Tasini v. New York Times Update
Yahoo! Pulls Offensive Auction Items
U.S. Filtering Legislation Squeaks Through
Will Linking Will Be Free Forever?
SLA Seeks Nominations for Depository Library Council
Other Stuff (stats, events, etc.)
December Public Policy Question of the Month Results
January's Question of the Month
January's Public Policy Website of the Month
Tasini v. New York Times Update
With the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled to review that details of Tasini v. New York Times later this year, both publishers and authors have been courting the U.S. library community in the hopes that SLA and other organizations might join the fray. As of this writing, the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries have decided to move forward on filing amicus curiae (a "friend of the court" brief) with the high court. However, SLA, the Medical Library Association, and the American Association of Law Librarians have not made decisions to date. SLA's Government Affairs and Intellectual Property Committee will hold a conference call tomorrow to discuss the merits of the case and whether to recommend that the Board of Directors join ALA and ARL as signatories on the court brief.
Review the decision from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that was sent to the Supreme Court.
Yahoo! Pulls Offensive Auction Items
Yahoo! Inc. will stop carrying online auctions of Nazi artifacts and other hate-related materials after some users complained that such items promote hate and violence. The new restrictions, which take effect a week from Wednesday, could also address a November court ruling from France requiring Yahoo to block such items from French users. Although Yahoo has insisted it cannot limit access to certain geographic regions, as the French court ordered, Yahoo may effectively comply by blocking the items from everyone.
The newly banned items at Yahoo include medals, weapons, uniforms, official documents and other items that carry swastikas or other symbols associated with hate groups.
In April, two French groups sued Yahoo under its old policies, accusing the U.S. company of violating French law barring the display or sale of racist material. A French judge ruled in November that Yahoo must prevent French users from auctions of such items, or face $13,000 a day in fines. On Dec. 21, the company asked a U.S. court to block the order, saying France doesn't have jurisdiction.
U.S. Filtering Legislation Squeaks Through
At the end of the 106th Congress, lawmakers passed the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA - Senate Bill 97, House Bill 4577), which requires schools and libraries to filter Internet access to obscene material and child pornography if they are receiving universal service subsidies from the government. ALA has vigorously opposed filtering in all forms, and believes that CIPA will be challenged in court. SLA's policy on filtering has historically maintained that information professionals and library authorities are best suited to determine whether filtering is appropriate for their facilities.
Review the text of the legislation and a summary from the Congressional Research Service.
Will Linking Will Be Free Forever?
Maybe not. With many dot.coms experiencing weak sales and nearly going out of business, the issue of linking could be a new source of litigation in the coming years. Such companies may consider charging for links in order to generate revenue. The Albuquerque Journal has already begun to do so, charging $50 for linking rights to online articles. No laws exist currently that address charging for links, and relatively little court activity has occurred in this area. But look for linking charges to raise legal and legislative issues in the future.
SLA Seeks Nominations for Depository Library Council
The U.S. Government Printing Office has announced that it is seeking nominations from various groups for positions available on the U.S. Depository Library Council. The Council consists of 15 representatives of the U.S. Government information community, each serving a term of 3 years. Each year, five new council members are appointed by the Public Printer. The Council meets twice yearly: in April at various sites around the US; and in October in Washington, DC.
Four SLA members currently serve on the Depository Library Council:
Paul Kaczmarek, Detroit Public Library
Gladys Ann Wells, Arizona State Librarian
Greta Marlatt, Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA)
Linda Fredericks, King County (Seattle) Library System
Nominations are due to SLA by February 15, 2001. If you would like to submit a nomination, contact John Crosby at john-c@sla.org or by calling 1-202-939-3629.
Other Stuff (stats, events, etc.)
The World Future Society estimates that, by 2010, nearly 95 percent of the industrialized world's population will have access to the Internet. Additionally, about half of the developing world will have such access. The study expects that more than 300 million people will be online by 2005. For more information, visit the Society's website (www.wfs.org).
December Public Policy Question of the Month Results
What is your greatest concern regarding the future of the online publishing industry?
37.5% The reliability of online publishing archives
28.1% The rising costs of online resources
20.3% The possibility of unreasonable requirements in online licenses
12.5% The merger/acquisition trend in the industry
12.5% The general trend towards aggressive defense of copyright online
January's Public Policy Question of the Month
What's Your Opinion on Napster's Sharing of Music Files Over the Internet?
Vote on the January Question of the Month!
January's Public Policy Website of the Month
Public Agenda Online, a service of Public Agenda - a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1975 by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance.
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