“Intellectual property (IP) at colleges and universities refers most importantly to the products of faculty, staff, and student research and scholarship. IP falls into two groups—work covered by patent law and work covered by copyright law. Both categories have undergone significant change over the last generation. In response, university policies have either evolved or been… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Guardian – FISA Court rules that allow NSA to use US data
“Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA to make use of information “inadvertently” collected from domestic US communications without a warrant. The Guardian is publishing in full two documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence… Continue Reading
EPIC – Google Announces Plan to Post Names and Photos of Users for Advertising Without Consent
“Google announced changes to its Terms of Service that will allow “your Profile name, Profile photo, and actions you take on Google or on third-party applications” to be used in advertisements. The changes will not require Google to seek the affirmative consent of users before putting their personal information to commercial use. Minors, however, will not be… Continue Reading
As space for books disappears libraries return to 20th century consortium paradigm
Chronicle of Higher Education – Short on Space, Libraries Look to One Another for Solutions, by Jennifer Howard “Christopher B. Loring, the director of the libraries at Smith College, has a problem with his Strategic Air Command bunker—it’s almost full. The bunker, long since retired from military service, now operates as a high-density book-storage facility for Smith and… Continue Reading
Legal challenge to UK Internet surveillance
“Since the first disclosure of documents regarding the US National Security Agency (NSA)’s collection of US phone records from 5 June 2013 the British public has witnessed a series of alarming disclosures regarding the extent of the surveillance programmes operated by US and UK intelligence services. The source for the vast majority of these reports… Continue Reading
Consumer Groups Outline Shutdown’s Impact on Consumer Protection
Consumer Federation of America: “A coalition of leading consumer groups today sent a letter to Members of Congress calling out the lapses in consumer protection caused by the ongoing government shutdown. The letter highlights how the shutdown has hindered work across a wide array of issues, including airline and auto safety, food and product safety, financial… Continue Reading
MarketWatch – Obama spending binge never happened
By Rex Nutting – MarketWatch: “Of all the falsehoods told about President Barack Obama, the biggest whopper is the one about his reckless spending spree. Almost everyone believes that Obama has presided over a massive increase in federal spending, an “inferno” of spending that threatens our jobs, our businesses and our children’s future. Even Democrats seem to think it’s true.… Continue Reading
BusinessWeek – How Amazon Became the Everything Store
The Secrets of Bezos: How Amazon Became the Everything Store – by Brad Stone October 10, 2013 “Amazon.com rivals Wal-Mart as a store, Apple as a device maker, and IBM as a data services provider. It will rake in about $75 billion this year. For his book, Bloomberg Businessweek’s Brad Stone spoke to hundreds of… Continue Reading
Credit Risk in the Shared National Credit Portfolio Unchanged
News release – Federal Reserve Board: “The credit quality of large loan commitments owned by U.S. banking organizations, foreign banking organizations (FBOs), and nonbanks was relatively unchanged in 2013 from the prior year, federal banking agencies said Thursday. The volume of criticized assets remained elevated at $302 billion, or 10 percent of total commitments, which… Continue Reading
Repression and criminalization of protest around the world
“Take back the streets” Repression and criminalization of protest around the world, October 2013 “The nine organizations (which cooperate as the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO)) that have contributed to this publication work to defend basic democratic rights and freedoms in nine countries spread over four continents. Across the regions where our organizations… Continue Reading
Pew – Online Video 2013
Online Video 2013 by Kristen Purcell – October 10, 2013 “Over the past four years, the percent of American adult internet users who upload or post videos online has doubled from 14% in 2009 to 31% today. That includes 18% of adult internet users who post videos they have created or recorded themselves—many of whom… Continue Reading
FBI Files Reveal New Info on Clandestine Phone Surveillance Unit
Ryan Gallagher, via Slate’s Future Tense blog: “As part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act suit launched by civil liberties group the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the FBI is turning over information on its use of cellphone surveillance technology variously known as “Stingrays,” “Cell Site Simulators,” “IMSI Catchers,” or “Digital Analyzers.” These devices function… Continue Reading
