In the wake of the publication of the report from the "EU Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe" a consortium of organisations working in the scholarly communication arena is sponsoring a petition to the European Commission to demonstrate support for Open Access and for the recommendations in the report. Signatures may be added on behalf of individuals or institutions.
Please register your support for Open Access in this way. To sign the petition, please go to http://www.ec-petition.eu/
The sponsoring organisations are JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee, UK), SURF (Netherlands), SPARC Europe, DFG (Deutsches Forschungsgemeinschaft, Germany), DEFF (Danmarks Elektroniske Fag- og Forskningsbibliotek, Denmark).
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Patry on Copyright
William Patry has substantially revised his thoroughgoing treatise on copyright law. For more details, please visit Bill's entry describing the work in his insightful and informative blog. http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2007/01/my-treatise-is-now-available.html.
This is a welcome addition to the discourse.
This is a welcome addition to the discourse.
Outrageous!
The coordinated attack by some in the Bush administration and some of its allies on pro bono lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees is beyond the pale. Charles D. Stimson, an official in the Defense Deparment and an attorney, argues that CEOs should withdraw their firm's legal business from law firms that are representing detainees. I don't use this blog to express political opinions, and the point here is non-partisan. It is an outrage for public officials of any party to use or threaten to use regulatory and purchasing power leverage to retailate against a lawyer for representing a party that is in active litigation adverse to the government.
There are so many things wrong with Stimson's position that it is hard to know where to begin. The most troubling is how deeply unpatriotic and unAmerican the sentiments Mr. Stimson expresses are. He rejects the fundamental values that make us American, including a presumption of innocence and the right to due process. While Mr. Stimson's statements are understandably politically embarrassing, the Justice Department's tepid distancing effort is equally troubling because it indicates a lack of full blooded commitment to the American conception of justice. Shame.
There are so many things wrong with Stimson's position that it is hard to know where to begin. The most troubling is how deeply unpatriotic and unAmerican the sentiments Mr. Stimson expresses are. He rejects the fundamental values that make us American, including a presumption of innocence and the right to due process. While Mr. Stimson's statements are understandably politically embarrassing, the Justice Department's tepid distancing effort is equally troubling because it indicates a lack of full blooded commitment to the American conception of justice. Shame.
The Dream/It's Time
Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most moving and powerful exhibitions of public oratory one can experience. I hope that it remains a part of public memory for at least as long as Pericles' funeral oration has. While Dr. King's speech by itself has memorable rhythmic and lyrical intensity, for me, these features are rendered sublimely by Max Roach's posthumous duet "The Dream/It's Time," in which Roach accompanies King on drums.
The piece is on the out-of-print album Chattahoochie Red (Columbia). There's a partial video clip here. It's time for the album to be re-released on CD.
The piece is on the out-of-print album Chattahoochie Red (Columbia). There's a partial video clip here. It's time for the album to be re-released on CD.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
We Need You!
The annual fundraising drive for Creative Commons is in its final days. Progress has been good, but we need a final push to make our goal. If you're looking for last-minute holiday gifts, there are some nice shirts and swag in the store. http://creativecommons.org/support/.
This has been a big year for the commons, and there's more exciting news expected in the new year. For those who have already shown their support, thank you!
This has been a big year for the commons, and there's more exciting news expected in the new year. For those who have already shown their support, thank you!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Fencing Mozart In
A good news story for some classical music fans. A bad news story for champions of copyright's public domain. Digital copies of Mozart's scores are now "freely" available here. These works are in the public domain for copyright purposes, which means you are free to copy them without restriction.
However, the International Mozarteum Foundation, which has provided this service, has imposed a click-through agreement requiring visitors to agree to limit their use of the public domain to personal and fair use copies.
Digitizing copyright's public domain is to be applauded. Locking it behind contractual fences is not. There are other and better cost recovery models for this kind of transitional effort.
However, the International Mozarteum Foundation, which has provided this service, has imposed a click-through agreement requiring visitors to agree to limit their use of the public domain to personal and fair use copies.
Digitizing copyright's public domain is to be applauded. Locking it behind contractual fences is not. There are other and better cost recovery models for this kind of transitional effort.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Open Systems
Two important pieces from the traditional press are worth noting.
First, Sir John Sulston, a Nobel laureate who serves on the Science Commons Advisory Board, has written a persuasive editorial in the Financial Times about the connection between openness and informational justice.
Second, Clive Thompson has a nice piece in the New York Times magazine about the adoption of open systems within the U.S. intelligence community.
Both demonstrate the importance of developing what we might call a "network consciousness". By this I mean an awareness of our own role as nodes in a host of overlapping social and material networks and an awareness of the potential and pitfalls of open systems.
First, Sir John Sulston, a Nobel laureate who serves on the Science Commons Advisory Board, has written a persuasive editorial in the Financial Times about the connection between openness and informational justice.
Second, Clive Thompson has a nice piece in the New York Times magazine about the adoption of open systems within the U.S. intelligence community.
Both demonstrate the importance of developing what we might call a "network consciousness". By this I mean an awareness of our own role as nodes in a host of overlapping social and material networks and an awareness of the potential and pitfalls of open systems.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Fixing Fair Use
I've posted a preprint of my latest article, Fixing Fair Use, here and here. Here's the abstract:
The fair use doctrine in copyright law balances expressive freedoms by permitting one to use another’s copyrighted expression under certain circumstances. The doctrine’s extreme context-sensitivity renders it of little value to those who require reasonable ex ante certainty about the legality of a proposed use. In this Article, Professor Carroll advances a legislative proposal to create a Fair Use Board in the U.S. Copyright Office that would have power to declare a proposed use of another’s copyrighted work to be a fair use. Like a private letter ruling from the IRS or a “no action” letter from the SEC, a favorable opinion would immunize only the petitioner from copyright liability for the proposed use, leaving the copyright owner free to challenge the same or similar uses by other parties. The copyright owner would receive notice and an opportunity to challenge a petition. Fair Use Rulings would be subject to administrative review in the Copyright Office and to judicial review by the federal courts of appeals. The Article closes with discussion of alternative approaches to fixing fair use.
The fair use doctrine in copyright law balances expressive freedoms by permitting one to use another’s copyrighted expression under certain circumstances. The doctrine’s extreme context-sensitivity renders it of little value to those who require reasonable ex ante certainty about the legality of a proposed use. In this Article, Professor Carroll advances a legislative proposal to create a Fair Use Board in the U.S. Copyright Office that would have power to declare a proposed use of another’s copyrighted work to be a fair use. Like a private letter ruling from the IRS or a “no action” letter from the SEC, a favorable opinion would immunize only the petitioner from copyright liability for the proposed use, leaving the copyright owner free to challenge the same or similar uses by other parties. The copyright owner would receive notice and an opportunity to challenge a petition. Fair Use Rulings would be subject to administrative review in the Copyright Office and to judicial review by the federal courts of appeals. The Article closes with discussion of alternative approaches to fixing fair use.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Open Access and Incremenatlism
Arthur Sale has posted a very nice paper called The Patchwork Mandate that is directly in line with the advice I have been giving to open access advocates and institutional repository managers on a number of campuses.
He argues that if conditions are not ripe for putting an institution-wide deposit mandate in place, advocates should target department heads or faculties and similarly-situtated officials who could mandate deposit of research papers produced within the unit into the institutional repository. He is exactly right.
He is right for the broader reason that open access advocates have to be incrementalists. Open access has occurred thus far and will continue to grow through the combination of top-down and bottom-up strategies that have been working thus far. There are still a number of skeptics who need persuading that granting access to marginal audiences is a valuable goal. It is more feasible to win some of these skeptics over in small group settings and by shifting behavioral and attidunal norms within more local settings - such as an academic department.
Of course, we continue to work hard to support top-down initiatives, such as the FRPAA, which is itself an incrementalist measure that applies to only a subset of funding institutions. But we have to be pragmatic about where the opportunities are. If you are in a university that is not in a position to adopt institution-wide open access policies, look for other opportunities. One department at a time.
He argues that if conditions are not ripe for putting an institution-wide deposit mandate in place, advocates should target department heads or faculties and similarly-situtated officials who could mandate deposit of research papers produced within the unit into the institutional repository. He is exactly right.
He is right for the broader reason that open access advocates have to be incrementalists. Open access has occurred thus far and will continue to grow through the combination of top-down and bottom-up strategies that have been working thus far. There are still a number of skeptics who need persuading that granting access to marginal audiences is a valuable goal. It is more feasible to win some of these skeptics over in small group settings and by shifting behavioral and attidunal norms within more local settings - such as an academic department.
Of course, we continue to work hard to support top-down initiatives, such as the FRPAA, which is itself an incrementalist measure that applies to only a subset of funding institutions. But we have to be pragmatic about where the opportunities are. If you are in a university that is not in a position to adopt institution-wide open access policies, look for other opportunities. One department at a time.
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Broadcast Treaty and Open Access
Copyright. Michael Geist has a nice column today once again reminding us about why the WIPO negotiations over a Broadcast Treaty are trouble. See also the CPTech blog. A number of technology companies and public interest organizations oppose the treaty for these reasons.
One quick point about the Treaty and then a point for Open Access advocates. In my view, representatives of copyright-owning organizations have made the wrong bet in either supporting or staying neutral on this issue. They have bet that broadcasters will, on balance, help them enforce their rights against those who transmit copyrighted works that have been broadcast. As technology evolves, and broadcasters use the rights created by the Treaty to protect their business model, these copyright owners will regret the choice they make today.
Some Open Access advocates, librarians in particular, have been active in opposing the treaty. For those who have not tuned in, the important thing to watch is how the policy debate is conducted. Who has the burden of persuasion? Ben Ivins of the National Association of Broadcasters argues that because other countries give broadcasters a distinct right in their signal, it is opponents of the treaty who must show that the treaty would be harmful. This argument is exactly backward. In the United States, a proponent of a law that restricts speech has the burden to show that the restriction will advance an important governmental interest. The NAB has failed to meet this burden. Even though the executive branch has signed on, Congress and the courts should demand to see evidence that the treaty would address a real harm without interfering with legitimate communication. So far the evidence does not even come close.
Allocating the buren of persuasion is just as important with respect to the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA). The AAP is doing its best to argue that proponents of the legislation must prove that the benefits of open access outweigh the costs. That, I am afraid, is not the way it works in any society that embraces a principle of freedom of expression. Thus, the first response from the open access community should be that the burden is on those who would restrict public distribution of publicly-funded research to show that such restrictions advance an important public interest. Then, we can take up the question of how to measure benefits and costs.
One quick point about the Treaty and then a point for Open Access advocates. In my view, representatives of copyright-owning organizations have made the wrong bet in either supporting or staying neutral on this issue. They have bet that broadcasters will, on balance, help them enforce their rights against those who transmit copyrighted works that have been broadcast. As technology evolves, and broadcasters use the rights created by the Treaty to protect their business model, these copyright owners will regret the choice they make today.
Some Open Access advocates, librarians in particular, have been active in opposing the treaty. For those who have not tuned in, the important thing to watch is how the policy debate is conducted. Who has the burden of persuasion? Ben Ivins of the National Association of Broadcasters argues that because other countries give broadcasters a distinct right in their signal, it is opponents of the treaty who must show that the treaty would be harmful. This argument is exactly backward. In the United States, a proponent of a law that restricts speech has the burden to show that the restriction will advance an important governmental interest. The NAB has failed to meet this burden. Even though the executive branch has signed on, Congress and the courts should demand to see evidence that the treaty would address a real harm without interfering with legitimate communication. So far the evidence does not even come close.
Allocating the buren of persuasion is just as important with respect to the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA). The AAP is doing its best to argue that proponents of the legislation must prove that the benefits of open access outweigh the costs. That, I am afraid, is not the way it works in any society that embraces a principle of freedom of expression. Thus, the first response from the open access community should be that the burden is on those who would restrict public distribution of publicly-funded research to show that such restrictions advance an important public interest. Then, we can take up the question of how to measure benefits and costs.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Future of Music?
Music. Copyright. There's little doubt that the music industry is in a period of transformation. Today's news is that Universal Music is willing to "compete with free" by letting a site called Spiral Frog experiment with an ad-supported distribution model, permitting "free" downloads that are tethered to the site with technological protection measures (a.k.a. DRM).
Meanwhile, the debate about business models has gone audiovisual. For the defense of the traditional model, watch the RIAA's latest, Campus Downloading, at http://www.campusdownloading.com/dvd.htm
For the opposing case, watch MC Lars', "Download This Song," at http://www.mclars.com/v2/media.html#VIDWIN or at http://www.myspace.com/mclars (points for those who can identify the song this is built on or the guest vocalist).
And for parody's sake, there's always Weird Al, at http://www.dontdownloadthissong.com/
Meanwhile, the debate about business models has gone audiovisual. For the defense of the traditional model, watch the RIAA's latest, Campus Downloading, at http://www.campusdownloading.com/dvd.htm
For the opposing case, watch MC Lars', "Download This Song," at http://www.mclars.com/v2/media.html#VIDWIN or at http://www.myspace.com/mclars (points for those who can identify the song this is built on or the guest vocalist).
And for parody's sake, there's always Weird Al, at http://www.dontdownloadthissong.com/
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Online Communities and Their Discontents
Surely I was not the only reader struck by the coincidence of stories in yesterday's New York Times about two very different kinds of online communities deemed to be dangerous? In one story, we learn about the structure and depth of the online pedophile community or communities. Although not surprising that the Net would be put to this use, the story is still a deeply disturbing reminder of the many sicknesses that plague the human condition.
We Internet enthusiasts have to be candid about the network's potential to facilitate the formation or growth of criminal and morally reprehensible communities such as these. The proper response in my view is not to change the architecture of the network but to invest more law enforcement resources in disbanding these harmful social networks.
On the other hand, we have a story about a different kind of community that's become a scourge of the Net - guitar players. That's right. Seems the National Music Publisher's Association has launched an offensive against sites that host tablature versions of popular songs. (Tab is a graphic representation of how to play a piece of music.) These tabs generally are written by amateur guitarists who seek to teach each other songs of interest. According to the NMPA, these sites are cutting into publishing revenues. (Disclosure: I'm a guitarist, but I don't use tab to learn songs. I play by ear.)
I'm all in favor of seeing songwriters getting paid, but this approach once again represents an attempt to force the digital into an analog model. Rather than work with this online community that has formed around the music, by perhaps adopting an adverstising-based and value-added approach, the publishers want to disband it and preserve a sales model that would force guitarists into a passive consumption role. To quote a certain songwriter from New Jersey, "One day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny."
We Internet enthusiasts have to be candid about the network's potential to facilitate the formation or growth of criminal and morally reprehensible communities such as these. The proper response in my view is not to change the architecture of the network but to invest more law enforcement resources in disbanding these harmful social networks.
On the other hand, we have a story about a different kind of community that's become a scourge of the Net - guitar players. That's right. Seems the National Music Publisher's Association has launched an offensive against sites that host tablature versions of popular songs. (Tab is a graphic representation of how to play a piece of music.) These tabs generally are written by amateur guitarists who seek to teach each other songs of interest. According to the NMPA, these sites are cutting into publishing revenues. (Disclosure: I'm a guitarist, but I don't use tab to learn songs. I play by ear.)
I'm all in favor of seeing songwriters getting paid, but this approach once again represents an attempt to force the digital into an analog model. Rather than work with this online community that has formed around the music, by perhaps adopting an adverstising-based and value-added approach, the publishers want to disband it and preserve a sales model that would force guitarists into a passive consumption role. To quote a certain songwriter from New Jersey, "One day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny."
Friday, July 28, 2006
The Publishers' "Private Market" Canard
Open Access. In response to the Provosts' Open Letter supporting a legislative requirement for open access to federally-funded research articles, Alan Adler, vice president for legal and government affairs of the Association of American Publishers, said “what the university community is excited about is the prospect of being able to get access to all this published material free online, which is not terribly surprising. But why should universities be excited about the government inserting itself into the process of providing access to research?
Congress must not be fooled by this rhetorical sleight of hand. This move by scholarly publishers to assert scholarly publishing as private domain into which the federal government is intruding is, frankly, silly. We have seen this move with the American Chemical Society's attempt to stop NIH from harvesting and publishing public domain information in its PubChem database. If there are any interlopers in scholarly communication in the sciences, it is for-profit commercial publishers rather than the federal government. (See John Willinsky, The Access Prinicple, for details).
The articles that would be made publicly accessible under the FRPAA are those reporting on research conducted with federal support. Why isn't this support also a form of "interference"? But we do not hear Mr. Adler complaining about the federal government subsidizing the critical input for his members' businesses do we? Moreover, the publishing activities of scholarly societies have been indirectly underwritten with government funding, which supplies funds that end up paying membership fees and/or journal subscriptions. Unless and until Mr. Adler's members are willing to pay full value to support the research and writing of research articles, they have no standing to complain about government "interference."
Congress must not be fooled by this rhetorical sleight of hand. This move by scholarly publishers to assert scholarly publishing as private domain into which the federal government is intruding is, frankly, silly. We have seen this move with the American Chemical Society's attempt to stop NIH from harvesting and publishing public domain information in its PubChem database. If there are any interlopers in scholarly communication in the sciences, it is for-profit commercial publishers rather than the federal government. (See John Willinsky, The Access Prinicple, for details).
The articles that would be made publicly accessible under the FRPAA are those reporting on research conducted with federal support. Why isn't this support also a form of "interference"? But we do not hear Mr. Adler complaining about the federal government subsidizing the critical input for his members' businesses do we? Moreover, the publishing activities of scholarly societies have been indirectly underwritten with government funding, which supplies funds that end up paying membership fees and/or journal subscriptions. Unless and until Mr. Adler's members are willing to pay full value to support the research and writing of research articles, they have no standing to complain about government "interference."
Provosts Support Open Access Bill
Open Access. A recent story reports that the provosts (chief academic officers) of 25 leading research universities in the United States have released an open letter supporting the pending Federal Research Public Access Act, which would mandate public access to the peer-reviewed scholarly literature that reports results from federally-funded research. This is an important development. Kudos to these leaders for their courage in making open access a front-burner issue for higher education's legislative efforts.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Got (good) Coffee?
Trademark. Food, clothing, shelter. How do we obtain these basic necessities? For this post, please excuse a moment of self-indulgence, and let’s set aside the real problem of supplying these to world’s poor so that I can address a middle class issue.
If you go most places in the industrialized world, you will be able to eat, shop, and sleep in an establishment that sports a familiar global brand. If you find the ever-present sameness that this model of retailing brings about deadening, is there any way to limit the quality of sameness to only the features for which consistency matters to consumers while leaving business owners free to offer greater individuality in the retail experience?
Here’s an idea. In the franchise model, a trademark is really acting as a certification mark rather than a source identifier. If small business owners were able to establish effective certification marks, they would be able to reap many of the benefits of being a franchisee while enjoying greater freedom to control their operations and to keep a larger share of their profits.
Take coffee as a test case. Like many coffee drinkers I have an ambiguous relationship with Starbucks. On some occasions, I have never been so grateful to get a big cup of strong coffee in a place where it would otherwise have been unavailable. On other occasions, the success of Starbucks’ strategy to crowd out competitors leaves me frustrated that local javantrepreneurs stand little chance to supply good coffee in an ambience that reflects local culture. But I’ll admit to having been burned in some tourist destinations by local coffee shops that dress themselves up as if they care about what they brew only to find that I’m drinking a $3.00 cup of dishwater.
Assume for the moment that there is a sizeable set of coffee drinkers who would prefer to patronize a local coffee shop over Starbucks if they could be assured that the coffee at the local shop meets certain minimum taste standards. If enough of that group lives in a single locale, a small business owner can compete effectively against Starbucks.
But in destinations where travelers would have to be part of the customer base, a small business is likely to fail when competing against the promise of consistency that the Starbucks logo holds out. However, if a local business could display a reliable certification mark, the business would stand a chance. Then, the traveling coffee drinker could enjoy a locally distinctive ambience along with a cup of good coffee.
So for those who decry the Charbucks hegemony, it’s time to think about what an effective certification mark would have to convey and how such a mark could be made reasonably reliable.
If you go most places in the industrialized world, you will be able to eat, shop, and sleep in an establishment that sports a familiar global brand. If you find the ever-present sameness that this model of retailing brings about deadening, is there any way to limit the quality of sameness to only the features for which consistency matters to consumers while leaving business owners free to offer greater individuality in the retail experience?
Here’s an idea. In the franchise model, a trademark is really acting as a certification mark rather than a source identifier. If small business owners were able to establish effective certification marks, they would be able to reap many of the benefits of being a franchisee while enjoying greater freedom to control their operations and to keep a larger share of their profits.
Take coffee as a test case. Like many coffee drinkers I have an ambiguous relationship with Starbucks. On some occasions, I have never been so grateful to get a big cup of strong coffee in a place where it would otherwise have been unavailable. On other occasions, the success of Starbucks’ strategy to crowd out competitors leaves me frustrated that local javantrepreneurs stand little chance to supply good coffee in an ambience that reflects local culture. But I’ll admit to having been burned in some tourist destinations by local coffee shops that dress themselves up as if they care about what they brew only to find that I’m drinking a $3.00 cup of dishwater.
Assume for the moment that there is a sizeable set of coffee drinkers who would prefer to patronize a local coffee shop over Starbucks if they could be assured that the coffee at the local shop meets certain minimum taste standards. If enough of that group lives in a single locale, a small business owner can compete effectively against Starbucks.
But in destinations where travelers would have to be part of the customer base, a small business is likely to fail when competing against the promise of consistency that the Starbucks logo holds out. However, if a local business could display a reliable certification mark, the business would stand a chance. Then, the traveling coffee drinker could enjoy a locally distinctive ambience along with a cup of good coffee.
So for those who decry the Charbucks hegemony, it’s time to think about what an effective certification mark would have to convey and how such a mark could be made reasonably reliable.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Microsoft Enables Creative Commons Licensing
Copyright. As further evidence that networked computing is now the norm, users of Microsoft's Office suite now have an embedded option to attach a Creative Commons license to their PowerPoint, Word, or Excel files. A downloadable plug-in is available here. This is a welcome development.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Broadcast Treaty
James Boyle has written a dead-on analysis of the deeply flawed WIPO broadcast treaty that would create a pseud0 intellectual property right in a signal, as distinct from the content encoded in the signal.
The case simply has not been made that this treaty responds to a real problem nor that the alleged cure is better than the disease. CPTech along with Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have represented the public's demand for better process and a better product on this score. These organizations deserve support for their efforts in this regard. For more info, see
Consumer Project on Technology: http://www.cptech.org/ip/wipo/bt/index.html
Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/
Public Knowledge: http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/wipobroadcasters
The case simply has not been made that this treaty responds to a real problem nor that the alleged cure is better than the disease. CPTech along with Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have represented the public's demand for better process and a better product on this score. These organizations deserve support for their efforts in this regard. For more info, see
Consumer Project on Technology: http://www.cptech.org/ip/wipo/bt/index.html
Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/
Public Knowledge: http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/wipobroadcasters
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Harris Poll Shows Support for Open Access
Open Access. The Wall Street Journal reports today on a Harris Interactive poll that asked 2,501 Americans whether they thought the public should have online access to publicly funded research. Here's what they found:
- 83% of adults say they strongly (61%) or somewhat (22%) agree that since this research is paid for by tax dollars, the results should be easily available (free and online) to doctors.
- 82% of adults say they strongly (57%) or somewhat (25%) agree that if tax dollars pay for scientific research, people should have free access to the results of the research on the Internet.
- 81% of adults say they strongly (49%) or somewhat (32%) agree that having this information easily available (for free and online) will help those living with a chronic illness or disability get the latest information which will assist people coping with that chronic illness or disability.
Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between April 11 and 17, 2006 among 2,501 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Put Articles by Government Researchers Online Now
Open Access. This is the first in a series of posts I plan about copyright law and access to publicly funded research. In this post, I highlight the public domain status of research articles by federal employees under U.S. law and issue a call for action by open access advocates.
The proposed Federal Public Research Access Act of 2006 has an important provision that would require covered agencies to mark peer-reviewed articles by agency employees as being in the public domain and to post such articles online immediately. This is an incontestibly sensible requirement, but federal agencies and members of the public need not await the outcome of this pending legislation to make this provision effective.
Why? Because under Section 105 of the Copyright Act, any "work of the United States Government" is not subject to copyright. That means any journal article written solely by federal employee researchers (think NASA, NIH, etc.) is in the public domain. If an article is co-authored by one or more non-federal employees, then the copyright status is more complicated.
For the moment, let's focus on articles written solely by federal employees. These articles, as part of the public domain, belong to you. If you find one, you are free to post it online and to mark it as part of the public domain.
The trick is to find these articles. If you are in an office of intramural research and have access to bibliographies of articles written by federal employees, can you send me a copy or post it online? If you otherwise have access to such bibliographies, please post it or send me a copy.
Going forward, agencies should start requiring that articles written solely by federal employees be marked as such so that we can get these online now.
The proposed Federal Public Research Access Act of 2006 has an important provision that would require covered agencies to mark peer-reviewed articles by agency employees as being in the public domain and to post such articles online immediately. This is an incontestibly sensible requirement, but federal agencies and members of the public need not await the outcome of this pending legislation to make this provision effective.
Why? Because under Section 105 of the Copyright Act, any "work of the United States Government" is not subject to copyright. That means any journal article written solely by federal employee researchers (think NASA, NIH, etc.) is in the public domain. If an article is co-authored by one or more non-federal employees, then the copyright status is more complicated.
For the moment, let's focus on articles written solely by federal employees. These articles, as part of the public domain, belong to you. If you find one, you are free to post it online and to mark it as part of the public domain.
The trick is to find these articles. If you are in an office of intramural research and have access to bibliographies of articles written by federal employees, can you send me a copy or post it online? If you otherwise have access to such bibliographies, please post it or send me a copy.
Going forward, agencies should start requiring that articles written solely by federal employees be marked as such so that we can get these online now.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Muzak and Music Retailing
Music. David Owen wrote a very nice piece in the April 10, 2006 issue of the New Yorker about Muzak, the company that specializes in background music for retail establishments, office elevators, and on-hold entertainment. The company has reinvented itself with some success.
To my ear, however, the trend is away from a Muzak-type service and toward what Starbucks has done with Hear music. Traditionally, companies have spent far more time and effort developing a visual identity than an aural identity. That's beginning to change, as automobile manufacturers have discovered that rock n' roll sells cars, and retailers increasingly begin to develop and package "their" sound.
Brick-and-mortar record stores continue to experience the pain of disintermediation, while lifestyle retailers (coffee, clothing, etc.), begin to add CDs as a new line of merchandise. Interesting times.
To my ear, however, the trend is away from a Muzak-type service and toward what Starbucks has done with Hear music. Traditionally, companies have spent far more time and effort developing a visual identity than an aural identity. That's beginning to change, as automobile manufacturers have discovered that rock n' roll sells cars, and retailers increasingly begin to develop and package "their" sound.
Brick-and-mortar record stores continue to experience the pain of disintermediation, while lifestyle retailers (coffee, clothing, etc.), begin to add CDs as a new line of merchandise. Interesting times.
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