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Project Gutenberg founder Michael Hart will be a keynote speaker at the Ethics and Publishing Conference.

Aside from the obvious copyright and legal issues, I feel like this is just plain bad politics. It would be far better for Reid to post his own opinions to discount Angle's and wouldn't make him look like a thief...and would be more ethical as well.

Actually, I find this article really interesting! This type of hard-core politics is either going to make or break Reid, who's numbers are already suffering. He's either really desperate or not afraid to pull out his guns.

I was reading about the small window that opened the other day in the "Great Firewall of China" and then read this article. It bothers me that so many people seem to be ready to send printing presses to a junkyard and rely entirely on electronic distribution of information. First, there is still a HUGE demographic who does not have regular access to the internet. Secondly, what would happen if all of our information could be controlled with a filtering program? And finally, printed material still gets into places that a computer cannot. I read an opinion piece in the NYT before Christmas that discussed how an Afghanistan woman learned to read with the help of her young daughter and the newspaper pieces that wrapped her fish. Are we turning information into something elitist? Is there a parallel between a push to make everything electronic - so only people with Kindles and laptops can get information, and a time not-so-long-ago when literacy was a class distinction? DO WE REALLY WANT TO CREATE A NEW CLASS DISTINCTION BY RESTRICTING INFORMATION TO ONLY THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD ACCESS TO IT?

Fascinating points!!! The printed word has been responsible for the American colonists ability to read the words of the great Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin and perhaps be inspired to foment the continued revolt that brought us America. It brought the thoughts of the imprisoned Nelson Mandela and Adolf Hitler to the world. For good, and less so, the printed word has been a catalyst for change that has moved the world and impacted people around the globe. While there are many who have access to the Internet and PC, there are far greater numbers around the world who have no such access, for them even a phone is a luxury. Many represent the populations of the third world, but high numbers are the disadvantaged right here at home or in other developed nations around the globe. When oppressive regimes and less then optimal economic or geographic conditions prevent technology from bringing information via wire or air wave, the printing press will continue to spread the message. Education, found in the pages of textbooks, passed down from generation to generation or moved around the world, bring knowledge and potential to those who have no access to the Internet. Until, in some distant future when the earth is truly the global nation envisioned by some futurists today, the printing press will hold its place as a global facilitator of knowledge and information.

this bothers me based on all of the political propoganda that masquerades as literature lately. Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck both attempt to use best-seller lists as a public bellweather of their popularity, but both give away electronic editions of their books to boost their standings. When does literature cross the line into propoganda?

Accounting of what enters the public domain this new year's day, and a look at what could have been.

One-ereader per child.  

A collection of news and comment on the Google Book Settlement

I think this is an excellent read on the rapid speed of the digital divide. Written about England, but applies everywhere.

The Washington City Paper had the key ingredients for a scandalous stink bomb of a story: Marion Barry, a sexual fling with an ex-aide and a scoop involving embarrassing voice mails.

Okay. I'm sure most of us have seen the City Paper for this week, or will see it after reading this story. I know they are supposed to be an "edgier" publication, but was this really necessary? We can all fill in the blanks and could've read between the lines to know what the headline said without seeing certain words clear as day. I'm not a prude, but that was a bit much. What do you all think?

Concern the the Google-AAP settlement gives Google an unfair advantage wrt to orphan books and may inhibit scholarly access to these out-of-print works.

Privacy and freedom of expression are always the early victims in spread of repression.