Difference between revisions of "Ebook seminar"

Revision as of 03:33, 4 April 2005

Ebooks: Reading, Copyright, and Digital Rights, soctech seminar Spring 2005

This Week (April 5)

Week 2: The Basic Framework

• Read, prior to class:
  • David Levy "A Bit of Digital History" Scrolling Forward p. 137-157 (20 pages)
  • Christopher Dreher "Why do books cost so much?" Salon.com (3 pages)
  • Marshall Poe “Note to Self: Print Monograph Dead; Invent New Publishing Model” Journal of Electronic Publishing 7, December 2001 (5 pages)
• Recommended Optional Reading:
  • Cliff Lynch The Battle to Define the Future of the Book in the Digital World (43 pages)
• Discussion leader: Joshua
• Topics:
  • iSchool basics for CSE and Law people
  • basics of manufacture and distribution
  • featuring codecs, The Internet, Copyright, Licensing, and DRM
  • as distribution costs approach zero, what happens to production?

Description

For several millenia, books have been the primary means used in society to attempt to permanently record and hand down knowledge. By the late 20th Century, books were part of a complex system involving readers, publishers, and authors, each of whose rights were balanced by two hundred years of copyright law. The massive growth of distribution of information in digital form at the end of the 20th Century, including electronic books or "ebooks," created a new environment which challenges the existing balance.

This seminar will explore the present issues surrounding ebooks, including the implications for readers, the law, and technology. No prior background in computer science or law is required. The first weeks of the quarter will focus on a framework for discussion, followed by several theme sessions on various topics.

Schedule details

Week 3. Copyright of digital documents

• Read, prior to class:
  • Peter Givler "Copyright: It's for the public good" Association of American University Presses (3 pages)
  • "Some Rights Reserved": Building a Layer of Reasonable Copyright (1 page)
  • O'Reilly First to Adopt Founders' Copyright (3 pages)
• Discussion leader: Ben
• Topics:
  • Nothing new, but harder to enforce... or is it? (The DMCA)
  • Is there any need for a public domain if I can access anything for a nickel?
  • Clinton whitepaper, Berne, WIPO
  • Celestial Jukebox
• Useful websites:
  • Copyright and Fair Use Center
  • US Copyright Office
  • UW COPYRIGHT INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS

Week 4. Licensing of digital documents

• Read, prior to class:
  • UW Libraries Electronic Resource Usage Rights and Restrictions (1 page)
  • Creative Commons "Choosing a License" (2 pages)
  • Creative Commons "Some Rights Reserved": Building a Layer of Reasonable Copyright (1 page)
• Discussion leader: law person? (Bob Gomulkiewicz? Stuart Sutton?)
• Topics:
  • It ain't copyright, but contract law!
  • The DMCA: DRM enforcement with no (legal) exceptions for the public
  • Dude, where's my 200 years of fair use caselaw?
  • Licenses that "guarantee your freedom to share and change" (Free software and the Creative Commons)

Week 5. In Libraries: "Can I check out this eBook?"

• Read, prior to class:
  • David Kirkpatrick "Battle Over Access to Online Books" New York Times June 17, 2002
  • KCLS eBooks
  • UW Libraries NetLibrary FAQ
• Discussion leader: Guest?
• Topics:
  • complicated and expensive reading devices
  • potentially crippling legal problems

Week 6. Scholarly publishing

• Read, prior to class:
  • Marshall Poe “Note to Self: Print Monograph Dead; Invent New Publishing Model” J. of Electronic Publishing, December 2001 (5 pages)
  • Colin Steele "Phoenix Rising: New Models for the Research Monograph?" Learned Publishing, April 2003 (12 pages)
• Discussion leader:
• Topics:
  • Do universities already pay production costs?
  • Who needs pretty magazines when we've got arXiv.org (do the humanities)?

Week 7. DRM Technology

• Read, prior to class:
  • "Digital rights management" from Wikipedia (currently 7 pages)
  • "Converting .LIT files for fun and profit" (3 pages)
  • Jury Acquits Elcomsoft in eBook Copyright Case (1 page)
  • Security Researchers Drop Scientific Censorship Case (2 pages)
• Optional Recommended Reading:
  • John Walker The Digital Imprimatur (currently 53 pages, but many sections can be skipped)
• Discussion leader: CSE person?
• Topics:
  • what exactly are "effective technological measures"?
  • Is the DCMA a problem for research?

Week 8. Preservation

• Read, prior to class:
  • Emulation and BBC Domesday (7 pages)
  • Technical Obsolescene (1 page)
  • Peter Hirtle "Digital Preservation and Copyright" (6 pages)
• Optional Recommended Reading:
  • Organizational Approaches to Preserving Digital Content CLIR (6 pages)
• Discussion leader: CSE person?
• Topics:
  • will those created today be around in 100 years?
  • if so, how about reading those bits as an ebook?

Week 9. Digital documents in international development

• Read, prior to class:
  • Digital Library of India Vision (1 page)
  • Million Book Project FAQ (6 pages)
  • Rural Kids Print, Bind, and Read (3 pages)
• Discussion leader: Evans school person?
• Topics:
  • Kahle's bookmobile, Million Book Project and others

Week 10. Accessibility

• Read, prior to class:
  • Ebooks and Accessibility (7 pages, but most can be skimmed)
  • Microsoft Reader Accessibility FAQ (3 pages)
  • The Soundproof Book (5 pages)
• Discussion leader:
• Topics:
  • How much access should laws mandate?
  • Do we need something like NLS when Text-to-Speech is virtually free?

Past courses to mine for useful content

• LIS 520, Monographs section

Floating readings

These are readings that haven't been matched to a date yet.

• Are these ebooks? (Why or why not?)
  • Lindisfarne Gospels via British Library (Illuminated manuscript written c.700 C.E.)
  • The Internet Galaxy / Manuel Castells via Google Print
  • Free Culture / Lawrence Lessing (350-page PDF with bookmarks)
  • Speeches and Letters of Abraham Lincoln, 1832-1865 via Gutenberg Project
  • In the Beginning was the Command Line / Neal Stephenson (150 pages in plain text)
  • DocBook: The Definitive Guide / Norm Walsh (652 pages in HTML)
  • NetLibrary books from UW Libraries
  • Anything on an Amazon.com item page

Other notes

• assumptions:
  • everyone will have at least a layman's understanding of terms
  • we can come up with one good discussable reading per session
  • a volunteer or assigned discussion facilitator for each session

• Honestly, I don't particularly like the name ebooks. For me, the term is to closely associated with a struggling publishing industry. I think this class is more generally interested in the digital rights issues, and looking to exclude visual and audio art. How about the term "digital word?" - David
• I don't like the name either, but what does "digital word" mean to anyone? We'll deal with the misconceptions in class. :) - Joshua

How many days worth of class is this?

Past Discussions

Week 1: Intro

• Discussion leader: Joshua
• Topics:
  • What this is course about and not about, and why are we here?
  • basic definitions,
  • what attendees want out of the class