Law Librarian Blog

9/11 Hijackers Used Library Computers to Book Flight

The Seattle Times reported on April 29, 2005 that Sept. 11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, used library computers to book flight. The two men were aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon.

According to the Seattle Times, Ken Wainstein, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, made the disclosure in testimony to the House subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security. The library computer use example was used in Wainstein's argument that Congress should renew provisions of the USA Patriot Act that allow seizure of library records.

Thanks to Crime in the Library for the tip

Summary of Torture Worldwide

In Torture Worldwide, Human Rights Watch summarizes its 2004-05 research on torture and abuse of detainees or suspects country by country for 17 countries with links to each country specific report.

Khodorkovsky, a "Show Trial"

"The Khodorkovsky case is similar in many ways to the show trials directed by Joseph Stalin during his reign of terror." - Masha Gessen, deputy editor in chief of Bolshoy Gorod, a Moscow weekly. More.

Todd Miller's In Defense of Stupid Users

In Defense of Stupid Users by Todd Miller -- (Library Journal 3/15/2005) caused quite a stir on several boards. Here's why:

In the library world, we spend a remarkable amount of time and energy larding up our search interfaces with umpteen filters, Boolean pull-downs, radio buttons, and so on.

After we've built the ultimate stretch Cadillac of search engines, we proceed to "educate" the user about constructing searches in native command languages. And we're incredulous when Johnny turns to Google instead of to the awesome nuclear engine we've constructed. Obviously, something must be wrong with Johnny if he doesn't fully appreciate and engage our console of the arsenal of knowledge.
No mechanics, just drivers.

Google gives its users a pitiful solo search box. How can it compete? The answer from the old guard is that it's dumbed down. The reality is that Google gives its customers what they want: simple searching, powerful results.

I agree. When high precision searching is required, we are there. As Miller concludes:

The job of information professionals is not to make all users into information professionals. Our job is either to give them the right tools for the job or do the job for them.

RAND Study on Asbestos Injury Claims

RAND Study Finds More Than 730,000 People Have Files Asbestos Injury Claims in US, Costing Defendants More Than $70

More than 730,000 people in the United States filed compensation claims for asbestos-related injuries from the early 1970s through the end of 2002, costing businesses and insurance companies more than $70 billion, the RAND Corporation reported today.

Read the report.

Ron Jones, Univ Cin Law Lib

The 10 Most Bizarre Employment Cases of 2004

Fondly remembered old friend, Gerry Skoning (Senior Partner, Seyfarth Shaw, Chicago office) is at it again. Here's his top ten list of most bizarre employment cases of 2004. My favorite only ranks seventh on Gerry's list.

LUST TAKES ON MATTRESS FIRM

The 7th Circuit has ruled that punitive damages awarded to an employee in Lust v. Sealy Inc., a sex discrimination case, were excessive. Tracy Lust was promoted by Sealy to a position in its Madison, Wis., office two months after being passed over for a position in its Chicago office -- and shortly after she filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The court pointed out that her supervisor "had a history of making sexist remarks to Lust such as 'You're being a blonde again today.'" But the usually dour Judge Richard A. Posner, in a rare moment of levity, quipped: "Lust is blonde; Sealy points out irrelevantly that blondes are not a statutorily protected class, which will disappoint hair colorists.

The Fair Use Issue: Selected Resources

David Dillard (Temple) has published a selection of resources about fair use, plagiarism and related copyright issues from a variety of viewpoints. Nice job.

Guide to Open Source Software

If management has heard about this "open source thing" and wants more info about F/OSS, the Guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies is one of the best I've seen.

A Quick Look at Rulemaking Blog

Administrative Codes and Registers (ACR) is an organization of dedicated folks who, in at least some respects, regulate government regulators. Rulemaking was created to share information and ideas among members of the organization. The blog has been publishing since April 24, 2004

Thanks to Inter Alia for the tip.

Now Online - LexisNexis JP

LexisNexis Japan Co., Ltd., has lauched an online legal information service in the Japanese language (http://legal.lexisnexis.jp) called LexisNexis JP.

From the Press Release: This powerful new research tool is designed to help customers quickly and easily find cases, case commentaries and statutes, codes and laws over the Internet using a standard Web browser. The initial coverage of the LexisNexis JP database includes 206,000 judgments dating from 1862; 42,000 case commentaries as published in prestigious law journals, and all of the current 7,200 Japanese statutes, codes and laws. LexisNexis has licensed content from such highly reputable sources and journals as the Hanrei Times, Kinyu Houmu Jijo, Kinyu Shoji Hanrei and Rodo Hanrei.

Complete Press Release (April 18, 2005)

Mashing Up -- RSS Mix

RSS Mix is a tool that makes it possible for you to create one big uberfeed by blending together any number of user selected RSS feeds. The always useful ResearchBuzz explains.

Did NY Times Publish Biased Marginal Tax Rate Table?

Asked and answered by TaxProf Blog, a member of the Law Professor Blogs Network.

Gang Crimes Bill Passes House

H.R. 1279: Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005

GovTrack.us reports that HR 1279 passed the House yesterday with 91% of Republicans supporting and 63% of Democrats opposing. The measure passed 279 to 144.

May 16 Early Registration Deadline for Copyright Symposium

Pirates, Thieves and Innocents: Perceptions of Copyright Infringement in the Digital Age

A symposium sponsored by the Center for Intellectual Property

June 16-17, 2005

EARLY REGISTRATION ENDS MAY 16, 2005.
Register now and save $75.00. Space is limited. Some affiliation discounts apply.

Penn St Dickinson Law Stays Put for Next 20 Years

Pennsylvania State University has promised to maintain its original Dickinson School of Law campus in Carlisle for at least 20 years. The law school was established there in 1834. Read all about it.

New & Forthcoming Titles from the Brookings Institution Press

New Publications

Competition and Chaos
U.S. Telecommunications since the 1996 Telecom Act
Robert W. Crandall
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 212pp.
Paper Text, 0-8157-1617-6, $32.95

Book Description
In Competition and Chaos, Robert W. Crandall analyzes the impact of the 1996 act on economic welfare in the United States. He also examines how the act and its antecedents have affected the major telecommunications providers, some of whom are now a threatened species, caught in a downward spiral of declining prices and substantial losses. In the wake of the 2001-02 telecom stock market collapse, the industry is preparing for an intense battle for market share among three sets of surviving carriers: the wireless companies, the local (largely Bell) telephone companies, and the major cable television operators. None is assured a clear path to dominance in the drive to attract customers to an expanding array of voice, data and audio services. Although the telecom stock market collapse is now history and the survivors are investing once again, Crandall concludes that regulators failed to adapt to the chaos to which they contributed until the courts forced them to do so.

Peace Process
American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1967 - Third edition
William B. Quandt
Brookings Institution Press and the University of California Press 2005
c. 535pp.
Paper Text, 0-520-24631-4, $24.95

Book Description
In this timely new edition of Peace Process, William B. Quandt analyzes how each U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson has dealt with the complex challenge of brokering peace in the Middle East, from the 1967 Arab-Israeli war to the death of Yasir Arafat. This classic work has now been updated to reflect recently declassified U.S. government documents and other published materials relating to the Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton presidencies, and to carry the story through George W. Bush’s first term.

The most comprehensive account of the Middle East peace process in print, the book places the current situation in historical context and point to possible ways out of the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians. The text is complemented by extensive online appendixes containing significant treaties, resolutions, and speeches.

Beyond Jihad and Crusade
A New Framework for U.S. Policy in the Islamic World
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 224pp.
Trade Cloth, 0-8157-4924-4, $27.95

Book Description
Beyond Jihad and Crusade explores the roots of anti-Americanism and political violence in the Islamic world and the role of moderate Muslims struggling against extremism to promote Islamic democracy and a liberal understanding of Islam. Khan examines the critical role of American Muslims as a bridge between the United States and the Islamic world. He brings insights into the current contested nature of Islamic identity, the turmoil within the Muslim world, and the contentious nature of the relationship between Islam and the Western world, helping to construct a new framework for U.S. foreign policy.

This is a ground-breaking and ultimately hopeful book, offering a fundamentally different perspective from current thinking on relations between the United States and the Muslim world. Unlike the wave of post-9/11 books that find fault with Islam, with radical Islam, or with American foreign policy, Beyond Jihad and Crusade offers a balanced perspective that holds the interaction of U.S. foreign policy and the rise of radical Islam responsible for the events of September 11 and their aftermath.

Forthcoming Titles

The Market for Virtue
The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility
David Vogel
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 200pp.
Cloth Text, 0-8157-9076-7, $28.95

Book Description
In this book, David Vogel provides the first comprehensive, in-depth review of the contemporary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement in both the United States and Europe. He presents a careful and balanced appraisal of the movement’s accomplishments and limitations, including a critical evaluation of the business case for CSR. While acknowledging the movement’s achievements, most notably in improving some labor, human rights, and environmental conditions in developing countries, he also demonstrates that CSR’s potential to bring about a significant change in corporate behavior is exaggerated.

The Market for Virtue explores to what extent future improvements in corporate conduct can occur without more extensive or effective government regulation—in the United States, Europe, the Far East, and in the developing countries. In other words, what is the long-term potential of business self-regulation? Vogel concludes that the amount of improvement that can be expected is far more modest than much contemporary writing on corporate responsibility has claimed. There is a market for virtue, but it is limited by the substantial costs of more responsible business behavior.

Math You Can't Use
Patents, Copyright, and Software
Ben Klemens
Brookings Institution Press 2005
c. 150pp.
Cloth Text, 0-8157-4942-2, $28.95

Book Description
This lively and innovative book is about computer code and the legal controls and restrictions on those who write it.

This is the first book to confront these problems with serious policy solutions. It is sure to become the standard reference for software developers, those concerned with intellectual property issues, and for policymakers seeking direction. It is critical that public policy on these issues facilitates progress rather than hindering it. There is too much at stake.

Intellectual Property and the Information Ecosystem

Professor Peter K. Yu (Michigan Law) has posted a very interesting article, Intellectual Property and the Information Ecosystem, on SSRN.  (MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 02-16, Michigan State Law Review, Vol. 2005, pp. 1-20, Spring 2005).

Abstract: This short essay proceeds in two parts. The first part examines the controversy surrounding the use of the term intellectual property. It discusses the common criticisms of the term's usage, including those articulated by Richard Stallman. It also challenges the myth that intellectual property did not acquire any property attributes until the establishment of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The essay suggests that the term may remain in common usage despite its uneasy analogy to real property, and a more nuanced understanding of property law may alleviate some of the problems caused by using the term.

The second part focuses on the need for a new conceptual framework to reframe the intellectual property debate. This part articulates three reasons why the information ecosystem would provide such a framework. First, it reminds policymakers and commentators of the problems of the current bipolar intellectual property debate. Second, it highlights the different components of the intellectual property system and the interactions among these components. Third, it underscores the need to take a holistic perspective and consider intellectual property laws and policies as one of the many components of a larger information ecosystem.

State Laws and Published Ordinances: Firearms

From the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms:

Find a summary of firearm laws for each state and U.S. territory, and a Ready Reference Table comparing the states (waiting periods, etc.). Includes laws related to out-of-state purchases. 
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/statelaws/

Ron Jones, Univ of Cincinnati Law Library

Open at a Price

Oxford Journals has launched Oxford Open - a new open access initiative.

Extracted from the  May 4, 2005 Press Release:

Oxford Journals, a division of Oxford University Press (OUP), has announced its latest Open Access (OA) project, Oxford Open. Commencing July 2005, it will offer an optional author-pays model to authors of accepted papers in a range of Oxford Journals titles. Oxford Journals has also amended its post-prints policy to be compliant with the latest National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy . Both of these announcements further support Oxford Journals' central remit, as a leading not-for-profit publisher, to bring the highest quality research to the widest possible audience.

Oxford Open will give published authors in participating Oxford Journals titles the option to pay for research articles to be freely available online immediately on publication. The open access charge for each article will be £1,500 or $2,800, with authors being given the option to pay this amount once their manuscript has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. Discounted author charges of £800 or $1,500 will be available to authors from institutions that maintain a current online subscription. Authors from developing countries will also be eligible for discounted rates. The online subscription prices of participating journals will be adjusted for 2007 and subsequent years, according to how much content was paid for by authors and thus freely available online during the previous year.

(Emphasis Added)

...

In addition, and with immediate effect, authors who publish with Oxford Journals are entitled to upload their accepted manuscript ("post-print" ) to institutional and centrally organized repositories (including PubMed Central), but must stipulate that public availability be delayed until 12 months after first online publication in the journal unless the paper is being published within Oxford Open, in which case the post-print may be deposited and made freely available immediately the article is accepted for publication.

(Emphasis Added

Read the complete press release:

Oxford Journals has launched Oxford Open - a new open access initiative.

Oxford Journals, a division of Oxford University Press (OUP), has announced its latest Open Access (OA) project, Oxford Open. Commencing July 2005, it will offer an optional author-pays model to authors of accepted papers in a range of Oxford Journals titles. Oxford Journals has also amended its post-prints policy to be compliant with the latest National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy . Both of these announcements further support Oxford Journals' central remit, as a leading not-for-profit publisher, to bring the highest quality research to the widest possible audience.

Oxford Open will give published authors in participating Oxford Journals titles the option to pay for research articles to be freely available online immediately on publication. The open access charge for each article will be £1,500 or $2,800, with authors being given the option to pay this amount once their manuscript has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. Discounted author charges of £800 or $1,500 will be available to authors from institutions that maintain a current online subscription. Authors from developing countries will also be eligible for discounted rates. The online subscription prices of participating journals will be adjusted for 2007 and subsequent years, according to how much content was paid for by authors and thus freely available online during the previous year.

Oxford Open is a further addition to the current Oxford Journals OA experiments, with a variety of models being tested. These include Journal of Experimental Botany, eCAM, and Nucleic Acids Research, the latter being the first major science journal of such stature and prestige to move to a full Open Access model, in January 2005. Oxford Open will initially launch with a range of titles owned by Oxford Journals, with further journals being added to the scheme at a later date.

In addition, and with immediate effect, authors who publish with Oxford Journals are entitled to upload their accepted manuscript ("post-print" ) to institutional and centrally organized repositories (including PubMed Central), but must stipulate that public availability be delayed until 12 months after first online publication in the journal unless the paper is being published within Oxford Open, in which case the post-print may be deposited and made freely available immediately the article is accepted for publication.

"Oxford Open is a logical extension to our current Open Access experiments, and will allow us to collect valuable first-hand data on the demand for Open Access by authors across a broad range of subjects," commented Martin Richardson, Managing Director of Oxford Journals. "It also offers research funders a choice as to how quickly they wish the research results they fund to be made freely available online, without undermining the current business models that allow high-quality
peer-reviewed journals, still highly-regarded by researchers as the preferred quality 'kite-mark' for their work, to continue to be viable in the long-term."

Further details about Oxford Journals Author Self-Archiving Policy can be found at: <www.oupjournals.org/selfarchivingpolicy>. Register to receive further information about the Oxford Open Initiative as it becomes available using the Oxford Open Form: <www.oupjournals.org/oxfordopen>.

For further information contact:

Rachel Goode
Head of Marketing & Communications
Oxford Journals
Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street
Oxford, OX2 6DP
UK
Tel: +44 1865 353388
rachel.goode@oupjournals.org

U Maryland IP Online Course - Register by May 23

Intellectual Property in the Information Age.."
Leading-edge online training from the University of Maryland

June 6-17, 2005

The information economy, aided by rapidly-changing technologies, has propelled the subject of intellectual property (IP) law into a position of critical importance.  Join Lee S. Strickland, J.D., Director of the Center for Information Policy, and fellow information professionals to explore questions like “how is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act being used today by big business?  How has it changed the reproduction rights of libraries?  How does the Copyright Term Extension Act affect your institution?

Course topics include:  IP law (copyright, trademarks, cybersquatting, patents, etc.); copyright law (infringement, fair use, implications for educators, etc.); IP in the political, business, and judiciary sectors; and, digitization projects and libraries (best practices to best resources).   

This fully-interactive, web-based course features video, live chat sessions, and real-life scenarios to be discussed in a bulletin board environment.  A customized CD-ROM will be mailed to you in advance.  You should plan to devote approximately ten (10) hours to the course over a two-week period.  Upon successful completion, 1.0 CEU will be awarded. 

To register online for “Intellectual Property…”, click on Register IP. Cost is $275. The registration deadline is May 23.  For other ways to register and for information on additional professional development courses, visit www.clis.umd.edu/ce.