Friday, September 30, 2005

In Praise of First Sale (Donna Wentworth). William Patry, commenting on the news that some authors and book publishers are unhappy about sites like Amazon.com offering books for sale at different prices -- i.e., list price, sale price, used book price: It is really no fun to write about copyright owners acting like Luddite pigs, and being in private practice it has a definite commercial downside; I would much rather praise Caesar. But, things are as they are, and I have always opted for honesty over craven brown-nosing and over self-imposed censorship. I hope my twins forgive me. ... I buy the vast majority of my books through amazon.com and pay alot of attention to the choices they offer for the book I am interested in. Choice is bad, apparently. I should have to pay list price and I shouldn't be able to resell it (at least through amazon.com) without amazon.com sending a check to the publisher, who will of course pass 100% through to the author, at least that is what a literary agent is quoted in the article as advocating. Sad, is the only polite word I can think of for authors and publishers' utter failure to embrace an extremely beneficial system. The first sale doctrine was judicially created by the Supreme Court pre-1909 Copyright Act in order to prevent publishers from misusing copyright to maintain list price. Some things truly never change. [Copyfight] 10:54:19 PM    comment []

head of department, day 242. Phew. Got the course previews (studieplaner) for next semester all sorted out, I think, and voted through in the department meeting yesterday. I’m becoming proficient, I think. I knew the answers to all sorts of things. “If you label that a compulsory assignment instead of assessment it will simplify our administrative burden hugely without changing what you want to do.” “No, the point is that we need to have a digital archive that allows us find a particular student’s digital portfolio exam in HUIN105 spring 2002 in case someone asks us for it in December 2009.” That sort of thing. Actually I’m still not quite sure why or who might ask us for Knut Knutsen’s exam in 2009, but we’re required to keep confidential records of exams for ten years. I must ask someone why it’s necessary to keep exams that long. The students have three weeks after the grades are awarded to complain and request regrading by a new committee, so obviously we have to keep their exams that long. Why ten years, though? Maybe it’s for the national committees that are supposed to periodically survey grading around the country to ensure it’s more or less equivalent. It felt rather strange leading the meeting perfectly knowledgeably. Almost everyone looked rather bored, to be honest, and yes, while these details are important in sum, I totally see the boredom. That’s probably why the university democracy doesn’t work, actually. Most decisions are so dull that people disengage or don’t show up - but of course real change happens as a result of these many, many small and dull decisions. But I’m getting the hang of it, and while the juggling still exhausts me (and oh dear, things keep slipping through) there is a certain pleasure in feeling that I know how this works. Well, how quite a lot of it works. And I like knowing how things work. Day 242, that’s ages. Having checked how many days I’ve been head of department, I had to also check how many days I have left. One year and 273 days. I’ll be an expert. [jill/txt] 10:51:24 PM    comment []

Questions for Judith Miller. The New York Times reporter goes before the grand jury today. What took her so long? [Salon.com] Times Reporter Arrives in Court After Agreeing to Testify. Judith Miller agreed to testify in the C.I.A. leak case after she obtained a waiver offered by her source, I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. By DAVID JOHNSTON and DOUGLAS JEHL. [NYT > Washington] Times Reporter Testifies to Jury in C.I.A. Leak Case. Judith Miller spent Friday morning testifying to a federal grand jury investigating whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity of a C.I.A. operative. By DAVID JOHNSTON and RICHARD W. STEVENSON. [NYT > Business] Bush on Plame: Time to wag the dog again?. The last time Plamegate dominated the news, the president accelerated his announcement of his nomination of a Supreme Court justice. [Salon.com] Phone Call With Source and Deal Led Reporter to Testify. Three recent letters from people involved in the case raise questions about why Judith Miller decided to testify now. By ADAM LIPTAK. [NYT > Business] Judy Miller meets the press. If Scooter Libby is the source she was protecting in jail, who's the source she's protecting now? [Salon.com] How Scooter Libby fits in -- and the big question still out there. Dick Cheney's chief of staff reportedly talked twice with Judith Miller about Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger. But who leaked first to Robert Novak? [Salon.com] 10:49:35 PM    comment []

Recordings in a Post-CD World. Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis takes listener calls on the Death of the CD. And composer Joan Tower discusses what it's like writing a piece for community orchestras -- over 70 of them. [WNYC New York Public Radio] 10:39:04 PM    comment []

Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal. Federal auditors said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the U.S., in violation of a statutory ban. By ROBERT PEAR. [NYT > Business] 10:34:39 PM    comment []

Four from BNA News: VISA DELAYS PLAN TO CUT CORD WITH CARDSYSTEMS Visa is delaying its plan to cut ties with CardSystems Solutions by three months. Visa said the extension was for the sole purpose of helping to facilitate CyberSource's planned acquisition of CardSystems' assets. US INSISTS ON RETAINING CONTROL OF INTERNET GOVERNANCE A senior US official rejected calls yesterday in Geneva for a UN body to take over control of the main computers that direct traffic on the Internet, reiterating US intentions to keep its historical role as the medium's principal overseer. Some negotiators from other countries said there was a growing sense that a compromise had to be reached and that no single country ought to be the ultimate authority over such a vital part of the global economy. MICROSOFT LOSES IN USPTO EOLAS PATENT RULING Striking a blow to Microsoft, the US Patent Office has reaffirmed Eolas's key Web-browsing patent that the software maker is accused of infringing. In 2003, a jury awarded more than $500 million in damages to the university and Eolas, but an appeals court this year partially upheld Microsoft's appeal, saying the company should be able to present evidence that similar inventions predated Eolas' patent application. BALLMER TO MEET WITH EU ANTITRUST CHIEF Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is scheduled to meet with the antitrust head of the European Commission on Wednesday. Microsoft is currently challenging a commission decision in the Court of First Instance. 1:48:47 PM    comment []

From Steve Gilbert of the TLT (Teaching and Learning with Technology) Group: Dangerous Discussions Slideshow & Survey #2 www.tltgroup.org/ddsss2.htm Click here for BRIEF silent slide show (less than 2 minutes) summarizing the TLT Group's Dangerous Discussions Initiative - warning signs, issues, goals, strategies; and a BRIEF online survey (less than one minute + whatever time you use to send something substantive) asking your advice about Dangerous Discussions issues and your vote about 5 possible logos. 7:47:48 AM    comment []