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Problem of trying to
protect databases under US law raised in court
Lawdit Solicitors, March 1Inquiry
Management Systems, an ad-tracking service attempted to sue Berkshire Information
Services, under the anti circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
1998 for allegedly downloading a substantial amount, estimated to be around 85%, of its
proprietary database.
Ask Jeeves Explains
Dropping Paid Inclusion
ClickZ News, March 4
Concern about how paid inclusion data affected its search engine's relevance
led Ask Jeeves to drop its Index Express XML feed program. The company also says the
initiative wasn't paying off as expected.
Documentum
Teams with Thunderhead to Deliver Next-Generation Solution for Dynamic Content Publishing
PRNewswire, March 8
Documentum, a provider of enterprise
content management (ECM), has announced a strategic alliance with Thunderhead,
Ltd., a provider of next-generation, standards- based technology for rules-driven document
assembly and multi-channel publishing.
Verity snaps up e-forms specialist
Information World Review, March 8
Search and portals specialist Verity has snapped up
Cardiff Software, as CMS rivals Open Text and Hummingbird announce plans for further
acquisitions
Ingenta's £3m war chest plan
Information World Review, March 8
Ingenta has placed a tranche of 26 million shares with
City investment banks as the electronic publishing technology provider raises revenues for
acquisitions. Ingenta distributes online journals for more than 260 publishers,
including the Oxford University Press, and provides online services to libraries.
NHS scraps £90m EDS email
contract
computing.co.uk, March 10
EDS is to sue the NHS for £11m in compensation after the health
service pulled the plug on its £90m 10-year contract to provide email and staff directory
services.
First
Major Industry Lawsuits Under New Federal Anti-Spam Law
Microsoft Press Release, March 10
America Online, EarthLink, Microsoft and Yahoo! - The four
leading e-mail and Internet service providers in the US announced the combined filing of
six lawsuits against hundreds of defendants, including some of the nation's most notorious
large-scale spammers.
No Deal in the European
Microsoft Antitrust Case
Yahoo! Finance, March 15
Microsoft has failed to reach
a deal with the European Commission, setting the stage for a landmark antitrust ruling
next week that will brand the software giant an abusive monopolist.
It may be fined and ordered to offer a version of its
Windows operating system without Windows Media Player to encourage computer makers to
provide other audio-visual software.
Elsevier Announces
Scopus Service
Information Today, March 15
Elsevier has made an official
announcement of the first fully functioning version of Scopus, its highly anticipated,
full-text linking, abstracting and indexing database. The company is now providing access
to another 30 academic libraries for final testing and user trials.
Elsevier's
submission to UK MPs on scientific publishing now available
Company announcement, March 15
Elsevier's response to questions posed by the UK House of Commons' Select Committee on
Science and Technology on scientific publishing has been released for public
distribution.
Top Medical And
Scientific Societies Commit To Providing Free Access To Medical And Scientific Research
Press release, March 16
Representatives from
leading not-for-profit medical/scientific societies and publishers have announced their
commitment to providing free access and wide dissemination of published research findings.
Their commitment was conveyed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer
Society, the American Diabetes Association and others, during a news conference in
Washington at which they released Washington
DC Principles for Free Access to Science—a statement representing 48
not-for-profit publishers, over 600,000 scientists and clinicians, and more than 380
journals.
Pira acquired by Ciba Specialty Chemicals
Company Press release, March 16
Pira International, the Leatherhead-based print and packaging research
organisation with 140 staff, has been acquired by Ciba Specialty Chemicals for undisclosed
terms.
World
Patents Index Now Available Through Dialog
Information Today, March 18
Dialog, provider of
online-based information services and integrated information solutions, announced that
Derwent World Patents Index First View, a new fast-alerting companion file to Derwent
World Patents Index, is now available through its Dialog-branded family of online
services.
Data spine key to
Patient's Passport, say Tories
e-health-insider.com, March 18
Under a Conservative government the NHS Care Record Service
would become the key tool enabling the introduction of the proposed Patient's Passport
initiative under which patients could choose between a range of health service providers
taking their funding with them.
UK Libraries
Going Wireless
Managing Information, 19 March 2004
Ten public libraries across
England will soon be able to provide wireless access to the internet. The Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) is working in partnership with the Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI) and The Countryside Agency on a £60,000 pilot project to help
rural communities take further advantage of broadband internet services.
Managing
Director of Swets Information Services Leaves Company
Information Today, March 22
Sjoerd Vogt, brought in as
Managing Director of Swets Information Services in the UK towards the end of 2003, will be
leaving after only a brief period with the Company.
Microsoft hit by massive EU fine
CNN News, March 25
The European Union has found Microsoft guilty of abusing the
"near-monopoly" of its Windows PC operating system and fined it a record 497
million euros ($613 million).
The U.S.-based software giant has two months to review the lengthy
decision and has said it will appeal.
The European Commission issued the unanimous decision after a five-year
investigation, finding Microsoft in violation of EU competition law.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) urges
implementation of VAT
The Navind Times, March 28
The Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) said “It is imperative that the VAT is implemented in India at the
earliest so that the Indian industry will have the cutting edge to compete in the world
market.”
Bay
Area universities argue about price of academic journals
San Francisco Chronicle, March 28
Critics are complaining with
growing intensity that the most important advances in human knowledge -- the new research
and discoveries of top universities -- have been in effect seized and are being held for
ransom by commercial publishers.
Korea is preparing for the Frankfurt Book Fair in
October 2005
Korea Herald, March 29
Korea is the
"guest of honour" at the book fair and intends to translate 100 books into other
languages to introduce its culture to foreign readers and publishers. These include
English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic, depending on the book and
the target market.
Director of the Wellcome Trust concerned about
medical research
The Times, March 30
Excessive data protection regulations, based on an
“extreme rights-based philosophy” and an obsession with the minutiae of patient
consent, are effectively outlawing much of the very research the Government wants to
support, says Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust.
The BBC's
role in the digital revolution.
BBC Press release, March 30
Speech given by Jana Bennett to
MIPTV & Milia in Cannes about the BBC's role in the digital revolution.
Microsoft progress report on security
Microsoft, March 31
Bill Gates gives an
update on Microsoft's plans for battling malicious software code, helping computer users
keep their PCs protected, and making computer systems more resilient.
The BBC in
a Changing World
BBC Press release, March 31
In a speech given by Mark Byford to the Foreign Press Association - the Gladstone
Lecture - he said BBC independence was "non-negotiable" and outlined BBC Charter
Review proposals.
Ingenta launches new content services for publishers
Ingenta Press release, March 31
Ingenta plc., who create and operate specialist publication websites
for academic and professional publishers, has launched two new web services and expanded
the provision of a third for its publisher clients as part of an ongoing programme of
technical enhancements.
Content Tracker is a content monitoring tool which enables publishers to view
the progress of their content as it follows the online production process. Clients can use
this free service to monitor when their material is processed and available on
www.ingenta.com and www.ingentaselect.com, increasing the transparency of the production
process. The second new service gives publishers the opportunity to enhance their printed
material by adding Supplementary Data online.
One in three UK adults buying on the Internet
Continental Research, Spring Report
Nearly one in three UK adults, 13.8 million of us, have become
online savvy and are using the Internet to carry out transactions such as buying airline
tickets, banking, downloading music, and buying/selling at auction websites, according to
Continental Research’s Spring 2004 Internet Report.
£40m spent on UKeU for just 900 students
Computing, 31 March
Almost £40m has been spent on
UKeU, the government's flagship online learning scheme, to attract just 900 students.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
How to do
everything with Google
Discover what librarians
and researchers know and learn the best tactics and strategies for finding information on
the web using Google search.
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