point there is a large statue perfectly shaped like Douglas Adams’ nose, and at several points if you know where to look there are pictures or other references to Douglas.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s lead-in post, savvy hitchhikers always know where their towels are. Why a towel? Because they’re so useful!
As the Guide itself says – “A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.)”

I asked some hoopy froods who happen to be law bloggers and twitterers to send me pictures of them with their towels. Here’s the first, your intrepid author, with photographic proof of his geek cred:

1 – I’d thought about posing as Arthur Dent, the hapless Earthling from the series who travels the universe in his bathrobe and towel, but Brett Trout of Blawg IT does it better – he’s even got the hair right:

2 – Our next picture is from Colin Samuels, of Infamy or Praise, this year’s Blawg Review of the Year award winner (OK, he’s won every year so far… but only because he’s *EARNED* it), and also quite the hoopy frood himself:

3 – Jonathan Freiden of the E-Commerce Law blog has a nice post this week discussing Craigslist’s suit against the South Carolina Attorney General over his threats to bring criminal charges against Craigslist and its executives.

4 – Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips has a nice reminder about how to leave a proper “out of office” voice mail message. Just in time for Memorial Day!

5 – David Harlow’s Health Care Law Blog looks at the GOP’s health reform plan. David’s also been kind enough to send a picture. I’m advised that the tuft of hair visible above the towel is David, but could also be from one of Zaphod’s heads. You be the judge:

6 – How to make your clients look bad in 3 easy steps.

7 – The Manpower Employment Blawg analyzes the recent “Business Ethics” episode of The Office for employment law issues. Zaphod had quite low ethical standards when he served as President of the Galaxy, so I think the Manpower blog would’ve been quite busy analyzing just one day in his life, especially if it were the day that Zaphod stole the Heart of Gold…

8 – The Big Sky Blog looks at the rights of one parent to move within the same state after being divorced. We know these issues would be much different in the Hitchhiker universe, as after all Zaphod and Ford shared three of the same mothers.

9 – The Connecticut Law blog looks at cat bite law and whether a cat will get a free bite (or not.) I imagine that the Ruler of the Galaxy’s cat from Episode 12 of the radio series would get a free bite regardless of its previous disposition.

10 – Cathy Gellis is a cyber lawyer in California who I have come to know online over the years. Here is a post Cathy wrote about her recent experiences at the INTA conference. As she puts it in her bio, “I care very much about information technology and how it affects people’s lives, but I’m concerned that legal policies and precedents are being very foolishly decided that are ultimately detrimental to society.” She also cared to send us a picture!

11 – Marc Randazza took time out from INTA to post about an interesting decision, holding that a domain privacy service can be contributorily liable for the actions of its customers, at least on these facts…

12 – Venkat Balasubramani also took time out from INTA to post about the fleeting nature of Facebook friendships, and how one court has taken judicial notice of that

13 – Moshe Glickman, author of the Circumlocutions blog, shows us one of the best uses for a towel. As a father of three myself, I really like this picture:

14 – Lynne Marek of Law.com wrote about how Federal Judges wee grousing about Lawyers’ courtroom attire, especially about some women lawyers. A number of others wrote about this as well, including @Musalaw on Twitter, Above the Law, and Deven Desai. Zaphod Beeblebrox, voted the Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe for seven years in a row, need not apply.

15 – Marvin may have a brain the size of a planet, but he’s a little mercurial. Rick Georges considers whether Wolfram Alpha is a reliable, albeit less intelligent, substitute for Marvin or that other paranoid entity, Google. Here’s my post about Wolfram Alpha and what happens when you ask it for “the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.”

16 – Much of Adams’ writing was characterized by absurdity. Had he lived, he might have co-authored the absurd NASCAR substance abuse policy. Gabe Feldman points out that the policy, under which a prominent driver has been indefinitely suspended, does not specify punishments or even a list of banned substances: “First, the policy does not identify the substances that are banned. Any drug—legal or illegal, prescription or over-the-counter—can result in a positive test. Second, the policy does not provide a clear list of penalties for failed tests.”

17 – Hitchhiker’s Guide was adapted, revised, sliced and diced, and rebooted several times to suit the needs of radio, novels, television, and film, as well as the author’s own sensibilities. Adams might be termed the patron saint of today’s remix culture. Ann Bartow highlighted a program on remix culture and Mike Madison discussed the topic in greater depth, considering “best practices” in the fair use claims which underlie remixing.

18 – Victoria Pynchon, of the Settle It Now Negotiation Blog, has sent us her picture, peeking out from behind her towel. Perhaps it is due to the dangers of her profession, as she has written about here.

19 – Lyle Denniston previews the Supreme Court’s pending hearing of a Sarbanes case. Perhaps Sarbanes Oxley is a work of Vogon poetry?

20 – Eric Turkewitz of the New York Personal Injury Law Blog kindly provided a picture of him with his… sarong. He also makes a good case for why a sarong is as functional as a towel is for a galactic hitchhiker. A sarong is:
1. An article of clothing to be whipped out of a daypack and used when modesty says shorts are not appropriate;
2. An emergency bedsheet;
3. A sun shade;
4. A tablecloth
5. A towel.

21 – A recent Note in the Stanford Law Review suggests that legal ethics should prohibit a lawyer representing a party in the Supreme Court from publishing blog posts while the case is under consideration. In this blog post, Beck/Hermann of the Drug and Device Law blog begs to differ — stridently. Eric Turkewitz agrees with them as well.

22 – Brian Cavner of the Family Fairness blog writes about surrogacy agreements for same sex couples.

23 – Ken Adams of Adams Drafting has produced yet another great article, this one about “The Meaning of Draft.”

24 – It’s not the Heart of Gold, but Doug Cornelius is understandably bothered about someone lifting his blog’s content for their own purposes and he engages in a bit of self-help.

25 – Our previous Blawg Review host, Tamera Bennett, is a co-host with Gordon Firemark on the Entertainment Law Update podcast. Gordon was also a good sport, here’s a great picture with his towel:

26 – Was the theft of the Heart of Gold an act of piracy? It’s not infinitely improbable that some might suggest it was. Peter Leeson discusses the “private law” developed by Somali pirates.

27 – A few legal academics might suggest that the Supreme Court’s Iqbal decision indicates a Vogon-like obsession with bureaucratic detail at the expense of the bigger picture. Jon Siegel and Howard Wasserman weigh in, with Siegel desribing the decision as “icky” and Wasserman calling it a “doozy”. Language, gentlemen! Walter Olson, no fan of broad notice pleading, rounds up other takes on the decision.

28 – In Hitchhikers, savvy people carry towels. Steven DeBerry, as interviewed by Steven Hirsch, recommends a pair of jail-issued orange socks.

29 – What’s in a name? I suppose we could ask Tricia McMillan, but the lawyers who successfully defended the Washington Redskins’ name and trademarks against aggrieved Native American plaintiffs might be able to shed some light as well. Kashmir Hill and Elie Mystal report that one first-year associate at the firm hasn’t quite gotten with the program or learned professional tact. He responded in a companywide e-mail to the announcement of the victory and “shat upon” the win, drawing fire from at least one partner. Shortly thereafter, unsurprisingly enough, he was booted from the firm, although the firm claims that the dismissal was for his failure to pass the bar exam and not for his career-limiting e-mail habits. Into what sort of legal economy has he set himself adrift? It doesn’t look promising, as Jordan Furlong explains for the benefit of recent graduates and short-sighted associates.

30 – The anonymous editor in chief of Blawg Review, known affectionately as “Ed.”, kindly sent us his daring yet still anonymous picture. I love his style, as his towel complements his hat and shoes.

31 – Norm Pattis is on a journey to “heaven”, which for him is a Welsh festival devoted to the used and antique book trade. Good for him, but it’s no Magrathea.

32 – Ford Prefect saved Arthur Dent from certain death; Connecticut’s legislators sought to take a page from Prefect’s book and abolish the death penalty in that state this week. Gideon was supportive of the effort, but predicted a quick veto by the governor. He was, of course, absolutely correct, as of this writing she has vowed to veto the bill.

33 – Patrick discussed the misguided defamation claim filed by a conservative Twitterer and “Tea Party” leader against a critic who referred to him as an “insane douchenozzle”. I don’t know of any Douglas Adams connection here, other than to suggest that a man who originally called his character Slartibartfast “Phartiphukborlz” to enrage BBC censors would’ve probably appreciated the word “douchenozzle.”

34 – On Lawyers and Dolphins. Dietmar Tallroth discuss Towel Day, and the lessons we can learn as lawyers from Hitchhikers.

35 – Dave! Gulbransen, my friend who also wrote the excellent, not to be forgotten Blawg Review #122, kindly sent us his picture with his towel. Note what’s on the screen of his Kindle 2:

36 – Lars Kurth discusses Towel Day, which is also the Universal Day of the Jedi. No hokey religions or blasters here, today we prefer babel fish in our ears.

37 – SportsBiz discusses an interesting idea – might a team get sued if they play second or third string players in a “meaningless” game? Three clubs who from their point of view dispute that the game is meaningless have threatened to do just that.

38 – “Is 500 serious crimes worth the freedom of 50,000 offenders?” Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice asks whether that is a fair trade.

39 – Ron Coleman at Likelihood of Confusion discusses the Woody Allen billboard case and its recent settlement for $5 million. So, how much are these Towel Pictures going to be worth on a billboard?

40 – So, what do you do when a cop sends you a cease and desist? “Drop the photo, or I’ll shoot.”

40 – Diane Levin, of the Mediation Channel blog, was kind enough to send us her picture. It’s meant to symbolize the discretion of mediation confidentiality:

41 – So, when someone posts a good idea on Twitter, how fast can it be implemented? Well, when the good idea is a site as a resource for laid off attorneys, and the idea floats past Gwynne Monahan, the answer is very quickly. Gwynne and Victoria Pynchon created Lawyer Connection on the Ning social networking site. I joined, as I am always interested in helping out fellow lawyers when I can. I urge you all to consider joining as well.

42 – Charon QC is next week’s host, and he actually can claim to have met Douglas Adams. Charon knew Douglas’s wife Jane Belsen, a lawyer, quite well before she married Douglas. And, while they met briefly, he reports that Douglas was charming, amusing and interesting. Here’s Charon QC’s towel picture:

Well, that’s 42!

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Thanks for reading! So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Blawg Review #213 is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Well, here’s the line from Hitchhikers – “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.”

Sass can be defined as “know”, but also can be NSFW too.
Hoopy is defined as “a really together guy.”
A Frood is a “really amazingly together guy.”
And, any good hitchhiker knows where their towel is.

Look for more explanations about why a towel tomorrow…

T-1 day to Towel Day edition of Blawg Review – So what’s a hoopy frood? is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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In putting this Review together, I’ve been reminded of the multimedia nature of the Hitchhiker phenomenon. I know I was first exposed to it with the radio series, and then the book, and then the TV series, and then the other books, and other radio series, and the other TV shows, and the movie…

Please let me know in the comments which version was your favorite!

T-2 Days to Towel Day Edition of Blawg Review – the Multimedia nature of Hitchhikers is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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So, legal bloggers and twitterers, I need your pictures of you with your towels! I’ll post them with a link back to your blogs, etc. Send them to kthompson@cyberlawcentral.com. G or PG only, please! Remember, *with* towel…

May 25th is also Memorial Day in the United States, a day in which many people relax with family and friends, sometimes with a beverage. Hitchhiker fans know the ultimate drink in the universe is the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, a drink described as “like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon, wrapped ’round a large gold brick.” Earth equivalents exist, here is a link to the Wikibook Bartending guide explaining the several different recipes available to make your own.

Enjoy!

T-3 days to Towel Day edition of Blawg Review – Time for a drink is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Seriously, though, Towel Day is a great way to celebrate the life of Douglas Adams, and not just the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series he’s most famous for.

Douglas was an environmentalist as well, one of his more interesting endeavors was writing the book Last Chance to See, a book about the search for some of the rarest and most endangered species on Earth.

It’s a wonderful book, which, like Hitchhikers, was also a radio show.

Douglas also wrote much more, including several episodes of the classic show Doctor Who, two books in a series about the holistic detective Dirk Gently, the quasi-dictionary The Meaning of Liff, the computer game Bureaucracy, and Starship Titanic.

So, carry your towel on May 25th as any savvy hitchhiker would (or, in correct lingo, as a hoopy frood would), and honor a man who brought much laughter and joy into the world.

T-4 Days to Towel Day edition of Blawg Review – More about DNA is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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