Google and Belgian Newspaper Copyright Case: Headed for an Appeal

On February 13, 2007, Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land reported that:

“[On re-hearing, a]… Belgium court has found that Google did violate copyright when including material from several Belgian newspapers in its search index. Google may have to pay a fine, but the ruling is far more positive for the company. Google can continue to index content without explicit permission...

Google loses copyright case launched by Belgian newspapers from the Associated Press and Google Breached Newspapers' Copyright, Court Rules from Reuters…explains that Google will have to pay a retroactively daily fine of €25,000 (about $32,000) for the it failed to remove content after Belgian newspaper group Copierpresse asked for removal of its members' material.”

Sullivan continued:

“I've just talked with Google's public relations department in Europe. Some more points on the story.

First, they are appealing the ruling. Didn't they already appeal it? No, it was a rehearing of the original case, granted because Google wasn't present to defend itself the first time. Now that the case has been reheard, an actual appeal to a higher court can happen.

* * *

I've now talked with Yoram Elkaim, legal counsel for Google who oversees Google News legal issues in Europe. First I asked more about the ruling is not seen by Google to set a precedent:

‘[Google replied], [b]ecause of the legal system in most European countries, there is no rule of precedence. That means the court here was really asked to apply the law on the specific situation and on the plaintiffs in this situation…’”

The Associated Press breaks this story down further:

“Copiepresse said the ruling was based on EU law and could trigger similar cases against Google in other nations, mentioning talks with copyright groups in Norway, Austria and Italy.

But Google said the judgment — which confirms an initial ruling in September — would not necessarily carry influence in other areas.

‘This ruling does not mean that everywhere else or every other judge in any other country would rule in the same, even in Belgium," said Yoram Elkaim, legal counsel for Google News. "There are conflicting rulings on those issues which are fairly new and complicated.’

U.S.-based technology lawyer Jonathan Band said the ruling was neither final — as it can be appealed to higher courts in Belgium — nor did it bear much weight since legal precedent is not as important in Continental European law.

‘I'm sure other newspaper publishers are probably going to read the decision carefully but the most important factor is that it's not the ultimate ruling,’ he said.

In the U.S., Internet search engines have been able to call on "fair use" to defend the republication of text excerpts and a similar system exists in British law.

‘On the Continent, they don't have that,’ he said.

Google said the court still had not settled the debate on what the ruling covered, claiming it only applied to Google News Belgium and google.be.

‘In our view we have complied with the ruling fully since September,’ Elkaim said.

If the court agrees, Google would not have to pay retroactive daily fines of €25,000 (more than US$32,000) for each day Google did not comply — far lower than an earlier judgment that threatened €1 million (US$1.3 million) a day.

But Copiepresse lawyer Bernard Magrez claimed Google was still not complying fully with the ruling — saying it covered google.com and other versions — meaning fines could run up to around €3 million (US$3.9 million) or €3.3 million (US$4.3 million).

Copiepresse is still negotiating similar copyright issues with Yahoo and MSN.”

For a look at the September 5, 2006 Order from Belgian Court, check out this link. Among other things, the Order states that:

“…[T]he defendant [is ordered] to withdraw the articles, photographs and graphic representations of Belgian publishers of the French - and German-speaking daily press, represented by the plaintiff, from all their sites (Google News and "cache" Google or any other name within 10 days of the notification of the intervening order, under penalty of a daily fine of
1,000,000.- € per day of delay”

The best warm fuzzies come in unexpected packages

I work as a Circulation Associate at the Main/downtown library in my city. Admittedly, I am actively seeking a Para position within my library system, but right now I am savoring the uniqueness of working the frontlines of the library. When patrons enter the building, my co-workers and I are the first or second group of people they see (the other prominent figures are the security guards). My department deals with a lot of people, and it often seems that many of these interactions arise out of frustrations and problems that the patrons have.

For a few months now, I’ve been making an extra-conscious effort to really be present when interacting with each patron that I am interacting with. Not that I did not do this before, but I wanted to take things to the next level. It’s easier some days than others. On a very basic level, one of the things that I try to do is to picture (with my mind’s eye) my heart opening to each person and to look into the eyes of the other, if even just for a moment.

But, again, sometimes it takes a lot of effort when your mind or heart is elsewhere. A couple of days ago, while my body was at work, my mind was on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s latest movie to be released on dvd, SherryBaby (which I had watched just before leaving for work that day). Even more, I was thinking about a family matter that had recently come up...one of those things that you can’t really do anything about, but which bothers you nonetheless.

With about 3 hours left of work, I had one gentleman approach me with the problem, which explanation lasted about five minutes. Bottom line: there was a movie on his library card which he claimed HAD been returned. Although this is an estimate, of the times when patrons claim to have returned movies that are still on their records, it seems that about 80% of the movies are not on the shelves and have seemed to have disappeared into thin air. In other words, I did not expect to find the movie on the shelf, and was a bit too tired to really put a lot of effort into this quest.

However, the movie was there all along! My spirits immediately lifted and as I exited the Audiovisual department to head back to my post at the Return Desk, I announced to a co-worker that my faith in man had been restored for the evening. He laughed at me and shook his head. As I walked away, I think I could feel him smile warmly at my optimism, though.

Moments later, a young girl who I recognized as a after-school regular saw me heading down the stairs and asked if worked at the library. I let her know that I did and asked her what I could do to help her out. Suddenly, she was close to crying as she explained to me that her grandmother had let her borrow her library card to use as a computer pass and to check out some books. Somehow, she had lost the card. I brought her down to the return desk with me and had her sit down for a moment. I knelt down beside her and quietly explained that I’d make a note in grandma’s record that the card was misplaced.

To take her mind off the situation a bit, I asked the girl to write her name down for me in her very best handwriting. I then let Shae (yes, a pseudonym) that I’d write in grandma’s record that Shae could still check out some books that evening. I made a computer pass up for her, and made sure she knew that I believed losing the card was an accident. I let her know that I’d be up in the same area that she was using the computers in shortly, and that we’d keep an eye out for the card for the rest of the evening.

Shae checked back with me a few more times to see if the card had been turned in. She still seemed very worried, as she thought that grandma would need to pay for a replacement card, although I let her know that it would be free. She told me she was scared of getting in trouble and wanted me to speak to her grandma. Suddenly, it occurred to her that maybe she lost the card down the elevator shaft. I suspected this was her grasping at straws to make up any story that sounded like a plausible accident, as I had done this same things many times when I was a child. The fear of getting a spanking or even just being yelled at for being irresponsible (yet again) was enough to make me become a master storyteller. I recognized this in Shae, but followed her to the elevator shaft to check out how we might retrieve grandma’s lost card.

I assured Shae once again that accidents happen, and joked with her that next time maybe she should wear pants with pockets. I stressed that I believed she had learned an important lesson. Still, she was close to crying again. I told her that I’d write her a note to give to grandma if she gave me a few minutes to do so. I knew the note would probably do more for Shae than for grandma, but hoped that maybe Shae’s grandma would go easier on her if I stressed the fact that getting a replacement card would be easy and free. I gave the note to Shae and told her that, although I could not keep her from getting in trouble, I believed that it was an accident.

Maybe ten minutes later, Shae returned, skipping up to me with the biggest smile. The card had been found. She gave me back the note, and gave me a huge thank you.

By then, I think I was just has happy as Shae that she had found grandma’s card.

So, what does David Bowie read?

On 17 January, 2007, BiblioTech Web drew attention to the fact that Art Garfunkel has an ongoing list of books he's read over the last 3 decades. Scott Pfitzinger (the author of BiblioTech Web) attributes the discovery of this gem to “Steven Cohen at Library Stuff who got it from Jessa Crispin at Bookslut who got it from David at Largehearted Boy.”

Check Mr. Garfunkel's Library out for yourself! Of note is the fact that his top 5 favorite books are:

1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Confessions, 1781, 606 pp. (read in Jun. 1968)

2. Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving, 1956, 146 pp. (read in Jun. 1968)

3. P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, 1949, 389 pp. (read in Oct. 1968)

4. L.N. Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1869, 1444 pp. (read in Feb. 1969)

5. Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint, 1969, 274 pp. (read in May 1969)

Along this line, retired librarian, Glenna Nowell, is the editor of the “Who Reads What?” reading list, which began in 1988. This list features books that famous and influential people have read. In 2004, Today Show celebs Al Roker and Anne Curry were reading “Devil in a Blue Dress” by Walter Mosley and “The Once and Future King” by T.H.White, respectively. In 1994, Lamb Chop's mom, Shari Lewis, commented that, “Generally, the book I'm reading at the moment is my favorite--however, my all time fave is Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. Great tragic strong female character, bucking the social mores.”

So, my original question was, “What does David Bowie read?” His lovely letter to Glenna Nowell says it best:

“Dear Miss Nowell:

I was so delighted to have been asked to contribute to your list as I am an obsessive reader, and, it seems to me, I spend half my life recommending books to friends--and to complete strangers at times!

However, actually putting my short list together nearly paralyzed me with indecision. I read something like three books a week, so trimming down became an exceptionally daunting prospect.

These few are works that really stayed with me and I can assure the reader of a jolly good time with any of the following. Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders by Robertson Davies. These books form a trilogy so read them in order. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. Wonderfully surreal. Money by Martin Amis. Funny, bitter, extremely British. Brazzaville Beach, by William Boyd. Caring, poignant and terribly romantic. The Viveroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin. One of the greatest writers of this last twenty years. Libra by Don Delillo. Alarming and American.

I should also note that if you like any of these books please don't hesitate to read the rest of the works by any of these authors. Their entire output is just great. I'd love to hear your opinion.

Please ask me for another list next year as I keep remembering works that cast their spell on my sponge-like mind.

Kind regards,

David Bowie”

Although I've only recently started, my own reading list contains books I've read, books on my “to read list”, and books I think my husband would enjoy. The service I use is called Bibliophil. I like the feature of looking for readers with similar tastes to my own where I can get even more ideas on books to add to my wishlist.

Taking RSS into your own hands

BiblioTech Web has recently featured a cool new service called Page2RSS. While most sites now provide RSS feeds, there are inevitably some out there that do not, making this tool especially useful.

Even better, it's so simple to use. You may either go right to their website and enter the webpage you want to monitor in a box that will convert the web address to RSS, or you can add a button or bookmark to your browser toolbar. Once Page2RSS has converted the web address to RSS, simply copy and paste the link into your favorite aggregator.

Being a fellow RSS Bigot , I began wandering around the web a bit to find some interesting mashups that incorporate RSS.

Something that immediately caught my eye is an RSS mashup site called BaeBo. The RSS Weblog give a great description of Baebo:

“[BaeBo]acts as a meta search engine reaching into Amazon, Google, eBay, Yahoo!, Flickr, YouTube, and Technorati. You cannot mash all the search results into one feed, but you can merge Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo! Shopping into a single product feed, which is damn convenient. The site is weak on design, but it works. Used to be called Longtail, but (according to a posted explanation) that term has been trademarked by its popularizer, Chris Anderson. The mashup site is now called BaeBo, and is operated by Fancis Shanahan. (BaeBo is the language spoken in the Solomon islands ... perhaps it has other meanings, too.)”

Apparently, BaeBo's results may also be viewed through WML on your Blackberry you feel so compelled to go that route.

RSS Alley, created by Adam Green, uses Google Maps APIy to display the locations of some companies and bloggers actively working with RSS in the Boston area. Green writes that,
“Boston has become a center for innovation based on the RSS standard, so it is fitting that it be known as RSS Alley.This map displays the locations of some of the companies, blogs, and people actively working with RSS and OPML in the Boston area.” Submissions to RSS Alley are made by sending an email to Green.

PackageMapping.com allows you to track your UPS, FedEx, USPS, and DHL packages with Google Maps and RSS feeds. You simply enter your tracking number and up pops a detailed manifest of your package's details as well as a map showing your package's route. Too cool.

Finally, SixDegrees mashes RSS feeds with the ClearForest Content Analysis Services API, finding the connection or six-degrees of separation between topics. The real value of this mashup is detailed by the author of SixDegrees, Francis Shanahan, who notes that “should you so desire, I have exposed the capabilities of the service through SOAP and REST interfaces so that developers can build on top of the data collected.” Admittedly, much of what Shanahan says about SixDegrees is over my head, but the concept sounds pretty intriguing to me.

On 26 January 2007, LibrarianActivist.org featured a game “Homelessness: It’s No Game”. It was created by a student for a graduate-level course on game design at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University.

The game's creator states that, “The intent of the game is to raise awareness of the situation faced by the homeless, as well as to aid in my research into the effectiveness of serious videogames.”

The "Librarian Activist" went on to explain that “Although the concept has lots of potential, the execution (at least in the current version) is lacking. This Flash-based game asks you to simulate life on the streets by taking on the role of a homeless person. You wander a small area of a city picking up bottles and other items to sell, panhandling, dealing with hunger pangs and a heavy bladder, visiting parks, diners and churches while avoiding trouble and trying to earn “esteem” points by your actions. You have a 24-hour window (accelerated obviously) to earn 24 esteem points. If you do, you “win” the game. If not…well, I don’t know what happens if not since I’ve played the game four times and never “lost” once (I think my record was raising my esteem enough was before 10 hours were up out of the 24.)”

The idea of games as a catalyst for change in the real world has been taken on by the Serious Games Initiate, whose goal is:

“...to help usher in a new series of policy education, exploration, and management tools utilizing state of the art computer game designs, technologies, and development skills.

As part of that goal the Serious Games Initiative also plays a greater role in helping to organize and accelerate the adoption of computer games for a variety of challenges facing the world today.”

The Serious Games Initiative emerged in 2002 and has been evolving ever since. In 2004, a subgroup was formed called “Games for Change” (G4C) “which acts as a national hub to help organizations network and develop videogame projects beyond their traditional expertise.
Our members represent hundreds of organizations and include partners in the games industry, academia, nonprofits, local and state governments, foundations, the UN and artists.”

The 3rd annual Games for Change conference was hosted in New York City by
Parsons The New School for Design on June 27th through 28th, 2006. Apparently, this is the only conference that is strictly dedicated to the Digital Games for Social Change movement. Speakers and exhibiters at the conference included activists, non-profits, and academics, as well as game designers.

For anyone interested, on “Monday, March 5 and Tuesday, March 6 at the Moscone Convention Center North in San Francisco during GDC 2007, the Summit provides a forum for game developers and industry professionals to examine the future course of serious games development in areas such as education, government, health, military, science, corporate training, first responders, and social change.”