* LawLawLaw #42 – DeForest Buckner for Pro Bowl, Brian O’Kelley for President

Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock ‘n’ Roll.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 12/1/2016; ErikJHeels.com; publisher: GiantPeople.

About LawLawLaw

My name is Erik Heels, and this is my LawLawLaw^TM newsletter. Since 2001, LawLawLaw has documented TRENDS in technology, law (mostly patents and trademarks), baseball (mostly Red Sox), and music (mostly rock). Today’s disclaimer du jour of the day: Many suitcases look alike. Thanks for reading!

Clocktower Law Stuff

* Clocktower Law office manager Mary Keele now has a famous family member! (2015-04-27)
Mary’s nephew (OK, technically her brother’s nephew) is DeForest Buckner, who was selected 7th overall in the 2016 NFL draft and now plays defensive tackle for The San Francisco 49ers. You can show your support by voting for DeForest for the Pro Bowl. Go to the ballot, click on DT, mouseover DeForest’s stats, and click the “vote” button. Vote early, vote often. Thanks!
http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot

TREND: Our clients are cool and make news for all the right reasons.

* Ad Tech company and Clocktower Law Client AppNexus bans Breitbart News over hate speech (2016-11-23)
“No different than pornography and violence.”
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/22/13719510/appnexus-breitbart-news-ad-ban-hate-speech-steve-bannon
http://adage.com/article/digital/major-ad-technology-company-bars-breitbart-news-hate-speech/306887/
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/online-ad-exchange-appnexus-cuts-off-breitbart-43748313

* Clocktower Law Client Cape Clogs Announces Cash and Carry Clogs at SWEA Swedish Yuletide 2016! (2016-11-19)
http://capeclogs.com/2016/11/18/cash-and-carry-clogs-at-swea-swedish-yuletide-2016/

* Clocktower Law: Cool Clients (2016-11-17)
Clocktower Law published the third major update to its “cool clients” page (originally published 2008-03-25), featuring past/present clients and what they do. This page is generated, in part, from a FileMaker Pro database.
http://www.clocktowerlaw.com/187.html

* Clocktower Law Client Onshape Is Almost a Unicorn: This Year’s Highest Startup Valuations in Mass. So Far (2016-10-28)
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/10/28/boston-startup-valuations-2016-onshape-fuze-circle-dataxu-jana/

* Clocktower Law Client Pan-Mass Challenge announces $47 million milestone gift to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2016-10-20)
Plus: my band played on the boat.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pan-mass-challenge-announces-47-123700454.html

• * The MCats Band: Gig 59: #PMC2016 Party Boat (2016-08-07)
  “This was a great gig for a great cause.”
  http://www.mcatsband.org/1980.html
• * The MCats Band: #PMC2016 Party Boat
  Our Facebook photo album of the gig.
  https://www.facebook.com/MCatsBand/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155106010468696

* NewsCorp pumped $10 million into Clocktower Law Client AppNexus as part of a $31 million round (2016-09-28)
http://www.businessinsider.com/appnexus-raises-31-million-from-news-corp-yahoo-japan-previous-investors-2016-9

* Clocktower Law Client Insurify Becomes the Largest Marketplace in the Car Insurance Industry (2016-09-28)
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160928005285/en/Insurify-Largest-Marketplace-Car-Insurance-Industry

* Clocktower Law Client Jet Networks Launches Jet.me, the First Mobile Chat Platform for Kids (2016-09-28)
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jetme-is-the-first-mobile-chat-platform-for-kids-300335538.html

* Clocktower Law Client AppNexus Inks Deal to Sell Display Ads on LinkedIn (2016-09-27)
http://adage.com/article/digital/appnexus-inks-deal-linkedin-sell-display-ads/306011/

* Clocktower Law Client Disruptor Beam Pitched George R.R. Martin and Won ‘Game of Thrones’ (2016-09-25)
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/09/23/game-of-thrones-ascent-developer-george-r-r-martin/

* Sarah Hodges Joins VC Firm Pillar As A Partner (2016-09-22)
Sarah Hodges is the co-founder of Clocktower Law client Intelligent.ly and former head of people ops at Clocktower Law client Pluralsight.
https://medium.com/@sarahhodges/ive-got-a-new-gig-in-venture-capital-82138c20a9ca

* Clocktower Law Client AppNexus Blocks Adblock After Adblock Violates The Spirit Of The Internet (2016-08-13)
This is a complicated story. Adblock is a browwer plugin that does what its name suggests: blocks ads. The problem with this is that all media (television, radio, and the Internet) are powered by advertising. No ads, no radio. No ads, no TV. No ads, no Internet. I think its a small subset of the population that (a) cares about blocking ads and (b) has the skill to install Adblock. That said, when Adblock announced that it was going to sell ads (2016-09-13: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/13/12890050/adblock-plus-now-sells-ads) in addition to its ad-blocking business, many heads were scratched. AppNexus’s first response was a blog post from Brian O’Kelley stating that AppNexus does not support Adblock’s “Acceptable Ads” platform (2016-09-13: http://blog.appnexus.com/2016/why-appnexus-does-not-support-the-acceptable-ads-platform/). Later, when it because more clear what Adblock’s intentions were, AppNexus severed all ties with Adblock (2016-08-14: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/11/fidel-castro-obituary/508805/).

* Clocktower Law Client Kentik Raises $23 Million (2016-08-04)
https://www.kentik.com/on-raising-our-23m-b-round/

Tech Stuff

* The code that took America to the moon was just published to GitHub, and it’s like a 1960s time capsule (2016-11-26)
“For years, the very code for the Apollo Guidance Computer existed in paper and digital scans. Now that it’s available on GitHub expect programmers to have a little bit of fun with one of humanity’s most important computer science achievements.”
http://qz.com/726338/the-code-that-took-america-to-the-moon-was-just-published-to-github-and-its-like-a-1960s-time-capsule/

TREND: Global Warming Is Real.

* Thanks To XKCD, All Visual Thinkers Now Know That Global Warming Is Real (2016-09-13)
And it started in the industrial revolution. Before I was born, it was likely too late to fix the problem. Stephen Hawking estimates that humans have 1,000 years left on Earth (2016-11-18: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285432). Good enough?

• * The North Pole is an insane 36 degrees warmer than normal as winter descends (2016-11-21)
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/17/the-north-pole-is-an-insane-36-degrees-warmer-than-normal-as-winter-descends/
• * Global weirding continues with massive Arctic warm-up (2016-11-18)
  http://kottke.org/16/11/global-weirding-continues-with-massive-arctic-warm-up
• * The World Passes 400 PPM Threshold for Carbon Dioxide – Permanently (2016-09-27)
  http://www.climatecentral.org/news/world-passes-400-ppm-threshold-permanently-20738
• * Earth smashes heat record for 16th month in a row (2016-09-20)
  http://www.macleans.ca/politics/worldpolitics/earth-smashes-heat-record-for-16th-month-in-a-row/
• * A timeline of the Earth’s average temperature (2016-09-13)
  http://kottke.org/16/09/a-timeline-of-the-earths-average-temperature
  http://xkcd.com/1732/
• * Bill Nye Explains What Would Happen If All The Ice Melted On The Earth (2016-09-07)
  “As one would expect, it would be really, really bad.”
  http://digg.com/video/bill-nye-what-would-happen-all-ice-earth-melted

* Google Analytics Ruined Marketing (2016-08-07)
“In the just over 10 years since the release of the [Google Analytics] platform in November 2005, too many tech marketers now ignore the difference between strategies and channels, favor digital channels that often deliver lower returns than traditional channels and think that direct responses are the only useful ROI metric. And all of that is wrong.”
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/07/how-google-analytics-ruined-marketing/

Law Stuff

* This chart shows how SCOTUS broke patent law around 2010 (2016-11-10)
http://patentlyo.com/patent/2016/11/citing-supreme-eligibility.html

* Boring black-and-white patents + color images = Patent Artwork (2016-11-01)
This company has been around since 2011, but I’m just finding out about it now.
http://patentartwork.com/

TREND: Globalization Is A Thing.

• * Brunei joins Madrid Protocol (2016-10-08)
  The Madrid Protocol is an international trademark treaty.
  https://blog.oppedahl.com/?p=1729
• * Cambodia joins the PCT (2016-10-06)
  The PCT is an international patent treaty.
  https://blog.oppedahl.com/?p=1725
• * US hands internet control to ICANN (2016-10-04)
  “The long-planned turnover takes place, but not before triggering an outcry from critics.”
  https://www.cnet.com/news/us-internet-control-ted-cruz-free-speech-russia-china-internet-corporation-assigned-names-numbers/

TREND: Monopolies Keep Monopolizing.

• * Google Is A Monopoly And Should Be Broken Up (2016-09-17)
  The same is true for the other top tech companies. I’m putting this story under “law” because is really is about how the rich get richer, the powerful more powerful, and the evil more evil. In the 1990s, I wrote that Microsoft should be broken up because it would be good for consumers – and for productivity in general. Yet I can’t think of a single meaningful breakup of a monopoly since AT&T was broken up in 1982. And without the AT&T breakup, we would still be leasing phones and would not have call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, and other innovations brought about by meaningful competition. Modern day monopolization is definitely a problem because only a handful of tech companies dominate the entire tech marketplace (2016-10-28: http://www.yearofdisruption.com/245.html).
• * Silicon Valley is Lying to You (2016-11-26)
  “Palo Alto just isn’t Renaissance Florence, and that’s perfectly fine. Wall Street is easily more villainous than the Valley, but it harbors no delusions of heroism. Our national contempt for finance and banking acts as a sort of check on Wall Street’s actions—a way of keeping J.P. Morgan from literally torching small towns and selling the ashes. And that’s all we need with Silicon Valley: a watchful eye and an intelligent wariness of any self-satisfied bullshit. This is a start.”
  http://www.gq.com/story/silicon-valley-is-a-lie
• * Cable’s Broadband Monopoly Is Becoming Stronger Than Ever (2016-11-23)
  https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161121/07014336097/cables-broadband-monopoly-is-becoming-stronger-than-ever.shtml
• * Free Isn’t Freedom: How Silicon Valley Tricks Us (2016-09-06)
  “A small number of huge companies really are spying on the world, violating our privacy to increase their profit, and, as I document in my recent essay, ‘The New Censorship,’ at times, destroying people’s lives…. Over time, the arrangement has gotten out of balance. What started as a little anthill of information Google had about you grew into a mountain; on your side, you are still just getting that trickle. Over time, what started out as a reasonably fair arrangement has put you and Google into radically different positions of power. They have a lot of power over you—the power that comes with information—and you have no power over them.”
  http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/read/free-isnt-freedom-epstein-essay

Baseball Stuff

TREND: The end of the world is near.

• * Peter Gammons: Instant classic as Cubs are World Series Champions (2016-11-04)
  http://www.gammonsdaily.com/peter-gammons-instant-classic-as-cubs-are-world-series-champions/
• * Shattered: Indians’ dream season ends in Game 7 extras (2016-11-03)
  http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2016/11/shattered_indians_dream_season_ends_in_game_7_extras

* Red Sox season-ending report card (2016-10-14)
The only thing this article gets wrong is the “B” for John Farrell (who clearly deserves an “F” for his XWL record.) #FireFarrell
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2016/10/red_sox_season_ending_report_card

* Boston Patent Lawyer Erik Heels: The Last Word On #FireFarrell – Told You So! (2016-10-06)
Plus all my #FireFarrell Tweets #ForTheRecord.
https://www.giantpeople.com/8477.html

Music Stuff

* ‘Weightless’ by Marconi Union is The most relaxing song in the world (2016-11-15)
Just in case you are stressed out.
http://kottke.org/16/11/the-most-relaxing-song-in-the-world

* Bob Dylan Awarded 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature (2016-10-13)
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/bob-dylan-awarded-2016-nobel-prize-literature/

* A list of Radiohead’s entertaining business names (2016-05-13)
My favorite is “LLLP LLP.”
http://kottke.org/16/05/a-list-of-radioheads-entertaining-business-names

Random Stuff

* Sunhouse Modern Prefab Includes Finnish Sauna (2016-11-07)
Want this tiny house.
http://tinyhouseblog.com/pre-fab/sunhouse-modern-prefab-includes-finnish-sauna/

* Fact-Checking Alec Baldwin’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’
Monologue (2016-08-26)
One of the funniest blog posts I’ve read in a long time. Also: a great movie.
https://theringer.com/fact-checking-alec-baldwins-glengarry-glen-ross-monologue-661f3662ea61

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P.S. LawLawLaw, available at LawLawLaw.com, is a publication written by Clocktower Law LLC founder Erik J. Heels and published by GiantPeople LLC. The opinions in LawLawLaw do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Clocktower Law, GiantPeople, their employees, or the author. If you don’t share this with friends and family, then who will? Thanks!

P.P.S. Erik claims to publish the #1 blog about technology, law, baseball, and rock ‘n’ roll at erikjheels.com. Brevity is not his strong suit.