Web-Tones

Very Clever!

Link: Micro Persuasion: Become a Knowledge Management Ninja with Google Reader. Steve, this is a very clever way to leverage RSS! I currently use gmail, but have continued to use Bloglines simply because there is only so much "switching costs" I am willing to endure at various points in time. However, this is the most compelling reason I have found for a potential (future) switch so far. Sure the Bloglines new beta appears "hot" (nope haven't switched to it either) but Google is likely to continue to dominate RSS, so I am becoming (gradually) accustom to the fact that "Google is the new MS."

Email Still the Killer App?

Link: Email And Cellphone Contacts Are The Real Social Graph - Publishing 2.0. Yeah, I think that Scott has it right. The cell phone rules the world, but for business it is still email that mostly matters. I have often wondered, outside of students, and the digerati that make a living one way or another from this stuff, who has time to spend on Facebook and MySpace?

Well, there is probably a case to be made that some time can be spent by business people who see these sites as a potential marketing tool (myself included), and no doubt some are making clever and profitable uses, but still the song remains the same. Even though I plan to explore social networking sites as a way to do business, the time spent will be sparse, given that the bigger ROI appears to elsewhere.

That said, MySpace and Facebook will remain important (perhaps mission critical) for those businesses that make a living on selling to the youth market (e.g. music, movies, and fashion) since it is presumably an inexpensive way to plug into "pop culture" and to get at the "old folks" disposable income through the kids--something McDonalds has mastered for over five decades now.

Happy 2008 a bit early, I do not expect to blogging at midnight EST!

KM is for the "Grinders"

Link: Strategic Legal Technology :: Why KM May be Widely Adopted but Under-Appreciated. Of course KM is for the "grinders!" These are the folks that do the work. If your job is to make it rain (i.e. a "finder") then KM may have some value to you but not as much.

The problem for law firms is that those that are making decisions are not grinders. They therefore either don't see the need, and KM is not adopted, or they buy into it, but not in a way that makes it fully actionable.

Many of these issues are discussed here Search, KM & the Practice of Law. This is one of the reasons that "Big Law" will find it more difficulty to make the transition to the enabling technologies that, IMHO, are transforming the practice of law.

The "young turks" forming the boutique firms are more apt to "get it" but the downside for those selling into this space is that they often don't have $$$ to spend, at least not during the early years. Still there are real market opportunities because it is becoming so much easier to start a new firm (not easy but "easier").

Give me bandwidth or give me death!

Link: Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Illuminating cities: Cisco's grand ambition. Cisco wants to "light up" entire cities with IP technology, fascinating stuff! I would like to reside in one of these cities, where bandwidth is presumably plentiful.

Every time time I wait on a download, watching the progress bar, I am reminded of the fact that we spend too much of our CPU brain cycles waiting for things to happen on these machines, when we could spend it consuming and creating.

E-Greetings R' US

Link: E-Greetings Gain Ground at Businesses This Season - New York Times. Many commentators like to indicate how e-greeting are "green friendly"--which of course they are, but it is as if they need some justification for this behavior. It is simply a reflection of our "digital lives"--a  profound transformation of how we live, work and play.

This is the beginning, the tip of the metaphorical "digital iceburg," we should stop pretending that we know where all of this is headed, we don't. But one thing is clear, paper Christmas cards are already a thing of the past. It just make more sense to send the bits...they are just as effective for reaching out and touching friends and family, at Christmas or any other time.

Strategic Legal Technology :: Dressing the Emperor: Jones Day M&A Lawyers Speak Out

Link: Strategic Legal Technology :: Dressing the Emperor: Jones Day M&A Lawyers Speak Out. I see signs everywhere that the practice of law is no longer what it use to be. Those that are not innovating will soon be forced to. The leveling effect of the Internet and enabling technologies are changing the rules of the game, permanently. The emperor will remain without clothes and it makes so sense dressing that SOB. :) The emperor is being redefined out of existence, may he RIP.

Anonymous in Arizona? Maybe Not. : Privacy Law Blog

Link: Anonymous in Arizona? Maybe Not. : Privacy Law Blog. Not a day goes by when cyberlaw does not morph in some way, shape or form (sort of). Yeah the law still moves rather slow, but the pace with respect to the Internet feels likes it is moving quite fast in an attempt to catch up.

Here, at least in Arizona (and coming soon to a theater near you), the "anonymous poster" may have fallen by the way side, at least under certain conditions. This holding might have a ripple effect in defamation cases. Stay tuned...

Importance of copyright registration!

Link: Privacy and Security Law Blog: Appeals Court Unsettles $18 Million Agreement Between Freelancers and Publishers. Wow, if there ever was a "smoking gun" regarding why copyrights should be registered this just might be it. Eighteen million in damages just vanished because of no registration. As a practical matter, it might have been cost prohibitive for freelancers to register every piece they sold, but there you have it.

It may not seem fair, or just, but it is the law.

When the walls come tumbling down!

Link: Amazon removes the database scaling wall (Scripting News). Dave has nailed it here. It may take a little time to mature, but there are no deal stoppers. Google and MS will not be left behind, so expect there offerings before too long.

Most (if not all) of the analysis so far has been regarding how easy this infrastructure will make it to scale then next "Twitter" (or YouTube etc.). However, the interesting thing from my perspective is how easy it will make it to scale "business computing platforms"--where I believe the next wave of innovation will come from.

Tech smart entrepreneurs (i.e. outside of technology) will find ways to transform any number of sectors in ways (and at a cost) that was heretofore not possible. It is what "the Good Doctor"  has called the "because of" factor.

Just Pay the Piper!

Link: SiliconValley.com - Symantec, Adobe sue law firm over software copying claim Software. Clearly not "cool"  for any company that relies on their reputation (especially a law firm) to even have it alleged that they are in violation of copyright license agreements. Usually it is a disgruntled ex-employee that "drops a dime." Sooner or later, if you are a consistently abusing copyright, someone is going to report your activities. Needless to say that you are going to wish that you had just paid up.

Web as Defamation Factory

Link: Rome News - Tribune. Be careful what you say on these Internet(s). The web, and especially popular social networking sites, are a virtual defamation factory (waiting to happen in larger numbers). While online defamation is nothing new, its frequency is likely to increase as the "millenials" become less judgment proof. While ISP"s may have substantial immunity via the CDA, private individual certainly do not.

Accusing someone of a criminal act (apparently as was done here) is simply not a very smart thing to do. Sure, "truth" may still be a defense for private individuals suing private defendants (i.e. outside of the reach of Sullivan or Gertz) but the cost of litigation should be more than enough to give you pause.

There is a relative dearth of defamation litigation (sans serious research mind you but I do track these cases on various sites) emerging from MySpace or Facebook at the moment, but that could all change as the "yewts" find their way into their chosen professions (i.e. now with assets for plaintiffs to target).

The Next Billion Internet Users

Link: Michael Geist - How the Next Billion Will Reshape the Internet. Professor Geist has an insightful perspective regarding how the next billion Internet users are likely to impact the medium, and implicitly the rest of us. There is little doubt, IMHO, that this next transformation is likely to be a tsunami of sorts, the likes of which the Western world has never seen.

Consider the fact that, with a very few significant exceptions (e.g. Brazil), the entire western hemisphere can be "targeted" (i.e. from a marketing perspective) with English and Spanish. There are no better marketers than us "yankees" and I predict an explosion of advertising targeting Spanish speaking countries to the south, and BTW, also reaching the millions of Spanish speakers in the "good 'ole USA" as well.

The "melting pot" pop culture of the U.S. is "fixin" to melt South, and the economic interconnectedness, and yes dependence, on our southern neighbors will bring about a change that politicians (on both sides) can't. American business will lead the charge. And despite the fact that American business often overreaches, I have more faith in the business community than I do in those that purport to act on behalf of the people.

The Legal Mind at Work

Link: Chuck Newton: Herein Lies The Problem -- I Think!. Wow, Chuck has a great post about the inner workings of the legal mind. How to package it and how to sell it. And how to keep it from driving you crazy. Good stuff. With respect to the latter, it reminds me of Carlos Castaneda's character "Don Juan" and his admonition to his young apprentice regarding "turning off the internal dialog."

Intense exercise often works for me. I agree with Chuck, sometimes all we want is for the "thought machine" to stop. We want to shut off the "mind gorilla" and rest. We want to "take it easy" so that the sound of our own wheels do not drive us crazy. Any knowledge worker (i.e. most of us in the U.S. now) needs to do this so that when we crank the machine back up, it is firing in all cylinders.

These Internet(s) are full of quality mentors. Chuck is one of the best.

The Twice Shy Entrepreneur

Link: The Twice Shy Entrepreneur. Mike has hit it "spot on" (as the Brits like to say). Definitely harder to be an optimist the second or third time around when you have gotten the living crap kicked out of you on previous occasions. That is why "Big Law" is far less likely to innovate using "cutting edge" technology than, say, the "young turks." Why? Because the partners (and other naysayers) remember the bad technology investments of the past. They remember "drinking the cool aid" and becoming quite ill from the experience.

The young turks, more or less born wired, don't know any better. The technology has matured and become less expensive. They are still believers in the "promised productivity" improvements--and because of all the above some of them will actually "crack the code" and redefine the practice of law.

Cyberlaw Issues Everywhere

Link: House vote on illegal images sweeps in Wi-Fi, Web sites | The Iconoclast - politics, law, and technology - CNET News.com. This bill is indicative of just how pervasive cyberlaw issues are becoming for businesses both large and small. It is not clear how a small coffee shop (i.e. offering free WiFi to compete with the "big boys") is suppose to track illegal activities over its connection, but there you go, one more thing for the aspiring entrepreneur to worry about. Clearly this bill is not directed at the "little guys" but it nonetheless reaches them in its broad sweep.

Given the amount of commerce done over the Internet, I have argued that we should simply drop the "e" from e-commerce. This is simply the way business is done and where business has led that law has followed.

Noncompete Agreements Are The DRM Of Human Capital

Link: Techdirt: Noncompete Agreements Are The DRM Of Human Capital. Having been on the "short end" of the "noncompetes" in Texas (Houston), I can certainly attest to their "chilling effect" on me personally, but the argument that the lack of enforceability of same led to the valley's phenomenal success (i.e. as opposed to Boston) is a fascinating argument. That said, Austin was a "hot regional hub" for a while, but with nowhere near the kind synergies that have continued to make the valley preeminent "software Mecca"--perhaps the DRM worked its evil incantations there as well?

It is interesting that "noncompetes" are not enforceable against attorneys in any state. Which is a good thing since, Lord willing, I will be a practicing member of the FL Bar in the next few months. The rationale is that clients are entitled to the representation of their choice regardless of what firm a particular attorney works for, now or in the future. It makes sense to me, but the obvious questions arise. What about doctors? Are patients not equally entitled to the doctor of their choice. Apparently not, since as far as I can tell, the only global exception I am aware is lawyers.

Domain Wars

Link: Dell Takes Cybersquatters to Court - washingtonpost.com. This will be an interesting case to track as the "Domain wars" continue to play at a theater near you. Looks like Dell may be doing some "missionary" work here for the "big boys" that are most often targeted by these "tasting" schemes. Stay tuned.

That said, business of all sizes need to pay close attention to their intellectual property investments in their domains. These are often registered by consultants and others as "individuals" and later hijacked when things go wrong in the business relationship. Many businesses probably have no idea who registered the domains of key online properties.

It is the wild, wild, west  out there  on these internet(s)....