Scary thought for Halloween
Earlier today I referred to Google not being as Evil(TM) as Some Other Companies. Maybe I spoke too soon.
Say it ain't so, Sergey!
Friday, October 31, 2003
More sound and fury about scholarly periodicals
According to the most recent issue of Library Juice, a group of researchers in the University of California system are calling for a boycott of Cell Press, a subsidiary of academic uber-publisher Elsevier which produces an array of astonishingly overpriced scientific journals. ( $90,000 ?!? )
Will boycotts like this, aided by constructive acts of rebellion like Public Library of Science, which recently inaugurated a free, peer-reviewed online biology journal, alleviate the crisis? Stay tuned.
(Thanks to Carlos for letting me know about PLOS: Biology.)
According to the most recent issue of Library Juice, a group of researchers in the University of California system are calling for a boycott of Cell Press, a subsidiary of academic uber-publisher Elsevier which produces an array of astonishingly overpriced scientific journals. ( $90,000 ?!? )
Will boycotts like this, aided by constructive acts of rebellion like Public Library of Science, which recently inaugurated a free, peer-reviewed online biology journal, alleviate the crisis? Stay tuned.
(Thanks to Carlos for letting me know about PLOS: Biology.)
Here today, gone next budget year
From time to time people accuse me of being a Luddite because I express skepticism about the permanance of "electronically-archived" documents. Those people should note that, according to ALAWON, the newsletter of the American Library Association's Washington office, a bill currently before the Congress, HR 2989 as approved by the Senate, would remove funding for the National Archives' Electronic Records Archive, which was intended to "capture, make available, and preserve crucial electronic government information", especially the digital-only documents which make up an increasing percentage of government records and which cannot be collected or preserved in the traditional fashion by the government-depository library program.
Of course, that's not the politicians' and bureaucrats' problem. They'd just as soon the records of their activities disappeared before the next election anyway, and any number of industry lobbyists would be very happy indeed if information embarrassing to their employers disappeared from the public record.
The House version of the bill has apparently retained this funding, meaning that the conflict will have to be worked out in a conference committee.
From time to time people accuse me of being a Luddite because I express skepticism about the permanance of "electronically-archived" documents. Those people should note that, according to ALAWON, the newsletter of the American Library Association's Washington office, a bill currently before the Congress, HR 2989 as approved by the Senate, would remove funding for the National Archives' Electronic Records Archive, which was intended to "capture, make available, and preserve crucial electronic government information", especially the digital-only documents which make up an increasing percentage of government records and which cannot be collected or preserved in the traditional fashion by the government-depository library program.
Of course, that's not the politicians' and bureaucrats' problem. They'd just as soon the records of their activities disappeared before the next election anyway, and any number of industry lobbyists would be very happy indeed if information embarrassing to their employers disappeared from the public record.
The House version of the bill has apparently retained this funding, meaning that the conflict will have to be worked out in a conference committee.
Google, Amazon, what's the difference?
Publisher's Weekly reports that Google apparently is pursuing plans to supply fulltext searching of books. Amazon is not alone, although Google is not (yet) a major competitor in the book/media retail business.
It's fortunate that the folks at Google seem to be less Evil (TM) than certain other computer-'n'-internet-related companies. Otherwise I'd be scared that they were about to Take Over The World (TM).
Publisher's Weekly reports that Google apparently is pursuing plans to supply fulltext searching of books. Amazon is not alone, although Google is not (yet) a major competitor in the book/media retail business.
It's fortunate that the folks at Google seem to be less Evil (TM) than certain other computer-'n'-internet-related companies. Otherwise I'd be scared that they were about to Take Over The World (TM).
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Another solar flare
Another alert from the gse-aa mailing list, for those who might be interested:
A major solar event occurred at 1102 GMT on Oct 28th, facing the
Earth. It was three hours long and left the sun at 1200 to 2000 km
per second. The shock should arrive at Earth as early as the
afternoon of the 29th in Europe (4 PM GMT)and as late as 2 AM GMT on
the 30th.
Europeans will be able to see the aurora probably as far south as
Southern France, since it should be over Paris by midnight.
It will be night in Australia and New Zealand if it arrives at 1100
GMT. This flare is probably large enough to approach mainland
Australia and be visible from the North Island in New Zealand, so it
may be worth staying up to see.
Russia, north of 50 deg latitude will be well placed on the night of
the 29/30 to see the aurora from this flare.
Observers in the USA should not be discouraged that it will arrive
during the day of the 29th. This flare is of a magnitude that should
lead to aurora visible over the entire continental US on the evening
of the 29th. It may be on the northern horizon for those in Florida,
Texas, and Southern California, but it should be visible.
The best viewing is from a dark area, even your back yard, with a
view to the northern horizon. Look out at the sky every half hour.
Typically, an intensification occurs every two hours, lasting about
1/2 hour. The maximum activity is usually around 11pm to midnight.
Prediction by [Chuck Deehr]
Another alert from the gse-aa mailing list, for those who might be interested:
A major solar event occurred at 1102 GMT on Oct 28th, facing the
Earth. It was three hours long and left the sun at 1200 to 2000 km
per second. The shock should arrive at Earth as early as the
afternoon of the 29th in Europe (4 PM GMT)and as late as 2 AM GMT on
the 30th.
Europeans will be able to see the aurora probably as far south as
Southern France, since it should be over Paris by midnight.
It will be night in Australia and New Zealand if it arrives at 1100
GMT. This flare is probably large enough to approach mainland
Australia and be visible from the North Island in New Zealand, so it
may be worth staying up to see.
Russia, north of 50 deg latitude will be well placed on the night of
the 29/30 to see the aurora from this flare.
Observers in the USA should not be discouraged that it will arrive
during the day of the 29th. This flare is of a magnitude that should
lead to aurora visible over the entire continental US on the evening
of the 29th. It may be on the northern horizon for those in Florida,
Texas, and Southern California, but it should be visible.
The best viewing is from a dark area, even your back yard, with a
view to the northern horizon. Look out at the sky every half hour.
Typically, an intensification occurs every two hours, lasting about
1/2 hour. The maximum activity is usually around 11pm to midnight.
Prediction by [Chuck Deehr]
On the "librarian shortage"
From the September 2003 issue of College & Research Libraries, p. 391-392:
In 1993, Library Journal reported that 20 percent of all recent library school graduates could not find full-time employment. By the mid-1990's, recent graduates were turning to nontraditional positions in the technology industy, such as Web design or online systems administration. Propelling this migration from librarianship was the average starting salary for nontraditional positions, which was 4.5 to 7.6 percent higher than traditional library positions. As recent graduates migrated toward careers in information technology, libraries gradually increased starting salaries, and in 1997, entry-level salaries surpassd $30,000 for the first time. In 1996, the average librarian had realized a salary increase of less than one percent over the previous year, but between 1997 and 1998, the average starting salary for all new hires was up 6.8 percent and then up another 4.4 percent in 1999 to $32,837....
Never fear, though. There's a government program for everything, including ensuring that library administrators will always have a vast pool of qualified but unemployed jobseekers whom they can hire for starvation wages, thus counteracting this unpleasant recent trend toward rising salaries. A press release from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services yesterday announced a $10 million subsidy to recruit yet more newbies into the grinder... er, I mean, the library profession.
Qui bono?
From the September 2003 issue of College & Research Libraries, p. 391-392:
In 1993, Library Journal reported that 20 percent of all recent library school graduates could not find full-time employment. By the mid-1990's, recent graduates were turning to nontraditional positions in the technology industy, such as Web design or online systems administration. Propelling this migration from librarianship was the average starting salary for nontraditional positions, which was 4.5 to 7.6 percent higher than traditional library positions. As recent graduates migrated toward careers in information technology, libraries gradually increased starting salaries, and in 1997, entry-level salaries surpassd $30,000 for the first time. In 1996, the average librarian had realized a salary increase of less than one percent over the previous year, but between 1997 and 1998, the average starting salary for all new hires was up 6.8 percent and then up another 4.4 percent in 1999 to $32,837....
Never fear, though. There's a government program for everything, including ensuring that library administrators will always have a vast pool of qualified but unemployed jobseekers whom they can hire for starvation wages, thus counteracting this unpleasant recent trend toward rising salaries. A press release from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services yesterday announced a $10 million subsidy to recruit yet more newbies into the grinder... er, I mean, the library profession.
Qui bono?
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Geek hobbies
It seems that this list of the top 10 geek hobbies is making its way around the Internet, so I might as well join the swarm of links.
I'm proud to say that only five of them apply to me. How glad I am that they didn't include model railroading. I'm not sure how one would assess its "damage to sex life" rating. "I'll be your steam engine, baby" might have a certain kind of sex appeal, but I doubt that very many women derive erotic thrills from talk of lost-wax castings, weathering with chalk and acrylic paint, or wireless DCC. Almost by definition, anything discussed on Slashdot can't be good.
It seems that this list of the top 10 geek hobbies is making its way around the Internet, so I might as well join the swarm of links.
I'm proud to say that only five of them apply to me. How glad I am that they didn't include model railroading. I'm not sure how one would assess its "damage to sex life" rating. "I'll be your steam engine, baby" might have a certain kind of sex appeal, but I doubt that very many women derive erotic thrills from talk of lost-wax castings, weathering with chalk and acrylic paint, or wireless DCC. Almost by definition, anything discussed on Slashdot can't be good.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Authors' Guild objects to Amazon fulltext searching
Others have commented on Amazon's recent addition of full-text searching to its website. The Authors' Guild doesn't seem to be impressed, and objects that the publishers do not have the right to supply full text access without the authors' permission. More discussion here, and here, and at the Volokh Conspiracy. One of their concerns is that students and others will use Amazon's fulltext snippets as a way to look up essays, chapters, or statements from books and print or otherwise use them without buying the book.
Yes, these are the same folks who pettishly whined a while back about Amazon offering used books for sale. Perhaps this time they will have a legal leg to stand on, at least until book publishers incorporate mandatory surrender of all electronic full text rights into their "boilerplate" contract, as many periodicals publishers did after the Tasini v. New York Times decision.
My own thoughts about the usefulness of this feature are mixed. I can imagine plenty of situations in which this kind of search might be useful, but in many other kinds of searches it's just plain annoying. "Googling" full text via Amazon may help find forgotten titles featuring a certain character, or referring to some specific person, place or thing, but as any librarian knows, there are times when it's more useful to search only within data fields of limited scope but particular importance, like "subject" or "author". Just imagine trying to look through every book that casually refers to, say, Abraham Lincoln. Wouldn't it be more useful, if you want information about Honest Abe, to limit your searching only to books that list him as a major subject heading? Or contained enough lengthy passages from his speeches and papers that he was listed as an author?
For example: when I searched Amazon for "Frisco Railroad", I got "Where the Red Fern Grows" as the number-one result. Now, it's very nice that that fictional boy and his fictional dogs went walking between the Frisco Railroad and the Illinois River, but it hardly gives me the maps of Newburg Yard or the diagrams of the 1306-class freight locomotives that I'm looking for. The phrase occurs only once in the book, according to Amazon, so it appears that they're ranking the search results at least in part according to popularity and/or sales. This is not necessarily good.
Others have commented on Amazon's recent addition of full-text searching to its website. The Authors' Guild doesn't seem to be impressed, and objects that the publishers do not have the right to supply full text access without the authors' permission. More discussion here, and here, and at the Volokh Conspiracy. One of their concerns is that students and others will use Amazon's fulltext snippets as a way to look up essays, chapters, or statements from books and print or otherwise use them without buying the book.
Yes, these are the same folks who pettishly whined a while back about Amazon offering used books for sale. Perhaps this time they will have a legal leg to stand on, at least until book publishers incorporate mandatory surrender of all electronic full text rights into their "boilerplate" contract, as many periodicals publishers did after the Tasini v. New York Times decision.
My own thoughts about the usefulness of this feature are mixed. I can imagine plenty of situations in which this kind of search might be useful, but in many other kinds of searches it's just plain annoying. "Googling" full text via Amazon may help find forgotten titles featuring a certain character, or referring to some specific person, place or thing, but as any librarian knows, there are times when it's more useful to search only within data fields of limited scope but particular importance, like "subject" or "author". Just imagine trying to look through every book that casually refers to, say, Abraham Lincoln. Wouldn't it be more useful, if you want information about Honest Abe, to limit your searching only to books that list him as a major subject heading? Or contained enough lengthy passages from his speeches and papers that he was listed as an author?
For example: when I searched Amazon for "Frisco Railroad", I got "Where the Red Fern Grows" as the number-one result. Now, it's very nice that that fictional boy and his fictional dogs went walking between the Frisco Railroad and the Illinois River, but it hardly gives me the maps of Newburg Yard or the diagrams of the 1306-class freight locomotives that I'm looking for. The phrase occurs only once in the book, according to Amazon, so it appears that they're ranking the search results at least in part according to popularity and/or sales. This is not necessarily good.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Spurious Patent Follies of 2003
Oh, look. "Southern Michigan University" is among the universities targeted by Acacia Research Corporation, which, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Volume 50, Issue 8, Page A38,
...holds 5 U.S. patents and 17 international patents in digital-media-transmission technology. The patents cover not technological details but concepts like transmitting video on demand from servers to users' machines.
Acacia has sent patent-infringement letters to an unknown number of colleges across the country, offering to overlook past infringement in exchange for the institution's signing on to "a special royalty rate of 2 percent of gross revenue from each online course that includes digital audio and/or video content."
Must remember: Books Are Bad. Books Are Bad. Everything's On The Internet....
Oh, look. "Southern Michigan University" is among the universities targeted by Acacia Research Corporation, which, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Volume 50, Issue 8, Page A38,
...holds 5 U.S. patents and 17 international patents in digital-media-transmission technology. The patents cover not technological details but concepts like transmitting video on demand from servers to users' machines.
Acacia has sent patent-infringement letters to an unknown number of colleges across the country, offering to overlook past infringement in exchange for the institution's signing on to "a special royalty rate of 2 percent of gross revenue from each online course that includes digital audio and/or video content."
Must remember: Books Are Bad. Books Are Bad. Everything's On The Internet....
After All, Everything's On The Internet Anyway
It turns out that the library at "Southern Michigan University" has at least one feature noteworthy enough to have been mentioned in the Chronicle of Higher Education. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent.)
First developed for the warehouse industry, the retrieval system is a vault, with books sitting in bins and arranged according to size, not subject, to save space....
.....A handful of college libraries have installed such automated systems, some more enthusiastically than others. "Southern Michigan University"'s was the second academic library in the country to set up a retrieval system, in 1998. (California State University at Northridge's was the first.) The library stores about 500,000 items -- more than half of its material -- in what staff members call the Automated Retrieval Collection.
"B", who chose the system as dean of learning resources and technology, says the university saved more than $8-million in construction costs, which would have gone toward bookshelves, but instead helped to pay for group-study areas, computer banks, and a television studio.
Asked how the system affected book circulation, he says: "I have no idea, and I don't care." The effectiveness of the library can't be judged on the basis of circulation, he argues, "because that's not what happens here anymore." Faculty members go to the nearby ... (name of institution omitted)... for serious research, and undergraduates do all of their research online now, he says.
Sigh. Wish me luck. At least I'm forewarned not to volunteer any information or ideas that contradict the Official Doctrine that Books Are Bad because Everything's On The Internet.
It turns out that the library at "Southern Michigan University" has at least one feature noteworthy enough to have been mentioned in the Chronicle of Higher Education. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent.)
First developed for the warehouse industry, the retrieval system is a vault, with books sitting in bins and arranged according to size, not subject, to save space....
.....A handful of college libraries have installed such automated systems, some more enthusiastically than others. "Southern Michigan University"'s was the second academic library in the country to set up a retrieval system, in 1998. (California State University at Northridge's was the first.) The library stores about 500,000 items -- more than half of its material -- in what staff members call the Automated Retrieval Collection.
"B", who chose the system as dean of learning resources and technology, says the university saved more than $8-million in construction costs, which would have gone toward bookshelves, but instead helped to pay for group-study areas, computer banks, and a television studio.
Asked how the system affected book circulation, he says: "I have no idea, and I don't care." The effectiveness of the library can't be judged on the basis of circulation, he argues, "because that's not what happens here anymore." Faculty members go to the nearby ... (name of institution omitted)... for serious research, and undergraduates do all of their research online now, he says.
Sigh. Wish me luck. At least I'm forewarned not to volunteer any information or ideas that contradict the Official Doctrine that Books Are Bad because Everything's On The Internet.
A glimpse into the Library of Dream
The American Library Association's catalog of posters and other library-publicity materials arrived today, and it includes a nifty poster and bookmark featuring Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams in Neil Gaiman's popular Sandman series of graphic novels. The poster looks good, but where's Lucien? He's the librarian of The Dreaming, after all!
The American Library Association's catalog of posters and other library-publicity materials arrived today, and it includes a nifty poster and bookmark featuring Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams in Neil Gaiman's popular Sandman series of graphic novels. The poster looks good, but where's Lucien? He's the librarian of The Dreaming, after all!
The perils of freebies
The Washington Times today carries an article about the Council for American-Islamic Relations and its recent campaign of donating books to libraries. CAIR says the books are intended to promote harmonious understanding of Islam; critics charge that the books are pro-Islamic propaganda that deliberately obfuscate harsh passages from the Qu'ran and other elements of Islamic doctrine and practice.
I haven't seem the particular books in question, but I do recall seeing some materials that were donated to my former employer's library by an organization based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and which raised similar issues. The books were quite clearly biased, and included strained reasoning which I would consider quite unconvincing coming from the mouth of a high school debater, much less a purportedly scholarly source. For example, one of the books, Woman in the Shade of Islam, justifies sex-based restrictions on women with the metaphorical argument that, if a ship had two groups of passengers who were assigned to different decks of the ship, it would be foolish for the group assigned to the lower deck to insist on drilling holes for water. The book also asserts that Islam is superior to other religions because it protects women from "being exposed to places of iniquity" such as nightclubs, theaters, etc. I've known more than one woman who would gladly eschew such "protection".
Despite this, I was disappointed that the library refused to make them available to the public. Flawed as they are, they offer a useful glimpse inside a mindset that has substantial significance in the modern world, just as the tracts and other materials put out by fundamentalist Christian churches and publishing houses in the U.S. are important sources for understanding the worldview of those who write them and read them. The danger would be in allowing only materials of this type to represent Islam, or Christianity. Or of excluding them entirely, and thus distorting the collection by omission.
The article also refers to Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, Mormons, et al, who are also frequently eager to "help" the library by donating copies of their latest tracts, or in the case of Mormons, offering to "update" the library's collection by replacing old copies of the Book of Mormon or other documents with "newer", "more attractive" editions. This is one area where caution is justified, and older materials should not be blithely discarded. See Jerald and Sandra Tanner's analysis of changes in the Book of Mormon for an understanding of how such offers are not entirely motivated by charity. Religions which retroactively alter their scriptures while simultaneously claiming that those scriptures are infallible have a vested interest in removing public access to older editions.
The Washington Times today carries an article about the Council for American-Islamic Relations and its recent campaign of donating books to libraries. CAIR says the books are intended to promote harmonious understanding of Islam; critics charge that the books are pro-Islamic propaganda that deliberately obfuscate harsh passages from the Qu'ran and other elements of Islamic doctrine and practice.
I haven't seem the particular books in question, but I do recall seeing some materials that were donated to my former employer's library by an organization based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and which raised similar issues. The books were quite clearly biased, and included strained reasoning which I would consider quite unconvincing coming from the mouth of a high school debater, much less a purportedly scholarly source. For example, one of the books, Woman in the Shade of Islam, justifies sex-based restrictions on women with the metaphorical argument that, if a ship had two groups of passengers who were assigned to different decks of the ship, it would be foolish for the group assigned to the lower deck to insist on drilling holes for water. The book also asserts that Islam is superior to other religions because it protects women from "being exposed to places of iniquity" such as nightclubs, theaters, etc. I've known more than one woman who would gladly eschew such "protection".
Despite this, I was disappointed that the library refused to make them available to the public. Flawed as they are, they offer a useful glimpse inside a mindset that has substantial significance in the modern world, just as the tracts and other materials put out by fundamentalist Christian churches and publishing houses in the U.S. are important sources for understanding the worldview of those who write them and read them. The danger would be in allowing only materials of this type to represent Islam, or Christianity. Or of excluding them entirely, and thus distorting the collection by omission.
The article also refers to Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, Mormons, et al, who are also frequently eager to "help" the library by donating copies of their latest tracts, or in the case of Mormons, offering to "update" the library's collection by replacing old copies of the Book of Mormon or other documents with "newer", "more attractive" editions. This is one area where caution is justified, and older materials should not be blithely discarded. See Jerald and Sandra Tanner's analysis of changes in the Book of Mormon for an understanding of how such offers are not entirely motivated by charity. Religions which retroactively alter their scriptures while simultaneously claiming that those scriptures are infallible have a vested interest in removing public access to older editions.
Joe Bob would be proud
Interesting doings at the Kansas City, Kansas, public library: the 14th Annual Bad Film Festival.
Interesting doings at the Kansas City, Kansas, public library: the 14th Annual Bad Film Festival.
Attention skywatchers
The gse-aa listserv predicts heightened auroral activity in coming days:
The Earth has been in a sector of the solar wind that is conducive to
the production of active aurora. Aurora should be visible near
midnight from the northern US, Iceland, Scotland, Southern
Scandinavia, Northern Russia, Tasmania, and Southern New Zealand.
This will continue through the weekend. The first solar flare in 52
days occurred yesterday the 19th. The main effects of this flare are
directed away from Earth, but the side effects should be enough to
increase activity by the night of the 22nd.
With any luck, I'll have something pretty to look at as I drive back north from Southern Michigan University on Thursday night.
The gse-aa listserv predicts heightened auroral activity in coming days:
The Earth has been in a sector of the solar wind that is conducive to
the production of active aurora. Aurora should be visible near
midnight from the northern US, Iceland, Scotland, Southern
Scandinavia, Northern Russia, Tasmania, and Southern New Zealand.
This will continue through the weekend. The first solar flare in 52
days occurred yesterday the 19th. The main effects of this flare are
directed away from Earth, but the side effects should be enough to
increase activity by the night of the 22nd.
With any luck, I'll have something pretty to look at as I drive back north from Southern Michigan University on Thursday night.
Monday, October 20, 2003
Yet another crisis
Seems the media conglomerates' lobbyist-termites that infest our political system are active on yet another front in their ongoing war against fair use, public domain, and other traditional characteristics of enlightened intellectual property law.
As reported by IP Justice, the proposed "Free Trade Agreement of the Americas" would substantially modify intellectual-property laws in most Western-hemisphere countries. Among the mandatory changes to those nations' domestic laws which are incorporated in the draft intellectual property chapter of the treaty are the following:
* Mandatory adoption of the U.S.'s terms of copyright protection (life-plus-70 years, or 95 years for corporate media -- Part II, Section 3, Article 10)
* Mandatory adoption of prison-term penalties for "copyright piracy" (Part III, Article 4.1)
* Mandatory adoption of DMCA-type prohibitions against analysis or discussion of electronic security features (Part II, Section 3, Article 21)
There's also a reference to inserting the language of something called "Articles x to xx of Treaty for the Protection of Non-Copyrightable Elements of Databases - placeholder;]", which sounds like it was probably written by the same lobbyists who are pushing for HR 3261 to be rushed through the US Congress so that your local telephone company can copyright your telephone number and encyclopedia compilers can sue your local library for letting you look things up without paying them for a personal subscription .
I haven't read the whole thing yet, and probably won't, but I've spot-checked enough items from the IP Justice analysis to be confident that they're right to regard it as a threat to effective intellectual freedom. At best, it's a bullying attempt to impose Hollywood's demand for perpetual monopoly protection on an entire hemisphere without ever consulting the people upon whom it's being foisted. In the case of the "database protection" element, this may be the people of the United States itself, a fallback ploy in case people find out about HR 3261 and persuade their sometime representatives to consign it to a well-deserved place in legislative Gehenna.
Seems the media conglomerates' lobbyist-termites that infest our political system are active on yet another front in their ongoing war against fair use, public domain, and other traditional characteristics of enlightened intellectual property law.
As reported by IP Justice, the proposed "Free Trade Agreement of the Americas" would substantially modify intellectual-property laws in most Western-hemisphere countries. Among the mandatory changes to those nations' domestic laws which are incorporated in the draft intellectual property chapter of the treaty are the following:
* Mandatory adoption of the U.S.'s terms of copyright protection (life-plus-70 years, or 95 years for corporate media -- Part II, Section 3, Article 10)
* Mandatory adoption of prison-term penalties for "copyright piracy" (Part III, Article 4.1)
* Mandatory adoption of DMCA-type prohibitions against analysis or discussion of electronic security features (Part II, Section 3, Article 21)
There's also a reference to inserting the language of something called "Articles x to xx of Treaty for the Protection of Non-Copyrightable Elements of Databases - placeholder;]", which sounds like it was probably written by the same lobbyists who are pushing for HR 3261 to be rushed through the US Congress so that your local telephone company can copyright your telephone number and encyclopedia compilers can sue your local library for letting you look things up without paying them for a personal subscription .
I haven't read the whole thing yet, and probably won't, but I've spot-checked enough items from the IP Justice analysis to be confident that they're right to regard it as a threat to effective intellectual freedom. At best, it's a bullying attempt to impose Hollywood's demand for perpetual monopoly protection on an entire hemisphere without ever consulting the people upon whom it's being foisted. In the case of the "database protection" element, this may be the people of the United States itself, a fallback ploy in case people find out about HR 3261 and persuade their sometime representatives to consign it to a well-deserved place in legislative Gehenna.
Preemptive gratitude
Yours Truly recently received a valuable keepsake in the mail: a "signed" photograph of George and Laura Bush, along with an effusive note practically begging me to "become one of the first to join the Bush-Cheney '04 Team as a Charter Member in Michigan". After all, "Only with [my] help can the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign create a viable grassroots organization". Also included was a "Presidential Photo Receipt Confirmation Form", complete with checkboxes for my suggested donation of $100, $50, $25, or "other $".
A "grass roots" organization, "created" by an incumbent president's campaign staff? Sounds like Astroturf to me....
As flattered as I am that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney find my attention and my money so indispensible, I think I'll pass on the offer. The photograph ("suitable for framing!") may be useful as a prop should I be invited to interview at Thee University, though.
Yours Truly recently received a valuable keepsake in the mail: a "signed" photograph of George and Laura Bush, along with an effusive note practically begging me to "become one of the first to join the Bush-Cheney '04 Team as a Charter Member in Michigan". After all, "Only with [my] help can the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign create a viable grassroots organization". Also included was a "Presidential Photo Receipt Confirmation Form", complete with checkboxes for my suggested donation of $100, $50, $25, or "other $".
A "grass roots" organization, "created" by an incumbent president's campaign staff? Sounds like Astroturf to me....
As flattered as I am that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney find my attention and my money so indispensible, I think I'll pass on the offer. The photograph ("suitable for framing!") may be useful as a prop should I be invited to interview at Thee University, though.
Friday, October 17, 2003
Don't call him a librarian!
The University of Texas at Austin is advertising on the Texas Library Association's jobline for a "Knowledge Gateway Metadata Analyst". It requires a master's degree in library science and two years of library experience, but heavens no, we can't call him a "librarian"!
The University of Texas at Austin is advertising on the Texas Library Association's jobline for a "Knowledge Gateway Metadata Analyst". It requires a master's degree in library science and two years of library experience, but heavens no, we can't call him a "librarian"!
You'll take what I give you and like it.
The following e'mail from Michigan's State Librarian, as sent to the MichLib-L listserv, serves as a good indicator of how libraries can expect to be treated by database publishers. Bear it in mind when considering the likely effects of HR 3261, discussed below, or the wisdom of making library services entirely dependent on such services. Ancestry.com obviously feels no obligation whatsoever to honor its contract in this case.
This message is from State Librarian Christie Brandau.
ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING REMOTE ACCESS TO ANCESTRYPLUS
Ancestry.com, owner of the genealogical database AncestryPlus, has
terminated access to the database remotely (from your home or anywhere
outside a library building) through the Michigan eLibrary (MeL)
beginning Sunday evening, October 19. This announcement from
Ancestry.com came abruptly and without warning to the Library of
Michigan. When contacted, the company cited an increase in usage and
customer abuse as reasons for discontinuing the contracted provision.
The announcement from Ancestry.com is surprising and extremely
disappointing. However, AncestryPlus will still be available for
patrons to use free via MeL in local libraries.
Feel free to contact the company at Ancestry.com, 801-705-7000.
Ancestry.com is a part of Myfamily.com, Inc., 360 W. 4800 N, Provo, Utah
84604. They may also be reached at
http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php.
The following e'mail from Michigan's State Librarian, as sent to the MichLib-L listserv, serves as a good indicator of how libraries can expect to be treated by database publishers. Bear it in mind when considering the likely effects of HR 3261, discussed below, or the wisdom of making library services entirely dependent on such services. Ancestry.com obviously feels no obligation whatsoever to honor its contract in this case.
This message is from State Librarian Christie Brandau.
ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING REMOTE ACCESS TO ANCESTRYPLUS
Ancestry.com, owner of the genealogical database AncestryPlus, has
terminated access to the database remotely (from your home or anywhere
outside a library building) through the Michigan eLibrary (MeL)
beginning Sunday evening, October 19. This announcement from
Ancestry.com came abruptly and without warning to the Library of
Michigan. When contacted, the company cited an increase in usage and
customer abuse as reasons for discontinuing the contracted provision.
The announcement from Ancestry.com is surprising and extremely
disappointing. However, AncestryPlus will still be available for
patrons to use free via MeL in local libraries.
Feel free to contact the company at Ancestry.com, 801-705-7000.
Ancestry.com is a part of Myfamily.com, Inc., 360 W. 4800 N, Provo, Utah
84604. They may also be reached at
http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php.
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