We Hold these Truths to Be Copyrighted.

declaration of independence -- copyrighted

"JD Lasica has a nice catch. Apparently, the Boston Globe has copyrighted the Declaration of Independence. But see 17 USC §506(c)." [Lessig Blog]

[The Shifted Librarian]

This is really funny. The Boston Globe published the Declaration of Independence on its Editorial page which has a copyright notice as boilerplate. But Lessig links to the potential penalties if you falsely apply a notice to a work for which you do not have the copyright. Cute. And a nice demonstration of how rapidly knowledge can be created on the INternet. I never knew that there was such a penalty.  9:37:10 AM    

Happy Belated Birthday to Project Gutenberg.

Project Gutenberg's 32nd Birthday

"July 4th marks the 32nd anniversary of that day in 1971 when Michael Hart first sped an all-caps version of the Declaration of Independence to anyone and everyone then on what later became the web, thus founding Project Gutenberg. Thanks to an army of volunteers and the Distributed Proofreaders, this is the last year PG will have fewer than 10,000 titles. Strangely, Microsoft picked this dual anniversary of literacy and freedom to re-launch their Reader product, with three free bestsellers a week, if you activate the new version with Passport, sign a EULA, etc. Real reason for the upgrade might be that the DRM on MS's old Reader was cracked. If you're not into giving away data, or are running a system other than Windows, maybe you could take the time to tell a friend about free books online, or even help out by visiting the Distributed Proofers and editing one page per day." [Slashdot]

So a happy belated birthday to PG, even while Darci Chapman quotes Jacek Artymiak discussing ebooks:

"Today's eBook efforts are missing the point. They make reading books harder, not easier. A book that cannot be read once the batteries run out or when you forget your password is pretty useless to me. Technology ought to make our lives easier, after all."

Amen and hallelujah.

[The Shifted Librarian]

MS will never make an ebook that is more convenient than a real book. And it will be a long time before an eBook will replace a book. I think that the only way electronic books will be popular is if they find a niche that books do not fill. Like combining the technology with WiFi to get up to the minute news, a la Minority Report. Printing news on disposable paper is a waste of resources. Invest in companies that are developing these technologies.  9:34:03 AM    

Short-Fused Populist, Breathing Fire at Bush [Daypop Top 40]

A nice little article on Dean from the Washington Post. I think it is likely that he is playing up the fire-breathing a little to the loyalists because the rhetoric works so well. His record as a governemor was not nearly so liberal. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as the campaign progresses. He does not have standard liberal views on many things, such as gun control or the death penalty. COuld be a lot more fun this election season than I expected.  9:26:45 AM