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Daily Archives: September 22, 2003

OCLC Sues NYC Hotel Over Classification System

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AP reported yesterday that the non-profit Online Computer Library Center, Incorporated (OCLC) has filed a trademark infringement complaint (in the Southern District Court, District of Ohio, Eastern Division), against the Library Hotel, located in Manhattan. At issue is the hotel’s use of the Dewey Decimal Classification system (owned by OCLC) as a theme to identify its rooms by specific categories. [thank you Roger!]

  • See also OCLC’s new release, OCLC takes legal action to protect Dewey Decimal Classification® (DDC®) trademark, here.
  • An informative posting on this case is available from the blog Infringing Actions.
  • The Library Concept, from the hotel’s website, states the following: “The Library Hotel in New York City is the first hotel ever to offer its guest over 6,000 volumes organized throughout the hotel by the DDC. Each of the 10 guestrooms floors honors one of the 10 categories of the DDC and each of the 60 rooms is uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category or floor it belongs to.”

    • JetBlue Passenger Profiles Controversy Remains in Spotlight

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    As a follow-up to my previous posting, Airline Passenger Profiling Study Goes Awry, on September 20 the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint with the FTC, stating: “JetBlue Airways Corporation and Acxiom Corporation have engaged in deceptive trade practices affecting commerce by disclosing consumer personal information to Torch Concepts Inc., an information mining… Continue Reading

    UK Criminalizes Spam

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    According to a BBC News article from September 18: “The UK has made spam a criminal offence to try to stop the flood of unsolicited messages. Under the new law, spammers could be fined £5,000 in a magistrates court or an unlimited penalty from a jury.” This law comes via the Minister of State for… Continue Reading

    Exec. Order on Declassifying National Security Info Effective Today

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    Executive Order 12958, Classified National Security Information, as amended by Executive Order 13292 (March 28, 2003), takes effect today. “This order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense against transnational terrorism. Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of… Continue Reading

    New Report on Post 9/11 Civil Liberties

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    From the Lawyer’s Committee on Human Rights, a new report: Assessing the New Normal: Liberty and Security for the Post-September 11 United States, September 2003: Link to the full report, 144 pages, pdf Link to Introduction and Executive Summary Link to report by chapter (there are 5 chapters): Chapter One, Open Government; Chapter Two, Personal… Continue Reading

    Perspective on the World of Music File Sharing

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    From the Sunday New York Times Magazine, Turn On. Tune In. Download. “The fact is, most participants do a lot more taking than ”sharing”; one study found that nearly half the songs accessible through major peer-to-peer networks are contributed by just 1 percent of users, and nearly 70 percent of downloaders do not share a… Continue Reading

    Airline Passenger Profiling Study Goes Awry

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    On September 18, Wired reported that JetBlue Airways had shared 5 million passenger itineraries with a government contractor who in turn enhanced the dataset with information including associated social security numbers and income demographics, which then became part of a study, Homeland Security — Airline Passenger Risk Assessment. The airline’s chief executive subsequently sent an… Continue Reading