Freedom of Information
Dale Corson and Scientific Freedom: Dale R. Corson, a nuclear physicist who died last week, is best remembered as the Cornell University President who peacefully led his campus through the turmoil and upheaval of the Vietnam era. But he also played an influential role in deliberations over the role of secrecy in scientific research. from Secrecy News by Steven Aftergood
Public Policy
Notice of Change in Participation of NIH Institutes and Centers in PAR-11-028 “Continued Development and Maintenance of Software (R01)” On December 23, 2011, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) was dissolved and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) were established. As indicated in NOT-OD-12-026, all NCRR programs were transferred to other NIH ICOs. Additionally, the responsibility for all Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) in which NCRR participated is being transferred to other ICOs. Please visit the NCRR website for more information regarding the transfer of NCRR programs to other NIH ICOs.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74901.html#ixzz1rGzZ4yQC
Intellectual Property Issues
Some e-book publishers begin settlement talks; Apple holding out: ars technica – “Three e-book publishers are nearing a settlement over an e-book price-fixing case in the US and Europe, according to sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal. But not everyone is on board—Apple and two other publishers are allegedly holding out, though the situation was described as “fluid” and could change as a lawsuit filing looms.”
Privacy Concerns
The World Bank’s New Position on Citizen-Generated Geo-Data :Two weeks ago, we were excited to read that the World Bank took a public position explicitly endorsing citizen mapping tools that keep control of citizen-generated geo-data in the hands of the folks that created it, not the organization providing the mapping tool used to generate the data. This statement was in direct response to months of concerns expressed by a range of organizations and experts, including Global Integrity, over the Bank’s deal with Google to provide quick access to Google Map Maker data for humanitarian purposes. That agreement, which has never been made public, seemed at times to endorse the use of Google’s Map Maker tool itself, which puts user-submitted geo-data in Google’s control. Jon Mitchell at ReadWriteWeb has a nice wrap-up and summary of the issues here.
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Twitter, Facebook meet Big Brother: Federal agencies have realized they can mine social media for intel to help thwart potential terrorist strikes, keep tabs on domestic protests and better help citizens after a natural disaster. But privacy groups are clamoring for Congress to intervene, likening it to Big Brother.
“That’s a gray area we’re all trying to define,” Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, told POLITICO. “The concept that the government would somehow be monitoring and storing inquiries of individual Web activities — many would find that disconcerting.”
from POLITICO.com: Congress by David Saleh Rauf
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74849.html#ixzz1rD3DVbAy
Open Access
International Outlook
20 Demands on the future of access to EU documents: Campaign Update
Madrid, 25 March 2012 – Since the 20 demands on the future of the EU access to documents Regulation were launched for civil society sign-on on 7 March 2012, 3 European Information Commissioners, 67 Non-governmental organisations and 6 Civil Society Coalitions representing 249 organisations have joined the campaign.
The 20 demands are presented to the Member State representatives working on the revision of the EU access to documents Regulation before each of their inter-governmental meetings at the Working Party on Information (WPI).
http://www.access-info.org/en/european-union
Please feel free to pass along in part or in its entirety.
The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.
