Archive for February, 2009
February 20th, 2009
Robert Darnton, Google & the Future of Books, The New York Review of Books, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Feb. 12, 2009)
The Google Book Search class-action settlement — what it means to libraries and the future information society — is discussed with great clarity by Harvard University Libraries Director Robert Darnton in this New York Review of Books article Google & the Future of Books.
Pulling from his studies of the Enlightenment and its ‘Republic of Letters,’ power fields, libraries and their relationship with professional serials, copyright and the terms of the Google Book settlement, Professor Darnton makes a powerful argument that this marks “a tipping point in the development of what we call the information society”:
If we get the balance wrong at this moment, private interests may outweigh the public good for the foreseeable future, and the Enlightenment dream may be as elusive as ever.
Sadly, one cannot read Darnton’s article without wondering, perhaps concluding, that the tipping point is now past.
Sources: libs-or discussion list, sg
February 18th, 2009
The latest issue of Lewis & Clark Law School’s Animal Law is now out.
Here are the articles published in Volume 15, Number 1 of Animal Law, complete with links to the abstracts and full-text articles:
Introduction
Articles
Essays
Comments
New L&C Law Scholarship is a regular feature of BoleyBlogs! Here we announce new content from the Law Reviews of Lewis & Clark Law School, along with the latest publishing ventures of our own faculty, students and staff.
February 18th, 2009
Joyce Tischler, Building Our Future, 15 Animal Law 7 (2009)
(abstract from Animal Law)
February 18th, 2009
Dane E. Johnson, Statue of Anne-Imals: Should Copyright Protect Sentient Non-Human Creators?, 15 Animal Law 15 (2009)
This article explores questions of whether copyright protection can and should extend to works created by captive animals such as gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants. Commentators have considered similar questions in the artificial intelligence context and generally rejected the notion that computers can create works sufficiently free of human involvement to merit copyright protection. As our understanding of animal intelligence increases, however, the case for reconsideration of copyright’s constitutional and statutory boundaries becomes stronger. This article examines those boundaries and offers a proposal for granting limited copyrights to animals under a theory along the lines of David Favre?s equitable self-ownership concept.
(abstract from Animal Law)
February 18th, 2009
Caroline Forell, Using A Jury of Her Peers To Teach About the Connection Between Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse, 15 Animal Law 53 (2009)
(abstract from Animal Law)
February 18th, 2009
Rebecca J. Huss, Lessons Learned: Acting as Guardian/Special Master in the Bad Newz Kennels Case, 15 Animal Law 69 (2009)
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia appointed Rebecca Huss as the guardian/special master of the pit bulls that were the subject of the case against Michael Vick relating to dog fighting. In April of 2007, the Surry County Sheriff’s Department seized fifty-three pit bulls from Vick’s home in Virginia. According to the facts set forth in the plea agreement, dogs on the property were killed and subjected to violent dog fights. Similar to human victims of abuse, the dogs needed someone to represent their best interests during litigation. Huss was in charge of determining whether each dog should be euthanized due to its inability to interact safely with humans or other animals or given a second chance at life in a new home. Huss explains her role as guardian/special master and how she made her determinations about each dog?s destiny.
(abstract from Animal Law)
February 18th, 2009
Alexis C. Fox, Using Special Masters To Advance the Goals of Animal Protection Law, 15 Animal Law 87 (2009)
This article suggests that courts should appoint special masters to large-scale animal abuse cases. The work of special masters in two recent high profile cases, Sarah v. PPI and Vick, demonstrate that special masters can help advance the goals of the animal protection movement in three ways. First, special masters can ensure that individual animal victims are cared for once they are rescued from large-scale abuse situations. Second, court orders that appoint special masters to large-scale animal abuse cases insert a best-interest-of-the-animal analysis into formal court proceeding. Finally, court appointed special masters may encourage better enforcement of animal protection laws by taking responsibility for animal victims from local officials. In addition to advocating for special master appointments in large-scale animal abuse cases, this article discusses some of the possible barriers courts and advocates might face when appointing special masters to large-scale animal abuse cases.
(abstract from Animal Law)
February 18th, 2009
Kate Paulman, See Spot Eat, See Spot Die: The Pet Food Recall of 2007, 15 Animal Law 113 (2009)
When dogs and cats across the country fell inexplicably ill in March of 2007, their human companions became sick with worry. Veterinarians eventually determined contaminated pet food was the source of these illnesses. Melamine, an industrial chemical used in cookware, furniture, and industrial fertilizers, contaminated wheat gluten manufactured in China and utilized in many pet food brands in the United States and Canada. This contamination led to a recall of more than 200 brands of pet food-the largest in American history. This comment explores the reasons behind the contamination and the ensuing recall. The author identifies inadequate domestic regulation as the primary reason behind the contamination and notes these inadequacies permitted pet food distributors and manufacturers to skirt responsibility during the recall. The comment highlights changes instituted in light of the recall and suggests further changes to the FDA and its regulations so that this heartbreaking situation can be avoided in the future.
(abstract from Animal Law)
February 12th, 2009
A complete set of Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports has been obtained and posted online by Wikileaks.org, a kind of Wikipedia for leaked documents.
The Congressional Research Service produces these reports to members of Congress on a wide variety of topics. Despite longstanding efforts by activists, librarians, and others (yes, especially activist librarians), these reports are not made public by the CRS. Access has been very limited. Interest organizations post CRS reports when they become available (see our CRS Reports links), typically only via a member of Congress releasing the report. Private vendors have also been able to provide for-fee access to the reports.
Wikileaks has now obtained access to all CRS reports back to 1990. The 6,781 reports comprise over 127,000 pages of material. OpenCRS, which for some time has collected released CRS reports, had only 447 of these reports. Until now.
The CRS reports are available for personal downloading via this Wikileaks page, but the mass of downloading has made the site hard to access.
Even better, they are now all available at OpenCRS. OpenCRS provides access via full-text search, a feed of Recent Reports , and a feed of Recently Added Reports.
Check out this Washington Post story for decent coverage of this breakthrough, as well as the following sources for this post.
Sources: Wikileaks, Open Access News, Stanford University Libraries Information Center, GOVDOC-L, and thanks to wh.
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