"David Weinberger, author of Small Pieces Loosely Joined (which title is the best four word description of the Web, ever), has written a kids version of it called What the Web Is For. More kids versions of 'grown-up books' should be written...I imagine such an exercise could help the author focus their arguments and improve the end product." [kottke.org]

This version is aimed at 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and it makes a good link for library web pages.

Let's assume there was a service that provided and metered all content, including registered web sites.   It costs $100 a month and lets me consume as much as I want.  If I paid $100 a month for this full featured online content system (that included TV and Internet sites) and $40 a month for connectivity, here is some wild speculation on how it could be paid out to artists and authors.  [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Make sure you read the rest of John's post, because what he is referring to is the Heavenly Jukebox, a concept I talk about a lot in my presentations. It's like the internet in that it's a mysterious cloud of digital content that exists somewhere "out there." You subscribe to the service, so you're really paying for access, not ownership. As much as I like this concept on a personal level (a flat fee for access to all-things-digital), there are many problems inherent in this type of setup.

1. Will all of these publishers really agree on a single platform for delivery? I think two platforms is even stretching it for these guys, but in this scenario you should be able to access your subscriptions from your home computer, your work computer, your cell phone, your PDA, your home media entertainment unit, and your car.
2. The prerequisite is that pesky subscription, so the digital divide gets even bigger for those that can't afford either the hardware or the monthly fees.
3. In the past, libraries have mitigated this situation, but look closely at John's scenario and you'll see that there is nowhere for libraries to fit into that process. Publishers love the idea of the heavenly jukebox because it lets them interact directly with the consumer, cutting out the middleman and taking in those fees for themselves. That's why digital rights management (DRM) is so important to them. They don't want to let libraries act as a proxy for consumers, and it's impossible for libraries to do this when the DRM locks into individuals.

When I first started talking about the heavenly jukebox, it was in the context of advocating that libraries position themselves in the loop so that they can still circulate digital content. Now when I talk about this, it will be in the context of how the DMCA and CDBTPA are going to cut libraries out of that loop altogether.

Michael Fraase has written the best dissection I have seen to date of the whole DMCA, SSSCA, and CDBTPA issue. Titled When Elephants Dance, this is the article I will be using as a handout at presentations. [via Daypop Top 40]

The only thing I would have added to it is a discussion about libraries and our users because our right to collect and circulate legitimate digital information is getting lost in the overall debate about the entertainment industry versus the technology industry. Wired reports about the problems the CDBTPA will cause for the software industry (including open source authors), but no one on the national level seems to recognize that this could be disastrous for library's ability to circulate digital information.

Why? Because they want to completely restrict how individuals use information. Libraries are not individuals, even though we lend to them. So there we are, caught in the middle. Restricting all digital information because some of it might be from the entertainment industry and could be pirated is insane. It means legitimate uses and legitimate information becomes the baby that gets thrown out with the bathwater.

That means shutting out those who traffic in information, too. Publishers already view libraries as the enemy, and I'm sure they see this as one way to end the threat they seem to think we pose. One more added benefit of this legislation for them.