talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

Just when you think you've pigeon-holed someone unfairly, this: Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), wife of footballer David Beckham, former Spice Girl, and one of the pillars of the UK tabloid temple, admits--not with embarassment--that she's never read a book.

And this news, about Google's suspension of its book scanning program: I hate the whole opt-out mentality. I'm not as rabid a copyright defender as some--I think there are some significant kinks in the system, particularly since the extension of the U.S. copyright term (see Eldred)--but from this and other articles I get the sense that Google thinks it's fine to say, "We're going to make digital copies of your property, and we're going to use it without your permission. If you don't want us to do so, you have to specifically tell us."

So...I send a note to my neighbor saying that I get to use his very expensive and exquisitely maintained Porsche (Terrence knows the model and all the details--I just know it's an obscenely clean head-turner) unless and until I hear from him to the contrary. Right-o. To my knowledge that doesn't work with chattels and it doesn't work with intellectual property, either. You'd think Google or their attorneys would understand that, or at least understand that owners of property don't look kindly on this kind of behavior. What are they thinking?

Maybe this? (link to an eight-minutevideo--have your audio on). Kind of creepy, and not so far-fetched...