Over the weekend, I heard an interesting presentation by Helene Michel, a business school professor from France. She described the experience with Vacheland.com, a simulation where visitors can manage a virtual farm. The project was initiated by a public agency…

Bill Gates says that future releases of Microsoft products will help address information overload.

My notes from my talk entitled “Media Regulation and Deliberative Democracy.” I’m still trying to figure out exactly what “deliberative democracy” is, but the presentation notes recap some of my thinking about the matching problem of marketing.

(Eric Goldman is travelling and lecturing until June 13, and will be able to post only occasionally during this time. In his absence, John Ottaviani will continue to guest-blog from time to time.) The media has been reporting the availability…

I’ll be on the West Coast for the next three weeks. During that time, I’ll be making three presentations: Conference: Second Conference on Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice / DIAC 2005 at Stanford University Topic: Media Regulation and Deliberative…

Faegre & Benson v. Purdy, Civil File No. 03-6472 (D. Minn. Apr. 27, 2005). Another ruling in the long-running story of William Purdy, an anti-abortionist who uses extreme forms of gripe sites against his targets. This particular ruling was a…

Steinbuch v. Cutler (D.C. D.C. complaint filed May 18, 2005). Interesting and risqué lawsuit for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress (warning: the complaint is not 100% office-safe). Jessica Cutler ran a blog under the name “Washingtonienne.”…

FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle goes off about corporate data security practices. Internet News quotes him as saying “industry has, to a great extent, been irresponsible, and somebody has got to pay.” The article also quotes him as saying the lax…

By John Ottaviani There’s been some discussion and misconceptions about Judge Patel’s latest ruling in the long-running Napster saga. Although her May 11 order has been described as holding that the Section 106(3) distribution right does not extend to maintaining…

This one made me laugh. It’s illegal to drive without a seat belt in Vermont. Billboards are also illegal in Vermont. So when the Vermont Highway Safety Program wanted to remind people to buckle up, they bought billboards in Massachusetts…