Techdirt Reading List: The Blockchain Revolution

from the the-times,-they-are-a-changing dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

Well, after doing four copyright books in a row, I figured it was finally time to change things up a bit, so this week, we're moving on to a technology that actually could change a lot of things -- including raising policy questions in a ton of areas: the blockchain. For the longest time, I've been meaning to write a post with the title "the Greatest Trick Bitcoin Ever Pulled Was Making People Think It Was About The Currency," but I never got around to it. Of course, in the last few months, there's been more and more understanding about the importance of the underlying blockchain technology as the truly revolutionary part of all of this. Of course, the blockchain and Bitcoin go hand in hand, and it's Bitcoin that helps make the blockchain actually work the way it needs to work, so attempts by some to separate the two entirely seem a bit extreme.

Either way, Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott, who have been writing books about innovation and the culture of innovation for a very long time, have now released Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World. And it's a really well written and comprehensive overview of why the blockchain has the potential to be so revolutionary, but it's also about the challenges ahead. If you follow the space closely, I don't think there's anything that surprising about the book, but it does a really good job of pulling together a number of different threads and summarizing the potential of the blockchain very concretely.

And, if you don't understand all this blockchain/Bitcoin stuff at all, or why it matters, but want to understand it, then this is absolutely a book worth reading. Considering the possibility of the blockchain remaking a variety of different businesses, while opening up new areas for possible innovation, I highly recommend check out this book to help you think through the possibilities.

Filed Under: blockchain, don tapscott, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: Copyfight: The Global Politics Of Digital Copyright Reform

from the more-copyright-reform dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

We've been doing a bit of a theme these last few weeks talking about books related to copyright law and copyright reform, having done books on the moral panics used to push bad copyright reform, as well as suggestions on how to do copyright reform right. Last week, we had a good look at the issues of how copyright law and the 1st Amendment don't mix, which included ideas on how to fix that.

This week, the recommendation is for Copyfight: The Global Politics of Digital Copyright Reform -- a more academic take on exactly what the subtitle notes, by Blayne Haggart (who, it should be noted, has written guest posts for us on the "fact-free world of copyright policymaking," and the possibilities for an end of maximalist copyright law.

Copyfight, which came out two years ago, is an in-depth look at how copyright reform has happened in the past, focusing on the now infamous 1996 WIPO Treaty, which was the basis for the DMCA. As we've explained in the past, copyright interests tried to pass the DMCA in the US earlier, but failed to gain Congressional support. So the lobbyists and the politicians packed up for Geneva, and used the backroom negotiations process of trade agreements to create a treaty that required the DMCA, then headed back to the US in 1998 and got the DMCA passed on the basis of "we needed to do it to 'comply with our international obligations'." It was a sleazy process, but to this day, some of those who did it are happy to admit that's how they got what they wanted.

Copyfight's main focus, though, is in looking at how WIPO was then implemented in three different countries -- the US, Canada and Mexico, and what the different implementations mean from a policy perspective. It also tries to put some of this historical analysis into the context of the modern digital copyright fights, talking about how online activism may be shaping the debate as well. It's a good overall read and highly recommended (though not the ebook version, which for reasons that make no sense, costs about 3 times the paper version).

Filed Under: blayne haggart, copyfight, copyright, copyright reform, dmca, reading list, techdirt reading list, wipo

Techdirt Reading List: No Law: Intellectual Property In The Image Of An Absolute First Amendment

from the the-first-amendment-matters dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

With copyright reform a big topic again these days, we've been talking about some worthwhile books to read in thinking about the topic. The last couple weeks we wrote about some important books by Bill Patry in thinking about how to reform copyright, and this week I'm going to recommend No Law: Intellectual Property in the Image of an Absolute First Amendment by David Lange and H. Jefferson Powell. I had actually just mentioned this book a few weeks ago in discussing copyright's free speech problem, and I'll recommend it again. I'm not sure why the book never seemed to get that much attention, even in copyright circles, because it's really worth reading.

It is not, necessarily, a book about copyright reform, per se. The authors admit that it's more of an intellectual exercise. I should also warn you that the book can be a bit of a dense read at times, but I found it extremely worthwhile. The first half basically explains how copyright and the First Amendment clearly are in strong conflict, and has a rather detailed discussion of how the Supreme Court clearly got things wrong in the infamous Eldred case. The second half of the book then focuses on a possible solution -- that doesn't involve dumping copyright altogether. Instead, they're suggesting something more akin to the way defamation law often works, in which the speech is not removed, since that could violate the First Amendment, but you may need to pay for it. In effect, it would be about creating a compulsory licensing system. I'm not sure I agree with this approach for a variety of reasons, but the book is detailed, thorough and thought provoking.

Filed Under: copyright, first amendment, free speech, no law, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: How To Fix Copyright

from the copyright-reform-time dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

In last week's Reading List post, we highlighted William Patry's Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars, in which he laid out a strong case for just how badly the debate on copyright has been warped by legacy industry forces creating bogus analogies. One of the complaints some leveled at that book was that it only discussed the problems, rather than offering any solutions. Of course, that wasn't the point of the book.

Nevertheless, Patry was then convinced to write a follow up book How to Fix Copyright, in order to respond to those critics (most of whom will never be satisfied). Once again, the book is an excellent read. It is not -- as some believed -- an entire book dedicated to discussing possible solutions. Instead, it again spends a lot of time making sure people really understand how messed up copyright law has become, and then towards the end proposes a few, relatively simple, solutions (which, frankly, may not go far enough). It talks about things like bringing back formalities (i.e., make copyright opt-in again) and shortening copyright terms.

Since it appears that Congress is really moving forward with copyright reform, it's definitely worth reading Patry's book again, and seeing if Congress goes anywhere near implementing his suggestions. My guess: not a chance.

Filed Under: copyright, reading list, techdirt reading list, william patry

Techdirt Reading List: Moral Panics And The Copyright Wars

from the pay-attention dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

Congress appears to be gearing up to really look at copyright reform again, and so it probably shouldn't be a huge surprise that we're starting to see a ramp up of crazy hyperbole about how horrible infringing is, how it's destroying millions of jobs and billions in revenue. These claims seem to get even more ridiculous whenever legislation is on the line. I may do a post about some of the more recent whining about all of this, but for this week's reading list post, I thought it might be good to point people to Bill Patry's excellent Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars. Patry has been involved in the copyright world for decades, working on copyright issues in Congress and with the Copyright Office -- and also in private practice as a lawyer. He's written a massive treatise on copyright law called Patry on Copyright as well as a treatise focusing just on fair use -- both of which are frequently cited in legal decisions. He now works for Google -- which causes some people to try to dismiss what he says as biased. But with his background, knowledge and experience, you'd be foolish to do so.

Patry used to run an excellent blog, discussing various copyright topics, but unfortunately gave it up a few years ago, after he felt some of the copyright debates got too heated. Either way Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars is a worthwhile read (or reread, if you haven't read it in a few years), and I highly recommend it for people observing just how the propaganda campaign for stricter copyright laws is shaping up. Patry goes back and explores just how the legacy players have long twisted language to make arguments around copyright that have little basis in reality, but which sound good to policymakers (and to the press). Since that is undoubtedly happening again, it's important to understand its history to be aware of attempts to manipulate the debate yet again.

Filed Under: copyright, moral panics, techdirt reading list, william patry

Techdirt Reading List: Cryptonomicon

from the a-little-fiction-for-you dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

In previous Techdirt Reading List posts, we've covered a bunch of different books about encryption and the crypto wars of the 1990s, arguing that it might be useful for more people to understand the past to avoid having to repeat the same old fight all over again (though, if we must, hopefully the eventual outcome is the same). However, a friend recently suggested another book on cryptography that is a bit different: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Unlike all of the other books on crypto that we covered, this one is fictional. However, it may also be the most entertaining and readable.

If you haven't read it, I should warn you that it is a big book and also, like an unfortunate number of Stephenson's books, it tends to go off the rails as he struggles to figure out how to end it (Stephenson is one of the best writers around, but has always struggled with endings). However, a key plot point in the book is encryption (the title may be a hint) and it actually does a pretty damn good job of explaining encryption in a way that is really understandable, often by going back and discussing earlier versions of encryption, but also comparing them to more modern encryption as well. Definitely worth a read (or a re-read if you read it a while ago)...

Filed Under: cryptonomicon, encryption, neal stephenson, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: Free Books From Verso (Mostly)

from the and-some-good-ones dept

Most Thursday's, we post book recommendations with links to purchase the books through Amazon (where a little cut of the purchase price goes to us). We've received a ton of feedback that people like those recommendations (and seeing how many books you guys have bought via that, suggests it's true!). We had another such book lined up for today, but we're going to put that aside as we saw the news this morning that publisher Verso Books, which has published a number of excellent books (including ones we've recommended in the past), is doing a special one day (today!) offer for a bunch of free ebooks, many of which may interest folks here -- though there are a few caveats which we'll get to.

The books include two that we've recommended before: Gabriella Coleman's excellent book about Anonymous, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy and the collected writings of Aaron Swartz entitled The Boy Who Could Change The World. Now there's a big caveat on the Swartz book: as Verso notes, it does not hold the rights to that book in North America, so it's only available to those outside of the US (or someone using a geographically promiscuous VPN, I imagine). Now, quite obviously, Aaron Swartz would probably be first in line to argue that this kind of geoblocking is ridiculous and worthy of scorn. In fact, from its tweets, it appears that Verso also recognizes this. But, it's not exactly in Verso's control. Though perhaps the company could have reached out to The New Press, who published the book in the US to work out some sort of co-promotion.

The second caveat is that... Verso appears to be overwhelmed. There have been lots of complaints that after "purchasing" the ebooks people are not receiving their download links -- and I can confirm that. I tried direct download links and the "email me a link" option, and neither seemed to work. However, the company says it's working on it, and as long as the books are listed in your "library" in their system, then you'll be able to access them in the future.

And, of course, even if you're in North America, all of the other books are available for free, including Coleman's. The other books look pretty good as well. There's The Wikileaks Files with an intro by Julian Assange, Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, Revolution in the Age of Social Media: The Egyptian Popular Insurrection and the Internet by Linda Herrera and In The Flow by Boris Groys.

The one other issue that some people may take at least some offense to is Verso's decision to entitle the blog post about this whole thing Psst! Downloading Isn't Stealing [for today], with at least one person on Twitter pointing out that this title at least suggests that Verso hasn't read (or hasn't understood) Swartz's writings. Verso responded noting that it had, and given my own dealings with Verso, I believe that's the case. Though, it does seem a little wrong no matter what that the collection of Swartz's writings doesn't appear to be available anywhere as a Creative Commons download -- given that Swartz himself was instrumental in the founding of Creative Commons and many of the writings in the book were things that Swartz himself posted for free online on his blog.

As for the title, which perhaps a little annoying, it's Verso doing a play on words of an Aaron Swartz blog post entitled "Counterpoint: Downloading Isn't Stealing," which Verso also reprinted on their page. For folks who are extra sensitive to the claims some make that "copying is stealing," you can see why Verso's title may rub some the wrong way, but it does appear to be them just having some fun with the phrase. And, either way, go check out these books for free today...

Filed Under: aaron swartz, books, free, gabriella coleman, reading list, techdirt reading list
Companies: verso

Techdirt Reading List: GDP: A Brief But Affectionate History

from the i-wouldn't-be-quite-so-affectionate dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

I'm a GDP skeptic. I think it's a ridiculous concept that is poorly measured and much more meaningless than most people realize. And, I think it can be quite damaging at times too, because we optimize for what we can measure, even if it's not what we should be optimizing. We see this in so many areas. If there's a number, our brains seem to turn to mush, even when people say that the numbers aren't necessarily the most important thing (e.g., look at the way people use "patents" as a measure of how innovative society is -- it's a disease). I'm certainly not alone in being a GDP skeptic either -- debates have raged on for years about it in economics and policy circles. A few years back, economists Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, at the request of then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, published a report which led to a book entitled Mismeasuring Our Lives; Why GDP Doesn't Add Up, which also digs into the somewhat nutty (and in my mind, equally problematic) concept of "Gross National Happiness" as something of an alternative to GDP.

More recently, economist Diane Coyle published GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History, and the title is pretty accurate. The book is pretty short, and highly readable, and quite interesting. Coyle is somewhat less of a GDP skeptic than I am, and as you can probably guess from the "affectionate" part of the title, more willing to cut GDP some slack as a useful tool -- though she seems to be coming around towards the view that it's potentially outdated, especially as the nature of our economy has moved towards the digital world. Either way, I quite enjoyed it and learned a lot about the history of GDP and some of its more ridiculous and entertaining quirks.

For people who don't spend much time in macroeconomic circles, or thinking about things like "just how do we measure economic output, productivity or prosperity," many seem to think that GDP is a much more... credible and meaningful number than it is. And I highly recommend reading both books mentioned here to begin to understand why it's a lot more problematic than it seems.

Filed Under: gdp, gross domestic product, gross national happiness, reading list, techdirt reading list

Techdirt Reading List: Foolproof: Why Safety Can Be Dangerous And How Danger Makes Us Safe

from the unintended-consequences dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

One of the issues that we focus on quite frequently around here is the "unintended consequences" of politicians and regulators regulating in good faith. Some argue that many of these "unintended" consequences really are quite intended (i.e., regulatory capture creating barriers to new entrants), but in many cases the consequences truly are unintended. You have people trying to regulate extremely complex systems by doing a fairly superficial attack on one or a small number of variables, never even bothering to consider how that might impact other variables. Or, if you want to think about it more visually, if you squeeze the toothpaste tube in one spot, the toothpaste is going to just move around elsewhere (and potentially fly out and all over everything). With that in mind, Greg Ip's Foolproof: Why Safety Can Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes Us Safe is a fun read on such unintended consequences.

It covers a variety of different areas where there were attempts to effectively "regulate" safety, but which actually caused the toothpaste to shoot right out of the tube, and make everyone less safe (even as they thought they were safer). In fact, part of the problem is the false belief that we're safer, leading people to take riskier and riskier actions. It's not all that however. A second part of the issue is the added layer of complexity. Increase complex regulations and the focus becomes on loopholes, and hiding activity through more complex behaviors, that can mask the danger as well -- something that pops up in the financial system time and time again. While there are some who like to use the kinds of examples in the book to argue for doing away with regulations altogether, that's not necessarily the solution. But regulating for "safety" without understanding these kinds of unintended consequences can lead to serious problems. And, as Ip's book notes, it's easy to look for "villains" when things go catastrophically wrong, but it often is the well-intentioned people seeking "safety" or "protection" that create these unintended consequences in the first place.

Filed Under: greg ip, reading list, regulation, techdirt reading list, unintended consequences

Techdirt Reading List: Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons From Science Fiction

from the design-and-star-trek dept

We're back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

As I was debating what book to showcase this week, I saw that Open Technology Institute Director Kevin Bankston had apparently just recommended a book that sounded so good that I couldn't resist picking up a copy and making it this week's choice: Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction. I haven't even read it yet, but the idea, and the recommendation from Kevin (along with the Amazon reviews) definitely make it sound worthwhile:

Mr. @KevinBankston recommends the book Make It So, about cross-pollination of UI between sci-fi and the tech industry. Any of y'all read it?

— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) March 9, 2016

For years, people have talked about how early Motorola flip phone designs were inspired by the Tricorder device in Star Trek, but the book appears to go much further in detailing lots of other examples. Hell, just take a look at one page from the index at the end: Looks like a fun read all around, and as I start to dig into it, I figured many of you might appreciate it as well.

Filed Under: books, design, reading, science fiction, techdirt reading list, ui