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RAIN 01/13: Weekend Update 01/08/02 Part 2



There are 10 stories in this posting.


Duluth Tribune 01/08/02
Group asks clerks for documents on caucus legal bills
http://web.duluthnews.com/content/duluth/2002/01/08/local/du_SECR0108.htm

by JR Ross
AP
MADISON -- A government watchdog group has asked the Legislature's chief clerks to provide documents explaining why lawmakers decided to reimburse legal bills of state employees interviewed as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal political campaigning.
Common Cause in Wisconsin sent letters to the clerks late Friday asking for the documents, executive director Jay Heck said Monday. The group sued last month to stop the payments.



FindLaw 01/03/02
"Lockware": the promise and peril of Hollywood's intellectual property strategy for the digital age
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20020103_sprigman.html

by Chris Sprigman
If you believe the major movie studios and record companies, the accelerating shift from analog to digital technologies may represent either an unprecedented opportunity or a looming disaster. The opportunity: Hollywood entices consumers to pay billions for the privilege of downloading films and songs over speedy broadband connections to the Internet. The disaster: consumers instead choose to download, via Napster-like services, films and songs that the media giants invest billions to produce, and pay nothing.



GigaLaw.com April 2001
Why can't I make copies from copies of my CDs
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2001/samuels-2001-04.html

by Edward Samuels
Concerns about the copying of digital music did not originate with Napster. For years, the recording industry has advocated laws and technology to protect their products. This article, an excerpt from the book "The Illustrated Story of Copyright," discusses the legal and technological responses to digital music, including the Audio Home Recording Act.



The Independent 01/29/02
Invention spells end for trove of historic patents
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=113474

by Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Some of the documents carry the name T A Edison, others refer to a Mr Alexander Graham Bell. Many include intricate and spidery drawings of inventions that have become household fixtures.
But thousands of these documents - yellowing copies of patents dating back to a golden age of invention - are being thrown away as the United States Patent and Trademark Office becomes transformed by another, more recent invention, the computer.



The Independent 01/09/02
Census site a victim of genealogy boom
http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/news/story.jsp?story=113541

by Jonathan Brown
The booming interest in researching family history is being blamed for the temporary closure of the website containing details of the 1901 census.



Ithaca Times 01/08/02
Cornell loses appeal in Freedom of Information law case
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2932239&BRD=1395&PAG=461&dept_id=216620&rfi=6

by Jessica Keltz
A state Supreme Court judge denied Cornell's most recent appeal in a case that would force the university to disclose documents pertaining to plans for its agricultural technology park in Geneva.
Justice Robert Mulvey allowed Cornell attorneys to reargue and renew the case, but after hearing their arguments, the justice issued the same verdict: that Cornell's SUNY colleges must comply with New York's Freedom of Information Law.



Los Angeles Times 01/03/02
Just beyond our windows
http://latimes.com/la-010302cover.story

by Eric B. Hanson
Point. Click. Drag.
Point. Click. Drag.
Tired of operating personal computers like this? A lot of researchers are, and they're trying to change the way people interact with the ubiquitous beige boxes by creating virtual spaces that take into account the way people behave in the real world.


Dotcom scoop 01/06/02
Letter to RIAA & IFPI heads from Congressman Rich Boucher
http://www.dotcomscoop.com/article.php?sid=80



Montreal Gazette 01/09/02
Old census data may soon go public
http://www.canada.com/montreal/news/story.asp?id={39114472-32CB-4BE6-AF21-28C9FF97CB4F}

by Ann Carroll
Can the feds keep a secret?
Their lips are sealed when it comes to personal census information compiled after 1901. But that might soon change, if historians and genealogical researchers can persuade Ottawa to release confidential census data for 1906 and 1911, at the very least.
Statistics Canada, which has balked at the request, is now asking citizens - in a series of "town hall" meetings and focus groups - whether it should spill the beans about their ancestors.



Philadelphia Inquirer 01/09/02
N.J. public records made more accessible
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2002/01/09/local_news/JOPEN09.htm

by Kaitlin Gurney
New Jersey's nearly 40-year-old public-records law received a massive overhaul in a bill that Donald T. DiFrancesco signed yesterday in one of his last acts as acting governor.
The law, sponsored by Assemblyman George Geist (R., Gloucester) and former Assembly Speaker Jack Collins (R., Salem), states that all government files and papers are public records available for public inspection unless a special provision seals them. It also allows for penalties against local officials who refuse to volunteer the information.


Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Va