Perspectives on Google’s Library Digitization Plan

A thoughtful and provocative commentary on all the hype surrounding Google’s announcement this week, by Michael Gorman, dean of Library Services, California State University, Fresno, and president-elect of the American Library Association, in today’s Los Angeles Times (reg. req’d). See also this related San Francisco Chronicle article, ‘Googleizing’ libraries won’t replace books. In addition, more …

Subjects: Libraries, Search Engines

New Online Video and Audio Search Tool

press release: blinkx TV makes hours of TV content fully searchable from your PC What is blinkx TV?: “blinkx TV allows you to search the web for video and audio clips. Unlike other search providers, blinkx TV not only lets you search using standard keyword and Boolean queries but you can also use conceptual search.” …

Subjects: Search Engines

FTC Issues Final Rule Defining Email Spam

Press release: FTC Issues Final Rule Defining What Constitutes a “Commercial Electronic Mail Message” “The Federal Trade Commission today issued final regulations (81 pages, PDF) to facilitate the determination of whether an e-mail message has a commercial primary purpose and is subject to the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act. The CAN-SPAM Act, which took effect …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Mail, Government Documents, Privacy

Advocacy Group Seeks FCRA Compliance By Info Brokers

EPIC has requested that the FTC launch an “investigation into data broker products for compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.” EPIC argues specifically that AutoTrackXP and Customer Identification Programs from ChoicePoint “are sold to financial institutions, members of the public (private investigators, law firms, etc.) and to law enforcement agencies. These are the same …

Subjects: E-Government, Legal Research, Privacy

Proposed E-Discovery Rules Generate Controversy and Merit Scrutiny

This Business Week article discusses the potential consequences of new rules on electronic discovery and records retention under consideration by the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States. These rules will have a significant impact on corporations in every sector. Particularly controversial is the proposed “safe harbor” …

Subjects: Courts, E-Records

Internet Archives Announces Global Open Source Digitization Project

From the Internet Archives press release: “Today, a number of International libraries have committed to putting their digitized books in open-access archives, starting with one at the Internet Archive. This approach will ensure permanent and public access to our published heritage. Anyone with an Internet connection will have access to these collections and the growing …

Subjects: Internet, Legal Research, Libraries

FCC To Permit Cell Phones and High-Speed Web on Planes

FCC to Examine Ban on Using Cellular Telephones on Airborne Aircraft: “Today, the Federal Communications Commission proposed to relax its current ban on the use of cellular telephones on airborne aircraft.” FCC Paves the Way for New Broadband Services in the Air: “Today, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopted a flexible approach for licensing the …

Subjects: Internet, Wireless Web

FDIC Recommends Procedures to Reduce ID Theft

Press release – FDIC Issues Study on Identity Theft and Seeks Comments on Possible Guidance to Bankers: “Fraudsters are taking advantage of the reliance on single-factor authentication for remote access to online banking, and the lack of e-mail and Web site authentication, to perpetrate account hijacking.” Putting an End to Account-Hijacking Identity Theft (41 pages, …

Subjects: E-Mail, Government Documents, ID Theft

Percentage of CAN-SPAM Compliance Still in Single Digit

According to a press release from MX Logic, Inc., an “email defense solutions” provider, in November, CAN-SPAM compliance reached a record high of 6% of total traffic subject to the law. “…our data indicate that the act has had little impact on sophisticated spammers, who continue to leverage networks of hijacked PCs, as well as …

Subjects: E-Mail