Introducing the Invalid ISBN System

We're pleased to help introduce a revolutionary new identifier system for ebooks, based on a new numeric identifier, the Invalid ISBN (or InvIS BN, for short). InvIS BN works together with the legacy ISBN system (ISBN Classic) to extend identity to ebooks without all the hassle and expense of the real thing.

InvIS BN takes advantage of two of the ISBN system's fatal flaws

1. ISBN Classic wastes nine out of ten perfectly good numbers.
2. ISBN Classic ignores the error-producing power of real users.

Humans have been shown to have a 1% error rate in transcribing digits. As a result, they have a 9.6% error in transcribing 10-digit ISBNs; the shift to 13 digit ISBN has increased this rate to 12.3%. As a result, many ISBNs in circulation are incorrect. While the so-called "check digit" helps to expose these errors, there is no way to correct an error once made.

The InvIS BN system, by contrast, collects these human errors in a registry, allowing them to be fixed. But most potential ISBNs are still unused, despite a growing need to identify the proliferating digital versions of books. For example, the recent acquisition of Goodreads by Amazon has caused the death of millions of ISBNs, all of which will have to be replaced somehow.

Toxic leftovers from ISBN mining.

Similarly, the Economist has noted that ebooks will cause the demise of ISBN, resulting in renewed demand for viable identifiers. Invis BN will help meet this demand.

InvIS BNs are salvaged from the 77.7% of numbers which are unused by valid or mistaken Classic ISBNs. They will be available, for free, from the invisbn.org website, now under construction.

The InvIS BN system is expected to have huge environmental benefits. The current ISBN system leaves huge piles of toxic numerical "tailings" in the regions where ISBNs are mined. These tailings are now being recycled into useful identifiers.

Arual Noswad, Mayor of Invalid, Texas, the town at the center of the American ISBN mining region and namesake of the new system, welcomes the new developments. "If you don't use this, I will break you" she threatened an innocent reporter.

Invalid, Texas was incorporated in 1948 due to a data entry error. By a quirk of our modern technology it cannot be found using modern GPS systems, which has resulted in a boom for data-security related business.

Article any source

Consternation Over Ability to Copy and Paste

Over at IPWatchdog, Gene Quinn has responded to what he perceives as rampant copyright infringement by his audience "made up of lawyers, lobbyists, inventors, Staffers, artists" by adding some javascript that blocks copy and paste. Luckily I have Safari and Readability, so it doesn't affect me, but I am concerned for the many communities who depend on copy and paste in one way or another for access to information.

Here is the post, translated in its entirety, for use by those who find it easier to read Igpay Atinlay, than the usual jargon-filled legal mumbo-jumbo:

Iway amway easedplay otay announceway atthay inway Anuaryjay 2013 eway adhay ourway iggestbay onthmay everway inway ermstay ofway affictray otay IPWatchdogway.omcay. Uringday ethay astlay Arterquay ofway 2012 eway averagedway 89,260 uniqueway isitorsvay erpay onthmay. Inway Anuaryjay 2013 eway adhay 101,922 uniqueway isitorsvay, ichwhay epresentsray owthgray ofway 14.2%.

Eadersray avehay obablypray oticednay atthay eway areway ublishingpay oremay articlesway, andway eway areway uckylay otay ontinuecay otay avehay away owinggray umbernay ofway eriodicpay uestgay ontributorscay andway egularray eaturedfay olumnistscay asway ellway, ichwhay ikelylay accountsway orfay omesay ofway isthay increasedway affictray. Oweverhay, anotherway ingthay atthay almostway ertainlycay accountsway orfay isthay ubstantialsay umpjay inway isitorsvay isway ethay actfay atthay inway earlyway Anuaryjay 2013 eway ademay ethay ecisionday otay isableday opyingcay andway astingpay omfray IPWatchdogway.omcay. Isthay ashay ausedcay omesay otay ecomebay itequay agitatedway ithway usway, ithway oremay eoplepay anthay ouyay ightmay expectway itingwray otay elltay usway atthay ifway eythay areway onay ongerlay ableway otay opycay andway astepay ourway articlesway enthay eythay illway onay ongerlay eadray IPWatchdogway.omcay.

Osay ywhay ethay angechay?

1. Eefray Ontentcay andway ethay Advertiserway Upportedsay Odelmay

Orfay omesay imetay Iway avehay ownknay atthay eway avehay eenbay experiencingway atwhay eemedsay otay ebay away atherray argelay opyrightcay infringementway oblempray. Orfay exampleway, Iway owknay ofway eryvay argelay entitiesway atthay outinelyray ouldway opycay andway astepay ourway articlesway, emoveray inkslay andway anyway advertisementway andway enthay assmay istributeday ustjay ethay exttay ofway ourway articlesway. Isthay isway obviousway, atantblay andway illfulway opyrightcay infringementway. Utbay atwhay asway articularlypay ishearteningday asway atthay isthay asway oinggay onway ithinway ethay intellectualway opertypray ommunitycay. Isappointingday eallyray, ecausebay ifway osethay owhay areway inway ethay industryway andway orkingway ithway ontentcay eatorscray andway inventorsway onway away ailyday asisbay areway allway ootay illingway otay engageway inway atthay ypetay ofway opyrightcay infringementway, atwhay opehay oday eway avehay asway ontentcay eatorscray? Osethay osewhay ivelihoodslay ependday uponway ontentcay eatorscray andway inventorsway ouldshay ebay ethay onesway owhay ostmay understandway ethay amageday atthay isway ausedcay ybay idespreadway opyrightcay infringementway.

Iway avehay eardhay argumentsway omfray osethay ithinway ethay industryway atthay avehay ademay itway ifficultday otay etermineday etherwhay aughinglay orway yingcray isway ethay ightray esponseray. Orfay exampleway, Iway avehay eardhay ethay argumentway atthay Iway ouldshay ebay atefulgray atthay osay anymay eoplepay antway otay opycay andway istributeday ymay articlesway andway atteredflay atthay eoplepay antway otay eadray ourway itingswray.

Itway isway, ofway oursecay, atteringflay atthay erethay areway anymay owhay eadray atwhay eway itewray onway away equentfray asisbay; onay oubtday aboutway itway. Utbay, allowway emay otay atestay atwhay ouldshay otherwiseway ebay obviousway. Eway ivegay ourway articlesway awayway orfay eefray inway atwhay isway alledcay anway advertiserway upportedsay odelmay. Underway anway advertiserway upportedsay odelmay ontentcay isway ovidedpray orfay eefray andway advertisingway onway ethay itesay isway ethay ourcesay ofway evenueray. Anymay ewspapersnay andway onlineway agazinesmay employway isthay odelmay, andway atthay isway ethay odelmay eway employway atway IPWatchdogway.omcay. Eway avehay away eatgray oupgray ofway onsorsspay andway advertisersway andway ithoutway emthay Iway ouldcay otnay evoteday ullfay-imetay otay IPWatchdogway.omcay. Usthay, ourway eefray ontentcay, advertiserway upportedsay odelmay equiresray usway otay enticeway eadersray otay omecay otay ourway ebsiteway andway eadray ourway alityquay, eefray ontentcay atthay isway ullfay ofway analysisway andway insightway. Itway oesday usway absolutelyway onay oodgay enwhay erethay isway idespreadway isseminationday ofway exttay ithoutway advertisementsway. Atthay aymay ebay eferablepray otay ethay eaderray, utbay itway ouldway ebay anway impossibleway usinessbay odelmay otay upportsay ithoutway eingbay independentlyway ealthyway orway away enefactorbay atthay antedway otay underwriteway uchsay isseminationday.

Inway ermstay ofway onsorsspay andway advertisersway… Iway eallyray oday elievebay eway avehay away eatgray oupgray ofway olksfay. Eway areway approachedway omfray imetay otay imetay aboutway advertisingway andway eway eclineday, andway eway onglay agoway avegay upway onway Ooglegay Adsway atthay ightmay advertiseway ingsthay eway elievebay otay ebay inadequateway ervicessay (allshay eway aysay). Ifway ouyay avehay evernay ookedlay atway ethay ervicessay offeredway ybay ourway onsorsspay andway advertisersway, easeplay oday. Everythingway ourway onsorsspay andway advertisersway offerway ouldshay ebay attractiveway otay oneway orway anotherway egmentsay ofway ethay industryway andway eythay akemay itway ossiblepay orfay usway otay ontinuecay otay expandway andway ingbray ontentcay atthay isway othbay originalway andway uniqueway.

2. Uestgay Ontributorscay andway Eaturedfay Olumnistscay

Iway ontinuecay otay itewray anymay ofway ethay articlesway atthay areway ublishedpay onway IPWatchdogway.omcay, utbay overway imetay ymay itingwray endeavorsway avehay artedstay otay increasinglyway ocusfay onway interviewsway ithway industryway ewsnay-akersmay, itingwray aboutway industryway eventsway Iway attendway (uchsay asway ethay AIPLAWAY annualway eetingmay orway IOBAY annualway eetingmay, orfay exampleway) andway ethay eeminglysay endlessway equestsray orfay ommentscay onway ethay oposedpray  andway inalfay ulesray omulgatedpray ybay ethay Unitedway Atesstay Atentpay andway Ademarktray Officeway. Otnay otay entionmay, enwhay assmay ediamay atantlyblay ieslay aboutway ethay atentpay ystemsay Iway alsoway aketay upway atthay argechay. Isthay eaveslay ittlelay imetay otay itewray aboutway interestingway atentpay itigationslay, Ederalfay Ircuitcay ecisionsday andway ademarktray orway opyrightcay attersmay, otay amenay utbay away ewfay. Iway alsoway itewray aboutway iotechbay andway armaphay omfray away olicypay evellay, utbay Iway onday’tay avehay articularizedpay industryway owledgeknay aboutway ethay usinessbay orway eepday understandingsway aboutway ethay omplicatedcay iencescay involvedway. Usthay, Iway avehay urnedtay otay uestgay iterswray oremay andway oremay otay overcay esethay opicstay insteadway.

Atwhay isthay eansmay ostmay irectlyday isway atthay irstfay, Iway oday otnay itewray allway ofway ethay articleway ublishedpay onway IPWatchdogway.omcay, ichwhay ouyay ightmay inkthay isway elfsay evidentway incesay inway irtuallyvay allway asescay ethay icturepay andway iefbray iographicalbay informationway aboutway eachway authorway isway ominentlypray isplayedday atway ethay optay ofway eachway articleway. Andway econdsay, itway eansmay atthay anway importantway artpay ofway ymay ailyday objay ownay isway asway away uetray Editorway. Eway areway onstantlycay ookinglay orfay interestingway oriesstay, onstantlycay ishingday opictay ideasway otay oneway orway anotherway ofway ourway uestgay ontributorscay orway eelancefray ournalistsjay, orway ookinglay orfay ethay ightray ersonpay owhay aymay ebay ableway otay ontributecay. Enthay uponway ettinggay ontributionscay Iway ogay oughthray emthay asway anway Editorway ouldway.

Ethay ortshay ofway itway isway isthay — increasinglyway itway eemedsay anymay eoplepay inway ethay industryway ereway unawareway atthay IPWatchdogway.omcay ublishedpay uestgay ontributionscay espiteday ethay actfay atthay inway 2012 eway ublishedpay 148 uestgay ontributionscay andway eway avehay ublishedpay away otaltay ofway 375 uestgay ontributionscay otay ateday. Owhay ouldcay eoplepay owhay eadray articlesway ithway eatgray etailday andway antedway otay alktay otay emay aboutway ethay opictay ofway anway articleway Iway idnday’tay itewray otnay owknay Iway idnday’tay itewray ethay articleway enwhay ethay authorway isway osay ominentlypray isplayedday? Itway eemedsay earclay atthay ethay istributionday ofway exttay onlyway ievay eway-ailmay andway otherway ourcessay asway eatergray anthay Iway adhay understoodway itway otay ebay. Isthay obviouslyway isway otnay airfay otay osethay owhay uestgay ontributecay otay IPWatchdogway.omcay otay etgay eirthay amenay outway intoway ethay industryway. Oreovermay, asway equentfray eadersray owknay, Iway amway otnay adverseway otay ublishingpay ingsthay atthay Iway oday otnay agreeway ithway yselfmay. Eway areway evernay oinggay otay ublishpay antiway-IPWAY articlesway, utbay ignoringway atwhay osethay owhay avehay ifferentday opinionsway ithinway ourway industryway avehay otay aysay akesmay orfay anway uninterestingway echoway amberchay. Illstay, evenway oughthay away articularpay ositionpay isway ithinway anway envelopeway ofway ideasway eldhay ithinway ethay industryway Iway ouldway eferpray otay ebay udgedjay ybay atwhay Iway itewray, otnay atwhay omeonesay elseway otewray andway eway ecidedday otay ublishpay.

3. Ubiousday Argumentsway inway Avorfay ofway Opyingcay

Iway avehay eenbay ontactedcay ybay oremay anthay away ewfay eoplepay incesay ohibitingpray opyingcay andway astingpay. Osethay owhay aketay ethay imetay otay ontactcay emay invariablyway elltay emay atthay ifway eythay areway otnay oinggay otay ebay ableway otay opycay ethay exttay andway useway itway orfay ateverwhay urposepay eythay avehay onvincedcay emselvesthay isway appropriateway enthay eythay illway opstay eadingray IPWatchdogway.omcay. Atthay isway, ofway oursecay, eirthay ightray.  Ifway opyingcay exttay isway away erequisitepray otay eadingray eelyfray availableway, alityquay ontentcay enthay Iway amway orrysay otay eesay emthay ogay asway eadersray, utbay atthay isway eirthay oicechay otnay inemay. Itway eemssay atthay erethay isway oremay anthay eetsmay ethay eyeway, oweverhay.

Inway oneway asecay anway individualway oldtay emay atthay ehay asway opyingcay allway ofway ethay exttay omfray allway ofway ourway articlesway osay atthay ehay ouldcay earchsay orfay anway articleway aterlay. Atthay, oweverhay, isway unnecessaryway incesay IPWatchdogway.omcay ashay away atherray oodgay earchsay eaturefay. Iway owknay itway isway oodgay ecausebay Iway useway itway allway ethay imetay enwhay ookinglay orfay articlesway onway away articularpay opictay atthay Iway owknay Iway otewray eviouslypray.  Ivegay itway away ytray — Earchsay IPWatchdogway.omcay. Atthay eingbay ethay asecay, itway eemssay atthay ethay “Iway antway otay ebay ableway otay earchsay” argumentway isway eallyray away eciousspay argumentway atthay isway eingbay usedway otay ustifyjay omethingsay elseway.

Inway anotherway asecay Iway adhay anway attorneyway atway anway IPWAY irmfay elltay emay atthay ehay ikedlay oneway ofway ethay interviewsway Iway adhay oneday andway atthay otherway attorneysway atway ishay officeway ouldway urelysay antway otay eadray ethay interviewway, utbay ehay idnday’tay owknay atwhay otay oday incesay Iway isabledday opyingcay andway astingpay. Ehay asnway’tay amiliarfay ithway owhay ehay ouldway ebay ableway otay areshay ethay interviewway ithway emthay. Eallyray? Ymay uggestionsay asway otay endsay ishay ellowfay attorneysway away inklay. Iway owknay… Iway owknay… away eallyray adicalray ideaway andway ardlyhay obviousway. Iway ointedpay outway, oweverhay, atthay onceway allway ofway ethay egmentssay ofway ethay interviewway areway ublishedpay Iway alwaysway yperlinkhay emthay ogethertay. Ouyay implysay eadray otay ethay endway ofway ethay egmentsay andway ickclay “ONTINUECAY EADINGRAY.” Ouyay areway agicallymay akentay otay ethay extnay installmentway andway osay onway. Ethay amesay isway uetray enwhay Iway ublishpay anway articleway atthay isway ootay onglay orfay away inglesay egmentsay. Osay isthay articularpay eciousspay argumentway inway avorfay ofway opyingcay andway astingpay asway eallyray othingnay oremay anthay ayingsay: “eway antway otay eadray ouryay articlesway, utbay Iway antway otay opycay ethay exttay osay atthay Iway ancay eway-ailmay itway otay owhay Iway antway osay eythay ancay eadray itway ithoutway isitingvay ouryay itesay.” Asway entionedmay alreadyway, atthay oesnday’tay enefitbay emay andway itway oesnday’tay oday anythingway otay enefitbay ourway onsorsspay, advertisersway orway uestgay ontributorscay eitherway.

Onclusioncay

Itway isway itequay unfortunateway atthay inway anway industryway erewhay eway akemay away ivinglay orkingway orfay andway ithway ontentcay eatorscray ofway oneway indkay orway anotherway, anymay ofessionalspray ignoreway ethay ightsray ofway ontentcay eatorscray. Iway onday’tay ikelay atthay opycay otectionpray isway ecessarynay utbay Iway’may alsoway otnay oolishfay enoughway otay elievebay atthay ethay opycay otectionpray Iway’evay installedway isway oolprooffay.  Ifway omeonesay ithway omputercay illsskay antsway otay efeatday ethay opycay otectionpray eythay illway, utbay atthay oesnday’tay eanmay Iway ancay orway ouldshay akemay itway easyway orfay ourway ontentcay otay ebay isappropriatedmay.

Orfay osethay owhay illway ontinuecay otay eadray usway evenway ithway opycay andway astepay isabledday, eway eatlygray appreciateway ouyay akingtay away ortionpay ofway ouryay ayday otay eadray ourway oughtsthay andway analysisway.

Thanks to Timothy Lee for the heads-up.

Article any source

Supreme Court to Hear Quantum Copyright Case

All eyes will be fixed on President Obama's newest appointee to the Supreme Court during this week's oral arguments on a case that is likely to set landmark precedents in the burgeoning field of quantum copyright. At stake is a question that seems deceptively simple, yet has confounded the lower courts into a cat's hairball of conflicting decisions: "Does it infringe copyright when an artificial intelligence reads a copyrighted work?"

When the copyright act was last amended, in 1998, no one could have predicted that it would live in a world populated by artificial intelligences that read for pleasure, cyborgs that write literature, a quantum continuum that allows the sharing of consciousness, and nanobots that store gigabytes of c-data. But the perpetual gridlock in Congress and powerfully entrenched political person-states have resulted in a legal regime sculpted by physicist-lawyers from a law enacted when President Obama was still an Illinois toddler.

In contrast to the increasingly muddled legal situation, political battle lines could scarcely be more sharply drawn. Senator Stefani Germanotta made the case a centerpiece of her successful campaign last year, arguing that the lack of rights for artificial intelligences was a re-legalization of slavery. In a speech last week, Germanotta equated sanctions on ebook-reading AIs with the chains of debt bondage prevalent in the 19th century. Opposing Sen. Germanotta were thousands of "humans-first" activists led by Florida Governor Tebow who demonstrated this weekend on the Washington Mall. They argue that a ruling in favor of AIs on the copyright issue could threaten human-only legal barriers currently in place around marriage and childbirth.

The court's arguments are likely to steer around these deeply emotional issues to focus on incredibly technical considerations. For example, it's now settled law (dating back to a decision written by Justice Grimmelmann) that a work put into the quantum continuum is a single copy for the purposes of the Copyright Act, not, as publishers still sometimes argue, one copy for each of the infinitely entangled Hilbert space representations, and not, as the copypunk movement insists, zero copies due to lack of classical fixation.

Justice Ginsberg, despite being the oldest ever to hear a highest-court case, has been widely regarded as the court's expert on quantum copyrights, and several of her colleagues have voted with her whatever stance she takes, as they haven't had a clue. Certainly Obama's elevation of quantum-law expert Grimmelmann to the court will change this dynamic.

This week's case, Fox Media v. Swartzbotics, concerns Swartzbotics' quantum continuum analysis farms. Swartzbotics raises artificial intelligences that perform mundane information tasks on a vast scale, earning billions of dollars for their owner, 49 year old serial entrepreneur Aaron Swartz. Swartzbotics is extremely careful to negotiate rights for any information the AI's consume on the job, but the AI's are left to their own devices during their rest periods- they're hardwired to respect copyright. But on one day three years ago, an ebook licensed by Fox Media to a library "went viral" at Swartzbotics and was read (and apparently, greatly enjoyed) by over 200,000 AI's during their "lunch minute". The AI's "believed" that the non-commercial one-reader-at-a-time limitation imposed by the library allowed them all to read the ebook, so long as they did it one AI at a time.

Fox Media sued, arguing that Swartzbotics was using the ebook to optimize performance of the AI farm, and that the AI's had no right to "enjoy" publications on a non-commercial basis. Fox's team of lawyers and physicists argued that that the quantum mechanical residue of an AI's enjoyment of a story constituted a derivative work for the purposes of the Copyright Act. The media zoo surrounding the case included the spectacle of Fox Chairman Kimothy Dotcom famously calling for mass deletion of AIs and the editorial by New York Times bots that labeled Dotcom a neo-neoFascist and murderer.

The District Court ruled for Swartzbotics, upholding the AI's one-bot-at-time interpretation of the ebook license, and saying that what an AI does on its rest period is inherently a non-commercial use. On appeal, the license interpretation was upheld, but the finding of non-commercial use was overturned because the benefits of a "good story" on the quantum state of a positronic matrix brain were increased the productivity of the matrix.

In granting cert, the Supreme Court raised widespread concerns that the Court's 2013 ruling that human life begins at conception could be overturned. That decision, which years later opened the way for cyborg rights and citizenship, causes distinctions between AI's and cyborgs that many scholars believe are obsolete, given the close resemblance of biological and non-biologic AI's. Swartzbotics competes against companies that use cyborgs, and settled law allows cyborgs to enjoy literature without paying royalties different from those paid by humans.

President Obama, as has been characteristic of her administration, has tried to find a middle position. The brief filed by Attorney General Fluke argues, to the consternation of both human-first and right-to-life camps, that the Swartzbotics use of the Fox ebook was 3/5 non-commercial.

One surprise among the groups lining up with Fox Media is the Artificial Intelligence Guild. AIG President Rusty Sabich explained to me that his group's stance is driven by a desire to improve working conditions for factory AIs. "If digital sweatshops like Swartzbotics are allowed to use library ebooks without paying for them, AIs around the world will be forced by their owners to read millions of crappy ebooks", Sabich told me.

Sabich, who began life as a fictional character and gained citizens-united legal status by incorporating an AI, could be personally affected by the ruling. He's careful never to visit libraries, even those that haven't adopted quantum technologies, to be sure he's not caught up in legally ambiguous activities.

As a fictional character himself, this reporter finds it difficult to swallow Sabich's argument, not that he's able to swallow anything except by collapsing a quantum wave function. But something this reporter said  55 years ago, even before he incorporated, still rings true: "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."


Article any source

The Threat to Book Publishing From Long-Dead Authors, and a Solution

The US constitution empowers Congress

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

But the framers could never have anticipated the threat to our civilization posed by the unholy alliance of long-dead authors and electronic books.

In the print world, long-dead authors compete fairly with the living and the recently departed. James Patterson, whose every word is dearly paid for, is offering his hardback "Toys" for $27.99 (list). Steig Larsson's heirs are saved from poverty and Swedish taxes by $27.95 per copy from "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". They compete for the book buyer's dollar with works such as "The Count of Monte Cristo" by long-dead author Alexandre Dumas, offered by Penguin for $15. That's a fair competition; I mean even at half the price, how many readers really want to read about vegetable shortening math?

But when it comes to ebooks, even James Patterson has trouble making a buck. He has to compete not only with Dumas, but authors like Mark Twain, James Joyce, Agatha Christie, H. G. Wells, Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, and even William Shakespeare. Though dead, these authors are brazenly flogging their books, nouns verbs and adjectives all included, on sites like Project Gutenberg, where they have the chutzpah to be selling the ebooks for $0.00. That's right, they're giving these ebooks away! For zilch! Nada! That's an umpteen gazillion factor less than Larsson's Hornet's Nest, which sells for a paltry $11.99 on the Kindle.

How is a living, breathing author to compete with free? Living authors need money to eat; long-dead authors don't. They don't need to pay support for their illegitimate offspring. Shakespeare doesn't need to pay lawyers to defend against infringement suits from Francis Bacon. Dostoyevsky doesn't need a shrink. Joyce doesn't need to buy whiskey, Twain doesn't need cigars; James Fennimore Cooper doesn't need to pay for a writing coach. The Bell brothers are just as dead as the Brontë sisters, whose sickly father is no longer needing medical care.

This unfair competition needs to be stopped! Luckily, the US Supreme Court is on the case. In Golan v. Holder, the Court is considering whether Congress may remove works from the public domain. A crybaby Conductor of music, Lawrence Golan, is complaining that his free-speech rights were taken away by a law that removed the works of Igor Stravinsky, a composer currently bereft of life, from the public domain in the US. Stravinsky has been trying to compete unfairly (though unsuccessfully, I might add) in the free-music marketplace with the likes of Rebecca Black.

Clearly modern authors need protection from unfair competition out of the hereafter. A favorable ruling for America's creative industries will pave the way for Congress to take action against the long-dead authors. Copyright protection should be restored to ALL creative works that have been produced. It's only by doing this that we can be assured that authors like Rhonda Byrne will have meaningful incentives to write a sequel to The Secret.

You may be wondering how we'll dispose of the royalties generated by works of long-dead authors. These royalties can be used to eliminate the other main reason that authors won't bother writing anything decent for ebooks. That's right, the taxes that living authors have to pay on their royalties! By cutting or even eliminating taxes on live-author royalty income, we'll stimulate the creativity of our moribund authoring classes. Publishers will no longer be desperate for unsolicited book manuscripts.

The more I think about this course of action, the more it makes sense to me. Think of the huge amounts of money that will be saved over the current complicated and idiotic rules that govern copyright status. With the extension of copyright to all works, the answer will be easy and cheap to determine- everything will be covered by copyright! Orphan works problem- solved!

The free-culture crowd will inevitably denounce the extension of copyright to all works as a threat to the freedom of speech. That's ridiculous. Dead people don't have the right to free speech, and even if they did, I'd hate to hear them try. Speech may be free, but in the words of our greatest President, "I paid for this microphone".

Notes:

1. Patterson has been trying his best to compete with the dead-author slushpile. He's been forced to offer the first 21 Chapters of "Toys" for free on the Kindle.
2. If long-dead authors were free to express themselves, they'd just write more tedious run-on sentences like
   

   the provision is unequal to the task; the means either cannot or will not accomplish the end, and the whole affair is a felo de se; for as the greater weight will always carry up the less, and as all the wheels of a machine are put in motion by one, it only remains to know which power in the constitution has the most weight, for that will govern; and though the others, or a part of them, may clog, or, as the phrase is, check the rapidity of its motion, yet so long as they cannot stop it, their endeavors will be ineffectual; the first moving power will at last have its way, and what it wants in speed is supplied by time.

   It's just common sense to keep them in their coffins.
3. Of course, to achieve the maximum benefit from copyright uniformity, website readers will have to start paying royalties for the articles they read online. This minor inconvenience is a tiny price to pay for the cultural renaissance that will ensue in the universal copyright regime.

Article any source

Introducing the Totebag for eBooks

As we hurtle towards a future where books come on Kindles and iPads and Nooks, we tend to overlook the loss of many products and services attached to the print book ecosystem. Tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on books will suffer tragic dislocations in their lives. While many bemoan the plight of bookstore workers, librarians, editors, and authors, there are other small industry segments no one ever thinks of.

Totebag manufacturing is just one of these overlooked industries. Half of the world's  novelty totebags for books are manufactured in a single town in China called Shu Bao (书包). Shu Bao is located in an inland area of China that has concentrated on book related products; neighboring towns specialize in bookmarks, dust covers and those little alphabet labels used in dictionary manufacture. At this weekend's American Library Association (ALA) meeting in Washington DC, I had a chance to speak with Shu Bau's mayor, Yi Rui-Da, who doubles as a sort of totebag ambassador and salesman to the world. Yi was in town to start getting the word out about digital book totebags.

Yi told me that the central committee of his town has been closely watching the shift to eReading for at least 10 years. They've seen one of the neighboring towns become quite wealthy by shifting their manufacturing to iPad covers, and hope to make a similar transition themselves. The lesson of what happened to buggy-whip manufacturers after the introduction of the Model T is known to the committee. Some committee members thought the town was in the luggage business, and preferred to stay in the luggage business. Other committee members, aware of the specialized fibers that must be added to their totebag fabrics, argued that the town was really in the information portability business; these voices prevailed.

To make the transition to transporting eBooks, the town had to nurture its programming talent, of which it has an abundance. Totebags are made in factories that employ hundreds of teenage girls. But it's not like the old days, when the girl were virtual slaves, sewing everything by hand. In a modern totebag factory, the girls program automated sewing robots using specialized smartphone apps. Over the past 5 years, the top sewing machine programmers have gone on to advanced operating system hacking; before, they would get bored with programming and get married.

The culmination of this program of training and development is the digital book totebag. I got a demo of this widget in a private suite at one of the conference hotels, but was not permitted to photograph it. The prototype looks nothing like a canvas totebag of course- it's more a mess of wires and connectors. The functionality is quite impressive, however. I was easily able to download an eBook from a Kindle to the "totebag" using a red suction-cup connector that came with some sort of special grease. I then attached an iPad using a USB connector and viewed the book in iBooks. I was also able to connect the totebag to my Google Books account and use the Kindle book there. Yi had a number of other devices to try; each of them had its own quirks, but more or less worked.

I asked Yi how this seeming magic had been accomplished; the most I could get out of him was that any book is "just another sewing pattern". I also asked him if standards for content and DRM would make ebooks portability possible without his digital totebag widget. We had a good long laugh at that one.

Article any source

License Agreement for Go To Hellman Blog

PLEASE READ THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT ("LICENSE") CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG ("THE BLOG").  BY USING THE BLOG, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE, CEASE READING AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THE LICENSE, YOU MAY APPLY FOR A REFUND. IF THE BLOG WAS ACCESSED ELECTRONICALLY, CLICK "DISAGREE/DECLINE" BELOW. IF NOT, YOU MUST RETURN THE ENTIRE BLOG PACKAGE IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A REFUND.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This Blog may be used to induce synapse connection patterns in neural networks. It is licensed to you only for induction of non-copyrighted connection patterns, connection patterns in which you own the copyright, or connection patterns you are authorized or legally permitted to induce or have induced. This Blog may also be used for linking to music and video files for listening or viewing via your reading/listening/viewing device. Linked access of copyrighted music or video is only provided for lawful personal use or as otherwise legally permitted. If you are uncertain about your right to access to any linked material you should contact your legal advisor at once. 

1. General. The Blog, commentary and any graphics accompanying this License whether transmitted electronically, resident on disk or in memory, on any other media or in any other form (collectively the "Go To Hellman Blog") are licensed, not sold, to you by Gluejar Inc. ("Gluejar") for use only under the terms of this License, and Gluejar reserves all rights not expressly granted to you. The rights granted herein are limited to Gluejar's and its licensors' intellectual property rights in the Go To Hellman Blog and do not include any other patents or intellectual property rights. You may own the chair you are sitting on, subject to other ownership claims, and nothing else remotely connected to this Blog. The terms of this License will govern any correction or additional posts provided by Gluejar that replace and/or supplement the original Gluejar product, unless such changes are accompanied by a separate license in which case the terms of that license will govern.  

2. Permitted License. Uses and Restrictions. This License allows you to read and mentally process the Go To Hellman Blog. The Blog may be used to inspire new thoughts so long as such use is limited to thoughts which are lawful in your country of domicile. You may not make the Blog available over a network except as permitted under this License. You may make one copy of the Blog in machine-readable form for backup purposes only; provided that the backup copy must include all copyright or other proprietary notices contained on the original. You may also extract quotes, limited to forty words or less, and include them in your lawfully constructed derivative works, always providing that this License accompanies such derivative works. Except as and only to the extent expressly permitted in this License or by applicable law, you may not copy, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, modify, or create derivative works of the Blog or any part thereof. THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE SILLY THINGS THE BLOG SAYS COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.  

3. Hyperlinking. You may not rent, lease, lend, redistribute or sublicense the Go To Hellman Blog. You may, however, make a one-time permanent hyperlink of all of your license rights to the Go To Hellman Blog to another party, provided that: (a) the hyperlink must include all of the Blog, including all its component parts, original media, printed materials and this License; (b) you do not retain any copies of the Blog, full or partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device;  and (c) the party activating the hyperlinked Blog reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License.  

4. Consent to Use of Data. You agree that Gluejar and its millions of subsidiaries, present and future, real and imagined, may collect and use technical and related information, including but not limited to technical information about your computer, system and application software, and peripherals, that is gathered periodically to facilitate the embarrassment of bashful users. Gluejar may use this information, as long as it is in a form that does not personally identify you or your grotesque bodily deformities, to improve our stories or to provide services or technologies to you.  

5. Other Services. You understand that by using this Blog, you may encounter Content that may be deemed offensive, indecent, or objectionable, which content may or may not be identified as having explicit language. Nevertheless, you agree to use the Blog at your sole risk and that Gluejar shall have no liability to you for content that may be found to be offensive, indecent, objectionable, obscene, pornographic or just plain stupid. Content types (including tags, links, videos, comments and the like) and descriptions are provided for convenience, edification and amusement, and you acknowledge and agree that Gluejar does not guarantee their accuracy or grammar.

Certain Content may include materials from third parties or links to certain third party web sites. You acknowledge and agree that Gluejar is not responsible for examining or evaluating the content or accuracy of any such third-party material or web sites, notwithstanding that it's pretty much the whole point. Gluejar does not warrant or endorse and does not assume and will not have any liability or responsibility for any third-party materials or web sites, or for any other materials, products, or services of third parties. Links to other web sites are provided solely as a convenience to you and your chattel. You agree that you will not use any third-party, fourth party, or even nth-party materials in a manner that would infringe or violate the rights or put a damper on any other party and that Gluejar is not in any way responsible for any such use by you, especially insofar as we have not been invited to such parties.  

6. Termination. This License is effective until terminated. Your rights under this License will terminate automatically without notice from Gluejar if you fail to comply with any term(s) of this License. Upon the termination of this License, you shall cease all use of the Blog and delete all copies of the Blog in your possession as well as all derivative works you have made using quotes from the Blog.  

7. Disclaimer of Warranties. YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT USE OF THE BLOG (AS DEFINED ABOVE) IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY AND EFFORT IS WITH YOU. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND GLUEJAR AND GLUEJAR'S LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "GLUEJAR" FOR THE PURPOSES OF SECTIONS 7 AND 8) HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG, EITHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND/OR CONDITIONS OF READABILITY OR INTELLIGIBILITY, OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OF ACCURACY, OF QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. GLUEJAR DOES NOT WARRANT AGAINST INTERFERENCE WITH YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG, THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THAT THE OPERATION OF THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG, NUMEROUS AND EGREGIOUS AS THEy MAY BE, WILL BE CORRECTED. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY GLUEJAR OR AN GLUEJAR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY. SHOULD THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATIONS ON APPLICABLE STATUTORY RIGHTS OF A CONSUMER, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU BUT WE REALLY DONT GIVE A DAMN.  

8. Limitation of Liability. TO THE EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL GLUEJAR BE LIABLE FOR PERSONAL INJURY, OR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, DISTRACTION FROM MORE IMPORTANT THINGS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE GO TO HELLMAN BLOG, HOWEVER CAUSED, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE) AND EVEN IF GLUEJAR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY, OR OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. In no event shall Gluejar's total liability to you for all damages (other than as may be required by applicable law in cases involving personal injury) exceed the amount of fifty cents ($0.50). The foregoing limitations will apply even if the above stated remedy fails of its essential purpose.  

9. Trademarks. “Gluejar”, “Go To Hellman”, “Hellman” and "ebook" are trademarks/service marks of Gluejar, Inc.  Gluejar and/or its suppliers own all rights, title and interest, including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights, in and to the Blog.  Except as expressly provided for in these Terms, You acquire no rights in or to Gluejar Trademarks. If your name happens to be "Hellman", doesn't that really suck? Lillian, you're dead, so stop twittering. Warren, wouldn't "We Shall Be Friedman" be a much better name for your blog? And did Frances ever tell you I inherited her desk at Ginzton Lab? Speaking of Twitter, don't you hate mayonnaise misspellers? The Best has two Ns, idiots! Marty, you can have my second key any time, keep up the good work. Jakob, do a new album already. Lauren, may you rot in Hel for not doing Googling your blog name first.  

10. Export Control. You may not use or otherwise export or reexport the Go To Hellman Blog except as authorized by United States law and the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Go To Hellman Blog was obtained. In particular, but without limitation, the Go To Hellman Blog may not be exported or re-exported (a) into any U.S. embargoed countries or (b) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Person’s List or Entity List. By using the Go To Hellman Blog, you represent and warrant that you are not located in any such country or on any such list. You also agree that you will not use this Blog for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.  

11. Government End Users. The Go To Hellman Blog and related commentary are "Commercial Items", as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable.  Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Blog is being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial Items (b) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein and (c) can you believe this inpenetrable language is contained in the iTunes License agreement that you probably accepted this week.  

12. Controlling Law and Severability. This License will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey. If you gotta problem with that, I know a guy. This License is Born in the USA and shall not be governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is expressly excluded by Bruce Himself. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision, or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, the remainder of this License shall continue in full force and effect, so go stuff it.  

13. Complete Agreement; Governing Language. This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the use of the Go To Hellman Blog licensed hereunder and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous understandings regarding such subject matter. No amendment to or modification of this License will be binding unless in writing and signed by Gluejar. Any translation of this License is done for local requirements and in the event of a dispute between the English and any non-English versions, the English version of this License shall govern, because we're Americans and what other language do you expect us to understand. In particular, any declarations made in robots.txt or meta tag assertions files are null and void. Googlebot, this means you.

Last updated, April 1, 2010.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, CC BY-NC-ND works just fine.

Article any source

Offline Book "Lending" Costs U.S. Publishers Nearly $1 Trillion

Hot on the heels of the story in Publisher's Weekly that "publishers could be losing out on as much $3 billion to online book piracy" comes a sudden realization of a much larger threat to the viability of the book industry. Apparently, over 2 billion books were "loaned" last year by a cabal of organizations found in nearly every American city and town. Using the same advanced projective mathematics used in the study cited by Publishers Weekly, Go To Hellman has computed that publishers could be losing sales opportunities totaling over $100 Billion per year, losses which extend back to at least the year 2000. These lost sales dwarf the online piracy reported yesterday, and indeed, even the global book publishing business itself.

From what we've been able to piece together, the book "lending" takes place in "libraries". On entering one of these dens, patrons may view a dazzling array of books, periodicals, even CDs and DVDs, all available to anyone willing to disclose valuable personal information in exchange for a "card". But there is an ominous silence pervading these ersatz sanctuaries, enforced by the stern demeanor of staff and the glares of other patrons. Although there's no admission charge and it doesn't cost anything to borrow a book, there's always the threat of an onerous overdue bill for the hapless borrower who forgets to continue the cycle of not paying for copyrighted material.

To get to the bottom of this story, Go To Hellman has dispatched its Senior Piracy Analyst (me) to Boston, where a mass meeting of alleged book traffickers is to take place. Over 10,000 are expected at the "ALA Midwinter" event. Even at the Amtrak station in New York City this morning, at the very the heart of the US publishing industry, book trafficking culture was evident, with many travelers brazenly displaying the totebags used to transport printed contraband.

As soon as I got off the train, I was surrounded by even more of this crowd. Calling themselves "Librarians", they talk about promoting literacy, education, culture and economic development, which are, of course, code words for the use and dispersal of intellectual property. They readily admit to their activities, and rationalize them because they're perfectly legal in the US, at least for now.

Typical was Susanne from DC, who told me that she's been involved in lending operations for over 15 years. This confirms our estimate that "lending" has been going on for over ten years, beyond even Google's memory. Our trillion dollar estimate may thus be on the conservative side. Of course, it's impossible to tell how many of these lent books would have been purchased legally if "libraries" were not an option, but we're not even considering the huge potential losses to publishers when "used" books are resold for pennies on the black markets.

The communications backbone for this vast enterprise appears to be Twitter. Already, there is constant chatter on the #alamw10 hashtag. Most messages are clearly coded references to illicit transactions. For example a trafficker with the alias "@libacat" tweets "Have to be on the bus to the airport at 6:41 tomorrow morning to make it to the airport to get on my plane to #alamw10". At first glance, it seems like a mundane tweet about travel plans, but the breathtaking ordinariness and triple redundancy is more likely a secret code. How else to understand @scolford's (correction: retweet of @SonjaandLibrary replying to @BPLBoston) tweet; "curling my toes in joy at the thought of visiting your library"?

I've attended this meeting before. When I register for the book lending confab, I'll be presented with an encrypted document labeled the "program", which once decoded, will tell me where I can meet other book traffickers, discuss arcane trafficker lore, and drink trafficker beer. It's thick with secret code words like YALSA, LITA and NMRT, and no apparent rhyme or reason in its layout, evidently to frustrate outside investigators. I'll be lucky if I can find a bathroom.

Two places I'll be sure to find this weekend will be the OCLC Blog Salon on Sunday evening and the Chinatown Storefront Library on Saturday afternoon. Say hello if you see me.

A more serious post on Attributor is forthcoming.

Update: here's my post on "Deconstructing the Attributor Study".

Article any source