Friday fantasies

At last count the number of forthcoming events on the IPKat's side bar now stands at 58. Don't forget to check them out. Free events are blue. Events supported by the IPKat are red. Discounts for IPKat readers are purple.


The IPKat's friend Dr Patricia Akester (CIPIL, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at Cambridge University) has been busily working on "Technological accommodation of conflicts between freedom of expression and DRM: the first empirical assessment".  You can read briefly what it's all about here -- or you can download the whole lot here -- all 208 pages of it -- and read it at your leisure. 

Right: DRM has its critics, as DefectiveByDesign illustrates


Peter Ollier (Asia editor, Managing Intellectual Property magazine) has drawn the IPKat's attention to a "live debate" currently conducted by The Economist under the title: "Copyright and wrongs: this house believes that existing copyright laws do more harm than good". The motion is proposed by William Fisher and opposed by Justin Hughes.  The debate closes next Wednesday and there's a post-mortem next Friday. To join the debate, or just read what others have to say, click here.


A quick reminder for any readers of this weblog who may be heading for Seattle for the INTA (International Trademark Association) Meeting from 17 to 20 May: the annual Meet the Bloggers session takes place from 6pm to 9pm on Monday 18 May, overlooking the lovely Pacific Ocean and just minutes away from the Sleepless City's vibrant night-life [8,000 trade mark lawyers vibrating, says Merpel, what an awesome thought].  Free drinks, good company, perfect milieu for networking ...


Only a week and a half old, The 1709 Blog has already got itself a growing following. This copyright news-and-views weblog has just gathered in its 150th email subscriber.  If you really enjoy copyright, whether you're for it or against it, this blog might just be for you.