Categories
Connecting Copyright

Virgin bites Creative Commons on the butt

Wayback Machine entry for post including comments.

Rogers Cadenhead finds an ad featuring Molly Holzschlag. About my post, he wrote:

Shelley Powers puts the blame for this squarely on Creative Commons for not educating users of its licenses. If you release photos for commercial reuse, but you don’t secure model releases from people they depict, you’re subjecting yourself — and those who use your work — to a thorough proctological workup by an intellectual property attorney.

Actually, I never said any of this. I said that this demonstrates that people are confused about the commercial license, because why on earth would a person add this CC license when they don’t have model releases? Or really want the photos used in ads?

Virgin Mobile’s part in this is less interesting, to me, than the issue of people putting a for-commercial CC license on a work that can’t possibly be used without a lot of additional work for commercial purposes. I didn’t once say that Virgin’s use of the photos wasn’t without its own problems.

Additionally, I’ve looked at many of the photos used in this campaign. Why on earth would the people use the commercial license with these items? None that I’ve seen are anything more than casual snapshots.

I’ve written–oh, a time or two–on my concerns regarding the Creative Commons licenses. I’ve stated that they’re confusing, that people are socially pressured and overly encouraged to use such without understanding the impact, and that we don’t really understand how these licenses work with existing laws.

Doug Pardee sent me an email giving me a heads up on an uproar at Flickr about photos Virgin Mobile is using for an ongoing campaign. Seems that Virgin Mobile used Flickr’s CC licensed photo search engine to find photos that allowed commercial use. The company then used such commercially, including a photo of an underage girl without her or her parents’ signed consent.

What’s interesting is the debate on this, as people who aren’t lawyers ask each other what does ‘commercial use’ mean, and when can a person publish a photo of an individual and so on. There is still a massive misunderstanding about the terms used in these licenses, and little done on the part of the CC promoters to do anything other then grunt, “CC, Good!”

Even now, with this discussion raging over at Flickr, another Flickr Forum item discusses the Wellcome Trust decision to release its image collection under CC, and then references those on Flickr who don’t do the same, saying, “Compare the Wellcome Trust’s attitude to that of some of the photographers here on Flickr who consider EVEN educational use of their photographs to be GRAND THEFT PHOTO.”

I would assume that the Wellcome Trust had lawyers who helped in the decision to release photos, and did so with a very clear understanding of the license, the implication, and what the CC licenses mean in regards to existing copyright laws. Obviously, the same cannot be said for many Flickr users, and social pressuring is only going to make matters worse.

In many countries, including the US and Australia, commercial use of photos requires signed consent of identifiable people, and signed consent of a guardian if the person is under legal age. To me, commercial use does not mean that your photos will be featured in a magazine. It means that your photos will be featured in an ad, and used to sell something. However, the only example of commercial use the CC organization provides is one where a person takes a photo and someone else prints it and sells the print. These are two completely different acts. Does this mean I’m wrong? If I am, then how does one classify the use of a photo in a commercial? As editorial use?

To me, editorial/educational (non-commercial) use means that your photos can be used in magazines or to accompany newspaper articles, or in classes or other forms of instruction. Such use also means that your photos can be used to promote organizations and attitudes you may despise, or even hate, but that’s besides the point.

This is what I understand about the CC, but I’m only a layman, and only have a layman’s view of all of this. Don’t look to the lawyers for advice, though; they’re so hemmed in by the rigid and restrictive rules of their profession, I’m surprised they can even identify themselves as lawyers, much less give a public opinion on anything.

Definitely don’t look for clarification or even discussion on these issues at the CC site. This is the ultimate ‘feel good’ organization, where the world is full of happy happy people creating happy happy works sharing with other happy happy people who would never abuse such generosity.

More at:

dsphotographic

Categories
Critters

Hello Octosquid Good-bye

I couldn’t be a cephalopod fan without being excited about the discovery of the octosquid off of Hawaii. This seeming half octopus, half squid will lead to much interesting speculation. And it’s a beautiful creature, too.

I could wish, though, that we could discover these creatures in circumstances other than them being accidental catches, recovered only to die. What if killing this one was enough to endanger the entire species?

Ah well. A bittersweet moment.

octosquid

Categories
Connecting

Wello

Wayback Machine entry with comments.

I haven’t had a chance to see Sicko yet. It’s showing on only three screens in the entire area, and I’m waiting for it to hit a theater near us.

I’ve been reading, with interest, the views of the movie. I have no doubt, as some people have stated, that Michael Moore ‘staged’ events and used emotion to make his point. He makes no apologies; at a minimum, his use of such has started an overdue and desperately needed debate on health care in this country.

I’m disappointed in our candidates for President. Of all of them, only Kucinich has the courage to defy corporate inspired ‘fear’ of socialized medicine to call for what’s really needed. Edwards push to have health insurance carriers devote more of a percentage of profits to health care is nothing more than a sop to the issue. Other options, such as those similar to Romney’s poorly designed and ill thought out health care initiative in Massachusetts, are only designed to add more money to the coffers of the private health insurance companies, as well as prevent the burden of caring the uninsured from falling to the hospitals and doctors, rather than extend health care to all.

Moore’s choice of highlighting the troubles for those already covered by health insurance was ingenious. If he had focused on the ‘bums’, those of us who don’t have health insurance, he would have played into the conservative agenda in that people can get insurance if they only work for it. What Moore has done is show that it doesn’t matter if people have insurance or not, the people in our country are not getting the care they need.

Of course, once the movie released, we heard all the opinion pieces about how systems in Canada, the UK, and elsewhere, where health care is provided for all, have severe failings and how the people of these countries would really much rather have our system. Isn’t that what David Gratzer said, in the Wall Street Journal?

Under the weight of demographic shifts and strained by the limits of command-and-control economics, government-run health systems have turned out to be less than utopian. The stories are the same: dirty hospitals, poor standards and difficulty accessing modern drugs and tests.

Of course, other experts debate his statements, and we go back and forth, not sure what is the truth.

Times have changed, though, and we’re no longer dependent on having to listen to what one expert says to another. If I don’t think weblogging is a good replacement for traditional journalism, it does provide a way, in circumstances such as these, for us to talk to each other. To hear what each other says on personal issues such as health care, and how we, personally, feel the health care system in our respective countries cares for ourselves, our families and friends.

Hello, I’m Shelley. I live in St. Louis, Missouri, in the US. I currently do not have health insurance. My income is erratic and I can’t always count on having the $400.00 dollar a month to pay the premium.

Has not having health insurance changed my lifestyle? Oh, very much so. Because of two bad falls during hikes in the last four years, where I hurt both my back and my ankle, I’m wary now of hiking in more challenging terrain. If I were to fall now and break a bone or tear ligaments, I couldn’t afford to have such treated.

It’s hot to walk in the city, but I haven’t hiked much in the country this summer. I’ve been bitten by ticks every summer and I’ve had bad reactions every year; reactions that have gotten worse. I can’t afford to take the chance to get bit by ticks again this year and have the allergic reaction become worse. Additionally, my state has put out a warning for a significant increase in disease bearing ticks this year. If I can’t afford an allergic reaction, I certainly can’t afford Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

As for the rest of my life, well, I try to eat well, get plenty of sleep, and walk when the temperatures hit below the 70s at night. I’m looking forward to the fall when I can walk in the country again.

Others of my family and friends do have insurance.

I have a close female relative who had surgery for colon cancer a year ago last November. She went through chemo, but still has a 72% chance of cancer re-occurring. That doesn’t mean she’ll die, just that she needs to be more aware and have more regular tests and be ready to aggressively attack the cancer if, when, it re-occurs.

One such test is a colonoscopy. Her ontologist wanted her to have another one, but when she talked to the insurance company, they stated that the only time they authorize a colonoscopy less than two years after the previous is if the person is a ‘high risk’ for colon cancer. My relative’s doctor hit the roof. If previous colon cancer and a 72% chance of re-occurrence is not considered ‘high risk’, what is?

I have another friend who has just gone through a rather extensive, over 50 physical. His plan is focused more on covering high hospital expenses than day to day care or preventative care such as physicals. He’s had the blood work, the high blood pressure check, and the cholesterol check, which was high. He had a stress test and a colonoscopy. So far, he’s had to pay 1200.00 and counting out of his own pocket for these ‘routine’ physical tests.

I had a friend in Boston whose father had significant problems with dementia. The nursing home where he was placed was a decent place, but costly. Her father couldn’t get help to pay for the place because he had too much money. What did he have? He had a house. She had to sell the house and exhaust his income just so that he was ‘poor’ enough to get the care he needed.

When I have had insurance, I’ve had doctors who are only allowed 15 minutes with each patient; I’ve had surgery on an out-patient basis, because I’d have to pay thousands if I stayed overnight; and I had one doctor who wanted to prescribe Xanax as a sort of all purpose cure all. Since she was my ‘assigned’ physician, I couldn’t see anyone else without going through a lot of hassle, so I didn’t go back. I guess I didn’t die, so whatever it was I had wasn’t terminal.

I’ve also had excellent doctors who have treated me with humor, patience, and with a genuine desire to see me healthy. Too bad I can’t get through the door to see most of them without having insurance.

Would I switch what I have for what people have in Canada, Germany, France, Australia, or the UK? Absolutely.

So, who are you, where do you live, and if you’re not in the States, would you rather be sick here? Or in your own country?

The Michael Moore Wolf Blitzer smackdown at RawStory.

There’s a reason I asked what I did in this post. Because of what I’m reading in the mainstream media contradicts what I’ve heard from webloggers who live in other countries.

Categories
Technology

Hello iPhone

Amidst all the hype surrounding iPhone, one thing is very clear: the iPhone will have some impact on web site development. At least, for those sites wanting to attract a well-to-do, gadget focused community. Or I should say, among those who are well-to-do, gadget focused, and who don’t have long fingernails.

The iPhoney emulator provides a means to test your site or web application in an iPhone environment, without having to shell out the money or sign up for two years of service at AT & T.

Apple has also, sort of, kind of, provided development guidelines. The company stresses making content ‘double tap’ friendly: blocks of text, sized just right. You’ll have to decide how much of your site you want to make ‘double tap’ friendly, and whether attracting iPhone users is worth the extra effort.

West Civ has done a more detailed look at the design specs for the device, and points to a Google Group related to the product (via Virginia DeBolt).

Ajaxian has created a whole new category devoted to iPhone development. GigaOm asks Where are the games?. Why, right here: Pick-a-Pair small gameMedium Game, and Triple card game. These are image match games based on technology close to 8 years old (JavaScript/HTML) that I updated to use with the Flickr recently loaded image queue (accessible via the API). I thought the games might work with iPhone, and according to iPhoney, they do.

I feel so über hip, now.

Before rushing off to hack the black, one thing I take away when reading Apple’s developer material is that the company doesn’t necessarily want people building overly complicated, special purpose iPhone applications; or, at a minimum, applications that make torturous use of any possible hacked entry into the device. The stress is on small image and script files, clean scripts, fast application execution time, and fast loads. If you build an application on an undocumented hack, don’t be surprised to find that door slammed in your face next software update.

Apple wants control with this device. Keep that in mind when you spend your time on finding those clever ‘workarounds’.

Categories
RDF

Encyclopedia of Life

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Missouri Botanical Garden has partnered with other scientific institutions on the creation of the Encyclopedia of Life. The purpose of this site is to provide a free, publicly accessible site with a page for every species of animal and plant on Earth. According to an article at PNN Online:

Over the next 10 years, the Encyclopedia of Life will create Internet pages for all 1.8 million species currently named. It will expedite the classification of the millions of species yet to be discovered and catalogued as well. The pages […] will provide written information and, when available, photographs, video, sound, location maps, and other multimedia information on each species. Built on the scientific integrity of thousands of experts around the globe, the Encyclopedia will be a moderated wiki-style environment, freely available to all users everywhere.

“The Encyclopedia of Life will be a vital tool for scientists, researchers, and educators across the globe, providing easy access to the latest and best information on all known species,” said Jonathan F. Fanton, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. “Technology is allowing science to grasp the immense complexity of life on this planet. Sharing what we know, we can protect Earth’s biodiversity and better conserve our natural heritage.”

“For more than 250 years, scientists have catalogued life, and our traditional catalogues have become unwieldy,” said Ralph E. Gomory, President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “The Encyclopedia of Life will provide the citizens of the world a ‘macroscope’ of almost unimaginable power to find and create understanding of biodiversity across the globe. It will enable us to map and discover things so numerous or vast they overwhelm our normal vision.”

From one of the demonstration page, this site looks to be one of the better designed and organized of its kind, and a rich source of data about the natural world. It incorporates an amazing array of media and resources, and turns around and makes all available to anyone, without limitation.

The EoL is an expert driven wiki site–top down, not bottom up like Wikipedia. Contributions will be welcomed from all, but the overall effort is authenticated by trained scientists. I imagine that media files, in particular, will be welcome. The Missouri Botanical Garden is providing most of the information about the plants from its store of data it has been gathering for over 100 years. Much of this data is already available for botanists via the MBG’s own library, and available for everyone at the Botanicus Digital Library.

(The Botanicus Digital Library features pages scanned from many (if not all) of the MBG books. Through this effort, the organization has developed a metadata model that will now be used in the new effort for the EoL. More at the Botanicus Weblog. )

Bill Moyers did an interview on the EoL with the concept creator, E. O. Wilson. Wilson talked on this at the recent TED conference, and gave a demo of the end product that just blew me away. Find the interview at FastTrack Musings.

The EoL is an incredibly exciting project, probably one of the most important on the internets. The plan is to start putting pages online mid-2008. Even now, the list of sources for the site is a rich information resource.

update

More on the EoL and how RDF will play a part at an earlier post I missed.

Rich times, indeed, from a metadata perspective.

second update

Another post on the early framework.