July 08, 2008

Cake, Google and user privacy

Taking a step away from librariana ... I did a paper on data privacy and Google in relation to its acquisition of DoubleClick, so I'm rather interested in this issue. Is Google doing enough to protect the privacy of its users? According to this Op/Ed, the answer is no.

I have read and re-read Judge Stanton's decision in the Google/Viacom suit more times than I really should have. At first, I was as outraged as everyone else, assuming that Judge Stanton was one more government figure without a clue how the Internet even works.

So I called my mother, who works in the courts, and ran it by her, and she pointed out two things to me: one, any Judge has a stable full of much younger and savvier law clerks who research this stuff to death, and two, everything a Judge does is based on precedent. So I went back and read the decision a few more times.

One thing keeps coming back when you look at it: the precedent cited in the decision was Google's own virtual flapping lips.

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June 06, 2008

Policy Wonkery with a FCCer

It's not every day I get to sit down with 30 other people and talk with an FCC Commissioner. Luckily, I was able to do just that with Michael Copps at NCMR2008. A loose transcript:

Roundtable - Michael Copps, FCC commissioner

What are the opportunities to move offensively - i.e. promote community interests rather than simply defend?

Now is the opportunity to go on the offensive ... not only can we, we MUST - we cannot have democracy without media democracy
We've had 25 years of deregulation
15 years of media consolidation
The public has not been well-served by the public airwaves
Poison for the civic dialogue - we have big media not reporting what's going on in the world, in the U.S. or in the localities in which we live
We've dumbed down news rooms, subsidized propaganda

Reason for optimism
A coming tide of change/reform
We need to be prepared on the media democracy

A downpayment on media democracy
* Some substantive, meaningful change immediately (Jan/Feb 2009)
* Old media: have an honest-to-God relicensing system that is guided by public interest guidelines -- end postcard renewals
* New media: A principle of non-discrimination on the Internet (i.e. Net Neutrality); let's make sure there's no gatekeepers for content; complex regarding the lines btw reasonable and unreasonable network management
We need to talk these things up with our neighbors and colleagues and representatives NOW
* Start working on more substantive, meaningful change

Citizen action still counts

The new president will get to name a new chairman

Municipal ownership of cable/Internet - how can we get away from duopoly?
We need to come up with more ideas, more experiments
Industry lobbyists are going to the FCC and crowing that muni broadband has failed completely - some even say that all muni broadband projects have failed (not true)
Public infrastructure issues and deregulation/market reliance

Net neutrality + broadband deployment to all? Are they related?
Universal service for Internet - truly extending solid, reasonably priced broadband for all
We need a broadband strategy in the U.S.

We lost our only progressive radio station in San Diego -- what can we do in terms of legal remedies to get it back?
Sounds more like a policy question/issue than a legal one
FCC doesn't attend to format, but ownership concern is a focus

What is the level of sophistication of Congress in dealing with these issues?
It is fairly sophisticated ... quite a few on Capitol Hill are well versed on telecom and other issues -- Dorgan and Markey are examples
Now 2-3 Cong. oversight hearings a year; previously very rare

My question - Is there common cause between FCC and FTC on new media policy?
Should be, once new administration is in, but not now
Brand X (basically held that Internet services are not like telephone or cable service and requirements for open access and universal service cannot be applied to it) - a horrid decision

We need a media literacy program that starts at kindergarten and goes through high school - not only how we use media, but how media uses us; but how to implement?

Why aren't PEG channels included in satellite?
Satellite doesn't go through franchising process, which is wearing PEG channels are negotiated

What is the role of traditional public television and public radio - is there positive reform in those areas?
Public TV is the crown jewel of our broadcast media, not that there aren't challenges and concerns
No silver bullet for the future of public TV
Commercial TV news has become a joke
What's the future of the evening news? Two execs of news divisions: Morning news make more money, but evening news make some money, so they aren't going anywhere.

"Media reform" is a cute way of saying "media crisis" -- are we at the end of an age of regulation, given the huge growth of Internet and the pressures towards convergence?
Probably, but we don't know when

As we move to Internet distribution/media, there is the possibility to leave certain populations behind, in particular deaf/hard of hearing communities, since closed captioning is standard for broadcasting, but is rare for Internet videos

People don't understand what their rights are - we need a governmental literacy program to explain how the gov. process works

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Debating Orphan Works Legislation

The reactions and discussion of the Sen Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 is starting to rise on my radar (i.e. my email in-box). I haven't read it yet, although I intend to shortly. In the meantime, there are people who have written about the problem of orphan works.

Nancy Praeger's take, Part I and Part II.
The Future of Music Coalition's fact sheet on orphan works and the Bentley Act.

Artist and writers groups are gearing up to fight this legistlation. No piece of legislation is perfect, but are the flaws of this bill too bad to fix -- should the bill be scraped? Dunno ... I hope not, but the debate is far from over, and both all sides should have a chance to have their concerns attended to, in some fashion.

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May 14, 2008

Eliminating DRM from libraries?

Defective by Design is a campaign by the Free Software Foundation to highlight user-unfriendly features caused by digital rights management (DRM) and certain other IP-protective but anti-consumer practices.

DbD is calling on libraries to remove DRM tech from collections:

Recently, we took action against the Boston Public Library (BPL) demanding that they embargo the use of DRM technology on their collection and create a policy that respects the motto that hangs above their door: "free-to-all." To send a message to all libraries that they too should respect their patrons' freedom, we urge you to sign our open letter. To take action against your local library, we urge you to customize a letter from our template.

Please, let us know if you have contacted or written your local library, and please let your friends and fellow patrons know about the open letter.

In solidarity,

Josh, John, Matt, Peter, and the DRM Elimination Crew.

Color me supportive but skeptical. Making people more aware of DRM and how it can inhibit reasonable and fair use of material is a good thing. And hasn't DRM died already? But unless I'm much mistaken, DRM isn't added by the libraries directly or even at their sole discretion - the publishers/vendors want it, they add it in and they may even control what gets shut off or turned on and under which parameters. Libraries seem to be a bit downstream of the process.

But if libraries are willing to add their voices to the DRM mix, so much the better ...

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May 07, 2008

Brewster 2, FBI 1

Thank you, Brewster!

FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge Gag Order Lifted on Internet Archive, Allowing Founder to Speak Out for First Time

San Francisco - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand.

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries," said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. "While it's never easy standing up to the government -- particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone -- I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands."

The NSL was served on the Archive -- a digital library recognized by the state of California -- and its attorneys in November of 2007. The letter asked for personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Kahle, who is also a member of EFF's Board of Directors, decided to fight the NSL because it exceeded the FBI's limited authority to issue such demands to libraries.

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May 03, 2008

Not Dead Yet: Orphan Works Legislation

A message from SLA:

SLA Needs Your Immediate Help: Support Orphan Works Legislation (but oppose “dark archive”)

If you have a representative serving on the U.S House of Representatives “Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property,” please contact them in support of the proposed Orphan Works Legislation, but in opposition to the "dark archive" that is proposed in the House version of H.R. 5889.

Go to http://capwiz.com/sla/home/ for full details, listing of Subcommittee members, and draft letter for electronic submission.

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