VoiceView accessibility for Amazon Kindle via USB audible adapter—starting today with the Paperwhite
Amazon today introduced VoiceView for Kindle with a brand-new USB audio adapter that will enable blind and low-vision users of the current Paperwhite to hear text-to-speech content and to navigate their...
DRM nightmare: After recent upgrade, Kobo customers report losing Sony books from their libraries
I mentioned my trouble with losing one of my eReader e-books from Barnes & Noble a few weeks back. In that case, the matter was resolved amicably, but it seems Barnes...
Australian government commission recommends shorter copyright, circumventing geoblocking
I may have been a touch premature in posting my earlier article, about an Australian government committee suggesting bookstores be permitted to import books from overseas. I’ve run across a better...
DMCA takedown abuse issue pits #WTFU against #StopArtistExploitation
A few weeks ago I covered a couple of videos by Doug Walker, aka “The Nostalgia Critic,” as part of his #WTFU “Where’s the Fair Use?” campaign. In the first video,...
Anne Frank dispute highlights patchwork nature of EU copyright laws in an e-book world
We’ve already mentioned several times that the copyright situation surrounding The Diary of Anne Frank is ridiculous, but I didn’t understand quite how ridiculous until I read this op-ed from Ars...
Google Books decision could have important implications for future copyright policy
On Publishers Weekly, Andrew Albanese has a post-mortem looking at the overall effects of the recent Supreme Court decision not to hear the Google Books copyright case. Albanese makes some cogent...
R.I.P. Prince: A great musician, a controversial DCMA user
In a year that already has seen too many great talents die before their time, we mourn the passing of Prince, aged 57. His legacy includes seven Grammy Awards, a Golden...
Could we legally crack our own e-books today if Congress hadn’t fired its tech...
Ever wonder why Congress seems so clueless on technological issues, and easily swayed by corporate lobbyists? Wired suggests it’s because Congress got rid of its science and technology advisory office, the...
Librarian of Congress nominee Carla Hayden has smooth sailing at Senate confirmation hearing
Dr. Carla Hayden, President Obama’s nominee to be the 14th Librarian of Congress, faced a Senate confirmation hearing on April 20 and seems to have passed with flying colors. Senators...
DMCA takedown notices haphazardly target Wikipedia pages (updated)
The Nostalgia Critic has been quite active in fighting against DMCA takedown abuse for YouTube video creators, but takedown requests highlighted in a recent Torrentfreak post suggest that it’s a real...