Informationoverlord

In an open letter to David Lammy, UK Minister for Innovation, some of the UK’s most eminent economists and intellectual property scholars have hit out at government proposals to consider changing policy on copyright term extension for sound recordings.. The letter, which has also been sent to the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and the Culture Minister, voices serious concern at the lack of evidence justifying a change that seems to show the Government - like the European Commission who have also ignored their own evidence based research - prefers special interests over facts.

I came across an iPhone app for Brightkite the other day, which was handy as it reminded me that I actually have a Brightkite account. I could remember it was a kind of location tracking/updating tool but little else. I have since had a further play with it and am not really sure it gives me anything I can not already get from most Twitter Apps. Also, it has failed to correctly identify my location on almost every occasion I have used it - which for a location-based tool is not a great selling or recommending point.

But anyway, this also got me thinking about the many (make that MANY) things I have signed up to look at over the past few years, and just how many I still use. A quick search for the word ‘beta’ in my email folder brought back a frightening number of hits which included the following: (and yes, I was too lazy to provide hyperlinks to them)

Brightkite
Fire Eagle
Friendfeed
Mento
Ning
Twitter
Pownse
Jaiku
Netvous
Yahoo 360
Diigo
Twine
RawSugar
ToRead
Quotiki
Library Thing
Listal
Tag2Find
HelloTxT
Trumba
Tripit
LastFM
MOG
Onaswarm
Scrybe
Plaxo
Pageonce
Social Thing
Eluma
PingFM
Profilactic
ZigTag
Evernote
Funambol
Soocial
True Thinker
Plum
Kwippy
8apps
Backpack
Box.net
Identica
Highrise
Me.dium
TagWorld
Big Contacts
Webslides
Thumbstacks
All peers
Zapr
Collective X
Mywebdesktop
LinkedIn
30 Boxes
Pageflakes
Netvibes
ClaimID
Wink
Zoto
Rollyo
Rapleaf
Consumating
Offbeat Guides
Shelfari
Plurk
Digg
Bebo
Corkd
Dopplr
Facebook
ma.gnolia
Jotspot
Mahalo
Multiply
Orkut
Newsvine
Mosuki
Remember The Milk
ToDo
BlinkList
Airset
Conversate
eSnips
Tiktrac
NewsAlloy
Bubbleshare
MP3Tunes
Alltunes
Newshutch
Comeeko
GlobeTrip
Fuser
Zivity
ThinkFree
Zimbio

There were at least half as many again, but I think this list illustrates the point. Anyway, I thought that this might provide an opportunity to maybe reassess some of these products and services - a number of which, I really don’t have any recollection of at all. Did I stop using them because I didn’t like them? because they were crap? because I just couldn’t see my own need for it, even though it may have been good? In some cases I am not quite sure. So, over the next few weeks I will be taking a second look at a number of the things above to see if I may have been too hasty to abandon them, or in case they have developed into something that is now worth paying attention too. I will also get around to mentioning some that I could not live without.

Whilst you wait for me to do that, I wonder if my list will remind you of some things that you too signed up to and had totally forgotten about?!

Nick Holmes over at Binary Law has an interesting piece of the impending doom that is print media - or at least traditional ‘hard copy’ print as we know it today.

In particular, he raises the question of the future of the future of legal publications such as Law journals (particularly the more scholarly ones) and asks if the move away from traditional hard copy print runs has them set for an early grave - at least in that format.

Now, I love print - there, I have said it. Yes, in some ways I am a ‘web geek’ and I love new technologies - I think I’d be lost without my iPhone (or similar) - but, in part, the love of the feel of books - their physicality, their smell, their magic is what drove me into the profession I choose for myself.

That said, Nick’s article got my brain thinking in a different way, and less focussed on the death of print and more about its rebirth in a legal context. I believe that the ‘end of print’ is a long way away, if it indeed ever happens; but the opportunities for exploiting a move into electronic delivery are still in their infancy, and if I was a legal publisher, then I would be seeing a big light at the end of the tunnel. Why?

The eBook Reader:

Yes, Amazon’s Kindle, Iliad, Sony PRS-505 and the rest. I think the scope for the success of eBook Readers within the law is vast. It is a technology that - it seems to me - is just made for the legal environment.

On a personal user level, whilst being impressed with Sony’s eBook Reader, for example, and loving how it works, I can never image wanting to carry around several hundred/thousand books around with me. A handful, yes, but not my entire library, and not certainly not in the same way that I’d want to carry a similar amount of music albums or films.

However, if I were a lawyer, who could have all the legal journals I wanted and all the legal texts I wanted - displayed as they would be in a ‘traditional’ print run - all on one device that I could keep in my desk or take with me to client meetings etc, then I would be a very happy bunny. Yes, some of these legal texts are already available electronically on Westlaw and Lexis, but they do not LOOK like books, they don’t let you engage with them as books, and as a result will never replace the book/loose-leaf. Keep them as a ‘book’ and THEN digitise them, keeping what makes books work and useable - good indexes etc - whilst adding the functionality of the modern technological world - search, highlight and note taking (post it note functionality) etc - and I think you would have gold.

Of course, the main legal publishers will probably follow the usual route of making their own devices with incompatible file formats so that you’ll always need more than one reader in the same way that Apple and Co did with digital music and Amazon and Sony etc are already doing with eReaders.

Do you think I am right? Is the eBook the future for legal publishing? Is legal (and most likley educational publishing in general) the one thing that could turn eBooks and eBook readers into serious business? Let me know.

The Court of Appeal has remitted back to the Information Tribunal an appeal by Ofcom against a decision of the Information Commissioner that Ofcom must supply the full Sitefinder dataset - including the names of operators, locations and power levels of all mobile base stations - to parties who request it.The Mobile operators (MNOs) - in particular, T-Mobile - argued that disclosure breached their database rights, and would leave the mobile operators’ base stations open to vandalism and possible terrorist attack.

The Court of Appeal found the Tribunal had erred in not weighing the aggregate public interest in maintaining the two applicable exceptions against the public interest in disclosure in section 12(5) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. However, it agreed with that the Tribunal was open to find that the public interest in disclosure of the environmental information had extended to disclosure of the names of the MNOs, and that it was correct to consider the benefit from use of the information in epidemiological research even if that use would be in breach of the database rights of the MNOs. The Court also stated that - even though it was remitting the case, it believed that the Tribunal was ‘very likely’ to reach the same conclusion, even when it had weighed the aggregate public interest.

O2, 3, Orange, Vodafone, Airwave and Network Rail have been voluntarily supplying information of mobile base station data to Ofcom for the Sitefinder database at approximately three month intervals. T-Mobile has continually refused to do so since 2005.

I have previously covered this case here

Facebook has once again hit the headlines: this time over a subtle change made to their Terms of Service. They have deleted a line relating to their use of your content that said ” If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content”.

The licence granted above it refers to is the ” irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.”

According to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg the changes were made to ensure that if a user deletes his or her account any comments or messages he or she had left on a friend’s Facebook page would not also disappear, adding that ‘In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want’.

That’s all well and good, and if that’s the case I happen to think that’s a sensible idea and Zuckerberg is right. If people have made comments on my Wall etc, I would hope those comment remained if they left the site. However, that isn’t what the change on the terms actually says or said. So, if that is the intention Mark and Facebook, why not just say that CLEARLY in the ToS? It goes back to the whole plane English thing for me - say what you mean in a way that people can understand clearly.

To be fair to Zuckenberg he does acknowledge the problems stating both that “We still have work to do to communicate more clearly about these issues, and our terms are one example of this.” and that “A lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective of the rights we need to provide this service to you. Over time we will continue to clarify our positions and make the terms simpler.”

Let me reach out the helping hand Mark. I’ve given this two seconds though and come up with:

“If you choose to remove, close or delete your account, user content you have posted to other users’ accounts will remain on the site until such time as that user deletes their account”

There, that wasn’t hard was it?

One final point about the terms.The removal of those final two lines does as least take away the interesting question of how can you have a “irrevocable, perpetual …licence” that can expire? Wouldn’t the use of irrevocable and perpetual indicate that the licence cannot be undone and is for eternity ??

Update: It seems the old terms have been restored. So, the “irrevocable, perpetual …licence” that can expire is back.

“A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.”

Facebook is now calling on its users to help them craft new terms that are clear and keep the user in control of their content. Questions, comments and requests can be added in the Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities group.

This is a press release from a friend of mine who runs a small travel company with his dad - who has sadly now fallen ill. I post it here just in case anyone coming to the website is into the idea of a more bespoke holiday experience and likes walking/cycling. If so, please consider giving High Point a try.

Walk on the Wilder Side with High Point Holidays - And support cancer charity, Myeloma UK  

Tired of big tour groups, ‘one size fits all’ operators and impersonal package holidays? Bespoke walking and cycling holiday company, High Point Holidays ( http://www.highpointholidays.co.uk ), offers customers made-to-measure tours off the beaten track in Europe and Africa, including two mountain treks in unspoilt areas of Spain and Bulgaria - new for 2009.

And, for those seeking an active trip with a ‘feel good factor’, the company will donate £5 from every holiday sold to Myeloma UK, the bone marrow cancer charity. The aim is to raise thousands of pounds over the coming years as part of a long term partnership.

The founder of High Point Holidays, Tony Armstrong, has recently been diagnosed for the second time with myeloma, an incurable blood cell cancer that affects the bone marrow. A keen hill walker, Tony credits his quick recovery, after he was first diagnosed in 1996 and treated with a stem cell transplant, to regular exercise – he scaled the 15 peaks in Wales in a single weekend. Now, he wants to help improve treatment and fund research into a cure for the 4,000 people diagnosed annually with the disease in the UK.

Tony’s philosophy is to offer unusual holidays at affordable prices. As an antidote to the well-worn routes on offer through other operators, High Point Holidays specialises in finding forgotten trails and tracks rather than following the crowds. Customers can choose between guided tours and independent treks everywhere from the unspoilt wilderness of the Vanoise National Park in the French Alps to the majestic Picos de Europa mountains in the north of Spain.

And, after a long day in the saddle or on their feet, customers can look forward to staying in an independent guest house full of character - rather than an identikit hotel. Whether in an old farm, a former mill, a quaint cottage or a chateau, accommodation has been carefully chosen to guarantee an authentic local experience, home-cooked meals and a warm welcome.

Tony Armstrong says: “Before setting up the company, my experience of guided walking holidays was passing hordes of other hikers - all ending up in the same boring accommodation. We want our customers to feel like they’ve not only visited a place but been part of it as well.”

For 2009, High Point Holidays is offering walks in France and the French Alps, Spain and Bulgaria as well as some classic treks in the High Atlas in Morocco and Kilimanjaro in Africa. Its cycling holidays are based in the Beaujolais and Burgundy regions of France. Groups for the guided tours never exceed ten people, and itineraries are flexible to adapt to interests and abilities.

For those who prefer to go it alone, High Point Holidays can recommend tried and tested routes off the main tourist trails, complete with detailed maps and comprehensive notes about the walk and the region. Whatever option customers choose, their bags are always transported between guest houses, so they need only carry essentials for the day. And, to help cash-strapped customers, the 2009 holidays are available at 2008 prices.

Tony adds: “People may be wary of visiting the Euro zone because of the weak pound but we’ve frozen last year’s prices, making our tours great value for money. As people’s holiday time becomes increasingly precious, why not ditch the South Downs for the South of France or substitute the misty Malvern Hills for the majestic mountains of the Alps.”

Ends

Notes for editors

About High Point Holidays
High Point Holidays was established in 2007 and is based in Shaftesbury, Dorset. It is a family business: father Tony Armstrong runs the UK operation while his son, William Armstrong, is based in Beaujolais, France, where he works with local operators to develop bespoke tours.
Tony Armstrong, aged 66, is undergoing chemotherapy for myeloma and is taking part in a new drug trial.

About Myeloma UK
Registered as a charity in 1997, Myeloma UK is the only organisation in the UK dealing exclusively with myeloma and its related disorders. Its broad and innovative range of services cover every aspect of myeloma, from information and support to improving standards of treatment and care through education, research, campaigning and raising awareness. More information can be found at www.myeloma.org.uk

For further information, please contact:
William Armstrong, partner, High Point Holidays
Tel: 0033 474 68 86 63 / 01747 858 229
Email: william@highpointholidays.co.uk
Site: www.highpointholidays.co.uk

The European Court of Justice has dismissed Ireland’s challenge of the legal basis for the data retention directive (2006/24/EC). Ireland was arguing that the European Commission did not have the power to adopt the directive as the matter should have been adopted under the ‘third pillar’ which deals with matters concerning public security and the activities of the State in areas of criminal law.

The ECJ concluded that the legal basis for the directive was correct because whilst the directive is connected to policing it does not actually cover policing functions, but instead covers the activities of service providers in the internal market.

The ECJ has essentially followed the advice of Advocate General (AG) Bot who had recommended that the European Court of Justice dismiss the appeal stating that the obligation to retain data for investigations of serious crimes was not sufficient to remove the measure from the Community pillar as the directive’s purpose was to harmonise the conditions under which communications providers must retain traffic and location data, not to harmonise the conditions under which the law-enforcement authorities may access, use and exchange that retained data.

I notice that Google has launched a Social Web blog, which will provide ‘news and updates about Google products that are helping to make the web more social.’  Now this sounds all well and good and might turn out to be a useful and informative resource, or it might just turn out to be a repeat of the Google Librarian Central blog. Remember that one?

Last summer Google pulled the plug on this half-hearted attempt, to reach out to the Librarian/Information professional sector, so that it could focus its energies on the connected quarterly newsletter - Google Librarian Newsletter. This dazzling level of focus resulted in the issue published at the time they closed the blog, to focus their energies, (10 July 2008) being the last one actually published.

Seven months have now passed: so they have either mislaid that focus or just have no news to report.

The Social web blog is off to a good start with me as it does not display properly in IE6 (at least not my work version) with my needing to scroll half a blank page to get to the first post.