Stanford Law Review: SO...

The Stanford Law Review has posted a concise and informed takedown of SOPA and PROTECT-IP , the bills currently creeping their way towards votes in their respective legislative bodies. They make many of the same objections I brought up in my article Kill Switch , but with fewer words and more authority. The piece was authored by Mark Lemley, David S. Levine, and David G. Post — from Stanford, Elon, and Temple Universities respectively — and touches on a few finer legal matters, such as the acts’ nullification of due process and the questionable constitutionality of the whole thing. It’s brief and worth a read, but here are a couple highlights: Directing the remedial power of the courts towards the Internet’s core technical infrastructure in this sledgehammer fashion has impact far beyond intellectual property rights enforcement—it threatens the fundamental principle of interconnectivity that is at the very heart of the Internet. The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that governmental action suppressing speech, if taken prior to an adversary proceeding and subsequent judicial determination that the speech in question is unlawful, is a presumptively unconstitutional “prior restraint.” In other words, it is the “most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights,” permissible only in the narrowest range of circumstances. The Constitution requires a court “to make a final determination” that the material in question is unlawful “after an adversary hearing before the material is completely removed from circulation.” The procedures outlined in both bills fail this fundamental constitutional test. At a time when many foreign governments have dramatically stepped up their efforts to censor Internet communications, these bills would incorporate into U.S. law a principle more closely associated with those repressive regimes: a right to insist on the removal of content from the global Internet, regardless of where it may have originated or be located, in service of the exigencies of domestic law. Strong words, but this bill is strong medicine. The New York Times and Reuters both posted some commentary related to lask week’s discussions and some choice excerpts from the bills’ proponents. I like Fox Filmed Entertainment’s Tom Rothman’s chestnut that “Our mistake was allowing this romantic word — piracy — to take hold.” While I agree that sometimes the lexicon can affect social trends, I don’t think that people really conflate illegal online activities with adventure on the high seas. As you may know, SOPA was recently in the House Judiciary Committee and delayed on account of dozens of objections and amendments, almost none of which were accepted. But instead of being delayed until January, which would give time for both sides to further entrench themselves, another session was scheduled for Wednesday , at which time it is expected to be approved for reading and vote in the House. Once there, it could still fail to pass, and then there is the threat of veto, but Obama has been quiet on the issue. It’s odd, considering the administration was very clear about its position on net neutrality. As in some other debates, all the experts and those with no financial involvement are lining up on one side, and threatened business interests are lining up on the other. It may be too late to affect the vote of your representative, but it can’t hurt to forward articles like the Stanford Law Review one, which could make for powerful ammo in a floor debate.

Report: TDK Technology ...

Potentially big news from The Nikkei: Japan’s biggest business daily has learned yesterday that TDK developed a technology that can “more than double” the storage space of hard disc drives. It appears TDK has developed a special laser that heats up a hard disk’s surface with a precision of a few dozen nanometers. According to The Nikkei, TDK also changed the material used in the magnetic head and redesigned its structure to expand the recording density. As a result, more data can be stored on drives of the same size. To be more specific, TDK’s technology apparently makes it possible to store one terabyte on one platter. The Nikkei says that TDK plans to pitch HDD manufacturers by saying a drive with two platters produced with their technology can save 1,600 hours of HD video (two weeks of HDTV content from five channels). The company currently aims at commercializing the technology as early as next year. It has been working on expanding recording density in HDDs for years .

Video: New Construction...

This almost sounds too good to be true: a Japanese company called TIS&Partners [JP] has developed a new kind of construction material that’s supposedly “better” than concrete (by some measures, at least). Dubbed “CO2 Structure”, the material hardens in about a day, as opposed to the 28 days it takes for concrete to cure to 100% of its strength. TIS&Partners says bricks consisting of the material can be formed in about a minute. After adding organic substances, CO2 Structure’s tensile strength is said to be “at least” 2.5 higher than that of concrete. In other words, the material not only hardens quickly, it’s also more “stable” than concrete. TIS&Partners says that their material could be used to reinforce structures in buildings in a quick manner, for example those that were damaged by the earthquake that hit Japan back in March. This video, shot by Diginfonews in Tokyo, provides more insight on CO2 Structure:

With Aluminum Shortage,...

The rush towards lightweight, thin laptops — the “ultrabook” spec being promoted by Intel — has resulted in a major uptick in demand for thin metal chassis. Unfortunately, much of the aluminum milling capacity is being taken up by Apple, which is relying more than ever on the material for its laptop lines. Big players like Acer and HP can’t make do with the remainder capacity of the mills, and plastic is too thick to use for these designs. What to do? Well, according to Digitimes , they’re going for fiberglass . Yes, that fiberglass. To be honest, my memories of fiberglass aren’t such that I would expect it on a high-end notebook . That said, the cheap corrugated panels that formed the roof of my uncle’s cabin probably aren’t quite the same material being considered for this application. The laptop makers plan to combine the latest fiberglass fabrication techniques with a plastic shell to produce something as tough and lightweight as magnesium-aluminum, but significantly cheaper. $20 could be taken right off the top, cost savings that could snowball into several times that number on the final price tag. The real question is how will it feel? We’ll find out later this year when these fiberglass ultrabooks hit the streets.

Printable Solar Cells C...

MIT professors Karen Gleason and Vladimir Bulovic, along with a team of students, have created a printed solar sell that can “print” solar cells onto paper or fabric, thereby allowing for foldable and rollable cells that do not lose their conductivity. Building solar cells used to require high temperatures and precluded the use of paper and fabric. Now, however, sub-120 degree Celsius temperatures and vapor-based printing techniques mean that you could place the material on almost anything. Rather than having a substrate of glass or other material, this method allows for manufacturers to reduce materials costs and resource use. This also reduces installation costs as you could, feasibly, lay this on a flat surface like a roof and connect to the mains. Sadly, these solar cells aren’t yet particularly efficient, topping out at about 1%. Plans are in the works to improve this technology considerably over the next few years. via BostonInnovation