John McCain picks Sarah Palin for VP

Shocker.

DNC: Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson leads “Pledge of Allegiance” + Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson sings national anthem

DNC: Barack Obama acceptance speech at Mile High

84,000 in attendance on this historic night.

DNC: Beau Biden, son, introduces father Joe Biden

Beau (or Bo) Biden discusses the tragic loss of his mother and sister in a car accident, which brought audience members, including Michelle Obama, to tears.

DMCA safe harbor protects Veoh online video sharing — major victory that may help YouTube

News:  The district court in the Northern District of California decided in favor of Veoh, an online video sharing site, holding that it fell within the DMCA safe harbor.  Michael Arrington of Tech Crunch has 2 excellent analyses of the decision here and here.  One of the key parts of the ruling is that a video sharing site does not become disqualifed from the safe harbor by setting up a system that converts videos into a different (here, Flash) format (the plaintiff porn entertainment company claimed that such conversion showed that Veoh had control over the content).  Arrington also lists a number of key parts of the decision on his blog.

Analysis:  I am poring over the opinion myself and hope to have a followup soon.  The copyright cases against YouTube are in New York, so this precedent is not binding in that jurisdiction.  But it is undoubtedly helpful to YouTube’s case there.

UPDATE:  Here are some of the most important principles the court appeared to embrace in the Veoh case:

1.  A video sharing site doesn’t have the “right and ability” to control infringing activity just by setting up a system where users can upload videos.  The site’s control over its system is different from control over the content uploaded by users.  Op. at 28.

2.  The presence of professional content in videos (without copyright notices) that are posted on video sharing sites do not necessarily create a “red flag” of infringing activity.  Op. at 21-22.

3.  Court completely rejects argument that Veoh should have prescreened every video finding that practically infeasible (and in any event it’s not required by DMCA).  Op. 28

4.  The court says that Veoh policed its system as presently architected, and that was reasonable enough under the DMCA.  Op. 29  A lot of what Veoh did (e.g., hashing or fingerprinting technology) appears to be what YouTube is doing as well.

DNC: Barack Obama electrifies convention with surprise appearance

DNC: Joe Biden accepts VP nomination

DNC: John Kerry gives rousing speech: “90 percent of George Bush is just more than we can take”

DNC: Bill Clinton rocks the convention Wedesday

President Clinton received the longest applause so far.

DNC: Chelsea Clinton moving introduction of Hillary Clinton

DNC: Hillary Clinton rocks the house to unify party behind Obama

Women react to Clinton’s speech:

DNC: Michelle Obama speaks at Democratic Convention

DNC: Senator Ted Kennedy speaks at Convention, introduced by Caroline Kennedy

Esmee Denters says her 1st album is done, produced by Justin Timberlake

I can’t wait.  This will be a big moment for YouTube and the community.

John McCain ad uses “passed over” Hillary Clinton to attack Barack Obama

Terra Naomi, “the drugs don’t work”

Amazing, enchanting rendition by Terra Naomi.  She is amazing.

McCain ad uses Biden to support McCain + question Obama’s experience

Did Joe Biden really say that?

Obama “better off” ad criticizes McCain for not recognizing economy

Obama ad attacks John McCain for losing track of how many houses he owns — it’s seven

This is sure to generate a response from the McCain camp. This is a fight (perhaps silly) over who is elitist and out of touch.

Here’s another one:

Lessig on FCC’s ruling against Comcast for discriminating against BitTorrent users

News:  The FCC issued a very important ruling in favor of net neutrality and against Comcast.  Comcast was basically sabotaging its users’ ability to use BitTorrent peer-to-peer applications, without even telling them.  Larry Lessig has a nice blog post and also letter to the FCC.

If you read the FCC’s order, the FCC takes Comcast to task for repeatedly misrepresenting to the FCC the basic facts.  As Lessig points out in his letter, that may be the most troubling aspect of the entire case.

Jackson Browne sues John McCain + Republicans for using his song without authorization

News:  Singer Jackson Browne filed a copyright infringement suit against John McCain, the Ohio Republican party, and Republican Party for using his song “Running on Empty” in a campaign video, but without permission from Browne.  (More from Wired)

Analysis:  I wish I could watch the video to hear how much music was taken.  I’ll try to say more later.   If I’m not mistaken, McCain ran into some earlier copyright troubles with FOX (if not others) and so did Barack Obama.  But this is the first copyright lawsuit filed against a presidential candidate, perhaps ever.

Usain Bolt wins 100 meter in 9.69 seconds while showboating at finish

Forget about Michael Phelps. This is the most incredible moment of the entire Olympics. It could have been 9.49 if Usain Bolt kept running instead of showboating before the finish line!!! I still can’t believe what I just saw. Too bad that NBC and the American media don’t give this guy more TV coverage because he’s Jamaican, not American, and happened to make his world record on the same night Phelps got gold medal No. 8. More

As 200 + 400 meter world record holder and former Olympic champion Michael Johnson said, “Michael Phelps? Michael who at this point? It’s all about Usain Bolt. And deservedly so.”:

More highlights:

Should McCain + Obama debate science + tech policy?

News:  Darlene Cavalier, aka the Science Cheerleader, has organized an effort to get the presidential candidates to answer more questions related to science and technology policy.  There are 14 Questions posted online, ranging from innovation to stem cells.

Here’s a mock debate:

Beijing Olympics Day 3

Beijing Olympics photos from Day 1 + 2 + opening ceremony

Day 2

Day 1

Opening ceremony

Video analysis of Jason Lezak’s amazing come-from-behind finish in 4×100 meter freestyle

The most amazing swimming race ever.

McCain camp mocks Obama “fan club” in negative ad

Time lapse video of Rural Ohio support for Barack Obama

“We’re in it together” is the title of the video.

Barack Obama camp calls John McCain “Washington’s biggest celebrity”

After the McCain has been comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, the Obama camp now calls John McCain “Washington’s biggest celebrity.”  This is getty a bit nasty, if not comical.

Barack Obama mashup

This is pretty good.