Boing Boing » dc

Public Knowledge seeks an artist-in-residence

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:54:00 +0000

Michael sez, "Public Knowledge works to promote great technology like 3D printing and open source hardware, while advocating on behalf of the public on important issues like net neutrality and copyright reform. Now we are looking for someone to use all of that technology to help people understand our important issues."

Municipal codes of DC, free for all -- liberated without permission

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:12:37 +0000

Today, I was luck enough to get another one of rogue archivist Carl Malamud's boxes of awesome. It's a copy of the municipal codes of DC, which are laws that you're required to follow, but aren't allowed to see without paying. As with the last time I got one of these packages, it's because Carl has scanned and OCR'ed and cleaned up these codes, and has now published them for all to see. Here's the unboxing pics.

PROCLAMATION OF DIGITIZATION

“No Codification Without Promulgation”

WHEREAS, the District of Columbia has published the OFFICIAL CODE, containing the laws, general and permanent in their nature, relating to or in force in the District of Columbia; and

WHEREAS, the OFFICIAL CODE is only available for purchase for $803.00, plus tax and shipping, from the designated official publisher, the West Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Thomson Reuters Corporation, a foreign corporation; and

WHEREAS, the OFFICIAL CODE contains a prominent notice that the material is “COPYRIGHT 2001 by the District of Columbia” and “All Rights Are Reserved”; and

WHEREAS, the only online version of the OFFICIAL CODE available to the public is accessible from the official publisher, which limits access through outdated technical mechanisms and poor design, such as a lack of a permanent Internet address (“permalink”), and further limits access through terms of use which prohibit the public from making copies of the code; and

WHEREAS, in a nation governed by the rule of law and founded on the principles of freedom of expression, due process, and equal protection, people must have the right to freely read, know, and speak the laws by which we as a people choose to govern ourselves; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has unequivocally ruled that the law cannot be subject to copyright in Wheaton v. Peters (33 U.S. 591, 1834), when the Court unanimously held that “no reporter has or can have any copyright in the written opinions delivered” by the Court; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly reaffirmed this principle, stating for example in Banks v. Manchester (128 U.S. 244, 1888) that “the authentic exposition and interpretation of the law, which, binding every citizen, is free for publication to all, whether it is a declaration of unwritten law, or an interpretation of a constitution or a statute”; and

WHEREAS, the United States Copyright Office has unequivocally stated “Edicts of government, such as judicial opinions, administrative rulings, legislative enactments, public ordinances, and similar official legal documents are not copyrightable for reasons of public policy. This applies to such works whether they are Federal, State, or local as well as to those of foreign governments.”

THEREFORE, it is hereby proclaimed by this notice that any assertion of copyright by the District of Columbia or other parties on the District of Columbia Code is declared to be NULL AND VOID as a matter of law and public  policy as it is the right of every person to read, know, and speak the laws that bind them.

By the People and For the People on March 25, 2013

Even though ignorance of the law is no excuse, the District of Columbia laws are highly restricted. The official copy costs $803, copyright is claimed by the District with ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, and the only on-line version available to the public is a totally awful site that won't let you go to a section of the code, has no permalinks, and times out after 5 minutes of no activity. In an effort to bring the law to the people, Public.Resource.Org bought the official code, scanned it, and has made it available on the net. A gaudy box including a thumb drive with the scanned copy and a PROCLAMATION OF DIGITIZATION, were sent to the District of Columbia Codification Counsel. The box was festooned with rubber stamps of radical sayings like "DUE PROCESS!" and "EQUAL PROTECTION!" Copies of the box were also sent to prominent members of the mainstream media, including (of course) our friends at Boing Boing.
Developers who work in open government may wish to pay attention to the subdirectory text.for.apps which includes full text for Title 1 and a powerpoint presentation explaining how the code was retrieved. We're hoping innovation will flourish with new ways of looking at the code once the laws are let out of their walled garden and allowed to roam free in our nation's capitol.
Source code for this release is on law.resource.org.
You may also view this material on the Internet Archive.
Low-cost print editions of select volumes are available on Lulu.
A nice post on this subject was written by Tom MacWright.
Pictures of the box construction are available on Flickr.

3D printing and law/policy conference in DC

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:05:26 +0000

Michael Weinberg from Public Knowledge sez, "We are bringing the 3D printing community back to Washington, DC for 3D/DC II. This time around, we are having a public reception in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 24th to give policymakers a chance to see 3D printing in person and talk to some of the people behind the machines. If you are in DC and are interested in 3D printing, this could be your chance to check it out." Michael wrote two amazing, definitive papers on 3D printing and the law.

Cory in Washington, DC tonight!

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:06:41 +0000

Hey, DC! I'm speaking at Busboys and Poets tonight at 7PM! Tomorrow I'll be in Cambridge, Mass; then Albuquerque (and more!)

Aaron Swartz memorial in Washington, DC, Feb 4

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:45:59 +0000

A reader writes, "On Monday, February 4th, family and friends of Aaron Swartz will join members of Congress at the Cannon House Office Building to honor and celebrate the life, work, and legacy of Aaron Swartz, the accomplished activist and technologist who took his own life on January 11. Aaron's supporters will also discuss possible reforms and other steps that can be taken to honor his memory."

Just look at this sniper eating a banana on a rooftop during the inauguration.

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 03:44:53 +0000

Just look at him.

Noticed some snipers hanging out on the roof during the inaugural parade. Zoomed in to find him enjoying a banana. (Thanks, Richard!)

Free, partial Tardis pinata

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 22:35:29 +0000

Free on Craigslist DC: a partially completed (and rather well-done) Tardis pinata.

FREE: homemade TARDIS pull-string pinata. My 6 year-old daughter wanted a Dr. Who birthday and as nobody in the US sells Dr. Who pinatas I made this one. Unfortunately I ran out of time so the door panels and windows are only on 2 sides and didn't get around to putting any of the signs on it but you are free to finish it as much or as little as you like.

TARDIS pull-string pinata (Tyson's/Falls Church)

DC pulls in a record-setting $85M from traffic cams

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:13:48 +0000

A little followup to yesterday's post about NoPhoto, an Indiegogo fundraiser for a flash that confounds red-light cameras: the city of Washington, DC has smashed its previous record-setting rake on its traffic cameras, pulling in $85 million in its fiscal 2012. Alan Blinder writes more in the Washington Examiner, discussing whether the city has come to think of its traffic cams as cash-cows:

"This year, we'll have more revenue than ever and more citations than ever before," said John Townsend, of AAA Mid-Atlantic. "They're closing holes in the budget."
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, a sponsor of the proposal to lower fines, leveled a similar accusation.
"The administration and some of my colleagues view this as a way to make money for the government," Wells said. "The funding is there to reduce the fines. The question is will my colleagues see this as a windfall to fund their pet projects?"
But the District government is far from the only local government to boost its bank account with camera tickets.

D.C. rakes in $85m from traffic cameras (Thanks, Marilyn!)

Cory in Bethesda tonight

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:00:37 +0000

Hey, DC! I'm heading to Bethesda today for my Pirate Cinema tour -- I'll be at the Bethesda Public Library tonight at 7PM. Come on out and say hi before I head to Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Toronto and Boston! Here's the full schedule.

DC police chief issues extremely excellent guidelines on citizens taking pictures of cops

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:29:12 +0000

As part of a settlement with Jerome Vorus, who was ordered to stop taking pictures by DC cops, DC chief of police Cathy Lanier has issued guidelines to her officers on citizen photography of police activities. They are extremely excellent guidelines, too, as Timothy Lee writes in Ars Technica:

"A bystander has the same right to take photographs or make recordings as a member of the media," Chief Lanier writes. The First Amendment protects the right to record the activities of police officers, not only in public places such as parks and sidewalks, but also in "an individual’s home or business, common areas of public and private facilities and buildings, and any other public or private facility at which the individual has a legal right to be present."
Lanier says that if an officer sees an individual recording his or her actions, the officer may not use that as a basis to ask the citizen for ID, demand an explanation for the recording, deliberately obstruct the camera, or arrest the citizen. And she stresses that under no circumstances should the citizen be asked to stop recording.
That applies even in cases where the citizen is recording "from a position that impedes or interferes with the safety of members or their ability to perform their duties." In that situation, she says, the officer may ask the person to move out of the way, but the officer "shall not order the person to stop photographing or recording."
She also notes that "a person has the right to express criticism of the police activity being observed."

There is more, and it's all excellent. We have the good folks at the ACLU to thank for helping Mr Vorus win his settlement with the DC police.

DC police chief announces shockingly reasonable cell camera policy (Thanks, Ben!)

(Image: 12.MPDC.HorseMounted.SE.WDC.23March2012, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from perspective's photostream)

Science fiction mass-signing in Arlington on May 18 (tomorrow!)

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:21:50 +0000

James Morrow writes, "As part of the 2012 Nebula Awards Weekend, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will hold a mass autographing session at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia, on Friday May 18th from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale on site, but you can also bring your own and get them signed. Here's the list of participating authors."

Police raid on Occupy DC

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:29:39 +0000

Quinn Norton's first-person account of the police raid on Occupy DC for Wired is riveting and scary. The Occupy camp that was demolished was riven by a deep disagreement on tactics and politics, and the police raid was a dramatic change from the good relations the camp had enjoyed with local law enforcement.

Screams of anger, panic, and pain began to cut through the grey air, and I managed to get back into the crowd a bit, away from the police. In the midst of the pressed and screaming crowd I saw two occupiers, Mo and Georgia, find each other, and hug. They stayed there, oblivious to the cacophony around them, both their eyes glassy and vacant and a little too wide open.
I grabbed a woman I recognized from the info tent and pointed to them. “Get them out of here,” I told her. She just looked at me for a moment in the chaos, and I repeated, “Get them the fuck out of here.” She nodded and grabbed them, still hugging. I spun around, and the riot line was on me. Pushed from every direction, I tripped over something behind me which turned out to be a person on the ground. The officer in front of me screamed “Move back!” but other people were falling on the fallen, and there was no way to move back without trampling them, and no way to stay without being trampled.

Occupy DC Evicted From a Winter of Communal Discontent

Physically protest tomorrow to protest SOPA and PIPA

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:13:51 +0000

Jonathan from Hackers and Founders sez, "We're planning SOPA/PIPA protests in SF, NYC, DC and Seattle on Wednesday the 18th to coincide with the blackouts."

Cory in DC tomorrow

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:45:52 +0000

Reminder: I'm heading to DC tomorrow to give a lunchtime talk at New America Foundation, from 1230h to 14h. Admission is free, but they're looking for an RSVP.

Cory in Philly, DC

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:00:39 +0000

I'm headed to Philadelphia next week to be the guest of honor at PhilCon (Nov 18-20), and while I'm in the area, I'm giving a free talk at the Wharton School at UPenn (Nov 17, 5PM). On my way home, I'm stopping in DC to give a lunchtime talk at the New America Foundation on Nov 22 (details TBD). Hope to see you there!