Day archives: December 25th, 2019

Why Americans Should Worry About the New EU Copyright Rules

Berkman Klein Center – Julia Reda – “Last spring, 200,000 Europeans took to the streets to protest against a new EU copyright law that risks to restrict online culture and block vast numbers of legal online communications such as memes, reaction gifs, video game reviews or remixes. It is the latest clash between a generation …

Subjects: Copyright, Economy, Education, EU Data Protection, Government Documents, Intellectual Property, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Why Your Brain Needs Exercise

Scientific American – The evolutionary history of humans explains why physical activity is important for brain health…Clinical trials will tell us much more about the efficacy of cognitively engaged exercise—what kinds of mental and physical activities are most impactful, for example, and the optimal intensity and duration of exercise for augmenting cognition. But in light …

Subjects: Health Care, Knowledge Management

Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines

Washington Post – “When Syracuse University freshmen walk into professor Jeff Rubin’s Introduction to Information Technologies class, seven small Bluetooth beacons hidden around the Grant Auditorium lecture hall connect with an app on their smartphones and boost their “attendance points.” And when they skip class? The SpotterEDU app sees that, too, logging their absence into …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Privacy

Ten Stories That Shaped 2019

LISNews – Ten Stories That Shaped 2019: “As we limp headfirst into a new decade, it’s beginning to feel like many of these stories have become perennial entries. 2019 saw yet more drag queen story hour protests, vendor buyouts, the persistence of fake news, scandals, and lawsuits aplenty, along with the usual spate of book …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries, Social Media

The privacy worries with smart cities

Axios – Momentum for smart cities projects, which has been fed by big promises from industry and big hopes in government, is slowing down in the face of a wave of public skepticism. Driving the news: Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs, which has proposed a futuristic smart-city development for Toronto’s waterfront, has pledged not to sell personal …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Records, Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

Trump Policy ‘Clarification’ All but Ends Punishment for Bird Deaths

The New York Times: “A new interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 2017 means that as of now, companies are no longer subject to prosecution or fines even after a disaster like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 that destroyed or injured about one million birds and for which BP paid $100 …

Subjects: Congress, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation