IP in a divided digital world

When I was in New York earlier this month I stopped by the nonprofit Acord insurance association's offices and sat down for an interview with CEO Gregory Maciag and fielded a phone call from London from British author Paul May. Here's the video of our conversation.

Cross-posted to Darknet.

Jack Valenti on 'Darknet'

Jack Valenti, who headed up the Motion Picture Association of America for nearly 39 years, praises the book "Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation," suggesting that entertainment executives could learn a thing or two about it. Valenti is profiled in the book. (Ourmedia page | watch video)

Blogger dinner in Milan

Had a fantastico time last night at a blogger dinner organized by Paolo Valdemarin, a consultant who's one of the big thinkers in Italy's social media scene. The gathering at Il Verdi Trattoria in Milano brought together 17 people, including Massimo Esposti, whose new Unwired Media publishing venture (see the Area 51 blog) will debut next month with the Italian version of Darknet. (Howard Rheingold's preface and the Introduction are available for a free download in Italian.)

Also met Fausto, Marco Zamperini, Gianluca Brugnoli, Andrea Lawendel, Luca Lizzeri, Giogio Baresi and several other great folks. I'm hoping we can get a few volunteers in Italy to help out with Ourmedia; we're looking for moderators, coders and administrators.

Earlier in the day Deirdre Straughan gave us a tour of the offices of TVBlob, an interactive communication startup using TV and broadband. (Deirdre was a welcome addition to the blogger dinner as well.) Stayed for two nights at Deirdre's place in Lecco, and I'll post some video and a slew of photos when I get back. (When you've spent years mastering Photoshop, it's hard to bring yourself to upload photos that need lightening, cropping and sharpening.) So far: Rome, Venice, Lake Como and Milano. Just got to Florence. More soon.

'Darknet' a top-10 business book

The Miami Herald names Darknet one of its top 10 business books of the year.

Personal media and darknets

In this 4-minute video interview, Outhink CEO Dave Toole discusses the personal media revolution and his company's free, secure collaborative application called SpinXpress (free download for this nifty application that lets you exchange files securely). Interview conducted at the Podcast Hotel conference in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 7, 2005. (Ourmedia page | watch video)

Technorati tags: darknet, citizens media

RU interviews me, I interview him

I just published an 8-minute video interview I conducted with RU Sirius, Sherry Miller and Jeff Diehl at RU's NeoFiles show on the Mondo Globo Network in San Francisco. We discuss their podcasting setup and plans to conquer the media world. (Ourmedia page | MPEG-4 video)

Meantime, RU Sirius conducted a 30-minute interview with me Sunday about Darknet, file sharing, copyright and outdated Hollywood business models. The MP3 conversation just went up on his Mondo Globo Network here. Check one or both of them out.

This is the sort of thing that traditional news organizations frown on, natch: You can't be an interviewer one moment and an interviewee the next. I say, in the new personal media environment, why not?

Technorati tags: podcasting, Darknet, RU Sirius

Picking the Media's Digital Lock

The New York Times has a short review of "Darknet" today: Picking the Media's Digital Lock.

'Darknet' discussion featured on the WELL

Beginning today, and for the next two weeks, the venerable pioneering online community the WELL will be bandying about the ideas set out in my book Darknet about digital rights, fair use, Hollywood and emerging forms of grassroots media.

They do this with authors' books about twice a month.

It's taking place here -- and you don't have to be a member of the WELL to participate. Fire away!

Why Hollywood is terrified of innovation

Jason Silverman in today's Wired News: Darknet Casts Hollywood as Heavy. Excerpt:

Hollywood is terrified of your computer. Movie industry bigwigs know your PC can help you create your own movies, or, worse, copy and tweak theirs. So, like a jealous lover, the entertainment industry worries: Is your computer offering you the fulfillment we can't? Are you going to buy fewer of our movie tickets, DVDs and CDs?

Author J.D. Lasica says Hollywood is waging battles on several fronts to make sure that doesn't happen. In his comprehensive, sometimes chilling new book, Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation, Lasica details the entertainment industry's strategies for maintaining control of content in the rip-mix-burn age. ...

Wired News also published an excerpt from chapter 2 of the book, "Now Playing: Hollywood vs. the Digital Freedom Fighters."

And, I missed this last week: the Miami Herald was the first newspaper or magazine to run a review of Darknet: The gatekeepers strive to stifle innovation. A new wave of business opportunities is threatened by entrenched resistance to digital innovation.

Will Hollywood lock up our movies?

Columnist Michael Rogers explores the issues raised in Darknet in his latest column on MSNBC.com: Will Hollywood lock up our movies? New book sheds light on fight over our digital rights.