Another Example of Access Bad, Ownership Good
Update 8/19/2007
It turns out that this story is both more complex and more unnerving than I present here. So while I am leaving up my original post as a historical record that I am falliable, I suggest you stop reading right now and go to my colleague Jim Jacob's very well researched pieces:
- What really happend with Google Premium Video -- Part one: DRM killed the files
- What really happend with Google Premium Video -- Part Two: Why Google Video story should scare you
But the best part about Jim's story is that it doesn't end with hopeless fear. He suggests concrete actions you can take to ensure the gov't will not "googlize" our info away. - Daniel
The BBC is reporting "Google is shutting down its premium video service, leaving users who have bought or rented content unable to view their videos in the future."
These people paid to access their content and now they not only can't have it, but according to the BBC, they won't be getting refunds, either.
If these same users had bought DVDs from a company that either went under or stopped selling them, these would be happy people watching their programs. But because they bought into an access model that assured them content would be available 24/7 on a third party server, they have nothing but their memories.
I'm positive Google didn't start up the service with the intention of shutting it down. They had every intention of being good to their users. But that was something that for whatever reason, they could not live up to.
Can you see where I'm going with this? The Government Printing Office wants us to accept a centralized model where we point to content housed in FDSys rather than depositing digital documents with the nation's Federal Depository Libraries. They assure us, just like Google assured their subscribers, that their servers will always be available to us on today's usage terms. But they can't really commit future generations of public servants any more than Google could keep its promise to its subscribers. And Google has WAY more money that GPO ever will.
Try to take some time this week to tell your Congress members that you want to see the decentralized depository system of the future, not another monolithic model that can be unplugged at will.
UPDATE: We have updated the information about this issue and its implications in a two part article:
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More bad news about DRM
Once again, DRM is in the news and the news is bad. Very Bad.
- AACS DRM tentacles reach far into operating systems, by Ken Fisher, Ars Technica (August 12, 2007)
AACS is the "Advanced Access Content System" set up by IMB, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, toshiba, Disney, and Warner Brothers. It is Digital Rights Management (DRM) for the next generation of content including high-definition optical discs. (For more see: Overview : AACS - Advanced Access Content System.) There has been a fair amount written about how Microsoft is embedding DRM/AACS technology into Windows and how hardware manufacturers are supporting it as well (see Strategy to Thwart Movie Copying Could Frustrate Innocent Users and How Windows Vista Will Affect Government Information and Microsoft Vista takes control). But this article in Ars Technica says that "...the bigger story here is the technical nightmare created by AACS and how its tentacles are reaching into the consumer technology we all use daily."
"The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was in getting folks to blame someone other than Hollywood for video DRM."
--not Keyser Soeze
AACS and DRM is not just about Microsoft and PCs and Windows. "Apple will also have to adopt a strict DRM regimen at the most fundamental levels of Mac OS X in order to be able to (legally) play back AACS-protected Blu-ray or HD DVD discs (e.g., most commercial discs in those formats)... The same would be true for Linux, except that AACS won't be licensed for Linux desktop use. There's no way to securely implement it since desktop Linux is an open environment, and AACS requires keeping secrets."
Government information does not exist in a vacuum. Any digital government information, whether packaged by the government itself or re-packaged by the private sector, will have to conform to standards that Hollywood is designing to protect content. This means that, potentially, some government information will be unavailable on some platforms (e.g., Linux) that refuse to conform to Hollywood DRM. It means that content that does conform to these standards will be locked by its constraints.
Users should be outraged at these developments, but directing that outrage at Microsoft (or Apple) misses the point. The movie industry's fear of fair use and casual piracy is so great that it uses its considerable weight to influence innovation in personal computing. They can create a technology (AACS) and a license for that technology without ever having to prove its utility or safety for consumers. The situation is made more deplorable by the fact that AACS seems to be nothing more than a stab in the dark at the problem: it has already been cracked! AACS is unproven technology with amazingly complex demands. And it's being rolled into operating systems essentially unproven and with little care for how much havoc it wreaks.Continue reading
UFO Project Blue Book online
[UPDATE 1/23/11 updated the link to ResearchBuzz post] Research Buzz notes that "Footnote.com has announced that it has digitized the entire Project Blue Book, which is a collection of official records covering government investigations of UFOs, 1947-1969."
How about meta-data? "Footnote allows people to comment on and annotate interesting documents. So you can not only keyword search and browse the total collection, but also browse highlights. Scanned documents have a place to add comments about documents as well as annotations to the documents themselves."
- Footnote Making Project Blue Book Available, Research Buzz (August 10, 2007)
- Project Blue Book - UFO Investigations 1947-1969 Footnote.com (Source: The National Archives)
New “Government Watchers” search engine
A contributor to the Open House Project has announced the creation of a new Google Custom Search Engine that searches "about 55 sites whose focus could be loosely categorized as 'Government Watchers'" but says that it is still "in the 'pre-beta' stage of development."
Link to the CSE - http://tinyurl.com/2j4qmt
Link to the list of sites - http://tinyurl.com/37ys7o
LInk to a page about the CSE and ideas - http://222fbj.googlepages.com/cse.htm
GPO and OSU have likely hit on hands
Update 8/14/2007:
I was mistaken about the recruiting schedule. According to GPO, GPO and OSU are currently recruiting/adding new contributors from the federal depository library community. The goal is to have as many categories populated as possible for the public launch.
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Yesterday I viewed an OPAL Presentation on the beta version of the Oklahoma State University hosted tool Browse Topics. Browse Topics is a volunteer driven list of subject guides to federal information. It represents an area of genuine, broadbased collaboration between the Government Printing Office and Federal Depository Libraries.
The beta version was demoed by John Dowgiallo, Web Content Specialist at GPO. He said the new BT would go live in mid-October and I can't wait. You shouldn't either.
The new version will make it easier to discover and disseminate new federal information sources found by librarians. You'll be able to sign up for new additions by RSS feed; easily e-mail entries to others through a "recommend feature", easy broken link reporting and direct e-mail to guide authors.
The new Browse Topics is likely be more current because it will be much easier for volunteer contributers to contribute. Currently one has to update an entire page on one's own computer and mail that off to OSU who posts the new version. In the new system contributers can add/change/delete sites on their guides one at a time while online making corrections both easy and quick.
Want to help build this resource? Once the system goes live, GPO and OSU will be recruiting from federal depository library staffs to populate the new system. If you work in an FDL and are passionate about a particular subject, I urge you to apply. It is another way to work together and to show the value of librarian added information.
If you're not in a depository you could still help by waiting until the new Browse Topics goes live in mid-October and than mapping Browse Topics categories to appropriate pages on Wikipedia. That will inject some more authoritative content into Wikipedia and drive usage of Browse Topics. Not convinced? Tying appropriate entries into Wikipedia worked for UNT!
It seems clear that both the Government Printing Office and Oklahoma State University have put a huge effort into creating a user friendly/contributor friendly collaborative tool and FGI salutes them for their efforts.
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