Reality: "The recording industry, following through on its promise to take legal action against ordinary computer users who share music on the Internet, is filing hundreds of subpoenas, demanding the names and addresses of copyright violators from Internet service providers." - Boston Globe.

Hypothetical but logical: Exclusive! TeleRead has found a secret transcript of a wiretapped conversation between Cary Sherman of the RIAA and Rep. John Conyers, Jr., one of the well-funded politicians behind the proposed 5Y/$250K file-sharing penalty and previous legislation to protect our needy recording executives.

Rep. Conyers: Cary, I'm calling to ask a little favor. It's about my boy.

Sherman (consulting well-stuffed Rolodex): You mean John III or Carl?

Rep. Conyers: Uh, do you think you could talk to your people in Legal?

Sherman: An internship? Sure, if they're even half as brilliant as you..."

Rep. Conyers: "All I'm asking is that you call off the suit."

Sherman: "Your boy's sharing files?"

Rep. Conyers: "I knew you'd understand."

Sherman: "And thank you, John, for that new proposal."

Rep. Conyers: "Maybe we can even make it 10Y/500K."

Sherman: "I'd like that very much. We've got to stop crime on the Net!"

Update, July 25: Since the RIAA leadership page no longer mentions Hilary Rosen, I thought I'd substitute Cary Sherman.

(Drawing via ArtToday.)
posted by David Rothman at 9:16 PM | permanent link

Could Bill Gates in fact hate e-books? No, but he might as well--given the damage that his people's Digital Rights Management schemes have done to the industry.

In Writing on Your Palm, consultant Jeff Kirvin nicely lays out the evolution of Microsoft's Digital Rights Management scheme--and along the way makes an important point about the Convert Lit tool used to crack DRM5, the latest "protection." Convert Lit won't work unless you already own a legal copy of the book in the original Microsoft format.

The DRM zealots might say, "But what if the results are then pirated?" That won't wash, however. Wasn't the latest Harry Potter pirated from paper--within hours of its release?

How long until the business side of Microsoft wakes up? I blame the marketers and the rest, not the techies, who must be in sheer pain--given all the stupidity that Bill Gates' business people have forced on them.

The scary thing is that books are just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft wants DRM schemes to be far more widespread than they are now, and this could hurt everyone from engineers to writers, scholars and, yes, business people.

Reminder: Of course, as Jeff Kirvin and others have noted, Microsoft's offer of free e-books is really just a bribe to get you to "upgrade" to the newer DRM. Plus, Microsoft wants signups for Passport.

(Via Pocket PC eBooks Watch.)
posted by David Rothman at 9:03 AM | permanent link

Thailand's education ministry plans to "develop up to 60,000 e-books to solve a shortage of reading materials facing rural schools," according to the Bangkok Post. "About 60,000 teachers would be urged to develop the e-books and would be given allowances in return."

The TeleRead take: Fascinating. Would that we had more details. Why just "up to" 60,000, and how many will the project have in a year? Does "develop" mean to scan or write? Is this a government version of Project Gutenberg? And, whether the books will be scanned or written from scratch, just what are the copyright details? Not to mention the hardware ones.

(Via eBookAd.)
posted by David Rothman at 1:52 PM | permanent link

What if Russell Weller, the 86-year-old driver who accidentally killed 10 people and injured more than 40, could have read e-books and helped libraries and schools without even leaving home? That's what I was thinking when the Washington Post reported that "he has been engaged in his community as a volunteer at schools and libraries and has a mind that still seems sharp."

So was Weller actually on the way to the library when his Buick inflicted mayhem in a packed farmers market in Santa Monica, California? I don't know. But he could have been. How to keep his mind active and keep society safe?

The safety record of older drivers "is becoming a huge issue," according to Susan Ferguson, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "They've been driving all of their lives and won't want to give it up. The elderly are going to represent more of a problem on the road than they currently do." Yes, we should install better road signs and otherwise make the highways friendlier to the elderly. Special transportation services could play a role, too, in saving lives, making it easier for the most dangerous drivers to surrender their licenses.

But shouldn't we also focus on ways for the elderly to be more comfortable at home and in their own neighborhoods, so that they needn't rely so much on automobiles? I love the idea of book vans. But they are hardly a complete solution, given the limited scope of their offerings, not to mention the fiscal issue. A well-stocked national digital library system could help--with a wide assortment of e-books not just for the young but also for the rest of us, including those too old to drive safely. Imagine if a group like the AARP got behind TeleRead. It would be one way to improve the lives of young and old simultaneously.

E-book tech is already good enough for the elderly to use. In fact, for many older people, digital books are better--because PDAs and the rest can enlarge the words for age-weakened eyes. "You can increase the type size with a single click," the AARP magazine observed. Published in the issue dated September-October 2000, the article does not mention the latest advances in screen resolution. What's more, the best is yet to come, and our libraries should be preparing now. My own mother, who, by the way, gave up her car years ago, hadn't any trouble using my Dell Axim PDA to read a few passages from a biography of Thomas Edison. She's an incurable Luddite who can barely tolerate an answering machine, but she conceded the possiblities here--especially if she could easily find what she wanted, from a large selection. TeleRead territory.

Beyond reading e-books and enjoying other online material, the elderly could also volunteer to help Project Gutenberg and local Friends of the Library--and scan in e-books, especially those by local and regional authors. Not to mention genealogical information. What more, with help from librarians and others, they could also help run local electronic bulletin boards for schools and civic groups.

Obviously we all want to drive as long as we can, and I am not saying: "Let's stop making efforts to improve the roads for elderly drivers." Also I'll remember that, at least for the now, the elderly are less of a threat as a group than teenagers are. They have more accidents per mile than the young but do not drive as much. Still, as the Insurance Institute has noted, the risks will grow as America ages. Beyond that, studies show that the elderly are far more likely to die from injuries in crashes. So, while keeping seniors on the road as long as prudent, let's not forget those who, regardless of larger signs and the rest, will never be able to drive safely again.

posted by David Rothman at 10:33 AM | permanent link

"A new bill proposed in Congress on Wednesday would land a person in prison for five years and impose a fine of $250,000 for uploading a single file to a peer-to-peer network. The bill was introduced by Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.). They said the bill is designed to increase domestic and international enforcement of copyright laws." - Wired News.

The TeleRead take: No mystery about Howard Berman, with $222,791 from the entertainment industry in the 2002 race. We know he's in the LA area in the belly of the beast, and is stuffed to the gills with campaign donations from the glitter people. And John Conyers, Jr.? Well, here's a great example of campaign cash beating out the interests of his constituents, especially the young. Motown or not, Detroit ain't Hollywood. Be interesting to see what happens if or when someone applies the 5Y/$250K penalty to the boombox crowd. And what about all the money cheated out of Detroit's libraries and schools--and cash-strapped families--through the copyright-term extension law and other assaults on the commonweal?

Oh, well, Congressional commerce must go on. In the 2002 Congressional race the "TV/Movies/Music" greedsters bought Conyers for $49,859. That was just under the $50,750 contributed by his most generous owners, members of the legal profession, some of whom, of course, just might be representing Hollywood fatcats. Surprise of surprise, Conyers is the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which, gasp, deals with copyright among other matters. Berman is also a Democrat on Judiciary. Glenn Reynolds should be very happy, given his suggestion that Republicans Should Back Recording Artists, Consumers. Could it soon be that the only Democrats left will be Hollywood tycoons and Luddites?

Transactions like the Conyers variety are exactly why Howard Dean's candidacy is of interest to me. I've been tough on Governor Blogger because I see hope, given his heavy reliance on the Internet for fund-raising. May he and good Republicans at all levels--TeleRead is nonpartisan!--use Net-related issues as a way to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Caveat: No proven quid pro quo about John Conyers. Just opinion. But come on--do you really think Hollywood would love Conyers so much if he were friendly to the cause of balanced copyright law?
posted by David Rothman at 3:35 PM | permanent link

"In a strangely unpublicized case, Microsoft yesterday found itself on the losing end of a ruling in a critical Digital Rights Management (DRM) battle with InterTrust, a DRM company that is suing the software giant for almost 150 counts of patent infringement. This week's ruling sets the stage for a trial where it will be determined whether Microsoft broke the law, though it's likely the two companies will pursue settlement talks. InterTrust says that Microsoft has violated its DRM patents in products such as Windows Media Player and the Xbox video game console." - Security Administrator.

The TeleRead take: The fun isn't just in Microsoft being sued. It's also in what might come out in public testimony about DRM and related business practices. Let's hope Redmond does not settle.
posted by David Rothman at 11:33 AM | permanent link

Adobe's Reader 6 won't let me copy material into Word from an Adobe-released edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn--without some nasty restrictions.

This is a public domain work. And yet a pop-up box says: "You may copy 10 selections in this document for the next 120 days. Would you like to continue?" Yes, I suspect that Adobe might say something like, "Just upgrade to a paid verson." I don't know.

The more I encounter Adobe products, however, the more I wonder if we don't need legislation making it illegal to impose copying restrictions on public-domain books. Not sure if a law should apply here if we find this is just an arm twist to get us to upgrade. But it should in the case of public libraries using Adobe-formatted classics.

Yo, Gov. Dean? Do you care?
posted by David Rothman at 11:06 AM | permanent link

The Brass Check, Upton Sinclair's classic expose of the press, is now online in full in Word and Microsoft Reader and Mobipocket formats. No charge, of course. And no need to sign up for Passport!

Yes, horror or horrors, we've used Microsoft formats and another proprietary one. But promise--we'll soon have the book not only in ASCII but also some other formats, including one for the Gemstar 1100. What better way to remind my fellow Gemstar owners that life goes on in the public domain, even if proprietary DRM-shackled formats come and go.

Major thanks to Jane Rutledge of Friends of the Library in Lafayette, Ind., and Betsy Connor Bowen, a good-hearted volunteer in Winthrop, Maine, as well as Ed Howdershelt, who provided the Mobipocket translation.

Please note that this is a preview version and not an official Project Gutenberg edition. But it will be official in the future after undergoing the customary processing.

Disclaimer: As much as I appreciate the work that Friends groups do, TeleRead is not a part of them. And neither Jane's organization nor Jane herself has anything to do with the uppity views in this blog (same for Besty). Sinclair, however, just may have. Beware of dangerous books.

Update, 4:30 a.m., May 2, 2004: Just posted an HTML version that Ed Howdershelt converted from Mobipocket. Looks good on the free yBook reader, which I really like. I've also put up
a preliminary version in an ASCII flavor that works with the Tiny eBook Reader program, another favorite of mine, and probably a bunch of other readers. You'll see some atrocities such as lines breaking in the wrong places, but this kludge is better than no ASCII at all.
posted by David Rothman at 10:03 PM | permanent link

Governor Blogger remains in his bob-n-weave mode on the pesky issue of net.copyright.

Latest evasion from ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean: "No matter what the issues are that we as individuals care most about--whether intellectual property, healthy care, the environment--I believe that the only way we are ever going to come to a real solution on any of these issues is if we all stand together against the special interests in Washington."

Hey, Gov, now that you're into bloggin', you might check out Glenn Harland Reynolds' advice to the GOP on the courting of NetGen. With so many of your supporters coming from cyberspace, shouldn't it be a little easier to show some guts on net.copyright? And if you can come out for a TeleRead-style library system, so much the better. But first--the basics.

You're POing me mightily by acting as if copyright law is just a detail, given the importance of matters such as the public domain and fair use. Just how the devil can the citizenry discuss The Issues in a sensible way if the copyright gentry strips us of our powers to exchange information?

Additional thoughts: The Dean observation of the week comes from Chris Suellentrop, writing in Slate: "Dean wants to be Napster, but his supporters are more like Gnutella: They don't need to go through Dean to connect with one another." That's something for Governor Blogger to consider when he wimps out on copyright issues.


posted by David Rothman at 12:10 PM | permanent link

Oh, no, billg. A Linux OS for tablet machines has just appeared from Lycoris--complete with a virtual keyboard. Now how about Linux book-reader software optimized for a tablet? Hey, Lycoris, care to check out LiberGNU and friends? Might not there be some room for cooperation--toward a standard consumer e-book format based on the production-level work of the Open eBook Forum? No, the Linux-related market isn't the biggest within e-bookdom right now. But this would be a nice statement from Lycoris or another Linux player. Meanwhile, tablet Linux could be great news for hardware vendors wanting to do low-cost, Linux-based versions of the Tablet PC.

But no miracles expected instantly--just in the long run, maybe. Anyone heard lately about the Lindows-powered tablet (without fancy stuff like handwriting recognition) that Lindows was ballyhooing back in November--to "be ready near the first part of the year"? Yep, that's a picture of the AWOL product. Time for Lindows President Michael Robertson, the guy who prides himself on seamless packaging for consumers, to deliver? If he really wants to stick his finger in Microsoft's eye, he could work not just with LiberGNU and friends but also with publishers--to get real, live books out for Linux fans. Who knows, maybe he could do deals with Linux stalwart O'Reilly, along with enlightened distributors such as Fictionwise.

With good Linux-based readers out there from other people--building on the OeBF's own production-level standard--the organization just might get off its posterior and finally live up to the promises from 1998. Here's to the cause of a decent e-book standard that will serve as more than a file-exchange aid for publishers and distributors!

Additional thoughts: Don't write off Linux on a tablet if the right apps exist. Palm hasn't done too badly--at least for now--within the PDA area despite the existence of Microsoft. When people choose a PDA, they won't necessarily demand a Microsoft OS as long as the portable can communicate with the desktop and run the useful apps. Same concept with tablets. If the open source folks can address the needs of tablet owners and come up with a decent OEB-based reader and other apps, then maybe there'll be hope. If nothing else, consumers won't have to spend as much on the OS! Anyone working on a tablet version of OpenOffice for Linux? Gasp, it might even include reading and authoring capabilities for e-books.
posted by David Rothman at 9:21 AM | permanent link

Two Berkeley researchers question compulsory licensing of music and other content--as well as DRM. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been a big booster of the compulsory approach. But the researchers raise the possibility of cheating by content providers and also note the difficulties that honest providers might have in monitoring usage of content. As for DRM, they have privacy concerns--rightly!--along with others.

The TeleRead take: Compulsory licensing might well be better than the present mess. Still, for years, TeleRead has instead focused on voluntary participation by content providers--in a well-stocked national digital library system. Marketplace pressures might encourage participation. Payments would be fair. Accesses would be tracked for the purpose of providing compensation for writers, publishers and others. Techniques similar to those for anonymous digital cash might be used to assure more privacy than the Hollywood approach to DRM would take.

Just the same, a national digital library system in the TeleRead vein could also work without any DRM if, say, it tried to limit itself to IP addresses associated with a particular country. Subscription or pay-per-read options would be available for people elsewhere who lacked access through equivalent library systems. Primitive? Leaky? Sure. But the library model would help content providers in the most important way, by popularizing the medium of e-books. "Free" is always better at the reader end. See Harry Potter and the math of e-books if you haven't already--as well as a Wired article showing how "free" can boost demand. Needless to say, under TeleRead, different lending models could exist to help address budgetary issues.

Update, July 18: An HTML version of the Berkeley paper is also available--so you needn't mess with the PDF link on Slashdot. Also keep in mind that the TeleRead suggests voluntary participation by content-providers, as opposed to voluntary payments from users. This needn't be Stephen King II.
posted by David Rothman at 8:51 AM | permanent link

"The final report for the pilot digital talking book project, eAudio, undertaken by the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center is now on the web at http://www.mitbc.org/eaudiofinal.doc. The project was funded with $2000 from donation funds in honor of former MITBC director, Eileen Sheppard Meyer and the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service." - The Shifted Librarian.

The TeleRead take: Fascinating to see how the issues of talking books overlap with those of e-books. Read the report to find out about such joys as clashing formats and the matter of content availability. Still, as with e-books, there is potential here, especially when talking books can go online in a big way. We have the usual answer for the distribution question. A well-stocked national digital library system could help address format issues as well as the content question.
posted by David Rothman at 5:11 AM | permanent link

The New York Times has just published a story headlined Harry Potter and the Internet Pirates. Two stat-related facts in the article caught my eye yesterday:

1. All the millions of free e-books downloaded. Project Gutenberg's more than 7,500 free books are "available on several hundred Web sites," according to the Times. Meanwhile "roughly seven copies a minute are downloaded from the 1,600 e-books available free on the University of Virginia's Electronic Text Center, with 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' the leading title." Last year Michael Hart, Gutenberg's founder, told Sam Vaknin of UPI that "the one site we have the most control of gives away over a million e-books per month." My own wild guess--nothing more--is that the world is downloading at least 40 million classics a year, and remember, most of these public-domain works are hardly best-sellers in the "real world" of paper books.

2. The tiny revenue that e-books provide today--barely more than lunch money by the standards of the publishing industry as a whole. Mike Seagroves, director of business development for Palm Digital Media, described by the Times as "the largest commercial distributor of e-books," believes that only $8 million to $10 million of e-books will be sold in '03.

Could it be that e-book readers vastly prefer "free"? Mightn't a TeleRead-style library model--with due compensation for writers and publishers and file swapping allowed among library users--be one way to go? Yes, the bookstore model and subscription models could exist, too. But "free" just might be where much of the action could be, even for copyrighted titles.

The present situation is hardly the best. The agent for the Harry Potter series at this point hasn't even authorized an e-book edition despite Bryon Collin's petition--one that I'd recommend your signing.

Meanwhile, if you're in the e-book business, hang on. As the photo from E Ink and Phillips reminds us, things are going to get much better for all business models as the technology improves.

Update, July 14: See Germans 'fanslate' the Wiz: A Project Gutenberg angle here?
posted by David Rothman at 3:06 AM | permanent link