Librarians Slam Digital Copyright Ruling DMCA 10/30/2000; 12:56:59 PM 'But Librarian of Congress James Billington said in a prepared statement that he wanted to stress the importance of preserving the fair-use principle in the digital age. 'Billington also said that the ruling specifically addresses access, not use of the content itself. "Our primary responsibility was to assess whether current technologies that control access to copyrighted works are diminishing the ability of individuals to use works in a lawful, noninfringing way.

Are You at War With Your Customers? Misc.10/30/2000; 12:45:31 PM This is a fairly standard "The Internet is empowering your customers to talk to each other, so you'd better start shaping up if you want to keep them" article, but there's a wonderful image in the story:'The trouble is, marketers can get away with [abusing the customers] only if their customers are isolated, unconnected, and have no voice. Online, millions of customers are just beginning to clear their throats for the first time.

Net privacy measure faces veto Privacy from Companies 10/29/2000; 3:03:57 PM 'A budget provision banning the Internet sale of Social Security numbers has so many loopholes that President Clinton has promised to veto it, critics of the proposal say.' But what about the next President?

UK Snooping Bill could be ruled illegal Country Watch: Britain 10/28/2000; 2:22:55 PM 'The European Commission is investigating the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill under four separate counts of possible illegality under EU law.'

EFF Statement Before Congress on Carnivore Surveillance and Privacy from Government 10/28/2000; 2:00:02 PM 'The use of pen registers as applied to traditional land-line telephone systems is fundamentally different than information that is collected using pen registers on the Internet. Allowing a system such as Carnivore to be used unchecked by law enforcement exacerbates the problem of over collection of data and has the potential to harm our open society.

Users look to FTC for help on reining in UCITA UCITA 10/27/2000; 3:07:09 PM 'An unnamed software vendor that [Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey] is currently negotiating with over a licensing deal is adamantly insisting that a version of the law enacted in Maryland at the start of this month be applied to the contract. Arne Larsen, information systems director at the 5,000-employee insurer, said the vendor is an anomaly among the many he deals with on software licensing.

Copyright office backs 'right' to limit content access DMCA 10/27/2000; 2:21:49 PM 'THE COPYRIGHT OFFICE, part of the Library of Congress, decided to allow only two narrow exemptions to a new federal law that makes it illegal for Web users to hack through the barriers that copyright holders erect around books, films, music and other content released online. The decision will be in effect for three years... 'The two exemptions the copyright office did allow are both minor in scope.

CyberDemocracy: Internet and the Public Sphere Technology & Sociology 10/27/2000; 10:55:27 AM 'If the technological structure of the Internet institutes costless reproduction, instantaneous dissemination and radical decentralization, what might be its effects upon the society, the culture and the political institutions? 'There can be only one answer to this question and that is that it is the wrong question. Technologically determined effects derive from a broad set of assumptions in which what is technological is a configuration of materials that effect other materials and the relation between the technology and human beings is external, that is, where human beings are understood to manipulate the materials for ends that they impose upon the technology from a preconstituted position of subjectivity.

OpenPatents.org Patents 10/27/2000; 9:19:58 AM 'The basic idea behind OpenPatents.org is to change the rules of the patent game such that it is to the advantage of participants to help solve the problems of software patents. 'The Open Patent License is in effect a mutual nonagression pact...' The idea was tossed about earlier, but it seems OpenPatents.org is trying to actually do it.

Carnivore Demo Report Surveillance and Privacy from Government 10/26/2000; 2:07:27 PM Unknown authenticity; it's from an anonymous remailer. It gives some more details about the capabilities of Carnivore, which are somewhat greater then the press has been thinking, if this report is true.  It can reconstruct a net activity trail, not just intercept e-mail.