Saturday, September 15, 2007

Copyright Catastrophe?

Copyright Catastrophe?
by Joy Austria and AJ Hannah
First Monday, publication date: September 2007
An interview with Siva Vaidhyanathan, a strong critic of the “Googlization” of libraries and copyright law. Mr. Vaidhyanathan, argues that Google’s library-scanning project could cause a copyright catastrophe by casting doubt on fair-use doctrine. (The interview is available as a podcast and as a written transcript.)

Sunday, September 09, 2007

SPARC letter to members on the PRISM anti-open access effort

SPARC letter to members on the PRISM anti-open access effort
by HEATHER JOSEPH
Association of Research Libraries, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), publication date: 6 September 2007
"This campaign is clearly focused on the preservation of the status quo in scholarly publishing, (along with the attendant revenues), and not on ensuring that scientific research results are distributed and used as widely as possible. The launch of this initiative provides a timely opportunity for engaging faculty members, researchers, students and administrators in dialogue on important issues in scholarly communications.

To assist in this conversation, the Association of Research Libraries has prepared a series of talking points that explicitly address each of the PRISM messages listed above. These very useful talking points can be found at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/issue-brief-aap-pr-prism.pdf."

HD VMD to Battle Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD

HD VMD to Battle Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD
by ALAN STAFFORD
PC World, publication date: 8 September 2007
"At the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) trade show in Denver, a company promoting a new high-definition optical disc format demonstrated set-top players and high-definition movies that cost far less than ones that use the competing Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD formats. The only faux pas: Arriving late to a two-party format war that consumers are already reluctant to support.

Next month, New Medium Enterprises' 1080p set-top players, which use the HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) format, will go on sale..."

The First Close Look at Colleges' Digital Pirates

The First Close Look at Colleges' Digital Pirates
by BROCK READ
The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required), publication date: 7 September 2007
Ms. Elzy and Mr. Arbogast wanted financial support from the industry, and they got it. The Digital Citizen Project, as Illinois State calls it, has benefited from considerable entertainment-industry financing, including an influx ofseveral hundred thousand dollars that came shortly after the meeting. . Later, Illinois State secured promises that the information the university collects will not be used to prosecute students.

So the university opened up its campus network, collecting never-before-seen data on what files students were swapping and how they share them. It has started to survey students' opinions on copyright, hoping that a scholarly study will reveal how they can be persuaded not to download illegally. It is also working to create a sort of Consumer Reports for antipiracy tools, testing both legal downloading services and technology designed to block peer-to-peer file sharing.