CopyNight Houston

CopyNight Houston: New Events Publicized on Upcoming.org

Hi, there. this is the intermittent mailing list for copynight Houston.
From now on I'll be publishing events on upcoming.org
http://upcoming.org/group/1551/
I actually think I'll organize an event in April at the end of the month. I'll continue sending an email to this list, but I just want you to know that you should look at upcoming.org site.
One of the underlying reasons behind this change (besides the fact that I've been busy recently) is that upcoming.org has more flexibility. Copynight Houston just didn't have a good interface for managing groups and events.
Another thing. I wrote a long diary of going to south by southwest that should be interesting.
http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/sxsw/index.html
I quit my job last month to work on creative projects and in fact next week I'll be in Denton for Tejas Storytelling Festival.
Take care.
Robert Nagle
idiotprogrammer @ fastmailbox.net
http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/

CopyNight Houston Message

(Mailing List Information, including unsubscription instructions,
is located at the end of this message.)
First of all, I wish to apologize for the long delay in correspondence. I hope nobody tried to attend the scheduled November meeting. (If you did, let me know, and I promise to buy you a drink next time!).
I have been inundated at work and other projects.
However, I have interesting news for you.
Today, I just completed an arts application for the Cultural Arts Council of Houston. Among other things, I proposed a bit torrent site consisting of locally-produced multimedia content.
Basically I would contact Houston musicians and ask them if they would like the mp3s they put on the web for free to be included in the Houston Music torrent file. Kind of like what South by Southwest music festival did last year.
Nothing is guaranteed in this world, but I feel relatively confident that the Arts Council will fund this.
Even if it is not funded, I probably still will do this (albeit more slowly and maybe on a smaller scale).
Perhaps next meeting we can talk specifically about how this could be accomplished. I am not really familiar with bittorrent technology, and am definitely open to ideas.
I'll announce a meeting about this idea soon. The December meeting is scheduled for Wed Dec 28 (which I realize is during the Christmas season).
If you are interested in attending, but don't like a meeting during the holiday season, let me know.
Oh, by the way, please don't publicize this plan on websites until I have more concrete plans.
Robert Nagle
http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/

No October meeting

This is the monthly announcement list of Copynight Houston.
Hi, there, There's no meeting on Wednesday.

We'll have a normal get together in November. I'll try to invite a guest.
I'll give more notice next time. November's meeting will be AFTER Thanksgiving, so it won't interfere with holiday planning.
Robert Nagle
idiotprogrammer

Copynight: Staggs head Wed night (tomorrow)

Hi, this is a monthly message from the Copynight Houston group.
A very quick somewhat belated message.
Meeting will be tomorrow August 31 Wednesday.
About meetings.
# Last Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm
# Stagshead Pub, 2128 Portsmouth (close to Richmond/Shepherd)
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=2128+Portsmouth+Houston+Texas&num=1&spn=0.02%2C0.04
Update.
First, the Copynight debate went fairly well, though attendance was not as good as I would have thought.
Dwight Silverman from the Chronicle kind of covered it, though he had technical problems that interrupted his progress.
http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2005/07/copyright_debat.html
http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/copynight/
I have an mp3 version of the talk which I keep meaning to put online, but I haven't had the time. I will get it up as soon as possible.
To summarize the substance of the mp3: we focused more on copyright/artistic issues rather than the grokster/patent issues, although they certainly came up near the end.
Our musician on the panel ended up cancelling at the last day, which would have really been helpful. Unfortunately there was not enough time to find a replacement although apparently several people would have been happy to participate if I had more time to find them!
I've been working on a series of three essays about copyright and artistic issues. (Based loosely on the talk that I gave).
http://download.nowis.com/
Here's a link to Kimbrew McCleod's great book on copyright called Freedom of Expression. This is a really great book, not as political or academic as Lessig's book. IT talks more about music sampling and the panoply of lawsuits related to that. Lots of good anecdotes.
Here's a mailing list/discussion list I've found about copyright issues.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/copyright-future/
More artsy fartsy and lawyery than techy, but still a good mix.
One thing. Future gettogethers will be a little different. maybe a location closer to the westside; maybe special "guest stars" for future meetings. Also, I'd need to figure out some meetup arrangement so I get an idea of who might conceivably show up. Maybe every two months instead of one month. We can talk about it.
If you want to rsvp, drop a line, my email is robertdotnagle
at
fastmailbox.net
Finally, a quote from Lessig's book:
But fair use in America simply means the right to hire a lawyer to defend your right to create. And as lawyers love to forget, our system for defending rights such as fair use is astonishingly bad�in practically every context, but especially here. It costs too much, it delivers too slowly, and what it delivers often has little connection to the justice underlying the claim. The legal system may be tolerable for the very rich. For everyone else, it is an embarrassment to a tradition that prides itself on the rule of law. Judges and lawyers can tell themselves that fair use provides adequate �breathing room� between regulation by the law and the access
the law should allow. But it is a measure of how out of touch our legal system has become that anyone actually believes this. The rules that publishers impose upon writers, the rules that film distributors impose upon filmmakers, the rules that newspapers impose upon journalists�
these are the real laws governing creativity. And these rules have little relationship to the �law� with which judges comfort themselves. For in a world that threatens $150,000 for a single willful infringement of a copyright, and which demands tens of thousands of dollars to even defend against a copyright infringement claim, and which would never return to the wrongfully accused defendant anything of the costs she suffered to defend her right to speak�in that world, the astonishingly broad regulations that pass under the name �copyright� silence speech and creativity. And in that world, it takes a studied blindness for people to continue to believe they live in a culture that is free.

rj

debate tonight!

Just a quick update.
The debate is tonight. Our musician won't make it, and possibly we'll get someone to replace him.
I created a website for tonight's discussion. http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/copynight/
I'm going to use it to share links.
Nothing fancy, but if you want to post questions, give feedback or remarks, feel free to do so there.
It's at 7:00, and I'm pretty sure we'll be able to do a decent recording, so possibly, I'll have mp3s to distribute.

July meeting: NOT at Stagg's Head!

Hi, there,
Here's a followup on the Copynight Debate we are planning.
We have two speakers, a musician (who is also a lawyer), and an IP lawyer. Details are below. It should be fun, and I expect we'll get a good mix of people.
http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/?p=83398434
(announcement posted here on spacetaker---cool site by the way:
http://www.spacetaker.org/event/?event_id=1975&event_date=Wednesday%20July%2027%20at%207:00pm&event_cost=Free!&start_date=2005-07-27%2019:00:00&end_date=2005-07-27%2020:00:00
)
Here's a flyer to download if you wish to post it publicly somewhere.
http://www.idiotprogrammer.com/copynight.rtf
The event will start at 7:00, and if anyone wants to come early to help do setup, let me know.
idiotprogrammer@ fastmailbox.net or houston@ copynight.org
(remove the spaces to make it official).
Parking is pretty easy to find in the front of the complex, but if it's full you can easily park at the church parking lot next door.
Hopefully we'll have a lively debate. See you then.

Wed July 27 Debate: Copyright, Technology & the Arts
I�ve posted this on several lists already and other web locations, but here�s a repeat of a panel discussion/debate I�m organizing. I�ll add more details to this post as they becomes available.
Event: Public Debate: Copyright, Technology and the Arts
Date: Wednesday July 27, 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Nexus Cafe, 2828 Rogerdale (a block away from Rogerdale and Westheimer). Second floor of Walden Internet Village Apartments ( Map)
Cost: Free. (Also free WiFi onsite!)
Debate Topics:

1. Does current copyright law help or hurt artists?
2. Will technological innovation increase or decrease copyright infringement?
3. What is the impact of Grokster vs. MGM Supreme Court decision on publishers, web site owners and inventors?
This debate will feature a panel discussion of local experts. Panelists include:

Katherine L. Sunstrom is an intellectual property attorney with Goldstein & Faucett law firm and Houston weblogger.
Patrick Flanagan plays bass guitar for Drop Trio jazz band. He also is a Houston attorney for Sullo & Sullo LLP Law firm and volunteer for Texas Accountants/ Lawyers for the Arts (TALA).
Robert Nagle (myself) is a fiction writer and documentary filmmaker. He writes frequently about technology, copyright and artist advocacy issues on his idiotprogrammer weblog.
more coming soon! (If you can recommend someone, contact me, idiotprogrammer at fastmailbox.net. )
This event is sponsored by Copynight Houston, a monthly social gathering of people interested in restoring balance in copyright law. We meet over drinks once a month in many cities to discuss new developments and build social ties between artists, engineers, filmmakers, academics, lawyers, and many others. (Sign up for our mailing list).
For more information, contact me Robert Nagle at this email: idiotprogrammer at fastmailbox .net

Wed July 27 Debate: Copyright, Technology & the Arts

Here is a formal announcement of the debate/panel discussion we'll be having. Feel free to forward it to people or mailing lists or blog about it. Note that our location has WiFi, so it would be nice if someone could do some liveblogging about the event.
The venue will be different this time: at Walden Internet Village rather than Stagg's head.
I am still working on confirming panelists. Feel free to forward names of people who would be good for that.
An administrative note: From this point on, I'm going to send announcements solely through the copynight.org mailing list, and not from my personal email. I realize if you're receiving this email, you don't have to worry, but this will be the only month that you'll receive 2 announcements.
I'm going to send a brief reminder a few days before the event actually takes place.
Last month's meeting went very well (though we arrived late and had to sit on the outside deck at Stagg's Head--hot!).

*******************************************************************************************************
Event: Public Debate: Copyright, Technology and the Arts
Date: Wednesday July 27, 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Nexus Cafe, 2828 Rogerdale (a block away from Rogerdale and Westheimer).
On the second floor of Walden Internet Village Apartments (http://www.waldenweb.com/Locations/Walden_of_Westchase/body_walden_of_westchase.html )
Cost: Free. (Also free WiFi onsite!)
Map: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&addtohistory=&formtype=address&searchtype=address&cat=&address=2828%20Rogerdale%20Rd&city=Houston&state=TX&zipcode=77042%2d3511

Debate Topics:
1. Does current copyright law help or hurt artists?
2. Will technological innovation increase or decrease copyright infringement?
3. What is the impact of Grokster vs. MGM Supreme Court decision on publishers, web site owners and inventors?

This debate will feature a panel discussion of local experts.
This event is sponsored by Copynight Houston, a monthly social gathering of people interested in restoring balance in copyright law. We meet over drinks once a month in many cities to discuss new developments and build social ties between artists, engineers, filmmakers, academics, lawyers, and many others. (More information: http://www.copynight.org/; sign up for our mailing list).
Contact: Robert Nagle : idiotprogrammer@fastmailbox.net
*************

CopyNight Houston Message

Hi, there, all,
Here's a little announcement about the Houston copynight meeting. It will be
# Last Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm (June 29)
# Stagshead Pub, 2128 Portsmouth (close to Richmond/Shepherd) (map)
http://www.copynight.org/locations.html#hou
I have a feeling we're going to have a lot to talk/bitch about on Wednesday. :)
Preliminary remarks, I have to say that the Grokster decision is one of the most bizarre Supreme Court decisions ever.
It seems to overrule Betamax and vacate two lower court decisions. That is practically unprecedented.
9 to 0 suggests that it didn't buy any of the reasoning at all.
Interesting amicus briefs were filed by world's foremost programmers claiming that the act of using p2p and distributed networks was not a conspiracy to infringe copyright but simply the best design for networks these days. I found this evidence particularly convincing among all the arguments.
I'm sure the decisions will have subtler reasoning about inducement, etc. But these are very subjective standards.
Please join me to bitch and complain about Grokster. Two days will give me more level-headed opinions.
Although our agenda will be more conversational and social this time around, I definitely want to have a debate scheduled for next month about copyright issues. More later
Robert Nagle
Look forward to seeing you Wednesday.

CopyNight Houston: Meetings Last Wednesday of the Month

Hi, there, I'm just sending an update of the Houston copynight group.
Meetings will be the last Wednesdays of the month at Stagshead Pub, 2128 Portsmouth (close to Richmond/Shepherd) between 7:00 and 9:00. Check my idiotprogrammer weblog for more updates if you are not subscribed to the mailing list.
June's meeting will be WEDNESDAY JUNE 29 2005.
The rest of the cities are meeting on Tuesday; however, Tuesday conflicts with a filmmakers' group I belong to.
I wanted to schedule a speaker/debate for the end of this month. However, I haven't had time to make the arrangements. I will try to do so for the Wed July 27 meeting.

CopyNight Houston Message

Due to things that came up, there will be no social hour for copyfight tonight.

I definitely plan to have an event next June. I am trying to invite speakers to speak about the copyright issues.
Stay tuned.
rj

CopyNight Houston Message

This is the mailing list for the Houston copynight.org group.
For more information check www.copynight.org
Just a short update.
I was actually trying to organize a public debate on
copyright reform. I wanted to do it for May, but a lot of
things got in the way. So I'm going to try for June (that
will give time to publicize it).
The two debate topics will be:
1. Does current copyright law help or hurt artists?
2. Will new technology increase or decrease copyright
infringement?
I probably want to organize a panel of 3-5 people (with
myself being one of them). If you know of any good people
who 1)would be a good panelist and 2)would actually be
willing to come, let me know.
There's a group of lawyers for artists that might be able
to send a rep. I'd like to have a musician or artist to
show up too.
I would like to have it at Walden Internet Village Nexus
Cafe (Westheimer and Beltway 8) On Tuesday June 28.
I think the copynight group wants us to have meetings the
last Tuesday of the month. So that means that probably June
28 will be when this public debate occurs. I'll send a
reminder a week before
As for May, well, because I have nothing special planned. But
I will show up at the Staggs Head bar on May 31 just on
the off chance that people might come here after seeing it
on the national site. If you want to drop by, that's
great. If not, no biggie, but I'll show up for 30-60
minutes, just in case signals get crossed and people end up
showing anway.
http://copynight.org/locations.html
April's meeting was a success, and I think the national
site will probably post our pic fairly soon.

Here's a photograph of the first meeting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjnagle/14679702/
Boy don't we all look like grim and determined copyright warriors.
On another note, I'm starting a group to scan pre-1923 Texas literature for Project Gutenburg. I went to the Houston Public Library, and they were pretty clueless about the need to digitalize old Texas Literature. For those really interested in what kind of literature is out there, check
http://www.oldcardboard.com/lsj/olbooks/dobie/dobie.htm
If you want more info about Texas literature and what's out there, I created a book list
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-fil/-/A1TH5D9I442MFF/ref=cm_aya_lm_all/102-2498908-5178545
Take care, and feel free to drop me a line for clarification.
Robert Nagle, aka idiotprogrammer
http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/