Conferences, comedy, clouds and contracts.
Continuing my attempts to bring Shakespeare into as many posts as I can…. Let specialties be therefore drawn between us, That covenants may be kept on either hand. (Taming of the Shrew II. i. 127-8) A couple of weeks ago, I presented at the HR Technology Conference in Chicago, the topic being SaaS Contracts: how not to [...]
Closing a social transaction. Musings on e-commerce and copyright.
A couple of days ago via Microsoft’s arbiter of all things cool, Steve Clayton, I saw this poster. (If you like it, buy it too). The poster has gone viral, no doubt bringing a wry but slightly painful smile to anyone filling in travel expenses or CRM system screens, or thinking about tidying the garage. Within a couple [...]
The Invisible Jurisprudence Hand: Will the Lawyer Problem Take Care of Itself?
Let’s face it. Companies spend far too much — even after sourcing and category management efforts — on legal spend. According to one study I glanced at from BTI consulting, the average Fortune 1000 company spends roughly $19.4 m…
Could Fake Steve Jobs Go to Jail?
Online impersonators could be fined up to $1,000 and/or up to one year in jail according to California Senate Bill 1411, which Governor Schwarzenegger has just signed into law. The new law is meant to protect victims of cyberbullying, malicious impersonation – says Senator Joe Simitian, the Bill’s author on his homepage: “E-personation,” said Simitian, [...]
On Wikileaks, the Inkspots and a political philosophy ramble.
Thomas Paine, “It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.” George Washington, “Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.” Julian Assange, “The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie.” Antonio Gramsci, “To tell [...]
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees
Shylock: Most learned judge, a sentence! Come prepare! Portia: Tarry a little, there is something else. This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood; The words expressly are “a pound of flesh.” (painting by Alexandre Canbanel. The Merchant of Venice) The jury has decided. SAP owes Oracle 1.3 Billion dollars. I’ll leave others [...]
Finally, Graduating Lawyers are Considering a Profession That Benefits Society: Procurement
I must say I got a chuckle from a recent article counseling law school grads to consider “alternative career paths” including procurement. After all, one good mind going into our field and one less shark slowly bleeding the economy to death must be a positive thing now, mustn’t it? The story suggests that given the [...]
Our “patently absurd” patent system
While my book is not specifically about patents, a book that focuses on innovation and grand challenges would be remiss to not point what a “grand challenge” it would be fix our patent system. Some excerpts about patents from The New Polymath The Wall Street Journal in an editorial summarized the mess the patent system [...]
The Problem with Software Patents
Software patents are a disaster for innovation. The system is asymmetrical, in the sense that it is very expensive to defend against a patent suit. At the same time, it is very easy to get a patent on almost anything, including things people have no business getting patents on. I have a friend who was [...]
Digital economy meets dinosaur politics
Digital citizens are disgusted at the way the UK parliament rushed Internet censorship provisions into law last night. The political establishment is out of touch with the rapid pace of change unleashed by the Internet.
