The tech culture is becoming a elitist society with no coherent political values, poorly prepared to deal with real politicians, who pass real laws like the DMCA. "How could they take my Napster away?" lamented one recent e-mailer. A new book by journalist Paulina Borsook takes an even sharper look at techno-narcissism and hostility. The tech culture, she says, is at times self-centered and selfish.

Entertainment conglomerates have skillfully -- and at great cost -- distorted the purpose of copyright law and are jumbling two very different issues: the rights of artists, and the rights to exorbitant corporate profits. They aren't the same thing. Most artists need more protection from media companies than from college kids downloading music online. How can the rights of artists be protected on the Net?

Wednesday's Napster ruling, one of the most significant legal rulings yet involving the Net and the outside world, tilts the copyright issue dramatically in favor of media corporations, who now virtually own popular culture, and away from the idea that fans and consumers of culture have any important rights or traditions. This ruling doesn't acknowledge any of the new realities of copyright online. Yes, the artists themselves have important rights, but this is a short-sighted betrayal for millions of mostly younger people who've learned to love music online, and who spend billions of dollars on it. The Napster finding also highlights the political vulnerability of the tech culture.

On Sunday night, the popular geek news site Kuro5hin.org was the victim of a denial of service attack that involved the abuse of their news submission queue and comment system by an unknown cracker. While the identity of the cracker or crackers is still not known, the all-volunteer Kuro5hin team is busy going through access logs, portscan information and other information to find out who caused the problem. In light of the attack, Kuro5hin was shut down today with a message telling their fans why they needed to take the site down. I spoke to some of the Kuro5hin staff to get some answers: How did it happen, and is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

Do you know who Dr. Michael W. Hunkapiller is? Take the Hunkapiller Syndrome Survey, and learn for yourself how, when it comes to technology, Americans focus on all the wrong things. Conduct your own survey. Ask ten friends and family members whether they've ever heard of Bill Gates. Then ask them who Michael W. Hunkapiller is. When you compile the results, you'll understand a lot about the irrational way Americans and American media deal with technology, obsessing about what's not important -- pornography, crackers and IPO's -- and ignoring what is.

I get a steady trickle of e-mail from Microsoft employees who dislike many of their employer's actions, and I know many good, concerned reporters who work at ZDNet, the Washington Post, USA Today, and other media outlets who do not follow any secret "editorial agenda." There are plenty of real conspiracies out there. We shouldn't waste our time making up fake ones, and we should never assume that all employees or associates of a company or government agency are part of a faceless, marching mass that always does exactly what its leaders want.

Can pseudonymous downloading, "snoop-proof" e-mail, digital pseuds called "nyms," PDA-like machines, allegedly untraceable digi-cash and other changes in software and the architecture of cyberspace, restore some privacy and restore the idea of the "Inviolate Personality?" Part Two in a series based on Jeffrey Rosen's new book, "The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of Privacy in America." (Part Two; Part One here.)

A new book argues that gender discrimination laws and software technologies are combining to destroy privacy in the United States. At particular risk is the American notion of the "Inviolate Personality," -- the part of every person's private thoughts, deeds and communications thought to be beyond the reach of public and governmental exposure and scrutiny. For those who love to speak and roam freely online, this is no small loss. First of two parts (so they'll both be shorter).

"AOL wants your children to be safe online," using their Parental Controls. There's just one problem with their censorware. You can see any site you want by appending a "." to the hostname - and this has been true since at least 1997, when Mike Sklut of newriot.com discovered the simple exploit. At the time, he was 11 years old. Despite his having told a few thousand of his closest friends, AOL didn't wise up to the fact until yesterday morning. Mike's out of town at a baseball tournament, but we managed to trade e-mail with him about his early hacking years. Update: 07/17 02:59 PM by J : Other censorware suffers from the same vulnerability. Sheesh.

Unlike any previous information conduits, Open Media are conceived, developed and dominated by the young, especially college kids with access to high-speed bandwidth and teenagers with lots of time and expertise. Change or die time. Third in a series.

New surveys suggest that ubiquitous technological tools are killing off leisure time, especially for younger workers and students -- that would be you -- who are working longer hours, taking fewer and shorter vacations (when they do go away, they take their cells, Palms and laptops along) and say they are more stressed than any other segment of the population. Opportunistic employers aren't helping, actually encouraging employees to do personal chores on the Net -- from their desks. Wasn't technology supposed to free us from workplace shackles?

Sensemaking -- organizing and transmitting data via the distributed architecture of the Net -- is the big idea behind the rise of Open Media. Media of the future won't select a handful of stories and sell them, they'll hook consumers up to the information they want and need and find new ways to make money. They will make sense of the information explosion for overwhelmed individuals. In fact, they're already doing it. This new kind of open media is the most promising information model of the future, and the likely successor to what we used to call journalism. (Second of a series.)

Even though he lives in France, cheese farmer Jose Bove, on trial for trashing a McDonald's franchise, is a fitting Independence Day hero, an inspiration for the fat, cowed and happy citizens of the Corporate Republic. He may well be a prophet as well. In terms both of technology and independence, Bove is one of the first warriors of the big global brawl of the 21st century -- individualism vs. corporatism. He also embodies what used to be considered American values. Happy Independence Day, Jose.

Imagine, if you will, a Linux trade show set up in America's heartland. Now, imagine corporate interest from companies like Atipa, Red Hat and LinuxMall. Imagine sixty-thousand square feet of exposition space and plenty of space for panels. Now, imagine that only about three hundred people show up throughout the week, that Red Hat's delegation leaves before the show even starts, and that by Friday, only three exhibitors remain on the show floor. Welcome to LinuxFest 2000. Since I was at the show, I think a first-person-only account would be unfair. Therefore, most of this article is comprised of quotes from members of the local Linux community sharing their thoughts on the show.

Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York - Despite the overwhelming Windows orientation of PC Expo (Apple didn't show up at all), there have been a few signs of Linux life. Today's 11:30 a.m. keynote speech was given jointly by Mark Bolzern of LinuxMall.com and John "Maddog" Hall of Linux International.

The last few trade shows I've attended have been all about Linux or Open Source, but here at PC Expo, which runs through tomorrow here at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, it's almost all Windows. And Palm.

Mozilla's latest milestone, M17, arrived today(ish); early adopters, go thou and download. And while you're waiting, check out this summary of the state of the art of PNG written by Greg Roelofs. PNG is ready for prime time in its Mozilla incarnation (though there are a few outstanding issues). Imminent takeover of the net predicted. Film at 11. Update later by J: OK, so M17 isn't available yet. Mea culpa; Greg and I misread a planning page. Here are Greg's comments/corrections to clear up the matter.

Media hotshots and junkies were breathing heavily last week after Salon and CBS.com announced layoffs and APBNews.com had a near-death experience. These and other new media "setbacks" prompted some gleeful, almost poignant predictions that old media might return from the grave. Don't put any money on it. The media war of the future isn't between "old" and "new" media, already meaningless terms, but between Open and Closed media.

After being purchased from Amiga earlier this year, former marketing execs Bill McEwen and Fleecy Moss are back on the road to building Amiga into the multi-platform, multimedia-savvy company that the fans have been begging for. Well known for being an on-again, off-again brand name, it looks as though things may have settled down long enough for the new team to make a difference.

The Net is killing off lines everywhere -- at banks, movie theaters, college bookstores. But government, one of the least progressive sectors of public life, is the last great frontier waiting to be digitized. And a lucrative one. Government collects more than $450 billion each year in fees and permits, most of which could be paid online. Imagine getting permits, licenses, renewals and deeds online. The Net can provide greater convenience, lower costs and digital democracy to citizens. And no lines.