In response to a previous post of mine, Phil Wolff has also been thinking about the use of RFIDs in library books:

"My paranoid fantasy...

So we stick RFID tags in every book, starting at the publisher; ISBN Inside(TM). I check out of the library and go about my life.

I'm walking down the street and get scanned. The police are scanning the street for people carrying the Anarchist's Cookbook. Cult members accost me because I'm carrying Judaica. Merchants tailor signage. Republicans stone me. Beggars ask for more money.

These are books inside my knapsack, my pocket, my car; hidden from view.  

If the books I'm carrying are hooked up to my mobile phone profile, you might get just-in-time book salons and lunch meetings. Lovely Smart Mobs stuff.

But privacy doesn't stop at the library doors.

Just something to consider." [a klog apart]

He's got a point, and we definitely do need to take these kinds of issues into consideration. However, even if we don't put RFIDs in books, the publishers will. Who do you trust more to implement them in a way that protects your privacy?  ;-)

Another Boost for E-books

"Armed with new technology, a leading distributor of electronic books unveiled a service Tuesday allowing libraries to offer more than 35,000 titles that can be borrowed through the Internet and read on portable devices.

The announcement by OverDrive Inc. of Cleveland offers a much-needed boost to the nascent electronic-book industry, which has been slow to make inroads with publishers and readers....

The new services should help make strides in both of those areas, executives of the two companies said, while also whetting the public's appetite for e-books.

What's more, their way of managing digital content also could provide a model for libraries to loan other media via the Internet, including music and movies....

OverDrive boasts deals that cover more than 35,000 titles from more than 400 publishers, including several major ones. Fictionwise's agreements cover about 2,000 titles from smaller publishers, although it is close to deals with some major ones, said co-founder Steve Pendergrast....

About half a dozen libraries in North America are using Fictionwise's new service, Pendergrast said. OverDrive expects to have deals by the end of the year with five of the top libraries in the United States, according to Ray Leach, senior vice president of business development." [LA Times (free registration required), via JD's New Media Musings]

Of course, what we really need is a system that works with all publishers and all formats, but at least we're seeing some baby steps.

Retailers Swing DMCA to Stop "Black Friday" Sale Info

"It looks like a few of the big retailers have sent out DMCA notices to a few of the consumer deal sites. So now they are claiming that sale prices are covered under the DMCA. I would like to know what part of the DMCA states that you can not share the price of merchandise. Also, why would they want to stop this free advertising?" [Slashdot]

What color is the sky in *your* world today?

Does anyone still doubt that publishers aren't going to swing the DMCA club at libraries when we start seriously circulating digital content? As noted in one of the comments:

"The problem with this is the fact that, even though the operators of bigfatwallet.com may be right, they cannot afford to prove it in a court of law. The real problem in this case is not the scope of the DMCA, but the fact that 'justice' has a cover charge; if you can't afford the lawyers, you don't get in the door."

And libraries definitely can't afford this cover charge.