Entries for May 12, 2006
Congress Targets Social Network Sites
CNET News.com on May 10 reported that Congress is targeting social networks with legislation.
MySpace and other social-networking sites like LiveJournal.com and Facebook are the potential targets for a proposed federal law that
would effectively require most schools and libraries to render those
Web sites inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of
the category's most ardent users.
would effectively require most schools and libraries to render those
Web sites inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of
the category's most ardent users.
It appears the legislation does give parents the right to offer permission for their child to have access. But even that doorway in the law, has great consequences. If the law is interpreted as broadly as CNET suggests, many websites could be off limits. What about libraries that are using these various services to reach their users? Are libraries going to have to get permission for every single website, rather than larger domains? For example, parents says "NO" to Blogger, but what if the library has a website on Blogger?
I wish politicians would do more to promote education and the role of parents than restricting rights.
UPDATE:
Another ALAL2 participant's post on this proposed social networking legislation.
Have you read the MySpace Terms & Conditions?
Someone just pointed out to me some of the terms and conditions that users of MySpace agree to.
6. Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.com.
1. By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content, messages, text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, profiles, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") on or through the Services, you hereby grant to MySpace.com, a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, publicly display, store, reproduce, transmit, and distribute such Content on and through the Services. This license will terminate at the time you remove such Content from the Services. You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on or through the Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Content posted by you to or through the Services.
As a librarian that has spent time in a corporate library so I was previously immersed constantly in patent and copyright law, and someone that strongly believes in negotiating your rights to your intellectual property before publishing or selling, I was shocked by these terms. First, it does protect users from others users copying, selling, or otherwise distributing their artwork, writing, pictures, music, etc. BUT, MySpace can profit from your creations in any way it see fit.Ask yourself - how comfortable are you with MySpace having the ability to use an entry from your blog, taking one of your pictures, or sharing your music in an advertisement on its front page or in other marketing methods?
Would an artist or writer have less power to negotiate with a publisher or producer if their materials were already up on MySpace? Even though MySpace's rights are non-exclusive, can this hurt you in developing other alternatives? It may if the producer does not care for MySpace.
FreePatentsOnline.com
FreePatentsOnline.com provides fast, free access to all U.S. patents and patent applications, partial European data, free PDF downloading, free account features, and more. In addition, a user can can establish a free account that allows for saving searches, creating portfolios of documents, saving comments on documents, and getting notified when new patents of interest are published.
FreePatentsOnline.com is a great alternative to the single page Tiff downloads at the USPTO web site.