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From Meredith "Another interesting article to share about the digital divide in America. What I thought was interesting in this wasn't that there was a gap in technology tools but that there is a gap in technology support once those tools/gadgets arrive at the school."

Very interesting article. Though internet access can be a huge problem in rural areas, this article didn't mention its rather large costs. Often times, rural areas pay significantly more for internet than in a city. For some of these kids the problem is not just having the phone company improve access, but the cost of it, too.

A math journal published by Elsevier published over 300 research articles written by the Editor-in-Chief. The articles appear to have bypassed the peer-review process entirely.

Spotted by Meredith.

"I would love to go [home] with the Kindle during the holidays." This brings into mind the joy in the winter spent here in the states on Christmas with my family and electronic gizmos. With the day to day hustle we sometimes forget about the "have nots." This young man Eperence Uwera, a 13-year-old student is thankful for what some take for granted as just another toy for fun. The poignant thought of this article is that the digital the divide is hampering growth in poor or remote areas globally. An E-Book Revolution for Africa? duly notes that Amazon is lending a hand to bridge the digital gap in Africa, also prompting technological literacy; if there is such a term. The problem raised in this article is that programs such as Worldreader sometimes get neglected, because of maintenance delays or high overhead cost to keep operations afloat in poverty stricken areas. This program brings hope to the less fortune children of African to see the wealth of knowledge gained from ePub. Quickly disseminated information at 1,000 young minds access gives a decent outlook for Africa's future. Though the program touches a small fraction, the fact is this Kindle program is tripling the libraries of these impoverished provinces; and is a milestone for further development. Hopefully, Worldreader and programs like it can be sustained through the digital era and beyond. Publishing can change the world!!!

Read the original article by Darnton first and then also see the full text of Courant reply on his blog at http://paulcourant.net/2009/02/04/google-robert-darnton-and-the-digital-republic-of-letters/

Google has been working with the Federal government on facilitating access to government data - this article talks about the first fruits of that effort.

Not everyone will have access to this article but can read the first graph and get an idea of the issue.

This is a great article on the importance of universal broadband access and why it is in the public's interest.

OK, this is not about ethics, per se, but it is a very interesting article on the effects of being hyper-connected. Maybe we are losing contact with our domestic lives, family and our ability to think. Or, maybe the predictions that our always-connected society is heading for intellectual doom are just natural reactions to new technology. Consider this quote from the article, "Socrates believed that scrolls would erode thought by permitting people to forget what they had learned because they'd be able to look things up, that 'they wouldn't feel the need to remember it from the inside, completely on their own.' Worse, writing wouldn't 'allow ideas to flow freely and change in real time, the way they do in the mind during oral exchange.'"

Interesting comment on the Rosen NYT article Google's Gatekeepers.

Bentham revisited!!! Hoax article pulled prior to print. How can we better protect the validity of content with the rapid spread of Open Access Publishing?

This article is over a year old, and soon to be updated by Chris Anderson's book of the same title, but it's still well worth the read.

THE world's largest medical publisher asked the manufacturers of anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx which articles they wanted to include in a so-called medical journal on bone health.

A federal judge ruled in favor of a defendant who reposted an entire article in a copyright case on Monday, Wired reports. The lawsuit was brought by Righthaven, a Las Vegas-based "copyright litigation factory," according to Wired, that has sued more than 200 websites, bloggers, and commenters for copyright infringement. This particular lawsuit targeted Wayne Hoehn, who posted an entire editorial from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and its headline, "Public Employee Pensions: We Can't Afford Them" on a website medjacksports.com.

Ethics surrounding marketing and privacy

In what has become a crowded digital conference circuit, Digital Book World seems to have solidified its importance to the industry with an impressive turnout.