Mek

I'm not a lawyer, I am speaking for myself, etc, etc.

Leasing can expand access, but it should never be the only option.

For copyright law to function as intended, there must also be a path to true ownership — even if time-limited — that restores the public’s ability to exercise rights like First Sale and preserve works under §108.

Example 3:
The end of Preservation.

17 U.S.C. § 108 gives libraries the right to make archival versions to preserve the media they own.

If a library or archive can't own the material, they can't preserve it or enable access to those with disabilities.

Example 2:
Evasion of the Public Domain.

17 U.S.C. § 302–305 sets a limit on copyright. But there is no requirement for publishers to release DRM-free version of lease-only material in a way that can enter the public domain. And breaking DRM is illegal via 17 U.S.C. § 1201.

Example 1:
The right of First Sale (17 U.S.C. § 109) is what gives Americans the right to buy a book, lend it to a friend, and sell it after they're done.

Publishers bypass this by only offering ebook leases that you license and don't own (Amazon included)

Leasing is problematic when it is used as a tool to capture markets and evade legal protections or societal responsibilities.

Here are 3 examples.

Renting (e.g. a movie) can be a good option to increase access and lower upfront costs.

However, it should be illegal to offer a product or service exclusively as a lease to exploit customers or strip them of rights essential to intended use, preservation, or civic value.

mek.fyi/posts/the-le...

This could be in careful partnership (API relationship) with a supplier like amazon (though they'd likely wish to be strategically weary of delivering this patron info to amazon on a silver platter).

Patrons could visit a page with products or services directly related to complimenting their queries. Both dystopian, by definition useful, and most inevitable.

I think LLMs open up a new world of potential opt-in advertising which could be really powerful.

For instance, in a news feed, proactively presenting a passage of interest... And if the patron reacts positively, maintaining a list of *products* (e.g. books, etc) related to the patron's query.

I'd hope the patron would have to go/swipe to a special page/feed (similar to google news on android) as opposed to receiving "messages" or alerts or advertisements mid-conversation.

These platforms enjoy a huge advantage of a feedback loop, in that the same interface for broadcasting content can also be used to accept feedback.

I'm positive it both exists and is being worked on 🤷

One opportunity for @anthropic.com and others are to evolve a system that not only answers questions when asked, but also (based on question history) generate a [e.g. Wiki of the day] feed of answers/news the patron may be interested in (as a news feed or learning tool).

It occurs to me how closely systems like ChatGPT approximate Niklas Luhmann's Zettelkasten -- essentially a shoebox of well labeled / organized notecards for synthesizing findings.

Many workflows emerging to perform this novel synthesis.

It made me sad that some of the covers on your list were missing so I added them for you! Happy reading

An perspective I fear is becoming forgotten in the US today:

The idea of investing in the American people -- public schools, libraries, transit -- in return for equity in an improved America. What can be more American than uplifting Americans and benefitting from the growth?

The current Omnibus budget combines 3 separate tactics which, combined, worry me as a nonpartisan citizen.

1. It's an Omnibus bill which is compromised
2. It's too large to review and understand, short of using error-prone AI
3. It's presented as a "reconciliation" requiring minimal votes.

Such bills have another tactic which can be used to pass more easily. Once a year a "budget reconciliation" bill may be permitted which only requires a simple majority.

When an Omnibus bill is intentionally made very large, it employs a tactic that seems less about compromise or good faith negotiation, and more about "security through obscurity".

A failure mode of omnibus bills is, as they get longer, they can become harder to evaluate or "code review".

The current budget reconciliation, for example, is more than 1,000 pages long and contains over 100 sections and is too big to reasonably discuss.

www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr...

In politics, when a bill faces difficulty passing, one strategy is to bundle the controversial bill as a “rider” to piggyback on more popular bills, as a method of compromise. This can result in a large, sometimes confused, bills — called Omnibus bills — that are sometimes thousands of pages long.

Scientists observe the 'shadow' of a crystal in 4D, confirming Penrose and Shechtman's theory They discover that the topological properties of quasicrystals come from periodic patterns in 4D, revolutionizing optics and materials design

It's an interesting thought experiment, how many dimensions and signals are not visible to the human eye. Imagine being able to switch out lens...

www.earth.com/news/scienti...

Thank you for your kind words, Richard, I just shared your message with hundreds of the project's volunteers who I am positive feel uplifted and supported by your choice to share these reflections :)

J, I'm so glad the resources are useful to you! We just imported 10k reading levels to improve our k-12 library, are introducing on-the-fly translations into bookreader to be accessible to more non-native speakers, better collections, & are preparing to import nearly 1M new books into the catalog!

I am deeply saddened for those public-good-committed individuals within the Library & Archives community who have had their grant funding frozen, and I am available for a call if I can be a helpful resource for navigating next steps.

This is why: the stock market could crash to zero, I could lose my job, and policies could make it harder for libraries to exist, and these would be all the more reasons to conscientiously advocate for and build towards the compassionate, inclusive world of library values everyone deserves.

"Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world’s entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations."

- Aaron Swartz

The world deserves more reader privacy and open metadata, not vendor lock-in. @openlibrary.org is one open source alternative to amazon's goodreads that makes all its book data publicly available for free each month:

openlibrary.org/developers/d...

Folks often tell me they're surprised to learn that OpenLibrary.org and… | Mek Karpeles Folks often tell me they're surprised to learn that OpenLibrary.org and its 7M patrons are served by a small team of ~3 full-time staff. We couldn't do what we do without the help of Lisa Sea...

The library ethos is to support humans and create opportunity. As a community, @openlibrary.org has mentored and graduated more than 30 engineering & design fellows internationally, helping many make impact, enter graduate programs, and jumpstart their careers.

www.linkedin.com/posts/mekarp...

Thousands of readers with qualifying print disabilities rely on platforms like @openlibrary.org because digital access is literally the only way they can read print books. These audiences shouldn't have to worry about a sudden change in policy potentially leaving them behind.