Paris is the top European city for free Wi-Fi access, according to a survey by Freehotspot.com. The French capital came in first with more than 80 free hotspots, followed by London at 21 and Dublin at 16. The remaining positions were filled by Barcelona, Brighton, Munich, Amsterdam, Vienna, Marseille and Cologne.
Access
New Swedish NGO
The new Swedish NGO has now established its first web presence. http://www.libre.se/.
The “Association for free culture and software” (Föreningen Fri Kultur och Programvara) is called Libre for short and will be active in four areas Infrastructure, Culture, Access & Digital Rights. Since the main focus of the NGO is to bring a major part of an international discussion into the Swedish domain the site is in Swedish.
WSIS, Internet Governance and Human Rights
Time: Monday, October 3, 2005, 09.00 – 17.00
Venue: Hammarskog Conference Centre, Uppsala
Registration: johan.hellstrom@kus.uu.se
More practical information Background material
Why is there no debate or no media reports in Sweden about the emerging and existing information society and Internet governance issues? Internationally, the discussion is at its peak, with the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) coming up in November in Tunis. Sweden, being one of the countries with the highest Internet access rates and with the ambition to be a leading nation on information and communication technology (ICT) usage and development, should be more involved in the international debate and also more concerned about the implications of Internet governance and Internet usage for society at large.
One reason for the absent debate is the existing intellectual divide between ICT and Internet management experts on the one hand, and democracy and human rights experts on the other. Technologists know how information technology can be managed and manipulated – but show little interest in or do not understand the implications for democracy and human rights.
More background
Keynote Speakers
Avri Doria (USA/Israel). Member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). Technical Consultant, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Researcher at the School of Technoculture, Humanities and Planning, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden.
Astrid Dufborg (Sweden). Special ICT Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden. Convenor of the UN ICT Task Force Working Group on Enabling Environment.
Mathias Klang (Sweden). Researcher in the field of access to technology and technology rights at the Department of Informatics, University of Göteborg. Responsible for Creative Commons in Sweden. Editor of the book “Human Rights in the Digital Age” (Glasshouse Press, 2005).
Website
http://www.kus.uu.se/en/activities/activities/20051003e.shtml
The digital Dark Age
They fear that rather than ushering mankind into a techno-utopia of paperless offices and clean, eco-friendly, endlessly flexible, virtual communication, it threatens to cast future generations into what Connell describes as a “digital dark age”.
“It all seems very attractive – scanning documents, taking pictures, putting them into the computer for safekeeping, allowing us to throw away hard copies and to save space.” Indeed, it is the most dramatic record-keeping revolution since the invention of printing.
“But what happens some time later,” asks Connell, “when we discover that we no longer have the machines, the programs – the hardware, the software – the know-how, to access all that computer-based, digital material?”
Expanding the Public Domain
James Boyle on the Public Domain
“My goal here has been to offer a theory, and a practice, of the public domain. The theory and practice come with a change in attitude. It’s time to think about expanding the public domain, not just defending or salvaging it. Some of the decisions that have already been made were unfortunate. There was no need to extend the copyright terms, in my view. It was not economically justified, it didn’t harmonize the law, and we’ve locked up 20 years of culture for no good reason. But the good news is, I don’t think that the term extension would pass today. What we have to do now is to think of all of the ways in which we can use the wonderful technology that is available to us, and build a public domain that people can get access to practically, but also a public domain they are aware of. Because if people have a sense of this world of available, accessible information, and understand what they can do with it, not just as passive consumers, but as people who can actually use and build on it, then we will solve the theoretical problem I started out with. We will have our rich and complex idea of public domain because we will all be living it every day.”
Seminar: In the Line of Copyright Fire
Uppsala (Sweden) Thursday, September 15th
18.00-20.00 Geijersalen, Engelska Parken: In the Line of Copyright Fire: Culture, Knowledge, and the Information Age
Exacerbated by technological innovation and digitization, the means by which the ownership of informational resources is to be managed in a time of global flows and networks is a question of critical importance to the Information Age. Today, few resources are as valuable as information and knowledge. What are the possible ramifications for civil society, higher education, and cultural institutions in this scenario, where both increased access and increased control struggle for domination? Archives, Libraries, and Museums are organizations that together with their users face a number of challenges in respect to copyright. In what sense do private and public interests collide when it comes to the dissemination of information, knowledge, and culture today? How can we make images and text available in a way that will be conducive rather than detrimental to future research? Is copyright obsolete or still viable?
These and other questions relating to the nexus between culture, knowledge, and property, will be explored in this panel discussion hosted by the Department of Archival Science, Library- and Information Science and Museology (ALM). Confirmed panelists include: Eva Hemmungs Wirtén, Associate Professor, Swedish Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow 2002-2006, the Department of ALM, Uppsala University; Mathias Klang, Project Lead for the Swedish Creative Commons license and Graduate Student at the Department of Informatics, Göteborg University; Matthew Rimmer, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Australian National University and member of the Copyright and Intellectual Property Advisory Group of the Australian Library and Information Association; Jette Sandahl, Director, Museum of World Culture, Göteborg.
All welcome!
For further information, please contact Eva Hemmungs Wirtén, ehw@abm.uu.se
Privacy, GPS & Children
After taking a short look at some of the products available on the market (and it is a growing market, I did a similar small survey about a year ago) it is obvious that GPS surveillance of children (but obviously not only children) is only going to grow. Privacy & childrens rights be damned this fear of the terrible has led to “paranoid parenting” (Furedi 2001).
Here are some of the products and services available for parents and other amateur Big Brothers:
ULocate http://www.ulocate.com/
uLocate Communications is a leading provider of wireless location-based services (LBS) that leverage an individual’s location to deliver customized, actionable information:
â?¢ last known locations
â?¢ maps
â?¢ directions
â?¢ location-based alerts
â?¢ proximity-based points of interest
Wherify Wireless http://www.wherifywireless.com/
The GPS Wheriphone: Through the convergence of Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital wireless technology – along with Wherify’s patented location technologies – the GPS Locator Phone offers parents, family members and business people peace of mind knowing they can locate loved ones or valuable property, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The slim, small and lightweight GPS Locator Phone can fit almost anywhereâ?¦from a backpack to a purse to a coat pocket to the family car.
Teen Arrive Alive http://www.teenarrivealive.com/
Features of the Teen Arrive Alive GPS service:
â?¢ Locations are updated every 2minutes.
â?¢ 7 days of location history is available.
â?¢ Location data can be downloaded to your computer.
â?¢ Our service provides physical address, speed, and heading for each location with a corresponding data point plotted on a map. See the route your teen has taken each day.
â?¢ Our patent-pending locator hotline allows parents to locate their teen anytime, from anywhere in the world from any phone.
â?¢ Location data is available in real time, 24 hours a day, everyday.
â?¢ You have unlimited access to location information with no additional fees or charges.
â?¢ Our service is as mobile as your teen. We locate the phone, not the car.
â?¢ The java application on the phone allows the teen to get their physical address and a corresponding street map directly on the phone – useful if they get lost.
â?¢ Choose from 5 different reports to analyze travel data.
DriveDiagnostics http://www.drivediagnostics.com/
Parents can receive:
â?¢ Recieve real time warnings when their child drives aggressively or dangerously.
â?¢ Be informed of specific and recurring aggressive and dangerous maneuvers performed by their teenager.
â?¢ Recieve real time warning messages to the parent via mail, SMS or phone call
â?¢ Gain access to driver profile, guidance and advise as to how to improve the teens driving
http://www.drivediagnostics.com/site/industry.asp?subMenu=teen
GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack http://www.spyshops.ca/trackerbackpack.htm
â?¢ Safety: The hours before and after school is in session are when parents worry most about their childâ??s safety. The GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack gives them an easy way to pinpoint their childâ??s location at any time.
â?¢ Convenience: The rechargeable battery operates for up to one week between battery recharges. Without having to remove the battery pack from the backpack, simply plug it into any outlet to recharge.
â?¢ Emergency Help: The GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack features an emergency call button that can be used to summon help or directly alert a parent to a childâ??s specific location. The child could also use the emergency call button to alert a parent should he or she become lost.
â?¢ GeoFence: Parents can easily construct a GeoFence online using the patented LOBOâ?¢ mapping software. A GeoFence is a defined are in which a parent can be alerted if the child is not inside the area or goes beyond a predefined area.
â?¢ Easy to Use: The GPS Kid Locator Tracker Backpack is self-contained and ready to use. Programming is done remotely online anytime anywhere. Our secure web site transmits programming instructions to the unit implementing them immediately.
Sentinel Watch (30 June 2004) – This may turn out to be vaporware since I have been unable to find updated information.
CPS and Xion collaborate on development of GSM based communications and security device
The new Sentinel Watch is based on a tri-band GSM engine and consistently delivers 100m accuracy in urban, suburban and rural areas. In addition the Watch can be tracked and located indoors and metal framed buildings. The watch also offers:
â?¢ parent/child communication via SMS/MMS
â?¢ a warning for parents if the child moves outside a designated or defined area
â?¢ a panic button which sends an immediate alert message to the parent
â?¢ security clasp and security strap the alert the parent when the watch is removed without authorisation
â?¢ gaming facilities
http://www.cursor-system.com/cps/news_detail.asp?ID=119
and finally the silliest of the lot…
SmartWear Technologies plans to launch a line of pajamas embedded with RFID tags (http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=165701942).
Copyright and Swedish Universities
Some notes from a recent discussion
First lets start off with the fundamental difference between Copyright in Swedish and Anglo/American law. Anglo/American law views copyright as the right to copy or reproduce. Swedish law sees copyright (upphovsrätt roughly translates as the right of origin). This foundamental difference creates problems when attempting to implement or discuss copyright in the different legal regimes.
Those people within universities which may be involved in copyright discussions can be one of three groups of people.
Students
Students can be funded by the university but are not seen as employees for the purpose of copyright. Students however are viewed as â??quasi-employeesâ?? when the discussion of work environment is discussed in the university â?? however this has no bearing on copyright issues.
Therefore the student is not seen as an employee. All/everything produced during his/her period of study belongs to him/her. The university has no copyright in essays, software, artwork or more. This can naturally be changed by contract â?? but then the student must be compensated in some way.
Phd Students (â??selfâ?? funded/funded by the university)
Often viewed as employees. They have the trappings of the employee. Office space, telephone & equipment. However for the discussion of employment relationship the Phd project does not count as work.
The â??selfâ?? employed Phd student is not seen as an employee. All/everything produced during his/her period of study belongs to him/her. The university has no copyright in essays, software, artwork or more. This can naturally be changed by contract â?? but then the student must be compensated in some way. This can be the case of research projects where the Phd student participates.
Phd students funded by the university may be seen as employees. These students are therefore employees who are being paid to produce something for the university. The product belongs to the university (not the moral rights since the moral rights always belong to the author). Traditionally universities in Sweden do not exercise their right to the product. Any attempt to exercise this right must be explicit and based upon contract.
Researchers (â??selfâ?? funded/funded by the university)
The â??selfâ?? employed researcher is not seen as an employee. All/everything produced during his/her period of study belongs to him/her. The university has no copyright in essays, software, artwork or more. This can naturally be changed by contract â?? but then the researcher must be compensated in some way.
Researchers funded by the university may be seen as employees. These researchers are therefore employees who are being paid to produce something for the university. The product belongs to the university (not the moral rights since the moral rights always belong to the author). Traditionally universities in Sweden do not exercise their right to the product. Any attempt to exercise this right must be explicit and based upon contract.
Employees
This group includes all employees who are being paid to produce something for the university. The product belongs to the university (not the moral rights since the moral rights always belong to the author). Traditionally universities in Sweden do not exercise their right to the product. Any attempt to exercise this right must be explicit and based upon contract.
A discussion can naturally be carried out as to what it is that is the employees are being employed to produce.
Additional questions of interest
Access to public information
Any and all material handed in to the university for grading (essays, exams & phd thesisâ??) are considered to be public information. Such public information is available to all who would like to read it (a cost for copying and sending may be levied).
Competing work
Employees at universities have a duty to be loyal and therefore should not carry out work which competes with the goals of the university. This may include abusing positions of trust by producing teaching material which they sell as compulsory material to students. The latter is not prohibited but may be frowned upon.
Open Access – UK
The Research Councils UK (RCUK) has published its policy proposal “Position Statement on Access to Research Output” http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/press/20050628openaccess.asp.
It is available for public comments until 31 August.
The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) has published a reply criticising the proposal. http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/18-guid.html
Proposed penalties – ensuring IP rights
As part of a proposal intended to protect IP rights. The penalties for infringing IP rights propsed by this directive include:
– a permanent or temporary ban on engaging in commercial activities;
– a ban on access to public assistance or subsidies;
The penalties are draconian since even drug dealers are not punished this harshly…
Background
COM (2005) 276 – 1 Proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights
http://europa.eu.int/prelex/detail_dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId=193131
Penalties Article 4 section 2:
For the offences referred to in Article 3, the Member States shall provide that the following penalties are also available in appropriate cases:
(a) destruction of the goods infringing an intellectual property right;
(b) total or partial closure, on a permanent or temporary basis, of the
establishment used primarily to commit the offence;
(c) a permanent or temporary ban on engaging in commercial activities;
(d) placing under judicial supervision;
(e) judicial winding-up;
(f) a ban on access to public assistance or subsidies;
(g) publication of judicial decisions.