Category: Interviews

  • Free Ride: Disney, Fela Kuti and Google’s war on copyright
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    Free Ride: Disney, Fela Kuti and Google’s war on copyright

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    Wars over creators’ rights are pretty old – much older than copyright law. In one of the first “copyfights”, in 561AD, about 3,000 people died, writes Robert Levine in his new book Free Ride. St Colmcille and St Finnian clashed over the right to make copies of the Bible, with the King castigating Colmcille for his “fancy new ideas about people’s property”.

    Levine’s book is a story of the digital copyright wars.

    “I tried to write in an analytical way … Read More

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  • What’s next for nuclear?
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    What’s next for nuclear?

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    This year, Imperial College graduated its first nuclear scientists for a very long time. After years in the doldrums, other universities are also increasing their activity. Is this a sign of a Nuclear Renaissance?

    Perhaps it is. Even deep Greens are dropping long-standing objections [1] to nuclear power generation. I got in touch with Imperial’s Professor Robin Grimes, who recently co-authored a Science paper with William Nuttall indicating how the nuclear industry could re-emerge. Here’s an interview that encompasses the … Read More

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  • Tim Kring

    Tim Kring

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    The audience are the actors in writer Tim Kring’s latest adventure. In his famous creation, the TV show Heroes, people discover they have superhero powers, and go off and battle Evil. In his latest, people go and battle Evil, and discover they have been given Nokia smartphones.

    The ambitious, Nokia-sponsored interactive extravaganza began this weekend, and it’s an interesting experiment. In Kring’s own words, this series of events, called Conspiracy For Good, is “not quite a drama, not … Read More

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  • A Martin Mills interview

    A Martin Mills interview

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    The Beggars Group office in a suburban street in Wandsworth doesn’t look much like a media corporation. There’s no chocolate ice sculpture in reception, and no giant video screens or inspirational slogans. It does look a lot like you’d expect a real independent record company to look, though: behind the receptionist’s desk is the kitchen sink. Boxes of records are strewn everywhere. Chairman and founder Martin Mills sits in the cramped, buzzing open-plan office, along with everyone else.

    And there’s … Read More

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  • After Napster, bringing P2P in from the cold
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    After Napster, bringing P2P in from the cold

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    Snocap

    “The technology was sort of there. That software was there, and it was good – I wouldn’t do it that differently now. The basic model was just as appropriate then as it is now.”

    – Chris Castle.

    Read more at The RegisterRead More

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    Spotify founder hints at video, P2P sharing, world domination

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    Ek said the buying habits of 80 per cent of Spotify users were unchanged, 10 per cent were buying more music, and 20 per cent were buying fewer sound recordings. No, this doesn’t add up to 100

    …Read more at The RegisterRead More

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