Upcoming Events and Digital Media Roundup

BERKMAN CENTER FOR INTERNET & SOCIETY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
July 23, 2009 // Upcoming events and digital media

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[1] [FRIDAY 7/31/09] Alternative Approaches to Open Digital Libraries in the Shadow of the Google Book Search Settlement (http://cyber.harvard.edu/googlebooks/Main_Page)

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO OPEN DIGITAL LIBRARIES / GOOGLE BOOKS SETTLEMENT OPEN WORKSHOP
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7/31/09, All Day, Harvard Law School

Some parts of this event will be webcast. More information here: http://cyber.harvard.edu/googlebooks/Main_Page

The proposed Google Book Search settlement creates the opportunity for unprecedented access by the public, scholars, libraries and others to a digital library containing millions of books assembled by major research libraries. But the settlement is controversial, in large part because this access is limited in major ways: instead of being truly open, this new digital library will be controlled by a single company, Google, and a newly created Book Rights Registry consisting of representatives of authors and publishers; it will include millions of so-called “orphan works” that cannot legally be included in any competing digitization and access effort, and it will be available to readers only in the United States. It need not have been this way.

This workshop seeks to bring a fresh, unique perspective to a complex and widely debated topic. It will focus not on the specific merits and demerits of the settlement itself, or the particular antitrust and privacy and other objections that have been raised. Instead, it will examine the idea of possible alternative universes and offer specific proposals for scenarios that may arise whether or not the settlement is approved . What can libraries, or universities, or non-profits, or Congress, do in the current landscape? And how might these possibilities help us to define a better world than the one that we have today and, more importantly, than the one that will exist if the Google settlement is approved in its current form? Regardless of what happens with respect to the Settlement, what alternative possibilities could lead to a richer, more open and better information ecosystem than the one we have today or might have tomorrow with the Settlement?

By exploring these alternatives, this workshop seeks, in the end, to help inform the debate over the Settlement and its terms and to illuminate some of the key policy considerations that are at stake. Its ultimate goal is to develop a series of options and proposals that could improve on the status quo in novel ways.

More information and registration here: http://cyber.harvard.edu/googlebooks/Main_Page

OTHER EVENTS OF NOTE
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[1] 8/14/09 Social Technology and Education Conference at Harvard University (http://www.socialtecheducation.com/)

[2] Call for Participation: Free Culture Research Workshop 2009 (http://cyber.harvard.edu/node/5486)

DIGITAL MEDIA: Watch and Listen
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Did you miss this week's luncheon talk? Catch up with Berkman videos, podcasts, pictures, and dig in to our archive at http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive.

-BERKMAN LUNCHEON SERIES: A Discussion Around the Google Book Search Settlement with ALEX MACGILLIVRAY (http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive/events/luncheons/2009/07/macgillivray)

-RADIO BERKMAN: The G-fail (http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive/podcasts/radioberkman126)

-RADIO BERKMAN: Video Killed the Video Star (http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive/podcasts/radioberkman127)

-CLUETRAIN @ 10: SO HOW'S UTOPIA WORKING OUT FOR YA? with DOC SEARLS, DAVID WEINBERGER, and JONATHAN ZITTRAIN (http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive/events/2009/06/cluetrain)

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BERKMAN CALENDAR & UPCOMING EVENTS PREVIEW
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See our events calendar if you're curious about future luncheons, discussions, lectures, conferences, and more: http://cyber.harvard.edu/events. All of our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

ABOUT US
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The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University was founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. For more information, visit http://cyber.harvard.edu.