At yesterday’s Google Book Settlement Fairness Hearing, 26 folks took the stand before Judge Chin – 21 said, “No fair!”, 5 said, “All’s fair in love, war and the transparent society.” Those 5 were Howard U Law School’s Lateef Mtima, Sony’s Janet Cullum, National Federation of the Blind’s Marc Maurer, U of Michigan librarian Paul Courant and Center for Democracy and Technology’s John Morris (who has, like, some minor concerns, but still supports the settlement). Predictably, the harshest criticism came not from Microsoft’s or Amazon’s representatives (guess this means no Googlezon, yeah?) but from EPIC‘ s.
Cindy Cohn, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, represented 28 authors and publishers concerned with privacy issues. “The court is asked to approve a library/bookstore combination that has unlimited ability to track readers.” She said that the plaintiff’s supplemental brief says they agree with Cohn’s position, but offers no specifics on what the parties would do. Chin asked for clarification, pointing to the example of when he orders a book via Amazon, saying that he gets a message that says, “if you like this book, try this one.” “Should I get concerned?” he asked.
Cohn said the ability “to track what you read is granular and continual.” Chin asked if it was fixable; Cohn responded that Google should be required to have a court order to turn over personal information to law enforcement officials. “This is a fight libraries and bookstores have fought,” she said. Later, she suggested Google should mitigate privacy concerns by deleting user data after 30 days.
***
Marc Rotenberg, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, offered a more critical take on privacy than previous speakers. “I disagree that the problem can be cured.”
The settlement parties have untethered the privacy obligations that public libraries are subject to, he said. “There is simply no precedent for tracking people in this fashion,” he argued, citing processes like user authentication and watermarking.
Chin asked why it couldn’t be fixed. “It must be in the design of the technology,” Rotenberg said.
“Objectors Outnumber Supporters in First Half of Google Settlement Fairness Hearing” by Norman Oder, Library Journal 2-18-10
Judge Chin said he’ll make a decision when he makes a decision. More at ResourceShelf.
Also left in legal limbo yesterday was local violist Jordan Miles.
A hearing for a Homewood teen who claims three Pittsburgh police officers beat him during his arrest last month was postponed for a second time Thursday while the FBI and the city investigate the officers’ actions.
Attorney Kerry Lewis, who argued against the delay, said his client Jordan Miles is entitled to a timely hearing and asked District Judge Oscar Petite Jr. to dismiss his charges.
Mr. Miles, 18, is due in court March 4. He was charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest in a Jan. 12 incident in which police said he was “sneaking around” a house on Tioga Street in Homewood with a heavy object in his coat that they thought was a gun.
Mr. Miles criminal complaint says he ran from plainclothes officers Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak when they ordered him to stop and assaulted two of them. Police said object in his coat turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew, which Mr. Lewis denied Thursday.
“Hearing on hold for teen who claims he was beaten” by Sadie Gurman, P-G 2-19-10