Computer users know of the contempt of many software companies for consumers. "Blame the end user" is the mantra of many a tech support staff. It's great to see consumer protection bills introduced in Congress to warn the public of copy-cop schemes that could interfere with the usability of various kinds of products. Be interesting to see how this concept could affect, say, e-books in the future. Lest one doubt the need for precautions, consider a wonderful article by Lee Dembart in the International Herald Tribune, Companies fine-tune the art of fending off complaints. The first part: PARIS--Years ago, the story...

Schools are tossing out perfectly good textbooks because publishers force them to do this. So says D. June Fredman, a tutor, in a letter to the Washington Post. K-12 needs, of course, are a big reason why TeleRead advocates a well-stocked national digital library system--full of appropriate books for all of us, but especially for schoolchildren. Let the online collection suit their interests and learning styles.Meanwhile, in her much-needed letter in today's Post, Ms. Fredman, a resident of Gresham, Oregon, writes:I tutor a few youngsters from a district that cannot afford texts. My students bring single sheets of copied...

Texas and Massachusetts are among the potential culprits. More via The Yale LawMeme. That's not all, alas, according to Edward Felten. Um, would you believe that firewalls would be theoretically illegal? Oh, and outrages in the same vein are said to be under consideration in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alaska, Tennessee and Colorado. Have we really reached the point where an understanding of the Net is a disqualification for running for office at any level of government?...

The mobster Meyer Lansky supposedly said once: "We're bigger than General Motors." Perhaps that parallel might come to mind for the clueless record industry, which has been so late to embrace the concept of file sharing. Here's an item from SFGate.com via The Shifted Librarian:"Free peer-to-peer music file-sharing has become larger than the multibillion dollar recording industry with a growth trend that has become 'fundamentally unstoppable,' a media analyst told a state Senate committee exploring Internet piracy on Thursday. The free downloading habit among 61 million Americans and millions more worldwide is "cemented," with only 9 percent of U.S....

TeleRead backed the creation of the Microsoft-inspired Open eBook organization, but still can't understand the group's inability to come up with a good e-book standard at the consumer level. Just what might happen if OEB actually showed some spunk and didn't let Microsoft and the other ususal suspects get in the way? Well, one hint might be in the CNet news item below, which is dated March 25:Microsoft breaks with standards effort By Martin LaMonica Staff Writer, CNET News.comMarch 25, 2003, 4:00 AM PTIn a sign of growing discord over Web services guidelines, Microsoft has pulled out of a...

"...enthusiasts...continue to use the Apple Newton, a handheld that was abandoned by its manufacturer just more than five years ago." - San Jose Mercury News.The TeleRead take: I'm especially impressed by one Newtonian's observation that the size is right--bigger than a PDA but smaller than a Tablet PC. Anyone out there using a Newton for e-books? Sure enough, as mentioned on the Newton Reference site. Also see a Wired article and the Apple Newton Research Page....

What's next--the recording industry sending grandmas to jail? The AARP is advertising on Kazaa, reports the New York Times.The TeleRead take: E-books right now appeal more to younger than older people, but this could rapidly change. Significantly, TeleRead would make file-swapping a snap--with due payments to providers of content still under copyright....

Microsoft Reader has its flaws, but it is among the more popular standards for e-books, and if you want to use that format for your own efforts, then check out Pocket PC Thoughts. (Via Pocket PC eBooks Watch.) ...

"...not everything is answerable. And occasionally Answers will refuse to even try. We asked for the personal worth of Google founders Sergai Brin and Larry Page. A message came back saying that the question breached the conditions of use and had been removed." - The Age, discussing Google Answers.The TeleRead take: Oh, come on, guys. Who do you think you are, Microsoft?...

"Software, music and movies that employ copy-protection schemes must be prominently labeled with consumer warnings, according to a bill introduced in Congress this week" - CNet. The TeleRead take: Sen. Ron Wyden's bill is a tougher version of one from Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia....

Get this. A new proposal from Hollywood, whoops, Mexico, would not just extend copyright terms from the-author's-life-and-70 years to life-and-100. Afterwards, the Mexican government could collect royalties. So much for the concept for public domain, eh? Just nationalize it away to finance bureaucracy. Meantime, as U.S. copyright expert Lawrence Lessig has pointed out, while copyrights were in effect, Hollywood could make out like a bandit at the expense of the preservation of Mexican culture. How splendid a distillation of the obnoxious sides of both Mexican and U.S. politics!Imagine--a give-away to Yankee entertainment tycoons and Mexican government bureaucracy at the...

Before the e-book-readers and PDAs came the laptops. Before the laptops came the luggables, and before the luggables came the dreams and temerity of techno-entrepreneurs like Adam Osborne, who introduced the pioneering 23-pound computer he named for himself. He was a major advocate of low-cost programs and even called one of his companies "Paperback Software." Last Tuesday, in a village in southern India, where his sister had been caring for him, he did something totally out of character and died peacefully in his sleep. RIP. ...