Ethics and Publishing

After a month and arduous attempts to get an answer from Amazon, a reader is locked out of his entire ebook library without a clue as to why.

Libyans are celebrating the freedom to read whatever they want in a post-Gaddafi world. Last week, bagpipers and VIPs congregated in the library of the Italianate Royal Palace for a ceremony marking the unbanning of books, the Toronto Star reported.

By Rachel Kaufman on July 21, 2011 10:20 AM New York Times Company CEO Janet Robinson said today in the company's earnings report she is "pleased" with how the New York Times' paywall has been working with consumers, and says the paywall will have a significant effect on the company's finances in the second half of the year.

More and more, it seems, the new books that really attract me don't come from the major trade publishers. That doesn't mean that New York isn't bringing out good books or that I don't read plenty of titles from trade houses. But I think that as people grow more sure of their tastes, they often gravitate to those specialized subgenres that particularly appeal to them, or to the more unusual or even minor work from writers they especially care about, and that usually means specialty presses.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin set a September 15th ultimatum for Google to strike a revised settlement with The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers.

In what could be a boon to competitors Amazon and Barnes & Noble, Borders, the book chain, may close its doors for good this week. The Wall Street Journal reports that a bankruptcy auction is scheduled for the chain on Tuesday after the deadline for bids on the chain passed Sunday. Unless a buyer emerges, Borders will liquidate its assets and close its 399 stores. The chain also employs about 11,000 people

"We're sort of stuck in this perpetual now," Nelson said. "Figuring out what was on the Web an hour ago, a day ago, a week ago, we're really bad at that." Nelson and some colleagues at Old Dominion and the Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a sort of Internet time machine called Memento . When attached to a browser, it enables the user to search for a Web site as it appeared on some past date, if an archived page exists.

Counterfeit books on Amazon / Spamazon.

Green initiatives are prevalent throughout most industries these days, including publishing. But how sustainable are our publishing practices? Dennis Stovall, director of the publishing program at Portland State University and publisher at Ooligan Press, tackles this topic in the following interview.

A heavily corrected unfinished draft of an early Jane Austen manuscript sold at auction at Sotheby's in London on Thursday for almost 1 million pounds ($1.6 million), three times the estimated presale price, The Associated Press reported. The draft of "The Watsons" went to an unidentified buyer; Sotheby's said it is the only major manuscript by Austen still in private hands.

Copyright troll hoisted on his peta Bad news for a copyright troll -- good news for the blogosphere.

This guy was fired over his Facebook status posting. Is this ethical, and worse, could it happen to YOU?

Just watched a story on the Facebook Effect on CNBC that discussed another educator being fired over FB statuses. Very interesting...

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has expanded its collection of eBooks to more than 200 titles. GPO and Google formed a partnership in 2010 to convert Government publications into eBook format and make the eBooks available through Google's eBookstore. GPO and Google's endeavor has increased Government transparency by making Government publications accessible to the public in a digital format.

Am I wrong to think that these ebooks should be free if the goal is government transparency?

Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:36am EDT The journalistic improprieties keep piling up on both sides of the Atlantic as one journalist was fired and another suspended for plagiarism this week. The Kansas City Star dismissed columnist Steve Penn for copying material from press releases and claiming the opinions of other writers were his own.

If you're looking for Brazenhead Books in New York City, you might run into a problem. In a grand tradition usually reserved for the fake ID or other illicit business, Brazenhead is hidden. Photography director Andrew Watson, in a succinct 3-minute video for DIY mecca Etsy, captivates with an account of a visit to this hidden bookshop and a meeting with owner, Michael Seidenberg.

Michael Zimmer's blog discusses the Google Book Search. This particular post is authored by SOIS PhD student Jeremy Mauger. (For more information, make sure to check out the related links at the end of the article.)

British tabloid News of the World is publishing its last edition Sunday, News Corp executive James Murdoch has announced. The close comes in the wake of series of phone-hacking scandals involving high-profile celebrities, including members of the Royal Family. The latest involved the phone of a missing 13-year-old British girl, later found dead.

Here's more to that: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/opinion/editorial/07/11/ethics-no-self-preservation-yes/ Oh, that Rupert.

More on the News of the World scandal, and why the US should be on the lookout.