June 14, 2003
Ziff Davis pushes for retroactive rights
ASJA: Ziff Davis Media Inc. recently sent a new master contract to its regular freelance writers who were told to sign by the end of the month or forfeit the chance for future assignments. Among a number of poor terms is the demand that writers forfeit all rights to their previous work for Ziff Davis without a penny of compensation.
Journalist/blogger Ryan Pitts collected some background (including a story I wrote about publishers' actions following the Tasini decisioin) and blogged on it in Dead Parrots. Writes Ryan:
Today, you'd think most publishers would just recognize the new reality laid out by the court: Although old free-lance contracts might not have anticipated electronic archival, new contracts need to offer appropriate compensation. But some are still going after story rights retroactively. ...Of course these publishers have the right to make such demands. ... But it seems to me to be quite a statement: A few dollars saved toward the bottom line is more important than ensuring their readers have access to the best writing available, past and future.
Well said.
A detainee in the Philippines
I received an email from a woman regarding an Australian national imprisoned in the Philippines. Because it seems legit (they're not asking for money, and a search on several directories turned up nothing suspicious), I'll repost it here in case anyone has any suggestions. The U.S. State Department will unlikely want to get involved because Sam isn't an American.
My Name is Marisa Passalis, and for several months I have been advocating for help in having my close friend Sam Eisikovich (Australian Citizen) released from the Bureau Immigration Office in Intranuros in Manila. He was arrested and placed in detention on the 16th February, 2003, originally for working without a permit, but has been remanded in custody for being an undesirable alien. With no trial.
This is Sam story. Sam went to the Philippines to be a Good Samaritan all he wanted to do was help the poor and homeless people of this country. Sam is experience and knowledgably in alternative medicines (acupuncture, bone setting, diets and so on) he is also a Si Fu in Kung Fu. He wanted to take his experiences and use them to help these unfortunate people. (I have also donated money and gifts to some of these people as I trust and believe in Sam) He has met many people and has helped all of them in his own way.Unfortunately Sam has been arrested and sent to detention on the charge of working with out a visa that can be proven false but the charge still stands.
Sam is now deemed an undesirable alien because he was also charged with adultery
(allegedly) by Enrique Galang who is an attorney for Castillo Laman Tan Pontaleon & San Jose whose offices are located in Manila and I know first hand he only wants to have his wife demeaned in public so that he can show his children in the future what a ëadulteressí their mother was, and for this they need Sam, Sam was asked to sign an afro Davis of his confession, which will make Sam guilty and guarantee him a jail sentence.Sam has made numerous requests for large sums of money because he believes he needs to pay ëhimself out of thereí. What I have also discovered is that no amount of money will get Sam out of there because (allegedly) they are now holding on to him as a mean to use him as a political pawn for the new up coming election in 2004.
(Allegedly) Enrique Galang father Efran Galang the head of the Pampanga congregation religious cult group Inglesia Ni Christo has promised a seat in the Pampanga Government to Andrea Domingo (Chief of Commission of Immigration) if she keeps Sam in detention.
I am finding all this hard to believe, but I believe it to be true. Please all I am asking is for someone to help me help Sam Eisikovich, it is not fair that he his being detained for such minor offences and also to be used as a pawn to allow other people greater power. We need to put a stop to this. Today.
I am in despair, I donít know how I can help Sam now that there is word of a powerful religious cult involvement, and please I pray that you may be able to help me.
For further information, please email me at passalis@optusnet.com.au I thank you for your time in reading this letter
Yours Sincerely
Marisa Passalis
JD said:
Folks, I don't think my personal weblog is the place for this back and forth. Please find another forum. Thanks.
encar said:
Please accept my apologies. My intention was only to correct the wrong information about our family in your weblog.
ethel said:
well there you are again ms.passalis! it seems to me you have forgotten the conversation we had thru the webboard of www.seapa.org. please allow me to refresh your memory; you posted the same letter anyway, so i'm posting my brother's same answers. you seem to have a fondness for media forums -- fine. we cannot and will not allow you to walk all over our family's name by recklessly posting malicious messages for all the world to see.
jd, i apologize that your personal page had to be dragged into this, but please allow me to post the answers, straight from atty. enrique galang. we trust you will understand.
thank you and best regards.
1. My father is a devout Catholic. And so am I.
2. Iglesia ni Kristo is not a cult. It is a religion. Your statement is offensive to millions of Filipinos who embrace this religion.
3. Sam has been charged by the Bureau of Immigration for working in our country without a working visa. The proceedings are summary in nature. He has submitted his memorandum admitting that he only holds a tourist visa but denying the charge against him. I submitted a memorandum attaching, among others (a) Sam's sworn statement that he charges his patients P300.00 per session; (b) reported for work regularly; and (c) his duly-signed agreement with Engr. Efren David, his partner, that they would share 60%-40% in the revenues of the Bio Jemnastics Fitness Centre where Sam used to work. These documents will speak for themselves.
4. Sam has been charged with adultery. I have also sued him for perjury. Both cases are criminal in nature. With respect to the adultery case, aside from the overwhelming evidence against Sam which were recorded on video, he also admitted having commited adultery, likewise on video, although he said that he did not know that adultery was a criminal offense.
5. I sued him for perjury in connection with untruthful statements he made in a civil suit for damages that I filed against him. These are all documented.
6. I am wondering why Sam has requested you to send him large sums of money to "pay himself out of there." I take that to mean that he wants to bribe his way out of this mess. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But if I'm right, please tell him that bribery is a criminal offense.
7. Neither my father nor I know Commisioner Andrea Domingo personally. We do not know her political plans, if she has any. It was simply unfair, if not reckless, for you to cast her in bad light by making such an untruthful statement for everyone to read.
8. I was able to talk to you when you called me in my office. I never told you that I need Sam to demean my wife in public, let alone, for our children to know that their mother is an "adulteress." This statement, like your other statements, is completely false and libelous.
9. Just like Sam's lawyer. you asked me what it would take for me to forgive Sam. At the outset, I told you, as I did his lawyer, that I don't need his testimony in my petition to declare my marriage with my wife as an absolute nullity. But, I was willing to consider dropping all the charges against Sam if he would testify against my wife. I also told you that I want to see his "Affidavit" (not "Afro Davis") first. And, in case you did not understand what I meant when I said that I would drop all the charges against Sam, I am telling you now that it simply means that he will no longer go to jail.
10. My purpose in presenting Sam as a witness is not to demean my wife. If Sam agrees to testify, I just want to show her what kind of a man Sam is, for whom she risked, and lost, everything.
11. I have received calls from other individuals. They want me to talk about settlement. To be honest with you, I really entertained the possibility of settlement before. Unfortunately for Sam, your libelous message just made me close my door completely and permanently.
12. I trust that you would be more careful with your statements next time.
Enrique Galang
By Enrique Galang We 18 Jun 2003, 05:06:35
Young 'prefer texting to calls'
BBC News Online: Text messaging has superseded phone calls as the most common use for a mobile phone among young people, a new survey reveals.
Look to the iPod, music labels
Jimmy Guterman's latest Media Notes in Business 2.0: Digital Music's Windows Desktop. iTunes distribution deals are nice, but they're nothing compared with iPod bundling arrangements.
Oracle's raid on PeopleSoft
I live in Pleasanton, on the upper fringe of Silicon Valley and home to PeopleSoft, where I've done some editing/consulting work over the past two years. Silicon Valley is mesmerized by the hostile takeover attempt of PeopleSoft by Oracle. Pleasanton (corporate HQ for Safeway and 24 Hour Fitness) stands to lose considerable revenue and business if the corporate raiders succeed.
Ultimately, it will be up to PeopleSoft's shareholders, of which I'm not one. But Larry Ellison's power grab seems so transparent and hamfisted that I'd be surprised if it succeeds.
Microsoft returns to the old ways
Mercury News: Microsoft said Friday that it will no longer develop versions of its popular Web-browsing software for Apple Computer's Macintosh system, saying Apple's own browsing software is a logical choice for Mac users.
Jessica Sommers, product manager for the software company's Macintosh Business Unit, said Apple is in a better position to create a browser with more features and that offers a smoother experience because ``Apple has access to functionality in the (operating system) that Microsoft doesn't.''
Which, of course, is complete and utter crapola. Microsoft's version of its IE browser for Apple was superior to even the Windows version.
What we have here is the poobahs at Microsoft deciding that, with the heat off Microsoft now that it has settled its antitrust matter with AOL Time Waner/Netscape, there's no longer any public or pollitical pressure to continue a business practice that veered from its core monopolistic instincts.
When I'm on my Mac G4 or Titanium Powerbook, I'll continue to use Safari and, for now, IE for the Mac, but I suspect Mozilla and Opera will be increasingly handy standbys as well.
