Music of Houston Composers in Concert 02/14/2009 10:28:16 am by Dan Krohn

	Houston is a great arts town. On any given day there are multiple events and sites worthy of checking out. And many of Houston's attractions are very reasonably priced. One Houston arts resource that is generally not well known in the Houston Composers Alliance, a group which exists to promote performances of music composed by living artists who make Houston their home. HCA is putting on one of its all too rare concerts on March 2.

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Third Party Content Gives Rise to Lawsuit 02/09/2009 09:08:52 am by Dan Krohn

	For quite a while this blogger has been predicting that character assassination would be the crime of our time. Aided by the Internet, it is now exceedingly easy to distribute false information quickly. Once spread, nasty gossip and rumors are never fully erased. Someone somewhere always carries a seed of distrust planted by the character assassin. And one never knows how that seed might haunt the victim years down the road. So it was with interest that this blogger spotted an article asserting that Italian soccer star Alessandro del Piero is about to sue Facebook over a faked profile. Del Piero maintains that he has never had a Facebook page. Nonetheless, one appeared with links to Nazi websites. With sports figures looking at the potential of substantial income from product endorsements and the like, it is no wonder that the intelligent among them go to great lengths to protect their reputations - less their value as spokespeople be diminished. What is yet to be determined is the degree of culpability Facebook should be assigned and the amount of damages, if any, to be assessed against Facebook. In the United States we have Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives broad immunity to Internet sites containing third party content. So long as the Internet site pulls down the offensive material promptly upon notice, they are pretty much in the clear. But not every nation has such a statute. Readers can count on some countries' being much tougher on third party content containing sites. This will be an interesting case to watch as it progresses.

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Another Computer Threat Alert 02/08/2009 11:09:43 am by Dan Krohn

	A new scam has appeared in the ongoing effort by unscrupulous hackers to control your computer. In North Dakota it has been reported that a number of people received fake parking tickets which urged them to go to a particular URL in order to see a picture of the violation. To this blogger's knowledge, this is the first such combination cyber/physical attack on computer security aimed at people generally (rather than an effort to get into a particular person's computer). Though the incident thus far appears to be a local one, copycats will undoubtedly appear in other places.

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For Those Who Missed the Cold War 02/04/2009 12:25:53 pm by Dan Krohn

	It's pretty well known that Vladimir Putin thinks the fall of the Soviet Union was a pity, and he is pursuing a path to recreate it - perhaps in another guise or with other words, but recreate it nonetheless. To do so will require that Russian dominate the former Soviet republics which after the breakup established their own governments. If Putin's Russia is not quite ready to fully absorb those states, they can at least be intimidated into behaving just the way Putin wants them to behave. Note Russia's support of rebels in Georgia and the brouhaha over gas supplies with Ukraine. But perhaps the best current example is seen in the recent news out of Kyrgyzstan. At least a fair chunk of the population of Kyrgyzstan likes the idea of independence from Russia and has made that clear. What's more, the government of Kyrgyzstan being in a perpetual state of economic strain did the unthinkable a few years back and leased land for a major military base to the United States. This base is said to be critical to U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, and no doubt provides a unique point of access to much of Asia. So the past week has seen a crunch. First, what is being called a Russian hacker militia launched massive denial of service attacks (DoS) on servers in Kyrgyzstan bringing its Internet access to a virtual halt. (Incidentally the U.S. military base was affected by the cyberattacks, too.) The news out of Kyrgyzstan today is that Russia has promised the country a major economic aid package. And, surprise, the Kyrgyzstan government is hinting strongly that they are going to ask the U.S. to vacate its military base. As of now the U.S. position is that this is still open for negotiation. But, for now, the Russians are simultaneously waving a monetary carrot and a cyberstick - and doing it well.

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Freedom of the Press - Not Everywhere 02/03/2009 11:17:56 am by Dan Krohn

	Google privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, and three colleagues have reportedly been arrested in Italy as a result of Google's allegedly having an offensive video posted on its Google Video website. The video involved reportedly shows teens harassing a disabled teen for roughly two minutes. Italian law does not seem to be clear on the issue; enough ambiguity exists for the prosecutor to move forward. The crime carries a maximum sentence of three years. Google Video apparently removed the offensive video shortly after having received a take down notice. The case emphasizes the international nature of the Internet and serves as a useful warning that the applicable laws are not uniform. In the U.S., Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act would give Google and its personnel a safe harbor from prosecution in a situation such at this. But the U.S. has a relatively hands off culture and history regarding the Internet consistent with its policy of encouraging online resources to grow. This is not the case in all countries as some nations take strong measures to control the online behaviour of their residents: websites and those who post to them alike (for example, criminalizing criticism of the government or state religion). While the arrest which triggered this blog entry involved an Internet site's containing third party information, readers should also be aware of risks to information providers who post to third party sites such as Google Video. We U.S. citizens enjoy a tradition of free speech and free press. We often fail to appreciate how extraordinary and unusual these rights are. A U.S. citizen might post any number of comments, photos, etc. with great confidence while at home, only to find officers waiting to arrest her/him upon debarking in a foreign land. Certainly not the way to enjoy a vacation. Remembering that many, if not most, countries lack anything resembling the right to due process which we Americans take for granted adds a further worry. There might not be any trial, or the trial might not be a fair one. Only one aspect is common in every nation - prison is not a place to be.

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Verdi's Macbeth 02/01/2009 01:35:45 pm by Dan Krohn

	Last night we experienced the current Opera in the Heights production of Macbeth. My wife thought it the best opera we've yet seen there. It was truly excellent, and I suggest to all readers that they take advantage of the run continuing to next week. The story is familiar, clearly based on Shakespeare's great tragedy. What made this production truly special was the quality of acting in addition to the singing of all involved. The leads fully captured the multiplicity of emotions, and Macbeth's last singing beautifully captured his decending view of human life. This is the first Opera in the Heights production at Lambert Hall since the damage it sustained from Ike. Perhaps that homecoming contributed to the splendid effort of all involved. Go see it. Go hear it.

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