The US Copyright Office has granted six DMCA exemptions, a few of which are great for libraries and universities, although they denied proposed exemptions, such as for region coding or backing up DVDs, that would benefit consumers.
Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against […]
The library world has been buzzing for the last few days over an article in a small newspaper relaying a report from two UMass Dartmouth professors that a senior at the school claimed he was visited by, as the article put it, “two agents of the Department of Homeland Security” after getting Mao’s Quotations from […]
It looks like Sanger is finally putting his ideas for a more “authoritative” Wikipedia alternative to the test with Digital Universe. Sanger’s well-publicized criticisms of what he sees as Wikipedia’s lack of respect for expertise have contributed to widespread debate how the wiki model’s accuracy compares to traditional reference resources, particularly with respect to […]
Hot on the heels of widespread criticism of Wikipedia’s authority, Nature conducted a comparison and found that the difference in accuracy between science articles in Britannica and Wikipedia is not that big. See the Nature article for details.
However, as noted in the Slashdot posting, some folks at Wikipedia found that the Wikipedia samples used […]
George Washington University’s Daniel J. Solove asks “What If Copyright Law Were Strongly Enforced in the Blogosphere?”
I think that it is a fair generalization to say that the use of copyrighted material is much more liberal in the blogosphere than in regular print publications. If I were writing something in print, for example, I would […]
John Seigenthaler tells his story.
The Yahoo! backed Open Content Alliance is planning to work with university libraries and other archives to create an open web library. From SFGate:
The Open Content Alliance, a project that Yahoo is backing with several other partners, plans to provide digital versions of books, academic papers, video and audio. Much of the material will […]
Abstract:
This paper looks at aspects of Wikipedia’s structure and process, with specific focus on its community (or organisational) learning. Learning is conceptualised as a collective, collaborative process, whereby multiple perspectives are shared and meanings are constructed. Fundamental to this learning are Wikipedia’s policies and the procedure of collaboration in an often conflicting environment. Conflict is […]
Classrooms are crowded, and the all-too-familiar scenario of children sharing outdated textbooks is still very much in evidence.
However, in Class Five, things are just a little bit different. Fifty-four 11-year-old students are willing guinea pigs in an extraordinary experiment aimed at using technology to deliver education across the continent.
In the Eduvision pilot project, textbooks […]
In 2002, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers sent an open letter to Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, which has a market for used books in addition to selling new copies. “If your aggressive promotion of used book sales becomes popular among Amazon’s customers,” the letter said, “this service will […]
From Ars:
A new study published today claims that users who share and download music files online also buy four and a half times more music online than your average music listener, at least in the UK.
The Guardian article explains more…
From CNN
In MGM v. Grokster, the high court unanimously overturned a ruling that had barred Hollywood and the music industry from suing Internet services used by consumers to swap songs and movies for free.
“One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright … is liable for the resulting acts […]
As you can probably tell I’ve been busy and vacationing, so thanks to Mark Leggott for pointing out a great couple of articles in the last Tech Review by Lessig and Epstein debating who owns ideas.
gCensus is a new Google Maps derivative by the author of DRM Blog that displays Census data from 2000. from BB
There’s also a slashdot discussion on Google’s 3D maps.
As reported everywhere, a federal appeals court has ruled that the FCC stepped beyond its authority with the broadcast flag:
In a blow to the entertainment industry, a federal appeals court on Friday found that federal regulators overstepped their authority by requiring consumer-electronics manufacturers to help restrict digital home recording.
Link to Wired
Boing Boing links to a short article discussing how DRMed audiobooks shut out affordable housing tenants for whom GNU/Linux machines have been set up to use.
Another story of copyright running amok. BB links to an article discussing a new Ghanian copyright bill that aims to collect royalties on commercial uses of folklore. Creepy.
House OKs Family Copyright Bill by Katie Dean
Wired 4.19.5
More details on the criminal penalties from news.com.com.com:
File-swappers who distribute a single copy of a prerelease movie on the Internet can be imprisoned for up to three years, under a bill that’s slated to become the most dramatic expansion of online piracy penalties in years.
Prison terms […]
Sanger has written a detailed history of Wikipedia in an effort to clarify how it became what it is today, and it’s a must-read for a number of reasons:
The Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia part I
The Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia part II
One very interesting higher-level point:
Wikipedia became what it is today because, […]
A quick pointer to two interesteing articles on the subject:
Piercing the peer–to–peer myths: An examination of the Canadian experience by Michael Geist
First Monday 10:4
Nielsen Rating System At Odds With RIAA’s Claim Of “Lost Sales” by Moses Avalon
MusicDish 4.24.4
And while I’m at it, here’s one of the most well-known articles on the RIAA:
RIAA’s Statistics Don’t Add […]