The Smithsonian Institution has been telling Congress and the public to move on and get over it. This note summarizes the situation and contains a “call for action” in the form of a letter to Congress.
Smithsonian lobbyists are trying to paper over their exclusive 30-year sellout to Showtime, saying that the contract has posed [...]
Archive of entries posted on November 2006
Speak Up on Smithsonian’s Showtime Deal
Egypt arrests another blog critic
From the BBC:
Police in Cairo have detained a blogger whose posts have been critical of the Egyptian government.
Rami Siyam, who blogs under the name of Ayyoub, was detained along with three friends after leaving the house of a fellow blogger late at night.
Poddies copyright crooks
From The Australian:
New copyright legislation is likely to cause more problems than it solves, lawyers have warned. The Government has failed to fix problems with the old Act, they say.
The lawyers dispute claims by the internet industry that common acts such as singing Happy Birthday or filming a rock concert with a mobile phone would [...]
Save the earth’s libraries
Boston Globe editorial:
From the moment early in his first term when President Bush reneged on his campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, the Bush years have not been good ones for the Environmental Protection Agency. The latest blow has been the shutdown of five of the agency’s regional libraries and the limiting of hours [...]
Japan sets up panel to study Net neutrality
From Yahoo! News:
The Japanese government on Wednesday set up a panel to discuss Internet network neutrality — a concept that has stirred heated debate in the United States — and study how the surging popularity of free file-sharing services such as YouTube.com is impacting the infrastructure.
The Economics of Ecology Journals
Carl T. Bergstrom and Theodore C. Bergstrom, The Economics of Ecology Journals, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, November 2006.
Over the past decade, scientific publishing has shifted from a paper-based distribution system to one largely built upon electronic access to journal articles. Despite this shift, the basic patterns of journal pricing have remained largely [...]
Protection of Privacy Legislation Proclaimed
From Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice:
Legislation to ensure that Nova Scotians’ personal information is not disclosed under the U.S. Patriot Act was proclaimed today, Nov. 15.
The new Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act outlines a series of requirements and penalties that protect personal information from inappropriate disclosure.
Republicans propose last-minute spy bill
From News.com:
The outgoing Republican chairman of a key U.S. Senate committee has made a last-minute attempt at giving the Bush administration what he calls the necessary “resources” for carrying out its phone call and Internet surveillance within the law, but critics remain unconvinced.
EPA official tries to allay library fears
From Federal Computer Week:
Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock is promising that EPA library material will be available digitally in the near future. His announcement comes amid concerns that library documents will become inaccessible as the agency shuts down many physical library facilities.
A career as a secrecy watchdog
Aliya Sternstein profiles Steven Aftergood in Federal Computer Week:
Steven Aftergood condemns the abuses of overclassification, excessive secrecy
“The attitude needs to be that the release of public information should be a function of the government,” he said.