Kim Zetter, Hands Off! That Fact Is Mine, Wired News, March 3, 2004. The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act has drawn widespread opposition, as reported here and elsewhere, because of its implications for the potential monopolization of factual and public domain material. Zetter notes that the bill will be reviewed by the U.S. House commerce committee on Thursday. Proponents of the act include "the Software and Information Industry Association; Reed Elsevier ...; and Westlaw..." Joe Rubin, an executive director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, remarks on the bill's opponents (which include Yahoo, Google, library organizations and a variety of investment firms): "'All of the companies opposed to the bill produce some of the most massive databases in the world, yet they feel they already have adequate protections for them.'"
Posted by
Garrett at 3/03/2004 10:19:00 AM.
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.
