A license to traffic in ideas, Chicago Tribune, March 11, 2004. (Requires registration.) The newspaper considers the OFAC embargoes question, pointing out that, beginning in 1988, in cases of economic sanctions against other nations, Congress made an exception to "'information and informational materials,'" understanding that such free flow of information "is one of the best weapons in the American arsenal to spread freedom and combat tyranny." The law governing this is called the Berman Amendment, after its sponsor Rep. Howard Berman of California, who criticized the OFAC decision. The Tribune urges that the ruling "be abandoned," stating: "The professional editing of a book or scientific paper, however, hardly qualifies as providing aid to the enemy. Moreover, the prospect of a publisher being required to apply to the government for a license to edit a book is a chilling attack on freedom of speech." (Source: My Computational Complexity Web Log)
Posted by
Garrett at 3/11/2004 05:04:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
