At the Ref Desk (2/4/12): Midterms -- computer labs are full, plenty of students needing help finding articles. Subjects ranging from Biology to Original Sin. [more...]
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Banned Books Week

Submitted by Leo Klein on Tue, 9/30/08 (9:40am)

bbwweb100x100_2007.gif In observance, I guess you could say, of ALA's Banned Books Week, NPR did a segment on how The Grapes of Wrath was banned at the end of the 30's.

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright
ALA

'Hell' - Too Hot a Word for the Chicago Sun-Times

Submitted by Leo Klein on Tue, 7/15/08 (10:22pm)

Sun-Times Comments

I wanted to leave the following comment on an article about MillerCoors moving its headquarters to Chicago:

"Well, it's not the best but what the hell, reason enough to order another MGD for me."

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright

Do Banned Books Matter?

Submitted by Leo Klein on Sat, 9/29/07 (8:13pm)

bbwweb100x100_2007.gifToday is the first day of Banned Books Week. There are hundreds if not thousands of events happening throughout the nation.

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright

Censorship 2.0

Submitted by Leo Klein on Thu, 8/30/07 (5:39pm)

ALA just sent out an email about "Banned Books Week" which this year will be running 9/29-10/6.

This got me thinking of access to the Internet and other bandwidth issues, and how the absence of access/bandwidth might relate to more "traditional" forms of censorship.

With books, you can simply do away with them or alter them to fit your world view. That's censorship old-style.

In a networked world, it's all about access and bandwidth. This opens up a whole new set of vulnerabilities.

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright

Illinois House Votes for Internet Filtering on Library Computers

Submitted by Leo Klein on Sat, 5/12/07 (7:52pm)

The Illinois House just passed a law to require internet filtering on all computers in the public libraries.

From what I understand this would affect all public access computers -- not simply those used by children.

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright
Location: 
Springfield

SaveNetRadio.org

Submitted by Leo Klein on Fri, 4/27/07 (3:40am)

SaveNetRadio.org

SaveNetRadio.org is where you ought to go if you've ever listened to Internet Radio and thought it was a welcomed contrast to all the crap (pardon my French) on Broadcast radio.

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright

Bill in U.S. Congress on Fair Use Called "Watered-Down"

Submitted by Leo Klein on Wed, 2/28/07 (9:45am)

Ken Fisher of Ars Technica isn't impressed by a Bill on Fair Use that was recently introduced by Congressmen Rick Boucher (D-VA) and John Doolittle (R-CA).

Calling it "watered down", Fisher comments:

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright
Location: 
Washington DC

ChillingEffects.org

Submitted by Leo Klein on Sun, 12/10/06 (1:51pm)

While googling for pictures of failed technologies for my post on eBooks, I came across a strange note at the bottom of Google's search results. It read:

"In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 2 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org."

Topic: 
Free Speech-Copyright
Institution: 
Google