The Daily Loper – May 19, 2006

Today’s links of interest:

• Senate’s Indecent Proposal
  This is not a rhetorical question: will this still matter five years from now? Just asking…
• Circus Skips Town For Good
  You know you’re old when you look at a cover photo and think, "Nice glasses, Reg."
• Spin-free Spiral
  It’s sort of like that scene in "Ghost World" – freedom of speech, freedom of speech. Only nobody is taking this seriously either.
• Can "upfront" glitz sell network ads in the Net Age
  Quick answer: no. Long answer: see Medialoper’s coverage of the upfronts. We are not impressed, though we are hopeful.
• AOL Buys Company That Inserts Video Ads
  For what it’s worth…if you’re interested in reading crystal balls, start paying attention to *what* the Internet giants are buying.
• Networks Fight Rising Number Of FCC Fines
  Fight. Fight. Fight. Okay, so it’s going to be all legalese and formality, but it’s about time we had an honest and open discussion about indecency.
• Second Narnia movie is postponed
  Not what is known in the industry as a "good sign".
• Amazon’s ‘One-Click’ patent re-examined
  To quote the lead (because we couldn’t make this up): The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is re-examining Amazon.com Inc.’s patent for "one-click" online shopping at the request of a New Zealand actor who says he’s upset over slow book delivery.
• Hot Dog Preparation with Jack Bauer (to be read by Kiefer Sutherland)
  24 Fan Fiction run amok – then covered in mustard.
• Senator Clinton to cosponsor Internet neutrality law
  Hillary is fighting for Bill’s right to Skype. It’s about time.
• Yahoo! Video Search
  Guess what, it looks better than Google Video. It couldn’t look worse. That just wouldn’t be possible.