From the “no duh!” files, the Library of Congress has come out officially as saying that Digital Rights Management is a serious obstacle to archiving materials.
But copyright law also hampers important work being done at places like
the Library of Congress, and a major new report on the issue from the
Library points out the problems with the current rules. One big issue
is the exemption for published works in a library's
collection; these can also be copied three times, but only to “replace
a work in their collections that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or
stolen or whose format has become obsolete.” In other words, librarians
can't backup or archive such works until destruction is well under way.
In a semi-related story, there are lots in the library and book world who aren't fans of e-books. But it's a lot more rare to hear a techie say the same thing.
We all know about the various struggles with DRM and electronic media in the recording industry. But here's a story of four mistakes that industry made *before* file sharing to kill their industry.
Finally, some sad news. Mr. Cranky, one of the funniest yet most insightful movie review sites on the Net, is apparently closing its doors. Go read some of the reviews while you still can. Comedy gold, all of them!