The Information Law Weblog was launched March 28, is by librarian/researcher/author Paul Pedley, and focuses on copyright, data protection and freedom of information issues in the UK. Well worth a visit. (Thanks to DC for the link.) Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2003
Nando Times Announces Closure
The Nando Times 24-hour free news service, and the free Nando SportServer, will both cease operations within 60 days, according to their parent company, Internet and newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. See the respective announcements from each site here and here. Continue Reading
Gov't Data Mining, TSA, Privacy and Data Accuracy
This US News and World Report’s article, Digging through data for omens, addresses information gathering challenges inherent in the TSA’s new airline screening program, CAPPS II. The article states the program is… “a delicate dual challenge: accurately spotting suspicious patterns across multiple databases while minimizing false alarms and safeguarding individual privacy.” Within the context of… Continue Reading
Santa Cruz Librarians Fight Patriot Act
A headline from today’s New York Times states, Librarians Use Shredder to Show Opposition to New F.B.I. Powers. This article provides further details to a previous posting on the stance of public librarians in Santa Cruz County against provisions of the Patriot Act that permit the FBI to access patron data. The librarians are using… Continue Reading
New ALA Website
The American Library Association (ALA) launched a new website today. The press release states the following: “The new site will feature a better search engine, one-stop pages detailing ALA’s work in major areas of interest, a more modern look and feel and more content to help library professionals in their daily work. The home page… Continue Reading
Yahoo Launches New Search Engine Today
Here is a link to the new Yahoo search engine. An online tour of the new features available indicates the following changes: More relevant, comprehensive results Cleaner, easier to use interface A new search start page Image search Customizable preferences Timesaving shortcuts for news, yellow pages and maps See also Yahoo alights on new search… Continue Reading
National Archives Provides Database of 50 Million Historic Records
CNN reported the availability to the public of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Access to Archival Databases System (AAD) in this April 5 article. The database was actually released on February 12, and represents a substantial e-gov program to provide a single user interface for researchers to facilitate searching, retrieving and dowloading approximately… Continue Reading
RIAA to Student: You Owe Us $97.8 Million
Heather Newman at the Detroit Free Press reports that the damages sought by the RIAA in just one of the four lawsuits they filed on April 3 against college students total the unbelievable sum of $97.8 million (incorrectly stated as trillion in the article). This calculation results from multiplying the maximum damages per copyright violation… Continue Reading
Legal Issues Raised Over Wiretapping Internet Calls
The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) transfers communications over the Internet rather than through the PSTN (public switched telephone network). According to this AP story, the FBI is seeking regulatory action that includes VoIP communications so as to facilitate surveillance asociated with criminal activities and terrorism. Technology to transfer voice communications via the Internet was… Continue Reading
GPO Access Relaunches Portal
From a press release by GPO today:” GPO Access has been re-launched with a new URL and enhanced look and feel. As of today, April 4, 2003, you will be able to access the new GPO Access homepage at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov. This re-launch was accomplished as a result of feedback from users, through surveys, usability studies,… Continue Reading
More on RIAA Lawsuits Against Students for File Sharing
As a follow-up to my posting yesterday on the lawsuits against four college students filed by the RIAA, this article provides further details. The RIAA is seeking $150,000 for each of the music files allegedly copied by the named students. Officials from Princeton and the Michigan Technological University registered their displeasure with the charges as… Continue Reading
Hearing on USPTO Trademark Fee Modernizaton
On April 3, the Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property held a hearing on H.R. 1561, the United States Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2003. The Committee provides links to the following: Chairman Lamar Smith James Rogan, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the… Continue Reading
