Lindbergh HS

This morning I had the opportunity to speak at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis County about GMOs. I was invited by an advanced science teacher, Bryan Cintel, after he asked around through the biology department listserv for a guest speaker.

It was fortuitous because their AP biology course was already covering biotechnology and GMOs so I was able to contribute to that unit by giving a scientist’s perspective on the matter. Even though I don’t work on GMOs myself, my work as a plant biologist brings up the topic a lot. And since I went into plant biology because of an interest in developing strong food systems, genetic engineering is a topic I’m always trying to learn more about. I’m the resident ‘plant guy’ to a lot of my friends and family so I’m used to covering everything from plant science to organic farming and Monsanto’s legal team. It just comes with the territory.

But I was excited to present to students after presenting at the Community Garden Summit a few weeks back. The students were very advanced—they had covered the cloning of genes, gene regulation, the structure of DNA and restriction enzymes among other topics. So I was able to focus more on the science and biology behind genetic engineering than I was when presenting to the more heterogeneous crowd at the Community Garden Summit. This was my first time giving a presentation exclusively on GMOs and I was happy to have the practice. I know it won’t be my last!

I borrowed a few slides from my previous presentation but I wanted to make sure I contributed some actual biology that was new to the students. They had learned about genetic engineering in bacteria, but plants are a bit of a different story and I taught them about how we use Agrobacterium to help us transform plants. Or a ‘gene gun’ when we can’t use Agro.

The students had questions ready from an assignment but of course a handful of students in each period spoke up the most and were really interested in the topic, which was great. One girl already knew about Golden Rice, which was a topic I covered in my slides. Of course, some students were interested in the ethics and legal issues surrounding the patenting of genes and whether Monsanto was in the right when they sued some farmers for patent infringement. I always try to make it clear that I’m no expert on Monsanto’s legal issues, but the fact is that I keep abreast of the information as much as I can so I do usually have something to contribute. And the students wanted my opinion on some of the other concerns surrounding GMOs, like the health consequences of eating them. I told them that it was the strong consensus that GMOs are perfectly safe to eat. But I did bring up some of the more legitimate issues that skeptics have with the technology, like the problem of ‘gene escape’ from a genetically engineered crop to a wild relative.

Mr. Cintel asked me to talk a little bit about biotech jobs as well. Although I don’t have direct experience in the biotechnology industry, GMOs and plant science in general are great to talk about in the St. Louis region. We have the highest concentration of plant scientists in the world, largely thanks to Monsanto. But we also have great non-profit institutions like the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and of course Washington University. This gave me a chance to talk about the several different ways that students could become involved with science as a career. It’s not only academic research, but it can be industry work or work at independent research centers like the DDPSC. And I told them that a career in science isn’t necessarily limited to those with Ph.D.s. A place like Monsanto should have jobs for all educational levels where you still get to ‘do science’ at a different level.

I had a great time, even though I had to wake up an hour earlier than usual to get out to the school by 8:10. Several of the students were interested in going into science and I told them that Washington University probably has opportunities for them to do work during the summer even in high school. That’s how I got started.

I hope to speak to more students in the future. Maybe I’ll even return to Lindbergh High School to speak next year on a similar topic.

(Topic preview: I was selected to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University conference taking place at Washington University from April 5-7. My Commitment to Action continues my outreach efforts to bring plant scientists in the region together with the urban agriculture community. I’ll write about that shortly.)

Update to First Sale Doctrine

Well I wasn't expecting this.

On the 'We The People' site, which allows Americans to write and sign petitions for the White House to consider, the Obama administration has issued a formal response about the recently enacted change in the DMCA exceptions about phone unlocking.

Remember, this is the same site that got an official response from the White House about building a Death Star. It's not exactly the halls of power.

However, it's interesting because the White House, more specifically Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation & Privacy R. David Edelman, detail their opinion that the exemption to the DMCA for unlocking one's cell phone for use on another provider should be maintained.

As a quick recap: The DMCA says you can't circumvent copyrighted software, which includes the measures that lock a cell phone to a given mobile provider. An existing exemption, granted by the Library of Congress, made it legal to do so once your contract ended, even without permission from your provider. Now, that's no longer the case. Even after a contract is up, the provider could forbid you from unlocking. And doing so on your own would be against the law.

The response to the petition specifically notes that the White House respects the "process" that gives the Library of Congress authority to alter these exemptions. It is, after all, the law. And this is, after all, the Executive Branch. But it's intriguing that they've specifically contradicted the Library of Congress' change to this exemption and recommended a role for the FCC and legislators to play in altering the details of phone unlocking. Well, don't hold your breath for legislators doing much of anything.

We'll see if this goes anywhere. So far, I haven't come across widespread reports of maniacal mobile providers chaining people to their off-contract phones. But the change in the law never really made sense anyway. The DMCA was designed to keep people from illegally ripping DVDs and CDs and distributing them without any DRM. (And boy, it did just the trick, didn't it?). Just because the software on the phone is copyrighted doesn't put this case in the same category.

Surface

Surface. The name is evocative of a blank slate, tabula rasa, a malleable slab that takes what it’s given and becomes what it is exposed to. It sounds somehow more professional, more grown up, than ‘tablet’—literally a ‘little table’. I’m not quite sure how little tables became some of our most prized possessions. It implies clunky and dumb, a resting place for other, more important things. But a surface is something changing and dynamic. It’s something you can manipulate to create something altogether new. It implies flat in the vernacular, but just think of rounded surfaces or four dimensional space-time.

I wax poetic of course. It’s fun. This is my Surface Pro review and the ideal of a surface described above is what I think the ideal is for the computer I’m typing this on. It’s an idea I’ve borrowed from David Pierce of The Verge  (an exceptional technology website). In announcing his transition toward Windows 8, Pierce described his ideal computing experience. “You have a single device that stores all your data, and you add or remove accessories and peripherals as necessary,” Pierce writes. A monitor and Bluetooth inputs at work and there’s a powerful workstation. Lightweight accessories for travel and leisure. “It's like playing with legos, assembling and disassembling different machines from the same parts depending on what I feel like that day.”

Although Pierce later found the Surface Pro did not match this ideal (“In its quest to be both, the Surface is really neither. It's supposed to be freeing, but it just feels limiting.” vis-à-vis performing as both tablet and laptop), it stuck with me. This is what I want my Surface Pro to be. This is what I think it is. Even as I type this at the end of my first week glued to my new machine, I’m still trying to figure it out. It seems to be a common sentiment among everyone but the true loyalists. The Surface is…confusing. Intriguing, in a better light. It’s a curiosity that I think will be recognized among the first devices embodying a paradigm shift in computer-human interactions. That may sound bold, but I’m not trying to announce here a new strain of AI or anything. Consider though our recent history with computers.

Computers began as centralized as possible. With the original mainframe computers, workstations were hooked up to a central computer because it was too expensive to consider purchasing every employee their very own machine. A little while later we had individual desktop computers, even personal computers in our own home. But the traditional desktop (an archaic term already—when’s the last time you saw a desktop on a desk?) was still very centralized. It was one of the most expensive and prized possessions in the home. The ol’ family computer back when my mom had to purchase two phone lines because as a doctor she could never be without phone access.

But as Moore’s law marched steadily on, computers became cheap enough to spread to every room of the house. I built my first machine in 2006 and that opened up the world of not just a personal computer, but an individual one. A year later, the iPhone was released as the ‘first’ smartphone to see widespread adoption. Suddenly powerful, personal, individual computers were now attached to us 24/7. It quickly showed signs of addiction. So now we had computers at home, at work, in our pocket. But lo! The iPad invented tablets (*ahem*) and now we had computers at home, at work, in our pocket, on the couch. Then small tablets (Kindle Fire, Nexus 7) and big smartphones (Galaxy Note II) came on the scene, each one apparently finding a new niche where very smart people had once declared a saturated market. It seemed that we were incapable of being satiated; a device for every conceivable occasion.

But whether we really recognize it as a society yet, I think we’ve become fatigued by this. It’s a sign of good things, for sure. If it weren’t for fierce competition and brilliant devices being designed and released, this wouldn’t be a problem at all. It all happened so quickly. But I think David Pierce was getting at a bigger idea here which is the potential to return to fewer devices. We need phones, so let’s make them smart. But with the advent of a hybrid OS like Windows 8, do we really need two tablets, a laptop and a desktop? That depends on your needs of course, but I think for many people they’ll find that with a suitable tablet and laptop/desktop experience in one device, the overlapping use cases will become superfluous. There’s a trend these days toward minimalism and simplification, and I think that meeting people’s computing needs and wants in a single device (+ smartphone) may fit well into that new zeitgeist.

So it is in this spirit that I took a little leap of faith and put some serious money down to be part of this grand experiment. Now, I don’t make enough to be willfully frivolous with my major expenditures. I fully intend this device to last me several years. Maybe not quite as long as my old MacBook Pro. But if I can get three years of daily use out of my Surface Pro I’d be satisfied.

But what form will this daily use take? I am still figuring that out, to be sure, but I have some idea now. And to an extent I have a vision of where I’d like it to go.

First of all, the Surface Pro is a laptop. It’s an Ultrabook really, although not branded as such. It has a capable Intel i5 processor at 1.7 GHz and 4GB of RAM. It runs Windows 8 Pro, a full version of Windows 8 that supports all legacy applications. It has a brilliant touch capable screen and a digitizer for full pen support. It has a blazing fast SSD. It’s a powerful, small laptop. Except that it differentiates itself from all other convertible/hybrid Windows 8 laptops on the market by not having a dedicated dock or hidden keyboard. No, its trick is a very sturdy kickstand and a 6mm thick keyboard/cover that snaps on and off with a satisfying click (a 3.25mm Touch Cover is available too but the Type Cover is what makes this a laptop). It most neatly fits the use cases of a laptop, albeit creatively.

Some have criticized the fixed angle of the kickstand and the less rigid keyboard cover as serious failings that compromise its primary role as a laptop. But although a fixed angle screen isn’t necessarily ideal, it's at least the right angle. And the viewing angles are generous enough to meet your needs adequately except in the brightest environments. The Type Cover takes some getting used to but it’s really a very fine keyboard. And, critically, it passes the literal test. I am typing this on my lap. What you won’t get is a crazy-angle unsteady-surface use case. It performs best on a desk, to be sure. But so does any laptop, really. This is a laptop first and foremost because it’s a portable computer useable in a variety of locations to do work.

The Surface is also a tablet. Detach or fold back the Type Cover, both fluid motions, and you are face-to-screen with a 10.6” 1080p display with 10 point multitouch and an innovative gesture-based navigational system. It’s on the thick and heavy side at half an inch and two pounds (with keyboard removed). And boy is it widescreen; this is never meant to be used in portrait mode. But on a couch where the tablet rests on your legs, it’s a very enjoyable experience. The Start Menu and navigational system are really intuitive and a big step up from swiping through homescreens filled with icons. The pen input is really nice for navigating the Desktop UI while in tablet mode. It approximates the precision of a mouse and lets you dig down into the File Explorer to change a few settings without changing positions.

To complete the vision I’ve borrowed from David Pierce, the Surface needs to fill a final role: desktop workstation. I’ll never give up my home desktop because I’ve built it from scratch (several times) and there is no substitute for dedicated graphics if you want to play video games. And I do. But for many people, and for myself at work, this machine should excel as a plug-and-play workstation driver. A larger monitor and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse requires only two plugs, power and display. Snap off the keyboard, flip out the kickstand and set the Surface next to your monitor. Now you have two screens. In my vision, the large monitor for a better Desktop experience while the Surface displays Start Menu apps like Xbox Music or People. A few key Windows shortcut key combos and Windows 8 will function seamlessly even without a touchscreen monitor. The Surface Pro is decked out with all the right specs to push two displays easily and the use of the Mini DisplayPort would even allow daisy chaining two extra monitors if you’d like. Suddenly Excel and Word work flawlessly and you regain the precision of a full mouse for delicate work like photo editing.

Unplug and snap on the keyboard to take the same machine to meetings or to a coffee shop. Rip off the keyboard to freehand some notes or doodle on the couch. Kickstand out for Netflix while cooking. Stream to your Homegroup PCs to share a quick YouTube video. Connect to Steam to play desktop-quality games at lower settings on the go. Like legos, reassembling your device to suit your needs throughout the day as your environment changes.

I’m waiting on the sale of my MacBook Pro to help fund this final realization. (I’m also waiting about a month to find out where my desk will be for four more years). But more and more I think this is the form I want to see the Surface Pro take. Make no mistake, this is first generation technology. This is the beginning. There are serious compromises and there are no shortage of confused reviewers laying them all out. But I think that many people have forgotten the compromises they make every day. Many reviewers say they’d prefer to spend the same money on a lower-end Ultrabook plus iPad Mini. Or Nexus 7. But that is a compromise that I believe people are just recognizing as such. How to sync between two or three devices. Which to bring along on what occasions. Use cases, use cases, use cases. All the decisions are draining, the power cords tangled, the OS swapping confusing.

I’m not making any hasty decisions, but since getting the Surface Pro I’ve taken a peak over at my Nexus 7 and wondered if it’s still as useful as it was before? Now I have a premium Android device in my Nexus 4. The N7 is a little pokier. But it’s small and light and great for reading in one hand. I have a hard time letting go, making this kind of simplification I’m espousing right here. But maybe in a month, or two, or six I’ll find the N7 collecting dust more frequently. Maybe not.

The transition is incomplete, but I think that the Surface Pro is a representative example of where computing is heading. A little more centralized. A little saner. With advances in technology, we’ll see a Surface-like machine with longer battery life (eight hours would be a godsend), a little thinner and lighter perhaps. I think Windows 8 is a great operating system to push us in this direction, although I’m excited to see if Apple attempts its own convergence between iOS and OS X anytime soon. And I’m excited to see the final transition to a modern UI that dispatches with the old fashioned desktop tropes that tie Windows 8 down to last decade’s expectations.

The Surface Pro is my daily driver, and I’ll try to push it to its limits to see what I can extract from it. I’ll be sure to update with my experiences and how I’ve managed to fit the Surface into my life and if it’s indeed an improvement. But every day I warm more to this bizarre device and I’m excited to see where it takes me.

 

 

 

 

 

David Pierce of The Verge

Community Garden Summit

On Saturday, I spoke with Dr. Terry Woodford-Thomas of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center at the 4th Annual Gateway Greening Community Garden Summit. This was my first opportunity to speak about science with non-scientists in a formal setting. And it went well.

When I reached out to Gateway Greening to gauge their interest in helping me with my own event aimed at bringing plant scientists and community gardeners together, I was invited to speak at the Summit. They also asked me to help them find a professor at the DDPSC to present with me. The title of the talk was "Plant Breeding and Genetics". Although Terry works on science education and outreach full time, we were not quite sure what kind of presentation to give. We knew the attendees would be well-educated but likely without any specific knowledge of the topic. We certainly didn't want to bore anyone to death.

But it's difficult to develop a presentation plan for a group of people you haven't met on a topic you're not an expert on. After all, I have only recently begun studying plants, and I have no background in plant breeding at all. What I did have to offer was a biological background and an overlapping interest in food systems and gardening. And although we knew we had to make the presentation approachable, we also suspected that the people attending our talk--when they could opt instead to attend presentations like "Organic Gardening Methods"--would likely be interested in learning something new and challenging.

We decided to briefly review a history of crop domestication and to cover the basics of plant genetics that make plants unique and interesting, like the prevalence of polyploidy in our crops. Then, in the style of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire, we would tell the stories of a handful of crop species. We would discuss how they were bred and how the genetics of these species impacted their roles in our food system.

Terry already had dozens of slides from various presentations given over the years on similar topics. This was my first opportunity to begin collecting such material for future work, so I had to start from scratch. My topics included the interesting genetics of plants and then I would cover the nightshade and brassica families. Terry covered the history of crop domestication and then the cereals--corn, wheat and rice. 

I tried to think of ways to make my part of the presentation as interesting and approachable as possible without making the fatal mistake of condescending to the audience. That was my greatest fear, because I felt it would help confirm the worst stereotypes about scientists. The ivory towers and snotty attitudes and holier-than-thou high-mindedness. Frankly, scientists are only good at their job when they are honest about all that they don't know, although there are certainly individuals who could be reminded of that occasionally.

Nonetheless, without really knowing my audience or having experience with this kind of presentation before, that was the balance I strove to achieve. I wanted to the material to be understandable but to really offer something new to the audience so they felt that their time was well spent.

We had about ten people attend our presentation. As I mentioned earlier, topics like organic gardening methods competed for the same presentation slot, so it was not altogether surprising that we had a small group. Rebecca came along to support us and to learn as well--she was taking notes and asking questions the whole time! Terry and I traded off presenting our own sections and answering questions as we went.

On the whole, I was very satisfied with the presentation. The audience was curious and engaged, although there were certainly some heavy eyelids in the crowd. (I take no offense, I have been on the other end many, many times and sometimes your eyes just won't stay open.) I could sense that the presentation was dry at times and I learned that I needed to prepare more succinct and engaging ways or presenting certain topics, like marker assisted selection and the real significance of hybrid crops versus inbred lines. I believe that our crop-focused sections were the strongest, which was really the intention and is something I believe I will repeat.

The audience asked many great questions, both to clarify our points and to ask after new information. One woman was intensely interested in the gene banks that save germplasm we brought up. Others were curious about how we propagate seedless varieties. We did not discuss genetic engineering at length, but it was brought up and the only real concern expressed from an audience member was over the potential overstepping of Monsanto's legal team.

Our host, a young man (older than me) whose name I unfortunately forget, was very excited about our presentation. At the end he and I spoke briefly and he thanked us for presenting and seemed genuinely happy to have attended. I got extended feedback from Rebecca, but she's understandably biased. On the whole, I am very happy with how the summit went and I look forward to speaking on a similar topic at the Pints 'N' Plants event in June. I think it was a great first step and I intend to take many more

Indoor Gardening

For the first time, I'm able to start seedlings indoors before transferring them to the ground for spring. I've been an avid amateur gardener for a couple years now, but last year I was making the move to St. Louis at the end of May. So when we started our garden, Rebecca and I had to largely purchase established seedlings because it was already June. And hot.

But this time around, we're planning on having even more ground space and we're hoping for a milder summer. To take advantage of this, we're starting the seeds off indoors.

What we needed most of all was lights. If you search Amazon for grow light fixtures, you'll find mostly fluorescent fixtures with light bulbs for 50 bucks or more. And even though fluorescent light bulbs are reasonably efficient, we're talking about having these things on 12 hours a day for months. Right away it was clear we wanted LED lights so we didn't run up the meter. We picked up this, a two pack of 2 Watt LEDs with a combination of red and blue diodes for good growth. Less than $30, they'll last forever and I calculated their addition to our electric bill at about 19 cents. Fortunately I found a couple cheap clamp-on light fixtures at Home Depot. The lights give out an eerie pinkish glow that frankly looks unhealthy. But it's supposed to be good for the plants. 

The only place safe from our cats is the laundry room. Fortunately it's also warm because of the furnace, so we set up the lights there. We hobbled together a collection of egg and milk cartons, produce containers and other assorted fiberboard to start the seeds in. We have some small pots laying around we can transfer the bigger seedlings to before taking them outside if needed. 

Although we had a couple seed packets leftover from last season, we had to go on a major seed hunt. Fortunately the Central West End has a fantastic nursery called Bowood Farms whose cafe is good for an exceedingly nice brunch. In fact, we spent our time on the restaurant wait list looking over our seed options.

We may have gone a little overboard. We've got two tomatoes (variety of cherry strains and a regular pole tomato); two varieties of carrots; red onions; beets; broccoli; cauliflower; sweet and hot peppers; Swiss chard, spinach and kale; green beans and snap peas; and too many herbs to count. Oops. Notably absent is a summer squash. We're going to be joining the Lee Farms CSA this summer and think we'll have plenty of zucchini, thank you very much. 

We got home and immediately got started. We've got three egg cartons and a leftover plastic planter going for now. We were already 'behind' schedule on some of the cold-weather crops like broccoli and cauliflower so those went in. We've got a whole 'flat' of onions going and then we used the taller plastic planter for beets. These will go in the ground next month. If we need more space we can probably swing the lights down and grow a bigger group on top of the dryer.

It was a wet and chilly day, but already the days are getting longer and I'm excited to harvest my first-ever spring crop in a couple months. Soon we'll get the warmer crops like tomatoes and peppers going and really take off!

I'll keep posting updates on this project. Already little hypocotyls (the embryonic stem that supports the embryonic leaves, cotyledons) are poking out and they should be turning green soon. 

PC Convergence: Compromise or Destiny?

It's been not-quite three years since Apple released the first iPad. Already tablets seem ubiquitous. Apple dominated the market against lackluster Android-based competitors until the Kindle Fire came on the scene and opened up the enormous ecosystem of Amazon on a cheap, quality machine. That was barely a year ago.

Engaget

Then the Nexus 7 was born, and the age of Android tablets really began. Apple, despite famously decrying 7-inch tablets as dead-on-arrival, was forced to compete and release the iPad Mini. That's 7.9 inches, they'll have you note.

Simultaneously, Apple innovated on netbooks to create the premium MacBook Air, which led Intel to develop the new Ultrabook brand. The Air and it's Ultrabook competition brought for the first time sufficient power and utility down to small scales. Professionals could depend on one small machine for all their productivity needs.

And yet, as close as the 11.6" Air and 9.7" iPad are to one another, they face a wide gap. Despite Bluetooth keyboards, and wireless optical drives and productivity apps, no single device has claimed the niche in the middle. The sweet spot. A convergence of tablet and PC, fully capable--at least sufficient--for professional environments with the sleekness, ease of use and chic of a slim tablet. So we go on, keeping tablets at home for the couch and laptops stuffed in bags for meetings.

There are two obstacles: operating system and hardware. The operating system is what keeps Apple from success, or even competition, here. It's not an unsolvable problem, but their simplistic iOS--practically unchanged in user experience since the original iPhone--just wouldn't cut it as a PC replacement. And aside from a sleek profile, the MacBook Air doesn't offer any tablet-like amenities. It's not touch friendly. You can't use it face-to-screen, immersing yourself in a smooth experience. Even on the couch, you're separated from your device by the ever-present keyboard.

Now Windows 8 is on the scene. For the first time, it's a PC-oriented OS that is built for touch. Yes, it has an awkward duality between the modern interface and the old desktop. It's transitional. But it's a real leap forward. We don't know yet whether that leap of faith will reward Microsoft with sales and prestige, but it has helped push OEMs, led by Intel's Ultrabook brand, to explore the frontier. These machines are true convertibles, more laptop than tablet perhaps, but they are pushing the hardware frontier to see what works and what doesn't. That's innovation and it's a delight to see.

Microsoft

And of course, Microsoft has offered it's own take on convergence, the Surface. It might be the boldest attempt at inventing a new niche. So far, it's not exactly selling like hotcakes. But that may be in in large part due to the release of the Surface with Windows RT before the Surface Pro, its beefier cousin. Windows RT doesn't offer backwards compatibility to legacy Windows applications (read: no Steam). Surface Pro is a full-fledged, Intel-based offering in the same format of the Surface RT but with much more respectable specs. It's main compromise is battery life--which is no joke when trying to perfect this format. Surface Pro arrives February 9th and previews have been largely favorable, at least compared to the attention Surface RT received.

Will the Surface really define the genre like Apple did with tablets and the iPad? I doubt it. I predict the Surface acts more like a seed, much like how Google's flagship devices helped spur innovation in Android handsets. Now Android is a smooth experience running on premium devices--this was not always the case. And even though Google never got everything right, as the software writers they took the opportunity to showcase their hardware goals and push for Android done right.

It may be very much the same for Microsoft with Surface. As the authors of an innovative, if transitional, operating system, it's on them to point in the right direction and say, "Go forth!". Where the hardware ends up, perhaps as Windows 9 rolls around and finishes the software transition, is anyone's guess. I am skeptical of the convertibles that are two pieces, keyboard and screen, stuck together. One is bound to have a piece missing at a crucial time. The Surface has an interesting approach with their Touch and Type Covers that can be detached but serve as useful screen protectors in the interim. Fancy hinges have to be done right. I for one can't stand the idea of the Yoga by Lenovo.

As I look to replacing my aging MacBook Pro, and not wanting to part with two grand this time around, I am eagerly considering my options for a convergence between laptop and tablet, a touch-enabled device that is intuitive, productive and engaging. Apple will come on the scene soon, no doubt, but until that time Windows 8 is pushing forward and I am excited to see what comes next.

Endangered First Sale Doctrine

If you're on top of your mobile technology news, you may have come across reports that as of January 26th, 2013, you are no longer legally allowed to "unlock" your smartphone in the United States. Unlocking refers to removing firmware-level restrictions that prohibit the use of a phone on a carrier other than the one it was purchased from.

The major wireless carriers have a strong incentive to prevent unlocking. Carriers like Verizon or AT&T sell most of their smartphones with a very heavy subsidy, which is how you can buy a brand new iPhone for $200 instead of $650 "unlocked". Of course this is a nice incentive to have you sign a 2 year contract for at least $80 a month (the cheapest Verizon plan offered on Apple.com as of this writing--and that's a whopping 300MB of data).

Now if this is how carriers can boost sales, there's nothing wrong there. It's marketing. We're used to that.

But in an odd quirk of digital copyright law and through, of all institutions, the Library of Congress, the new prohibitions on unlocking phones appear to step over a line previously unchallenged.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a U.S. law that enforces international treaties regarding the regulation and protection of copyright. It grants the Library of Congress power to provide exemptions for "noninfringing uses". Copyright has traditionally, and judicially, been limited by certain key exempting principles in the U.S. The most familiar is usually called the first sale doctrine. That principle states that once a consumer legally purchases an item protected by copyright--a CD or book, for example--he or she has the legal right to pass that item on without permission from the copyright holder. It's an important tenet that allows people to share books and music and develops a robust second-hand marketplace which is crucial for a smooth economy and to prevent waste. Check out this article stub for more information.

The use of the first sale doctrine has been challenged by the development of easily copyable and transferable digital information. Now consumers can break copyright by copying their legally purchased material and sending it along without relinquishing their own version.

And now these worlds collide in a smartphone. It's a product that can only be owned by one person at a time, yet the software and firmware on it is protected by copyright. And DMCA protections specifically prohibit "circumvention" technologies except in very limited cases, like creating braille versions of books for the blind. So without a specific exemption, it is illegal to circumvent the copyrighted item--the restrictive firmware--in order to sell your phone for use on a new carrier.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, a carrier trade group, has successfully lobbied to restrict the unlocking of phones under the DMCA from now on. Their principle argument is that smartphone owners do not own the associated software, they are merely licensees. And in fact, according to the Library of Congress' interpretation of recent judicial cases, the carriers can assure that smartphone consumers are only granted licensee status by stating it's a license agreement and restricting consumers' ability to modify the software. As long as it's in the fine print, it's real.

What this all results in is a complicated mess of copyright and first sale where you own the device but not the means to make it available on the broader market. This is to protect the carriers' ability to recoup their subsidy (something that is also protected by their own Early Termination Fees). Now you have to specifically ask permission from the carriers to unlock your phone, even after your two year contract is up. It may be very likely they'll do so. But if not, you'd be breaking the law to sell your phone for use on another network.

Now the caveats and extra bits of information. As The Verge points out and as is clear in the ruling itself, this does NOT apply to jailbreaking and rooting a device. These are means to allow modifications to the basic software, like iOS or Samsung's TouchWhiz. While I believe this breaks some carriers' warranties, it is upheld as perfectly legal.

Also, this ruling does not apply to new phones purchased before January 26th (90 days after the original ruling) or to "legacy" phones--old phones that may have been unused for some time.

However, it is certainly a bizarre case where a single consumer product encapsulates the balance between critical aspects of our legal system. On one hand, copyright holders are entitled to protection under the law. On the other, consumers have the right to do with their property as they see fit. And frankly, extending the same broad class of copyright protections to restrictive smartphone firmware, well.... I'm not sure it's in the same category as protecting music and literature.

Uh oh, did that just bring up software patents? Another time, perhaps.

For more entertaining information, check out this story over at Marketplace.