Internet Archive should be blocked from scanning and sharing millions of literary works, the Association of American Publishers said Monday in a lawsuit at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. AAP accused IA of sharing “some 1.3 million bootleg scans of print books” through public-facing online libraries. Plaintiffs are Hachette, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House. The lawsuit “condemns the fact that IA solicits and collects truckloads of in-copyright books in order to copy and make them available without permission,” AAP said, arguing there are no exceptions for this activity under fair use, the first sale doctrine or in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. IA founder Brewster Kahle called the lawsuit “disappointing.” IA “acquires books and lends them, as libraries have always done,” which supports the publishing industry, he emailed. “Publishers suing libraries for lending books, in this case, protected digitized versions, and while schools and libraries are closed, is not in anyone's interest.” For too long, "IA has brazenly scanned and distributed published works while refusing to abide by the traditional contours of copyright law,” Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid said. Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer wrote in support of IA, saying controlled digital lending is fair use under copyright law: "The National Emergency Library, which expands on CDL, is justified under the circumstances of the pandemic, when so many print books paid for by the public are inaccessible." He urged Congress to support legislation "clarifying the right of libraries to make print books available to patrons electronically, and to serve their constituencies during times of emergency.”
The U.S. semiconductor industry is preparing to lobby for billions of dollars in federal funding amid growing U.S. technology competition with China, according to a May 31 report in The Wall Street Journal. The lobbying efforts, outlined in a $37 billion draft proposal by the Semiconductor Industry Association, includes funding for a new U.S. chip factory and increased research subsidies, the report said. The SIA declined to comment.
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence seeks comment by Sept. 30 for its final report on ensuring U.S. competitiveness in AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies. The FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act tasked the group with assessing ways to ensure U.S. competitiveness in those technologies, ways to increase investment, workforce training and national security risks. The report is due March, said Thursday's Federal Register.
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence seeks comment by Sept. 30 for its final report on ensuring U.S. competitiveness in AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies. The FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act tasked the group with assessing ways to ensure U.S. competitiveness in those technologies, ways to increase investment, workforce training and national security risks. The report is due March, said Thursday's Federal Register.
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence seeks comment by Sept. 30 for its final report on ensuring U.S. competitiveness in AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies. The FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act tasked the group with assessing ways to ensure U.S. competitiveness in those technologies, ways to increase investment, workforce training and national security risks. The report is due March, said Thursday's Federal Register.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., filed the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act (HR-7022) Thursday in a bid to speed disbursing funds from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction before its start date. The FCC plans to begin the first phase of the 10-year, $20.4 billion RDOF Oct. 29. Some stakeholders want RDOF Phase I to be delayed, but no change is likely (see 2004280055).
Ligado’s L-band license modification OK should have gone through a spectrum reallocation notice-and-comment process, with the final decision coming in an open commission meeting, some said in the petitions for reconsideration this week in docket 11-109. Others said any problems the FCC had with analyses raising red flags about possible interference should have been brought up before the perfunctory dismissal of them. The commission hasn't resolved concerns about GPS interference.
The National Association of Attorneys General led a letter Thursday with 39 state AGs urging Congress to “ensure that all Americans have home internet connectivity necessary to participate in telemedicine, teleschooling, and telework” as part of future COVID-19 aid legislation. The House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act includes emergency broadband funding (see 2005130059). House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., criticized HR-6800 (see 2005210049). “Unless Congress acts quickly, disparities in access to home internet connectivity will exacerbate existing gaps in educational and health outcomes,” the AGs wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other leaders. ISPs’ commitments via the FCC-led Keep Americans Connected pledge (see 2005210033) “are laudable, but they are not sustainable. Ultimately, we need a national solution to enable universal access to broadband internet.” The AGs seek increased USF funding and “flexible” money for state, territorial and local governments to expand broadband access.
The National Association of Attorneys General led a letter Thursday with 39 state AGs urging Congress to “ensure that all Americans have home internet connectivity necessary to participate in telemedicine, teleschooling, and telework” as part of future COVID-19 aid legislation. The House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act includes emergency broadband funding (see 2005130059). House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., criticized HR-6800 (see 2005210049). “Unless Congress acts quickly, disparities in access to home internet connectivity will exacerbate existing gaps in educational and health outcomes,” the AGs wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other leaders. ISPs’ commitments via the FCC-led Keep Americans Connected pledge (see 2005210033) “are laudable, but they are not sustainable. Ultimately, we need a national solution to enable universal access to broadband internet.” The AGs seek increased USF funding and “flexible” money for state, territorial and local governments to expand broadband access.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review for a final rule from the Commerce Department that will implement certain export control decisions from the 2018 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary. The rule, received by OIRA May 20, will also make “other revisions related to national security controls.” During a May 19 Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee meeting, Commerce officials said the agency is preparing to issue several emerging technology controls within weeks (see 2005190052).