March 2002

Here\’s A Look at a Christian Library in MI, it\’s run by volunteers and has about 10k volumes.

\”We have books that aren\’t available at regular libraries,\” she said. \”Most of them have Christian themes and many are about Christian living.\”

James Nimmo pointed out that Filterware vendor N2H2 filed an emergency request to that kicked members of the public out of the library filtering trial, saying they feared confidential smut-blocking techniques would be disclosed.

Both the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit, and the U.S. Justice Department, which is defending it, opposed closing the doors.
The Full Wired Story

Judge Becker said that \”if the witness is being asked to testify about trade secrets and proprietary information, (then) trade-secret confidentiality must be imposed, which means we will receive that information in camera.\”

Charles Davis writes \”This Story from dispatch.co.za on the world\’s largest floating library, the Doulos, that returned to East London for a stay of almost two weeks.


The Doulos, crewed entirely by volunteers, is
one of the oldest vessels still sailing the seas.

The vessel boasts a library of more than 6000
books \”

Stories on the CIPA trials won\’t be hard to find, but this one highlights the librarians in action, so it might be worth mentioning.
The article is perhaps most interesting becasue it begins with, \”Three soft-spoken, gray-haired librarians…\”

I don\’t know any librarians that are soft-spoken. Do you?

You certainly have heard of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) but have you hear of CARP? The Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel is appointed by the US Copyright Office and reports to the Libraian of Congress. According to Salon.com

…under the DMCA, radio stations must pay a fraction of a cent per song, per listener, for every song they stream. Under the CARP ruling, Internet-only radio stations would pay a royalty fee of 14/100 of a cent per song, per listener, retroactively through October 1998. Webcasters are up in arms — while they are not opposed to the principle of royalty fees, they say the rate structure is far out of balance to the economics of these tiny, often one-person operations.

Fees could jump from about $1000 to $350,000 says Rusty Hodge of Internet radio station SomaFM. He and other Internet radio folks have formed a group called Save Internet Radio. The group is refuting the assertion that, although digital, the information broadcasted in Internet radio is a \”perfect copy,\” (due to degredation in compression which is a key bit of language in the DMCA.

The full story at Salon.com
And \”Plan to Alter Internet Radio\” from The Mercury News.

Evidently students in the United States aren\’t the only ones forced to buy ridiculously priced texts. An article in the Taipei Times written by the Director of the Shih Hsin University Library, Lai Ting-ming laments the situation for students in Taiwan, and says US publishers are culpable.

`Foreign publishers should ask themselves whether it is reasonable to sell books to students in developing nations at prices set according to their own living standards.\’

Photocopy shops near the universities are being investigated, and Ting-ming writes that piracy won\’t stop unless the problem of exhorbitantly priced books is eliminated. Few people photocopy books from China becasue they are affordable, the article states. Here is the very interesting full editorial.

The NY Times has picked up on the Nixon Library Story, saying this is the only one not operated by the federal government or filled with professional archivists, it is also the only one that does not even house all its president\’s papers, they remain near Washington, beyond the library\’s control, thanks to the way he left office.

Many stories on Children\’s Internet Protection Act [PDF] big day. Reutors, CBS, EFF, NYPost, and the ALA all say the Children\’s Internet Protection Act goes to trial today in Philadelphia. Christy adds This One, Ender passed along This One and Bob Cox adds Fox News as well.

“This law is certainly unconstitutional,\’\’ said Larry Ottinger, attorney for People for the American Way. “For many people, the library is the only place they get Internet access. If you don\’t provide it there, they don\’t get anything.\’\’

Christy also adds: \”In addition to all the news stories and features addressing Internet filters, Nancy Willard\’s latest study showing the startling relationship of Internet filter companies and the religious right is a must-read. \”Internet Filters: The Religious Connection\”.