Technorati "operation aborted"

Anybody, anywhere, have a clue as to why my IE 6.x browser is crashing on Technorati's website? I'm getting an error message: "Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site http://www.technorati.com/ Operation Aborted"

I did a little sleuthing and came up with a few complaints that this might be a IE7 beta thing, but that doesn't mesh with me using an older browser.

Linkout Friday - UK Law Blog Edition!

For this week's linkout (ok I've missed a few...), I'm going to recommend everyone expand their UK subscriptions beyond Scott Vine's Information Overlord. I've been reading these two blogs for a while, and have now promoted each to my blogroll:

• Binary Law is written by Nick Holmes. Nick is a publishing consultant specialising in the UK legal sector, and Managing Director of infolaw. His blog is well written, and reflects many of the issues surrounding online information delivery I'm interested in. (Subscribed!)
  
• Lo-Fi Librarian is a new-ish law blog, but I'm buying stock early. Check out this witty exchange we had over the 2000th Slaw comment. Lo-Fi's blog content is excellent, but it's that kind of entertaining writing style that makes it a winner. (Subscribed!)

Have a great weekend!
Steve

Second Life Users & Protecting IP

[cross-posted to Slaw]

Check out this Wired Magazine article on Second Life's challenges with copyright protection, and the resulting legal battle.

The economic infrastructure of the SL user community is now being threatened by a software program that can duplicate any "in world" item on demand. The article provides an interesting discussion on the valuation of virtual goods, and how devastating this new 'Copybot' could be to SL merchants.

The response by Linden Labs is also very interesting. Beyond the idea of banning members who use the software, LL has also excluded the possibility of using DRM technology, or (ack!) IP lawyers. Instead, the company will be trying to embed IP requirements into its various communities, and make IP protection self-policing.

Normally, I would find this response to be naive, as in, 'what makes you think IP rights will be valued more in the virtual world than the real world?'; but here's the trip... The IP infringers in the SL world, unlike 'the real world', are significantly more likely to also be IP owners. Not everyone who plays is, of course, but the vast majority of regulars have put 'some' of their time into virtual creation.

A bit of a twist, don't you think?

Uniform Case Naming Guidelines

Via the BCCLS What's New blog:

"The November 2006 Canadian Citation Committee's Uniform Case Naming Guidelines are now available on their website.

The Canadian Citation Committee is an ad hoc group formed to support the standardization efforts of the Judges Technology Advisory Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council."

Law Firm KM Presentation

I was going to post about my KM talk at yesterday's CBA BC Legal Research lunch, but Emma's done a fantastic re-cap, so please, link on over and get the details there.

Many thanks to Fasken Martineau's Simon Patey for arranging the session. Also, thank you to my law librarian colleagues who showed up. Even if you were interested in the topic, the support was nice!

After the presentation, I got to thinking ... other than Slaw, Research Lawyers & Law Librarians really don't mingle as much as they should. There was a lot of common ground in that room that we could/should explore.

Canadian Legal Blogging Panel

I had the good fortune to take part in yesterday's Canadian legal blogging panel, along with Kevin O'Keefe and Christine Mingie. Put on by the Vancouver chapter of the LMA, the discussion was moderated by Doug Jasinski.

I thought the session was well worth the time, and somewhat unique in that it captured such varying perspectives. From the individual lawyer, to the firm and culture issues, to selecting & marketing a blogging solution, the audience seemed to be as engaged in the discussion as the speakers. Lots of topics, a few war stories, and a feeling that we left too many stones unturned. What else can you ask for? :-)

Domain Tasting

The Canadian Trademark Blog has a nice summary on the practice of Domain Tasting - whereby almost every domain name that expires is snapped up.

Individuals who take part in this practice, the so-called "domainers", and many of whom are registrars, are able to bypass registration fees by taking advantage of a "a five-day grace period". If the re-registered domain has traffic and warrants the $6 registration fee, they re-publish the website with pay-per-click advertising. Otherwise, the domain is released and the cycle starts all over again.

ICANN is currently considering a 're-stocking fee', with a vote to be held later this month. The grace period for .CA domains, managed by CIRA, is 7 days. The CTB post also notes that domain tasting creates a secondary market, and that it can "propagate cyber and typo-squatting".

Not everyone is aware of this domain registration monkey-business, which is why I'm passing it along. The moral of the story is, of course, never EVER let your domains expire!

Canada's Federal Court Adds RSS

The Federal Court has revamped their web presence (launched Oct. 31st), and now includes an RSS feed.

So far, looks like the feed can be used as an alert to the court's weekly decisions, notices for the profession, and general news items. Hopefully we'll see a more sophisticated product in the future, but for now, definitely a step forward.

Hat tip to Anne Whelan at Mercer HR Consulting in Toronto. In her email to me, Anne comments that this is "just one more step towards critical mass and pushing all the courts to do this". I totally agree.

What's Steve Matthews Doing in Texas?

No, I'm not leaving beautiful Vancouver, but I did get my RSS in Law Firms blog entry re-published in this month's Texas Bar Journal. How cool is that?

Many thanks to the TBJ's technology editor John Sirman, who picked up on the post. I'm very honoured to be included. Thanks John!