Google Disables Uploads and Comments for YouTube Korea

After a string of incidents involving cyber-bullying, Korea enacted a Cyber Defamation Law on April 1st that compels all sites with over 100,000 unique visitors a day to implement registration requiring Koreans' real names to be verified with a national ID number. Google, taking a stand for anonymity, has refused to modify YouTube Korea's registration process, choosing instead to simply prevent Koreans from uploading or commenting on YouTube. However, they were thoughtful enough to post instructions on their YouTube Korea page about how to circumvent Korean law by changing user preference settings to another country.

Google apparently considers itself above the law in the foreign countries it provides service to, actually encouraging their citizens to sidestep their own laws. Ironically, this outright refusal to honor the laws that other countries deem important is in Google's "commitment to openness" and "bias in favor of freedom of expression". In the end, Google's expression of opinion is the only one that seems to matter.

In the song I outline some events that led to the passage of the Cyber Defamation Law and examine the insensitivity of Google's decision.




The original news article can be found here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/162989/google_disables_uploads_comments_on_youtube_korea.html

These are the lyrics:

yo we all know people like talking smack
online but in Korea they got bullies on crack
"Oppa" is a word they use for big brother
but instead of the government it's every other sucker

if you even neglect to clean up your dog's poo
someone'll take your picture post it on the net and find you
asking around for your name and address
where you go to school and wherever you go next

they'll make you so well-known you'll have to drop out
pack up all your things, move into a new house
you think I'm making this up? it happened in '05
the victim was lucky she didn't turn to suicide

but for an actress like Choi Jin Sil
if everyone was trashing you then how would you feel?
and a month before that it was Ahn Jae Hwan
both movie celebrities now both of 'em gone

pushed to the limit by people on the internet
you can't makes arrests when no one's innocent
but you pass a law on Cyber Defamation
requiring online ID registration

and that's what happened but Google ain't having it
saving anonymity by straight up cancelling
every Korean's ability to contribute
videos and comments on NotYouTooTube

then they made a post on their very own website
"everything's fine guys, everybody just lie, alright?
change your preferences to a nation that's not yours.
just like you were forced to before in other wars."

YouTube imposes ideas on Korea
at the same time saying "don't post yours, either!"
that's some hypocritical political bull
and after 8 years of Bush I'm full

go ahead tell your friends join a petition
YT won't feature me so who's gon' listen?

The mp3 can be downloaded here:
GoogleDisablesUploadsandCommentsforYouTubeKorea11.mp3

GM and Segway Unveil Two-Wheeled Vehicle: PUMA

GM and Segway demonstrated today a new two-wheeled urban vehicle prototype called the PUMA that may change the way people commute around town. They also assert that they have the GPS technology to have the vehicles drive themselves. While I can see the promise of the latter idea, I have my doubts about the vehicle itself.




The original news article can be found here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_bi_ge/general_motors_segway;_ylt=Auf942KRQjPkPfXjI3jCxigDW7oF

These are the lyrics:

there's a new concept in the automotive business
it's 2 seated, 2 wheeled, and too ambitious
General Motors fearing their time is over
is desperate to meet their innovation quota

partnered with Segway trying to make headway
came up with something just a little more deadly
works like the other one except that you sit
and ride around praying that you don't get hit

relies on balance just to keep you off your face
like sitting in a two-legged chair to save space
and for that "benefit" they'll add cost into it
making it affordable to only an idiot

even if it is a solution to a problem
that don't mean it won't cause more on top of 'em
how you gettin' to work if there's ice or it snows
you gonna be cold when there's no doors to close

your groceries will have sit on your knees
and you're lucky if the wind just stays at a breeze
hope you don't need to make a real quick stop
cause like the idea itself: you gonn' flop

i know they're trying to be different and make a big deal
but there's already a better idea: more wheels
I'm not just trying to bite it. I'd also highlight an
already bright idea: GPS autopilot

so GM I say "Go for it!"
cause this manual drivin' I'm over it
i'd rather be napping not drunk drive crashin'
just ask Google Maps you can make it happen

The mp3 can be downloaded here:
GMandSegwayUnveilTwoWheeledVehiclePUMA111.mp3

Google to Acquire Digg?

Here's my second podcast, regarding the possible acquisition of Digg by Google:



The original article can be found here:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/23/google-digg.html

And these are the lyrics:

"with a boom boom chick and a boom boom bap kerplow
sittin in my room readin news to rap about
first up today with no further delay
concerns my preferred form of news relay
a website called Digg six million users big
and it might be sold to a 200 million dollar bid
offered by none other than a pseudo-Big Brother
that's right it's Google son coming for you and your mother
extending its grasp on the internet map
and building itself into everything that you have
the behemoth wants to compete with stuff like Yahoo Buzz
and Propeller by AOL, yo whatever that does
as long as it doesn't interfere with the deal
that Digg made with Microsoft for three long years
'cause these enormous names in Internet land
don't like to play nice or agree to shake hands
it's not my place to predict the way the deal ends
but it's safe to say this deal's weight is immense
yo journalrhyhm
my posts are like worms, you gotta digg 'em"

The mp3 can be downloaded here:
GoogletoAcquireDigg080725.mp3