Canadian Board Determines Music Downloads Legal But Not Uploads
A December 12 ZDNet article provides a link to the Copyright Board of Canada decision, the press release and a fact sheet.
Author archives
Gilmore Commission Report on Homeland Security Addresses Civil Liberties
Forging America’s New Normalcy: Securing Our Homeland, Protecting Our Liberty – The Fifth Annual Report to the President and the Congress of the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, December 15, 2003: From the press release: “The commission calls on the president to create an independent, bipartisan …
Public Access to CRS Reports Will Remain Limited
An incisive news article from the December 12 Ohio Times-Reporter presents Congressional and advocacy group perspectives on public access to CRS reports, a controversial issue about which I have posted a number of times. CRS does not maintain a public access website, but online access to selected reports is available through several non-government websites, and …
Californians, the Internet, and Healthcare
From the Pew Internet and American Life Project: Wired for Health: How Californians compare to the rest of the nation: A case study sponsored by the California HealthCare Foundation, released December 14, 2003: Table of Contents From the Summary of Findings: “Low-income Californians are more likely than other low-income Americans to go online and to …
New Report and Resources on Gov’t Docs. Disappearing From Public Access
From U.S. News, an extensive investigative report on How the public’s business gets done out of the public eye: “For the past three years, the Bush administration has quietly but efficiently dropped a shroud of secrecy across many critical operations of the federal government–cloaking its own affairs from scrutiny and removing from the public domain …
E-ZPass Technology, Law Enforcement and Privacy
Do you have an E-ZPass electronic tag? Have you received a notice in the mail indicating you were speeding on a particular date and time, or to enquire why your vehicle was traveling on the I-95 corridor on a specific date? The tag is a commuter convenience, and a law enforcement tool, as noted by …
World’s Largest Databases
According to the Winter Corporation Top Ten Program for 2003, the organizations identified as maintaining the “world’s largest and most heavily used databases” using either Windows or Linux platforms include: France Telecom, AT&T, Amazon.com, FedEx Services, and at number 4, an organization listed as “Anonymous.” [Slashdot]
European Court Gives Microsoft Win Against Lindows
Lindows.com ordered to drop Lindows name Dump Lindows name or we’ll take all your money, says MS
Copyright Infringement Lawsuits Against Document Retrieval Services
Leading Publishers Sue Document Deliverers For Copyright Infringement; New Lawsuits Reflect Growing Infringement of Digital Content: The Copyright Clearance Center is coordinating lawsuits by five prominent publishers (including Elsevier Inc. and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), against document retrieval companies Medical Review Services and LMS Information Services for unauthorized duplication and sale of copyrighted materials …
Senator to Introduce Bill to Verify E-Voting With Paper Records
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced her intention to introduce legislation in early 2004 to ensure that every vote counts, by requiring that e-voting machine manufacturers provide built-in, not expensive add-on, paper records to verify the accuracy and security of the machines. Note: on May 22, 2003 Rep. Holt introduced the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility …
Online Disability Resources For Libraries from the UK
From the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries (UK), four valuable new guides, from a group of 12 to be released by February 2004, that address “how best to meet the needs of disabled people as users and staff in museums, archives and libraries.” Disability in Context Meeting Disabled People Training for Equality Audits
Academic Freedom Post 9/11
The American Association of University Professors recently published a report, Academic Freedom and National Security in a Time of Crisis: “The report focuses first on the USA Patriot Act, especially on provisions of this hastily enacted law that gravely threaten academic freedom. The report addresses broad areas of concern, such as the ominous mingling of …
