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Creative Librarian » 2003 » September

Archives

Friday, September 26, 2003

We’re Next?

The Shifted Librarian: Thursday, September 25, 2003- Library Associations Take on the Entertainment Industry

…it won’t be long before the entertainment industry actively turns on libraries. You can feel it coming, can’t you? 12-year olds honors students, 66-year old retired teachers, and librarians.

Library Links — laura


They’re kidding?

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Many artists singing mixed tune when it comes to file-sharing fight

The recording artist Moby, on his Web site, offered a similar opinion, suggesting the music companies treat users of file-sharing services like music fans instead of criminals.

“How can a 14-year-old who has an allowance of $5 a week feel bad about downloading music produced by multimillionaire musicians and greedy record companies,” he wrote. “The record companies should approach that 14-year-old and say: ‘Hey, it’s great that you love music. Instead of downloading music for free, why don’t you try this very inexpensive service that will enable you to listen to a lot of music and also have access to unreleased tracks and ticket discounts and free merchandise?’ ”

“I see both sides,” said Rodney Crowell, a country-music singer and songwriter. “In some ways, I think the record companies have it coming, but at the same time, being a writer and therefore in the business of copyright, they’re saying it’s impacting our business by 30 percent or more, so we have to do something.”

They say?

The Recording Industry Association says sales of recorded music have dropped 31 percent since file sharing became popular more than three years ago. But statistics from Forrester Research show the sales decline since 2000 has been half that, or 15 percent, and that 35 percent of that amount is because of unauthorized downloading.

ROBERT MORA / GETTY IMAGES

James Hetfield is a member of Metallica, which has strongly favored the record industry’s crackdown on file sharing.

In interviews, some musicians and their representatives said their labels had asked them not to talk. And in a dozen cases, record labels did not grant interviews with musicians on the subject.

Sounds like the fans aren’t the only ones being pressured.

Much of the stated concern over file sharing has centered on the revenue that record companies and musicians are losing. But few musicians ever actually receive royalties from their record sales on major labels, which managers say have accounting practices that are badly in need of review. (Artists do not receive royalties for a CD until the record company has earned back the money it has spent on them.)

Ween, which recently left a major record label, Elektra, to release its records independently, has found a way to coexist with file sharing, which the band actually supports by encouraging fans to record and trade shows.

See, it can be done.

Copyright — laura


Google Reference

Google Meets eBay: What Academic Librarians Can Learn from Alternative Information Providers

An interesting article from D-Lib, well worth reading.

Library Links — laura


Wednesday, September 24, 2003

Public Domain Blog

PUBDOMAIN BREAD- Broadening the base of our Public Domain.

Copyright — laura


Calif. law protects us from security breaches

Calif. law protects us from security breaches

As of July 1, a new California statute requires any business with customers in California to alert those customers if anyone steals sensitive private information that could lead to identity theft (like your name combined with your Social Security number, driver’s license number, or financial account information). The notifications must go out even if the company merely suspects a cyberburglary.

Computing News — laura


Monday, September 22, 2003

The Researching Librarian

The Researching Librarian: Home

This site was created for librarians–new or experienced–who find themselves needing to perform research for purposes of publication, promotion, tenure, or other reasons. I hope that it also might be useful for other audiences and needs.

Intended as a supplement to the print and electronic resources available in library collections, this site gathers links to selected web resources useful for research: freely searchable citation and full-text databases, funding information, relevant journals, statistics and statistical methods, useful research tools, current awareness sources, and conference papers and proceedings.

Library Links — laura


Streaming Libraries

The Shifted Librarian: Monday, September 22, 2003- Could the Yale Libraries Stream Music to their Students?

A very cool idea curtesy of The Shifted Librarian

Web Tools — laura


Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Artists Uncertain about file sharing

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Many artists singing mixed tune when it comes to file-sharing fight

The recording artist Moby, on his Web site, offered a similar opinion, suggesting the music companies treat users of file-sharing services like music fans instead of criminals.

“How can a 14-year-old who has an allowance of $5 a week feel bad about downloading music produced by multimillionaire musicians and greedy record companies,” he wrote. “The record companies should approach that 14-year-old and say: ‘Hey, it’s great that you love music. Instead of downloading music for free, why don’t you try this very inexpensive service that will enable you to listen to a lot of music and also have access to unreleased tracks and ticket discounts and free merchandise?’ ”

“I see both sides,” said Rodney Crowell, a country-music singer and songwriter. “In some ways, I think the record companies have it coming, but at the same time, being a writer and therefore in the business of copyright, they’re saying it’s impacting our business by 30 percent or more, so we have to do something.”

They say?

The Recording Industry Association says sales of recorded music have dropped 31 percent since file sharing became popular more than three years ago. But statistics from Forrester Research show the sales decline since 2000 has been half that, or 15 percent, and that 35 percent of that amount is because of unauthorized downloading.

ROBERT MORA / GETTY IMAGES

James Hetfield is a member of Metallica, which has strongly favored the record industry’s crackdown on file sharing.

In interviews, some musicians and their representatives said their labels had asked them not to talk. And in a dozen cases, record labels did not grant interviews with musicians on the subject.

Sounds like the fans aren’t the only ones being pressured.

Much of the stated concern over file sharing has centered on the revenue that record companies and musicians are losing. But few musicians ever actually receive royalties from their record sales on major labels, which managers say have accounting practices that are badly in need of review. (Artists do not receive royalties for a CD until the record company has earned back the money it has spent on them.)

Ween, which recently left a major record label, Elektra, to release its records independently, has found a way to coexist with file sharing, which the band actually supports by encouraging fans to record and trade shows.

See, it can be done.

Copyright — laura


Court scrutinizes P2P subpoena process

Court scrutinizes P2P subpoena process | CNET News.com

Judge John Roberts questioned the RIAA’s expansive interpretation of the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which allows copyright holders to glean the identity of alleged infringers without filing a lawsuit first. Roberts said that if he left the door to his library ajar and someone entered, “that doesn’t make me liable for copyright infringement.”

Copyright — laura


Library Stats

The Shifted Librarian: Tuesday, September 16, 2003- And Yet You’re Eliminating Libraries??

Make sure you have copies of this document to hand out to all of your patrons. Put these numbers on your web site. Include them in your newsletter. Autograph a copy and send it to your legislators.

Library Links — laura


RSS uses

RDF Site Summary (RSS) - inSilico- First came the announcement in July that Elsevier would expose their PRISM metadata in an RSS compliant manner. In doing so, libraries and end users could access tables of contents for Elsevier journals in their favorite tools.

…imagine being able to display the current issue’s TOC next to the PULinks logo in the online catalog, or having the RSS feed the EJournals page automatically without having to maintain a separate database or a kludged catalog record! That’s the power of XML — make the content providers do some of the work for you!

Web Tools — laura


Digital Rights Bill

EFF: Senator Brownback Introduces Digital Rights Bill- Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) today introduced the Consumers, Schools, and Libraries Digital Rights Management (DRM) Awareness Act of 2003. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) supports the bill as an important step toward balancing the rights of the public and the interests of entertainment industries in the age of digital commerce.

Copyright — laura


Saturday, September 13, 2003

EFF: RIAA Petition

EFF: RIAA Petition

To The United States Congress:

We are the customers and former customers of the member labels of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). We love music and will gladly pay a fair price for it, but we are outraged by the RIAA’s tactics in suing ordinary Americans for filesharing.

We condemn the RIAA’s choice to force the family of a 12 year-old girl to forfeit $2,000 - money that could have gone to feed, clothe and educate this honor student. We stand with the retirees, parents, children and others who have been caught in the RIAA’s line of fire.

We respect reasonable copyright law, but we strongly oppose copyright enforcement that comes at the expense of privacy, due process and fair application of the law.

We urge you, as our representatives in Congress, to stop this madness.

We oppose the recording industry’s decision to attack the public, bankrupt its customers and offer false amnesty to those who would impugn themselves. We call instead for a real amnesty: the development of a legal alternative that preserves file-sharing technology while ensuring that artists are fairly compensated.

In signing this petition, we formally request that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), as representatives of the public interest, be included in any upcoming hearings regarding the proper scope of copyright enforcement in the digital age.

We sincerely thank you for your time.

Copyright — laura


Friday, September 12, 2003

Confessions of Kazaa downloader

Technology - story - canada.com network- Confessions of Kazaa downloader

Personally, I’ve sworn off Kazaa but my CD purchases will still be few and far between. Until the music industry comes up with a win-win business model for consumers and the labels, I’ll just listen to all my old CDs that have been collecting dust.

An honest and open take on the RIAA’s problems from the consumer point of view. Highly reccomended to people who don’t understand why so many people are stealing.

Copyright — laura


Consumers sue RIAA

Consumers strike back, sue RIAA- It’s likely the RIAA will have to admit that they don’t have the authority to release all claims, because they don’t have the power to stop these lawsuits, because they don’t own the copyrights.

Copyright — laura


Wednesday, September 10, 2003

P2P Revolution

O’Reilly Network: Hardball assessment of the future of media [Sep. 09, 2003]

Many people have predicted that peer-to-peer file-sharing will change the face of media, but this paper by Scott Jensen is the most thoroughgoing research I’ve seen into the commercial and artistic effects that peer-to-peer can potentially lead to. The paper is bold and futuristic, which means there are plenty of places the path it lays out could be sidetracked, but I think it’s important reading. It makes me a little afraid to work for an old-style publication company, even one as innovative as O’Reilly & Associates.

Computing News — laura


RIAA sues 12 year-old

RIAA settles with 12-year-old pirate’s mother

The settlement was reached with the mother of 12-year-old Brianna Lahara, a user of the Kazaa file-sharing service. Lahara was featured on the cover of Tuesday’s New York Post newspaper, which described the girl as being scared and on the verge of tears when she discovered she was being sued.

Schoolgirl Settles With RIAA

How to use the legal system for extortion rather than fact finding and determination of damages. It used to be people were presumed innocent until proven guilty. How many other defendants will not be able to afford high priced lawyers to go up against the well-funded legal talent of the RIAA? Right now, the RIAA is effectively judge, jury, and hangman. Wonder if CD sales will improve?

RIAA Lands a Big One - in the Face

And she’s an honors student, too. Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of big fish the RIAA needs to fry in order to save their business model. Brianna and her family have already settled the suit for $2,000, which means Brianna probably won’t be buying any CDs either. Good job, RIAA!

Yes, what Brianna did was illegal, but she sure didn’t make any money from it. If the RIAA will go after 12-year olds, do you doubt that they’ll go after libraries in order to save their precious business model? Maybe not lawsuits, but they’ll do whatever they need to in order to close digital loopholes that let us circulate digital files.

Copyright — laura


Tuesday, September 9, 2003

Databases–the next copyright battle?

Databases–the next copyright battle? | CNET News.com

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are circulating a proposed bill that would prevent wholesale copying of school guides, news archives and other databases that do not enjoy copyright protection.

The proposed bill would provide a legal umbrella for publishers of factual information such as courtroom decisions and professional directories. The measures would be similar to the copyright laws that protect music, novels and other creative works.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse…

Copyright — laura


Re: DRM Avoidance

DRM Avoidance - September 8, 2003 - LibraryPlanet.com is a beautiful collection of quotes from knowledgable people around the web. The last one in particular puts it perfectly for me.

Copyright — laura


Bad Apple

The Shifted Librarian: Monday, September 08, 2003- Apple: Libraries Circulating Digital Content Is “Impractical”

In other words, Apple (what appeared to be one of�the most customer-friendly and educational institution-friendly companies) doesn’t think enough of the “First Sale” doctrine to build support for it into its digital music product. To them, it’s “impractical” and you might, sort of, “perhaps” have the right to resell their products that you legally purchase online. Oh, and 99 cents is plenty cheap enough for you to buy all the songs you want, too, so you just quit complaining and give us your credit card number already.

Do you seriously still doubt that publishers will try to lock libraries out of circulating digital files?

Nope. And while I generally like Apple, pretty much anyone looks good compared to Microsoft. Life could be so much better if these guys would just find some imagination.

Computing News — laura


Nations to Develop Non-Windows Software

Nations to Develop Non-Windows Software

Japan, China and South Korea have agreed to cooperate in a project to boost research and development of software for operating systems other than industry leader Microsoft Corp.’s Windows, a Japanese trade ministry official said Friday.

Open-Source Software — laura


Rockin’ on without Microsoft

Tech News - CNET.com–Rockin’ on without Microsoft

Sterling Ball, a jovial, plain-talking businessman, is CEO of Ernie Ball, the world’s leading maker of premium guitar strings endorsed by generations of artists ranging from the likes of Eric Clapton to the dudes from Metallica.

But since jettisoning all of Microsoft products three years ago, Ernie Ball has also gained notoriety as a company that dumped most of its proprietary software–and still lived to tell the tale.

Open-Source Software — laura


Monday, September 8, 2003

DRM default effect

Educated Guesswork: August 2003 Archives- What do you mean I can’t print?

There was no real reason to stop me from printing this file, but whenever there’s a question about whether to add some restriction or not, it’s easier just to add it than think about whether it’s necessary or not. Nobody ever got fired for adding too much DRM.

This is what’s wrong with the way Digital Rights Management is being used.

Copyright — laura


Friday, September 5, 2003

CD prices drop

Universal Music Group drops CD prices

The recording industry continues to attribute slumping music sales to online piracy, but Universal Music Group (UMG) has recently announced an initiative to spur consumers to spend more money in record stores. The commercial music giant is taking a novel approach: It’s dropping the price of CDs.

Emphasis mine.

So many snarky comments…

I’m still not buying CDs while they have the idiotic DRM coding that won’t let them play on car CD players.

Computing News — laura


RIAA offering amnesty

RIAA to offer music download amnesty?

The report indicated that individuals who participate in the amnesty program would be required to sign a notarized affidavit promising to stop using peer-to-peer file sharing services to download copyrighted music, and would be required to delete all such music they’ve acquired.

Copyright — laura


Mobile Edition

Now There’s a mobile version of the Creative Librarian. I’ve use a MT-specific script to create dynamic versions of the index and entry pages rather than duplicate the entire site with stripped-down templates. The script was very easy to implement and adapt.

Site — laura


IM

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Simply Audiobooks webstore to carry DRM-free Random House Audio downloads
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