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A Minimal Compact Public Beta »

Mar 21, 2003 - 09:38 UTC »

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I'm a bit late in commenting on this, but Adam released it in the middle of my Silicon Valley immersive experience and had a hard time concentrating. His paper which is available as a pdf file or on his web page is an interesting idea. The basic idea is to create a constitution and manage it like we manage open source software projects. It's a short paper and he doesn't elaborate on some of the details of how it would be done, but I think it is an interesting notion.

I've worked with some UN model law around electronic commerce and cyber arbitration, and some of the ideas are similar. Create a core code base that people can adapt and use locally. Helps harmonize. The main difference between what the UN does and what Adam is suggesting is the use of an open structure like open source.

I think the paper is a bit too geeky for lawyers and a bit to constitutional law oriented for geeks. I have the same problem with my emergent democracy paper.

Adam is releasing 1.0 this summer, I think. Look forward to reading it.

Continue reading A Minimal Compact Public Beta.

Adam
I'm gonna get my deep geek on here, and go public with something I've been putting a great deal of thought and effort into lately: apropos of many recent discussions of "emergent democracy," here's a proposal - a "minifesto," if you will - for the constitution of virtual, post-national states. The relationship to conceptions of democracy should be obvious.
Go 'head and shoot holes in it: I'm not a constitutional lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. The ideas proposed herein may well not stand up to extended inspection, which is OK with me. Think of this, then, as a public beta, offered as a conversation starter only.

The First International Moblogging Conference »

Joichi Ito

Mar 21, 2003 - 09:15 UTC »

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Adam Greefield is proposing to hold a conference about moblogging in Tokyo this summer. Sounds like a good idea. Especially the fact that it's in Tokyo. ;-)

Robert Berger the radio guru heading back to Silicon Valley »

Joichi Ito

Mar 21, 2003 - 09:06 UTC »

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Saw Robert Berger yesterday. He is yet another very cool person I met through John Markoff. (Thanks John!) Robert is a radio guru. Glocom had invited him to Japan to work on a report about spectrum. I'm glad he was invited to Japan and got a chance to learn about Japan and meet the community here. He'll be returning to Silicon Valley soon. He will be one more of the few important people there who have experience in Japan. I continue to feel that the bridge between Silicon Valley and Japan is still too weak and the more cool people who can spend a little time in Japan and return to the US to be, if not advocates, at least conscious of Japan, the better. Looking forward to hearing what Robert plans to do next!

Is the Baghdad Blogger really in Baghdad? »

Joichi Ito

Mar 21, 2003 - 07:36 UTC »

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I'm sure everyone knows about "Where's Raed?" a blog by a guy in Baghdad which I wrote about here and here. (Thanks again John for the original link.) Paul Boutin does some great investigative blogging about where Salam Pax, the Baghdad Blogger, is. His conclusion?

Paul Boutin
Q: Is the Baghdad Blogger for real?

A: Probably.

Check out his thoughts if this question has been on your mind.

Capability of Japan to defend itself against attack from North Korea »

Joichi Ito

Mar 20, 2003 - 11:15 UTC »

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There is a great deal of debate in the Diet recently about Japan's military capability. The constitution of Japan states:

Japanese Constitution
CHAPTER II. RENUNCIATION OF WAR

Article 9.

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

The interpretation of this is that Japan can not attack another country and in fact can not even shoot at anything until someone dies. So, if North Korea shoots a missile at Japan and it hits an unpopulated area, Japan can do nothing. If the missile kills someone, Japan can shoot the next missile down when it is over international waters. The military is pushing to have this law changed and the constitution amended.

In the Diet testimonies, the military said that they are currently not equipped to strike anyone anyway. The Aegis destroyers only have sea-to-air and sea-to-sea missiles and the fighter jets only have air-to-air missiles.

I currently do not know what my position is about rearming Japan, but interesting facts since Japan has quite a large military these days, but for what?

Al Gore joins Apple's board »

Joichi Ito

Mar 20, 2003 - 08:16 UTC »

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Al Gore and Apple sure picked an interesting day to announce this. I wonder if they are going to declare war on Microsoft?

CNet
Al Gore joins Apple's board
By Ian Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
March 19, 2003, 1:38 PM PT

Apple Computer on Wednesday named former Vice President Al Gore to its board of directors.

Lessig collecting information about business model and software patents »

Joichi Ito

Mar 20, 2003 - 07:58 UTC »

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I think business method and software patents are a very bad idea. I've been arguing against them for a long time. Larry has an idea to solicit specific examples and opinions from people. He will verify the information and make a web page. This should help the policy makers and lawyers understand what technologists are always complaining about.

Lawrence Lessig
I’ve been a skeptic about software and business method patents for a long time (while a supporter of, e.g., drug patents)
[...]
So here’s an idea. I’d like to construct a page of views of technologists who have experience with the system. The aim will not be to evaluate the system as a whole, but instead to collect credible testimony about the burdens the system imposes. Policy makers should be evaluating whether the benefits outweigh the burdens. My aim is not to do that weighing. My aim is simply to collect stories and evidence about the burdens.

If you have experience and a view, then email me and describe both. I will collect them and verify the source, and then make the results available here. The aim is not to conduct a poll; this will not be a representative sample of anything. But it would help immensely to have a place where people could go to read what technologists say to me all the time.

Saddam will ban photoshop... »

Joichi Ito

Mar 20, 2003 - 07:45 UTC »

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If Saddam survives, he'll probably ban photoshop.

Via hidely on Metafilter

Ashcroft proposing bill in US to allow secret arrests and what does this mean for us non-US citizens? »

Joichi Ito

Mar 20, 2003 - 07:41 UTC »

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Village Voice via Lisa Rein
Ashcroft Out of Control Ominous Sequel to USA Patriot Act By Nat Hentoff for the Village Voice.
Under the proposed Ashcroft bill reversing that court decision, for the first time in U.S. history, secret arrests will be specifically permitted. That section of bill is flatly titled: "Prohibition of Disclosure of Terrorism Investigation Detainee Information." In Argentina, those secretly taken away were known as "the disappeared."

Moving on, under Section 501 of the blandly titled Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, an American citizen can be stripped of citizenship if he or she "becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United States has designated as a 'terrorist organization,' if that group is engaged in hostilities against the United States."

The day before yesterday, I was in the inquiry committee for consumer protection and I explained that privacy had far reaching effects. One example I gave was GRID.

Equifax
EQUIFAX BECOMES CRITICAL LINK IN FIGHTING FINANCIAL FRAUD

Selected to Manage Database That Will Aid Financial Institutions In Tracking Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Other Criminal Activities
[...]
The Global Regulatory Information Database (GRIDSM) is a unique solution for financial institutions to conduct automated and enhanced due diligence on entities, individuals and transactions as mandated by federal law. Among other federal and international rules, the recently passed USA PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions to undertake stringent verification processes for existing and new accounts. The GRID database is the first unified attempt by financial institutions to comply with the Act's requirements through a comprehensive database.

Information collected in Japan about Japanese citizens could easily be handed over to GRID by the Japanese government as a gesture of good faith to the US that the Japanese government seems so happy doing these days. GRID will be a global database and will grow to include all kinds of information. For those of you who are unaware of this, money laundering law makes it illegal to hide your money flow from the government, even if you are not doing anything else illegal. So, a warning to those Japanese who have recently sent money to a friend in Iraq, visited Afghanistan, donated money to Greenpeace or had dinner with a human shield... beware of international travel. You may be on a list that you won't know how to get off of. As a non-citizen of the country you are visiting, you will not even have the rights that US citizens have. These lists are based on profiling, so many things that you do could be construed as: "becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United States has designated as a 'terrorist organization,' if that group is engaged in hostilities against the United States." Better not to say, do our buy anything if you plan on visiting to the US any time soon.

Bang & Olufsen mp3 player to be compatible with iTunes »

Joichi Ito

Mar 20, 2003 - 07:11 UTC »

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MacMegasite
Bang & Olufsen releases MP3 player for Mac
Bang & Olufsen has responded to requests from Macintosh users and is making the company’s portable mp3 player compatible with Apple’s iTunes.

Yes! I love B&O stuff. I aways buy it and never use it. ;-p I'm so happy with my iPod and my Shure E5c's that I'm not sure where this BeSound2 would fit into my lifestyle, but it just looks sooo cool. Maybe I can use the BeSound2 when the iPod is out of battery power or when I have to wear an mp3 player at a dinner party...

Joi Ito's Web

Joi Ito's conversation with the living web.

A Minimal Compact Public Beta »

Categories:

The First International Moblogging Conference »

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Robert Berger the radio guru heading back to Silicon Valley »

Categories:

Is the Baghdad Blogger really in Baghdad? »

Categories:

Capability of Japan to defend itself against attack from North Korea »

Categories:

Al Gore joins Apple's board »

Categories:

Lessig collecting information about business model and software patents »

Categories:

Saddam will ban photoshop... »

Categories:

Ashcroft proposing bill in US to allow secret arrests and what does this mean for us non-US citizens? »

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Bang & Olufsen mp3 player to be compatible with iTunes »

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