Those crazy folks at Berkeley's J-school have finally produced their weblog: bIPlog. I originally wrote about the venture here.

They've done a fine job of summarizing recent intellectual property news, but have miles to go on the thought-provoking commentary front (What happened to the 750 word story assignments?). I think I would be happier if they just accepted providing fodder for the rest of the blog world and reducing information gathering costs is a fine objective.

The class debate on linking to other IP blogs -- should they be viewed as competitors or collaborators? -- reflects the institutional media bias towards containment, regulation, and control of information and its flow. Central to the idea of the blog and its usefulness is linking and the network effects that emanate from widespread distribution of information and ideas. bIPlog doesn't get that, and it is reflected in the reporting.

As I predicted, there is little use of source material; although there are some links to cases, they aren't analyzed. The reporting is largely an aggregation of other news stories and does little to invite public commentary because it doesn't offer much in the way of critical thought. There's a conflict between the profit imperative and stimulating the public mind. The more you stimulate them, they less they rely on you as a critical news source.

Like I said last time, collecting mainstream media news stories on IP issues isn't going to cut the mustard.