Digital Public Library of America and Independent Publishers Group have partnered to rewrite the future of providing ebooks to benefit libraries, authors and readers alike. Chicago, August 13, 2024 – The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and Independent Publishers Group (IPG) have announced a groundbreaking agreement that will transform how American libraries provide access… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Digital Rights
An open copyright casebook, featuring AI, Warhol and more
Pluralistic: “Few debates invite more uninformed commentary than “IP” – a loosely defined grab bag that regulates an ever-expaning sphere of our daily activities, despite the fact that almost no one, including senior executives in the entertainment industry, understands how it works. Take reading a book. If the book arrives between two covers in the… Continue Reading
Academic authors ‘shocked’ after Taylor & Francis sells access to their research to Microsoft AI
The Bookseller: “Authors have expressed their shock after the news that academic publisher Taylor & Francis, which owns Routledge, had sold access to its authors’ research as part of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) partnership with Microsoft—a deal worth almost £8m ($10m) in its first year. The agreement with Microsoft was included in a trading update… Continue Reading
UN Cybercrime Draft Convention Dangerously Expands State Surveillance Powers
EFF –This is the third post in a series highlighting flaws in the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention. Check out Part I, our detailed analysis on the criminalization of security research activities, and Part II, an analysis of the human rights safeguards. “As we near the final negotiating session for the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, countries… Continue Reading
Tell Congress: Don’t Let Anyone Own The Law
EFF: “Court after court has recognized that no one can own the text of the law. But the Pro Codes Act is a deceptive power grab that will help giant industry associations ration access to huge swaths of U.S. laws. Tell Congress not to fall for it. A large portion of the regulations we all… Continue Reading
Is AI the Bitter End or the Lucrative Future of Book Publishing?
Esquire – As the law fights to catch up to Big Tech, the future of books hangs in the balance. Are writers doomed by “the biggest rip-off in creative history” or could AI offer new ways of making a living? “I get hung up on the word scraping,” author R.O. Kwon says. “It sounds quite… Continue Reading
National Information Standards Controlled Digital Lending Working Group Stalls
Library Futures: “…I am stepping down because I believe that publishers and their affiliated trade associations are more interested in undermining that mission and the NISO process than they are in finding a solution for CDL that respects the rights of libraries, authors, publishers, and readers. The Working Group’s proposed standard, which offers best practice… Continue Reading
Is DRM evil?
The Long Tail: “EFF organizer, BoingBoinger and Wired contributor Cory Doctorow, perhaps the best-informed person I know on the subject of Digital Rights Management, argues that Wired should be taking a more activist stance against it: Wired seems to be a little soft on DRM these days; the recent Wired spin-off, Wired Test, featured page… Continue Reading
The Race to Save Our Secrets From the Computers of the Future
The New York Times: Quantum technology could compromise our encryption systems. Can America replace them before it’s too late? [read free] “They call it Q-Day: the day when a quantum computer, one more powerful than any yet built, could shatter the world of privacy and security as we know it. It would happen through a… Continue Reading
Your Personal Information Is Probably Being Used to Train Generative AI Models
Scientific American: “Artists and writers are up in arms about generative artificial intelligence systems—understandably so. These machine learning models are only capable of pumping out images and text because they’ve been trained on mountains of real people’s creative work, much of it copyrighted. Major AI developers including OpenAI, Meta and Stability AI now face multiple… Continue Reading
The US library system, once the best in the world, faces death by a thousand cuts
Brewster Kahle – The Guardian: “The US library system, once the model for the world, is under assault from politicians, rightwing activists and corporate publishers. Book bans are at record levels, and libraries across the country are facing catastrophic budget cuts, a fate only narrowly avoided by New York City’s public libraries this summer. In… Continue Reading
Libro for audiobook
“Libro.fm is an employee-owned Social Purpose Corporation that shares profits from your audiobook purchases with your chosen bookstore, giving you the power to keep money within your local economy. Whether you are paying for monthly membership, giving an audiobook gift to a friend, or buying audiobooks for yourself or your organization, Libro.fm shares the profit… Continue Reading
