agould's blog

Librarian of Congress James Billington is extending on an interim basis an exemption from the prohibition on circumvention for certain classes of work. In other words, people are still allowed to circumvent technology protections for specific classes of work so long as they "engage in noninfringing uses." The Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, is preparing a fourth triennial rulemaking proceeding in which she will issue recommendations on which classes of work are appropriate for the exemption. Originally, the three-year rule was to expire on October 27. The Register, however, was delayed in making her recommendations, so the Librarian extended the current policy. Effective October 28, the extention will remain active until the Register makes her recommendations and the Librarian of Congress issues final regulations. It is expected that final rules will be adopted in a few weeks.

ComputerWorld magazine has an interesting article this week (October 19 edition) regarding how social networks can pose a potential threat to an organization or institution's name. Quoting James Carnall of the security monitoring firm Cyveillance, social media cybersquatting is where domain name cybersquatting was ten years ago. And while institutions may contact YouTube or Facebook to complain and have counterfeit materials removed, just keeping up with the latest fraudulence can be an overwhelming task.

Some Senate Republicans are asking FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to tone down his net neutrality proposal. In a letter sent yesterday, eighteen Senators wrote that the suggested regulations would be "counterproductive and risk harming the great advancements in broadband speed and deployment." FCC Commissioners are expected to vote on this issue on October 22. If the rules pass, the public would have an opportunity to provide comments on them before the rules became permanent.

After receiving applications from all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded the first round of grants for broadband mapping. The grants are part of the NTIA's State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program, which aims to increase broadband accessibility "through better data collection and broadband planning." The first four grant recipients include: the California Public Utilities Commission, the Indiana Office of Technology, the Rural Economic Development Center (e-NC Authority), and the Vermont Center for Geographic Information.