Obama picks RIAA's favorite lawyer for a top Justice post
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10133425-38.html
The RIAA long used a company called MediaSentry to troll the Internet in search of people who uploaded large amounts of music. The information that MediaSentry collected became an integral part of the RIAA's aggressive litigation campaign. Since 2003, the RIAA -- a trade organization representing Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Sony Corp.'s Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group Ltd. and Warner Music Group Corp. -- has sued around 35,000 people for what it says are illegal music uploads.
Now the RIAA will be rid of a company that became a frequent target of civil-rights advocates and others who complained that the RIAA's legal tactics were excessive. MediaSentry is a unit of closely held, Belcamp, Md.-based SafeNet Inc.
Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who maintains the Recording Industry vs. the People blog and who has represented more than a dozen clients fighting the RIAA, said he considered the decision to drop MediaSentry a "victory" for his clients. MediaSentry representatives "have been invading the privacy of people. They've been doing very sloppy work," he said.


Changing Tack, RIAA Ditches MediaSentry (WSJ)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123109364085551895.html?mod=djemTECH


Obama's CTO speculation for weeks that it could be
Vivek Kundra, DC's CTO:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401235.html?hpid=moreheadlines
His blog: http://vivekkundra.blogspot.com/



 FCC Chair Drops Internet Filter Plan -- And Words from the Smothers Brothers

[[snip]]

Tommy Smothers, whose character persona (180 degrees from his real

personality) was of the "dumb" brother, was actually the mover and

shaker of the pair.  In this very short (less than one minute) video

clip, Tommy recently explained his concept of "Freedom to Hear" --

without which he suggests (and I agree) that Freedom of Speech can be

rendered essentially impotent

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8biC_T1Rok ).

Carnegie Mellon University Policies on controversial speakers, found at http://www.cmu.edu/policies/documents/FreeSpeech.html
[... Carnegie Mellon University values the freedoms of speech, thought, expression and assembly - in themselves and as part
 of our core educational and intellectual mission. If individuals are to cherish freedom, they must experience it. The very
concept of freedom assumes that people usually choose wisely from a range of available ideas and that the range and
 implications of ideas cannot be fully understood unless we hold vital our rights to know, to express, and to choose. [[snip]]

 When guests are invited by a recognized campus organization, they may express their ideas not because they have a right to do so, but because members of the campus community have a right to hear, see, and experience diverse intellectual and creative inquiry. Defending that right is a fundamental obligation of the university. Controversy cannot be permitted to abridge the freedoms of speech, thought, expression or assembly. They are not matters of convenience, but of necessity. [[snip]]

In context, the "not because they have a right to do so" means that as a private university we do not offer an arena for anyone who wants to demand our attention, but that we (the individuals and campus organizations) can invite speakers who might be controversial but who we want to hear. The city has many public areas where anyone can speak out, including public sidewalks in front of campus buildings. ~ Mary Shaw




Obama to announce new position
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/
WASHINGTON (CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday will 
announce his selection for the role of "chief performance officer," a 
newly created position that will work to scrub the federal budget and 
reform government, a Democratic official told CNN.
The person will "help put us on a path to fiscal discipline," the 
official said.