The Law of the Lawless: The Pirate Code

Liberty. Equality. Fraternity. These high-minded ideals may not be the first three words that come to mind when you think about pirates. However, a new book, “The Invisible Hook” by economist Peter T. Leeson, explains that a desire to maximize profits led pirates to develop an organized and efficient form of self-governance embodying these ideals. Some aspects of these pirate codes, as reported by The New Yorker, may surprise you:

• Arrangements for sharing booty that included: a small pay differential between captain and crew; special allocations for professional such as doctors and carpenters; incentive payments; and compensation for injuries.
• Prohibitions against gambling and on-board liaisons.
  
• Restrictions on late-night drinking.
  
• A system for electing captains.
  
• Requirement that weapons be kept clean.
  
• Provision of “good quarter” to victims upon request.

Apparently, The New Yorker was able to publish the Sept. 7 article just in time for Talk Like A Pirate Day, September 19. Source: The New Yorker.

Finding Pro Bono Opportunities - Get Started Here!

Looking for a way to contribute? Take a look at your state's pro bono opportunity guide. Here are a couple of links to help you get started:

Nationwide
National Pro Bono Opportunity Guide

By State
Oregon State Bar Pro Bono Program

New York State Pro Bono Opportunities

New Jersey Pro Bono Opportunities Guide

ISBA Pro Bono Opportunities

Florida Pro Bono Opportunities

By Practice Area
American Immigration Lawyers Association

International Law

Civil Rights

Or, go to Google and search for: "pro bono" and opportunity and your state

Hate Twitter? Plato Felt the Same Way About the Written Word.

Salon recently interviewed Dennis Baron, a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Baron’s new book “A Better Pencil” aims to put Facebook, Google, and texting into a historical context in order to show that social media isn’t ruining the world. The idea is that as communication evolves, there’s always fear that the new tools are irreversibly harming the way we interact. Below are complaints that surfaced in response to past communication strategies:

Written Word: Plato warned that writing things down causes people to lose the ability to remember. He also complained that the written words are not interactive – rather, they are shadows of the things that they represent.

Telegraph: Thoreau objected arguing that even though it speeds things up, people won’t have anything to say to each other.

Telephone: Samuel Morse (inventor of the telegraph) complaining that nothing important will ever be done by telephone because there’s no way to preserve/record the conversation.

Typewriters: Critics complained that the keys made writing too mechanical and distanced writers from their work. They argued that writers who continued to use a pen and pencil would be more directly connected with the page.

Source: Salon

New AIDS Vaccine Generates Helpful Questions

 

The new AIDS vaccine, RV 144 was declared a success after its six-year clinical trial.  Vaccinated volunteers contracted AIDS1/3 less often than those given a placebo.  This was welcome news after twenty years of vaccine failures.

So far, no one knows why the vaccine was marginally successful in the volunteer patients, but the hope is that researchers will be able to answer the new questions:

1.       Why did the vaccine work in some people but not in others?

2.       Why did were many of the patients who received the vaccine still infected?

These results represent the largest AIDS vaccine trial ever.  Over 16,000 Thai patients volunteered and the overall cost was $105 million.

Source:  MIT – The Tech

Oakland Neighborhood Association Sues Lehman for Clean Up and Nuisance

The Sequoyah Hills/Oak Knoll Neighborhood Association (totaling 4500 homeowners) filed claims in New York Bankruptcy Court this week looking damages related to lost funds that were to back the redevelopment of the old Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. One month after Lehman declared bankruptcy last September, the developer stopped preparing the buildings for demolition. Then, in July, city inspectors tagged the city and imminent fire hazard.

The Association is looking for $15 million for clean up and another $100 million in nuisance and negligence damages.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Witnesses Believe Doctored Video Over Memory, Study Shows

A recent study in Applied Cognitive Science shows that people believed the video taped account of an event even when it differs from the reality that they witnessed. In a time when even experts have trouble telling when a video has been doctored, this could present an evidence problem.

The Study
The study put 60 participants into a gambling game making bets on correct answers to trivia questions. The player next to each participant was a researcher. Later, the participants were shown doctored video of the game making it look like the researcher had cheated. One third of the subjects were told that the person next to them may have cheated, one third were gold that the person next to them was caught on camera cheating, and one third was shown the fake footage of the other player cheating. Then, they were all asked to sign a statement only if they had seen the act of cheating taking place.

Conclusion
1. Five percent of those who were told about the cheating signed the statement.
2. Ten percent of those told that the cheating was caught on camera (but didn't actually see the video) signed the statement.
3. Forty percent of those who saw the altered video signed. Plus, another ten percent signed after being asked again by the researcher.

Source: Scientific American

Facebook No Longer Fined for Failing to Release Photos

The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission recently announced that it would stop its $200-a-day fine on Facebook for refusing to comply with an airline’s subpoena for information about a flight attendant who used to work for the airline. The airline claimed that Facebook photos proved that the ex-flight attendant had posted holiday photos.

Source: CNET

The Green Dam is Crumbling in China

The Chinese government had mandated that a filtering software be put on to all computers sold in the country earlier this year.  The Green Dam software prevented sites from being viewed and is essentially a filter blocking access to what the Chinese government deemed inappropriate material. Critics also have claimed the government could also use Green Dam to spy on the computer activities of its users.

This idea started to buckle almost immediately from computer manufactures who balked on including such software on the PCs they sold in the country.  China relented and allowed computer manufactures to ship computers without Green Dam installed in early July.  Now Chinese schools are also tossing out the filtering software due to complaints of it buggy nature.  Green Dam still must be installed in all internet cafes and other public places that provide access to the internet.

Whats your take on Green Dam?  Let us know in the comments!

Source: Reuters

Notable Morning Stories ....

Russian cab driver gets 7 years in prison for treason
~ RIA Novosti

Turn an Email Outage into a Productivity Boost
~ Harvard Business

Former Hague official found guilty of contempt for book revelation
~ France24

Google Now in XXL
~ The New York Times

New Rules for Offering Music Online in China

China's government is requiring music sites to seek approval from censors for all foreign songs distributed on the Internet.  China's Ministry of Culture is requiring all  music providers out of China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan submit lyrics translated into Chinese (along with other documents) for every song they wish to sell in China to prevent the "intermingling of good and bad content" online.  Search engines like Baidu and Google will be fall under the providers regulated.

Google already began cooperating with Chinese law blocking songs that have been banned by the government in its role as a music provider.  Still, providing documentation for every song that shows up in a Google search seems tough.  To do business in China, Google might have to find a way.

Source: ARS Technica

Sites We Like: Gizmodo

Do you like to keep up with the latest gadget and technology news?  Check our Gizmodo, a self proclaimed 'gadget blog' which offers reviews of products and the latest tech rumors.  We're all about using the latest and greatest technology here at Fastcase and we want our user experience to reflect that. Keep an eye out for a Fastcase iPhone app in the near future.

What technology and gadget sites do you read regularly?  Let us know in the comments!

Check out Gizmodo here.

Are Students Protected From Unreasonable Search and Seizure?

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on the behalf of a Mississippi middle school student. Richard Wade, a 12 year old student at Southaven Middle School, had his cell phone confiscated by the football coach and then viewed by the principal and Southaven police. The student was then suspended. The ACLU believes that, even on school property, students should be protected from unreasonable search and seizure.

What is your take on this issue? Are students protected on school property from this type of action? Let us know in the comments!

Check out the ACLU's compliant here.

Source: Ars Technica

Notable Morning Stories ....

Firms develop guidelines for attorney social networking
~ Wisconsin Law Journal

Google Book Search creates a continental divide
~ France24

"Anonymized" data really isn't—and here's why not
~ Ars Technica 

Skype and CNN strike ad deal
~ www.guardian.co.uk

Upcoming Sotomayor Ceremony

Check out the SCOTUS Blog for details about the ceremony for Justice Sotomayor's first day on the bench.

Press Release

Source: SCOTUS Blog

Remember When?: How 20 popular websites looked when they launched

The Telegraph has an interesting and nostalgic article up today, showing how the current 20 most popular websites looked when they first launched.  Its a Fastcase recommended fun and geeky trip down memory lane.  Check it out here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6125914/How-20-popular-websites-looked-when-they-launched.html

What site do you visit the most?  Have you enjoyed how its evolved or do you prefer a previous iteration?  Let us know in the comments!

Source: The Telegraph 

Louis Vuitton Wins Judgment Against Internet Service Providers

Two California ISPs, Akanoc and Managed Solutions Group, have lost a suit brought against them by Louis Vuitton.  Both ISPs were accused of being primarily set up to aid  in the distribution of counterfeit merchandise, including Louis Vuitton knockoffs.  The intriguing aspect to the case is that the ISPs were not protected under the Digital Mellenium Copyright Act's safe harbor provision, which states that service providers cannot be held liable for what users do on their networks.  Louis Vuitton had notified both service providers that they were harboring sites that included counterfeit materials, since neither ISP took action on these notification, the DMCA did not apply.

Source: Ars Technica 

Notable Articles ...

5 Things RIM Needs to Fix in its BlackBerries
~ Wired 

Emails spark woman's sacking
~ New Zealand Herald 

Watching TV while surfing the Internet? You're not alone
~ Ars Technica 

Android starts to make inroads into mobile web demand, overtaking Windows Mobile
~ www.guardian.co.uk