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Friday, March 18, 2005 |
Erik?
Volunteers Needed Urgently: Help ALA Stop the FCC's Unlawful.
Many of you already know about ALA's involvement (with other library associations) in challenging the FCC's 'Broadcast Flag' rule, a rule that will prevent librarians from being able to distribute or make available copies of broadcast television programs on the internet. It will also require you to purchase new electronic equipment that your library now uses to read or manipulate digital television signals (such as DVD players, recorders, TiVos, appropriately equipped computers, etc.) if that equipment is not Flag-compliant and your library does not already own a digital TV tuner.
We have filed an appeal to the federal Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, arguing that the FCC had no authority to promulgate the Broadcast Flag rule. The validity of the Broadcast Flag is now pending before that court.
This week, the court issued a very important order requiring us to submit evidence proving that we have 'standing' to sue the FCC. In order to provide the court with the evidence it needs--and to defeat the Broadcast Flag, which will sharply limit how libraries might be able to use broadcast materials, perhaps in ways we might not yet have even conceived--we need your help.
We are looking for members of our organization that might be willing to submit an affidavit explaining how the Broadcast Flag harms them. The process will be simple, straightforward, and not very time-consuming. The lawyers representing us in the case will assist in drafting the document; you'll just have to help provide the facts of what it will say.
If you can answer 'yes' to the following questions and would be willing to help us protect the First Amendment rights of librarians, and the rights we fought so hard to obtain in the TEACH Act, then please contact us as soon as possible:
- Are you a current member of the American Library Association?
-and-
- Do you do any of the following?
- Archive television broadcasts for use by library patrons or other educational or research purposes?
- Use portions of television broadcasts in distance learning courses, or make broadcast portions available to teachers at your institution for this purpose?
- Make portions of television broadcasts available via your library's or your school's website for any educational, research, or
commentary reasons?
- Record television broadcasts at your library for any other type of educational purpose?
- Have equipment that you use to archive, record, or manipulate copies of television broadcasts that you would replace if it no longer allowed you to archive, record, or manipulate the television broadcast in the same way you do today.
We look forward to hearing from you to help in this important issue!
For further information, go to
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/broadcastflag/broadcastflag.htm.
If you can help or if you can help your local library get involved (they may not understand the issues and you could educate them), please act now! These are incredibly important issues, not just for libraries, but for the average person, who the courts are apparently leaving out of the equation entirely. [The Shifted Librarian]
8:29:56 PM 
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Joel is modest?.
A few people who heard my talk at O'Reilly Etech wrote reviews:
If you're in the bay area don't miss the pizza/beer reception tonight at Apress 6:00 to 7:30 pm in Berkeley, at the Studio Rasa Gallery, 933 Parker Street.
[Joel on Software]
8:29:42 PM
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MAKEing Copyfighters (Wendy Seltzer).
The Maker Fair at ETECH (and its parent, Make Magazine capture my imagination on lots of levels. As a self-confessed geek, I love hardware hacks like Bunny Huang's DIY persistence-of-vision LEDs and Billy Hoffman's magstripe readers; as an activist, I love Natalie Jeremijenko's robot dogs modded to sniff out environmental toxins.
As a copyfighting lawyer, I loved the spirit of tinkering in the air. The whole event was brimming with the spirit of exploration, interoperation, and user-driven innovation. The more people who catch that excitement, the more people we'll have fighting laws that restrict our ability to open boxes and re-use the contents. [Copyfight]
8:28:57 PM
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R.I.P., Video Store Inventor George Atkinson.
The New York Times is reporting that George Atkinson, inventor of the video store, is dead at 69. We all owe this man a debt of gratitude because the studios wanted us to buy every movie (like music). The story is fascinating. The first rentals were $10 per day, VCR's cost $1,000, he opened 600 stores, and his company went public on the idea. He was a visionary for the time: Mr. Atkinson, a onetime stuntman and occasional actor, saw things differently. As he told The Los Angeles Times Magazine in 1987: "I said: 'You listen to Beethoven or...
[Hacking NetFlix]
8:24:23 PM
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Rafsanjani to Buy Some Good Publicity.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has apparently started a big media campaign by hiring dozens of journalists and donating a lot of money to newspapers, websites, and other media organizations in order to influence the public before he officially enters the upcoming presidential race.
First some Persian weblogs, written by Tehran-based journalists, published about the rumors. Later Gooya News published a letter in which the writer had public ally named some journalists who have been hired by a 'think-tank' who is said to be run by Mehdi, the middle son of Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Among the most popular rumors -- which is almost a fact now -- is that Shargh Newspaper which is run by Mohammad Atrianfar, a close ally of Rafsanjani during his eight-year term in the 90s, has the mission of convincing the educated, middle-class population in large cities, especially Tehran, that Rafsanjani is the best choice.
In fact, it has already started its campaign by providing an increasing space to news and views about Rafsanjani and the possibility of another term. The latest evidence is the thick special section -- traditionally published before the new Persian year, Norooz -- which has a picture of Rafsanjani's back, walking towards two golden chairs, on the cover, accompanied by a rather long interview with him, who is titled by Shargh the person of the year.
Among the websites, thought to be supporting him, are Aftab News, and the recently launched ISCA.
All this has developed in blogs and some other websites and if it wasn't for them, nobody would've probably known about them. This has not happened in previous elections in such scale. So here is another example of political effect of blogs in Iran.
[Editor: Myself (English)]
7:25:25 AM
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Blank Discs Not Created Equal. The quest for cheap, high-quality blank CDs and DVDs spawns a vast community of enthusiasts, with aficionados swapping hot finds online. By Aaron Weiss. [Wired News]
7:24:11 AM
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Johansen Creates DRM-Free Interface to iTunes (Donna Wentworth).
I rarely agree with the intentionally sloppy Andrew Orlowski, but he's right about what's happening to Apple's iTunes. Any "upgrade" to the service likely means paying more (and more) for less (and less).
Jon Johansen (yes, that Jon Johansen) is doing something about it. He's been working on what he calls PyMusique, the "fair" interface to the iTunes Music Store. Explains Jon (via email):
PyMusique is an interface to the iTunes Music Store that lets you preview songs, sign up for an account and buy songs. It is somewhat interesting from a DMCA/EUCD perspective. The iTunes Music Store actually sells songs without DRM. While iTunes adds DRM to your purchases, PyMusique does not. Another difference is that signing up for an account using PyMusique does not require you to sign/click away any of your rights. But here's the question: How "interesting" is it? Does it stay in the free and clear, or does it brush up against the DMCA or EUCD? This is a tough one.
To learn more, a tech-savvy friend of mine is examining how PyMusique works -- you might want to do the same before this tool becomes yet another Endangered Gizmo. [Copyfight]
7:22:32 AM
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+he Future Beautiful: 10 Lessons for First-time Documentary Filmmakers..
I stopped updating this site for a little while and consequently got something done. The result is a little documentary about two NYC street artists and their global guerilla project: fake sneakers. I think they're the future. Spend 12 minutes (QT, WMV) with them and make up your own mind. Then go to IndTV (a new cable channel set to lauch in late summer) and vote for your favorite video, by which I mean vote for our video, +he future beautiful :: skewvile (5 minute cut). It's been selected by IndTV as a finalist for best short video. But the public picks the winner; like an American Idol for documentary filmmakers. So show us the love, America.
When you're back from voting, here are some important and umimportant notes for first-time documentary filmmakers....
(Good stuff in there. Go check out the rest of the list at octomoto.com -kc.)
[unmediated]
[Graphics snipped]
7:22:00 AM
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Retirement, the Federal Way. The experiences of federal employees enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan show how giving investors control over their retirement savings can have varying results. By LOUIS UCHITELLE and RIVA D. ATLAS. [NYT > Business]
7:21:22 AM
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