science fiction online

Vernor Vinge speaks at the science fiction/imagineering group. Some of Vinge's concepts - focus, localizers - are quite powerful and intuitively plausible. Vinge also talked about an "intellectual dark age," a product of conservative copyright legislation. (Since this threat stems from legislation like the Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, signed into law by Bill Clinton, perhaps its solution is political.) Vinge concluded by emphasizing the importance of open document formats, to save content.