Via LLRX – Fenced-off culture, the privatized Internet, and why book publishers lean on a 30-year-old doctrine – The Internet Archive (IA) “is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 624 billion archived web pages.” The IA offers users unrestricted access to its expansive ecosystem of knowledge… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Digital Rights
300+ authors pen open letter supporting libraries’ rights in the digital age
“Signed by a vast and diverse list of authors, the letter decries conduct from major publishers and trade associations, including their lawsuit against the Internet Archive, demanding that they cease efforts to undermine the essential contributions of libraries to an accessible and inclusive world of books. Over 300 authors including Neil Gaiman, Alok Menon, Naomi… Continue Reading
A new US data privacy bill aims to give you more control over information collected about you – and make businesses change how they handle data
Via LLRX – A new US data privacy bill aims to give you more control over information collected about you – and make businesses change how they handle data – With rare bipartisan support, the American Data and Privacy Protection Act moved out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce by a… Continue Reading
20 Years Of Copyright Wars
Gizmodo – Author and activist Cory Doctorow reflects on the fight over who owns what in a digital world. Continue Reading
Educational publisher Pearson will sell textbooks as non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
UK Guardian: “Textbook publisher Pearson plans to profit from secondhand sales by turning its titles into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), its chief executive has said. Educational books are often sold more than once, since students sell study resources they no longer require. Publishers have not previously been able to make any money from secondhand sales, but… Continue Reading
The fight between authors and librarians tearing book lovers apart
Washington Post: “At the start of the pandemic, teachers and librarians pleaded with a prominent nonprofit to make it easier for kids at home to check out books from its digital library. The organization, called the Internet Archive, agreed. While it traditionally loaned out its more than a million digital books one at a time… Continue Reading
In a Post-Roe World, the Future of Digital Privacy Looks Even Grimmer
The New York Times – “The sheer amount of tech tools and knowledge required to discreetly seek an abortion underlines how wide open we are to surveillance….In states that have banned abortion, some women seeking out-of-state options to terminate pregnancies may end up following a long list of steps to try to shirk surveillance —… Continue Reading
What Makes Data Personal?
Montagnani, Maria Lillà and Verstraete, Mark, What Makes Data Personal? (June 4, 2022). UC Davis Law Review, Vol. 56, No. 3, Forthcoming 2023, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4128080 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4128080 “Personal data is an essential concept for information privacy law. Privacy’s boundaries are set by personal data: for a privacy violation to occur, personal data must… Continue Reading
What Litigators Should Know Now about Non-Fungible Tokens
ABA Litigation: Jurisdictional and other legal considerations in the booming NFT market. ” Many purists think decentralization is the most important promise of cryptocurrency, but to grow in popularity, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) need to guarantee rights to artists. NFTs are non-interchangeable units of data, stored on a blockchain, that can be sold and traded. NFTs… Continue Reading
The Digital Transformation of Law: Are We Prepared for Artificially Intelligent Legal Practice?
Bridgesmith, Larry and Elmessiry, Adel, The Digital Transformation of Law: Are We Prepared for Artificially Intelligent Legal Practice? (2021). Akron Law Review, Vol. 54, No. 4, 2021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4113531 “We live in an instant access and on-demand world of information sharing. The global pandemic of 2020 accelerated the necessity of remote working and… Continue Reading
The Race to Hide Your Voice Voice recognition
Wired: “Your voice reveals more about you than you realize. To the human ear, your voice can instantly give away your mood, for example—it’s easy to tell if you’re excited or upset. But machines can learn a lot more: inferring your age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, health conditions, and beyond. Researchers have even been able… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court Is Building Its Own Surveillance State
Wired – Searching clerks’ phones to find out who leaked the Dobbs opinion sets a dangerous precedent of exploiting digital rights. “Following the leak of a draft opinion striking down abortion rights, the Supreme Court’s police force (the Marshal’s Office) launched an unprecedented probe to uncover who leaked the decision. Already, authorities have demanded phone… Continue Reading
