In 1987, the Federal Bureau of Investigation approached Columbia University librarian Paula Kaufman  with a request: keep an eye out for commies. She refused to cooperate with the bureau's "library awareness" program and her defiance helped spark a nationwide backlash against government snooping into Americans' reading habits. Even knowing the government might be watching, people realized, could change what you choose to read—and in turn alter what you think ... Read Full Article ...  Source: Mother Jones * * *      ...

This isn't ebook related, but I mention it as a public service since I know that a lot of our readers have Apple equipment.  Here is the description of the app from the App Store: The free FBI Child ID app provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your child so that it's literally right at had if your child goes missing.  You can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot.  Using a special tab on the app, you canals quickly and easily...

Here’s an interesting story on Making Light, with more details at the “Fandom Wank” blog. Last month, Larry Sanger (co-founder of Wikipedia, founder of competing crowd-sourced encyclopedia Citizendium) reported to the FBI that Wikipedia was hosting images that could be considered child pornography. (Later, Wiki admins noted that they had checked with their legal department and been informed the images did not violate federal law, nor had they heard from the FBI in response to Sanger’s complaint.) A couple of weeks ago, Fox News picked up the story and began asking corporate donors to the Wikimedia Foundation “if...