The Latest from Boing Boing

Installing a swing on the Paris Metro
Maggie Thatcher performs the Dead Parrot sketch
Ewok song karaoke
MAD publisher William M Gaines on TO TELL THE TRUTH
History of piracy, reviewed by EFF's senior copyright lawyer

Posted: 31 May 2010 04:37 AM PDT

LaGrotteDuBarbu Saison 02 Episode 1E - MetroQuiBalance from babozor on Vimeo.

Olivier sez, "Last week end, we gently hacked the Parisian subway, modifying the global UI of the subway train by trying to add a swing... it was a semi-fail but at the end an EPIC WIN"

LaGrotteDuBarbu Saison 02 Episode 1E - MetroQuiBalance (Thanks, Olivier!)

Maggie Thatcher performs the Dead Parrot sketch

Posted: 30 May 2010 06:12 PM PDT

Here's Margaret Thatcher at the 1990 Conservative Party conference making fun of the Liberal Democrats' new mascot (a parrot), by performing the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch.

The ironies are, of course, glorious. First, because the Tories and the LibDems have just formed the government of the UK. But second, because the Tories voted heavily in favour of the Digital Economy Act, which takes as its premise that this sort of cultural use of creative material is theft and should be vigorously punished (except, presumably, when the villainous Ms Thatcher does it).

Margaret Thatcher does the Dead Parrot Sketch (Thanks, Ethan!)

Ewok song karaoke

Posted: 30 May 2010 04:11 PM PDT

It's not a karaoke party until someone sings the Ewok celebration song: yub-nub!

May the schwartz be with you: Ewok Karaoke (via Digg)

MAD publisher William M Gaines on TO TELL THE TRUTH

Posted: 30 May 2010 04:09 PM PDT

Zack sez, "William M. Gaines, publisher of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, WEIRD SCIENCE and MAD appears on the game show TO TELL THE TRUTH. This video links to a number of other classic TO TELL THE TRUTH appearances by some oddballs, including con man Frank Abagnale Jr. (in a scene later recreated for CATCH ME IF YOU CAN)."

To Tell the Truth - William M Gaines (Thanks,Zack!)

History of piracy, reviewed by EFF's senior copyright lawyer

Posted: 30 May 2010 04:06 PM PDT

Fred von Lohmann, senior copyright attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has just posted a review of Adrian John's monumental, 500-page Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates, a thoroughgoing and well-researched history that draws compelling conclusions about the need to view piracy as a business-model crisis, not a moral one. I'm about halfway through Piracy myself, and really enjoying it:

Along the way, you'll be reminded that today's debates have historical roots in controversies over computer hacking, phone phreaking, home taping, and ultimately the 1920s patent-law rebellions against AT&T. This is history every interested copy-fighter, patent reformer, and netizen needs to know. Prof. Johns ends his book by describing the unique thing about our current historical moment: the rise of what he calls an "intellectual property defense industry":
As piracy has grown and diversified, so a counterindustry has emerged, dedicated to combating it. The coherence and scope of this industry are relatively new and remarkable. In previous centuries, particular groups or industries mounted efforts against piracy; but they did not generally regard them as fronts in one common cause. Now they do. ... So the first implication is that we need to appreciate the historical significance of this industry of antipiracy policing and apprehend its consequences, at every social level. The second implication follows from that. Measures adopted against piracy can sometimes impinge on other, equally valued, aspects of society. Indeed, it is possible that they must do so, given the nature of the task. When that happens, however, they can trigger deeply felt reactions. The result is a crisis, with the potential to create a moment of genuine transformation.
If that's right (and I think it is), then opposing the "intellectual property defense industry" is not the same thing as opposing "intellectual property." Rather, it is about insisting on values like civil liberties, privacy, and autonomy, and not allowing antipiracy enforcement to trample them.