Still seems very cheap to me – unless the precedent has value I'm not seeing?

Target-MasterCard settlement moves ahead despite US judge’s doubts

Joseph Ax and Nathan Layne report:

A federal judge has rejected a bid from a group of banks and credit unions suing Target Corp over its 2013 data breach to block the company’s proposed $19 million settlement with MasterCard Inc .

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota, wrote in a ruling Thursday that the deal does not appear “altogether fair or reasonable” but he could not legally intervene without evidence that Target or MasterCard had made misleading or coercive statements.

Read more on Reuters.

No doubt the confusion is from ignorance. No doubt this will all be fixed when the government takes over HealthCare. Oh wait, HHS is the government!

The largest cause of data security incidents is….. what?

The new BakerHostetler report on data security incidents says that human error was the largest cause of data security incidents, accounting for 36%. Their finding is consistent with the new Ponemon report that also puts employee error as the number one cause, at 39%

But then you read RBS’s report on 2014 breaches where they say that 67% of breaches were due to hacking, and maybe you scratch your head. And you read HealthITSecurity.com, who report that hacking is currently the leading cause of breaches in the health care sector, according to HHS’s breach tool.

So who’s right? Those who say that insider error is the biggest single factor, or those who say that hacking is?

The problem with HealthITSecurity.com’s statement can be explained by the way HHS codes incidents. It may be that the 30 of 92 incidents coded as “Hacking/IT incidents” could be mostly IT incidents such as exposure on the Internet due to human error. Then again, some of the “hacking/IT incident” numbers are currently inflated by the fact that the breach tool not only includes Anthem’s reported breach, but it also includes reports from entities affected by the Anthem breach (and presumably already included in Anthem’s numbers), thereby double-counting some incidents and records. This blogger has frequently lamented the difficulties in using and making sense of the public breach tool due to its confusing coding and system.

As to the RBS report, well that may be a tad more complicated to explain. RBS includes hacks that show up on paste sites, and there are a lot of those. In contrast, small human error breaches generally don’t make the media and are not posted to paste sites. So there’s more information on hacks than on employee errors. That’s just one factor to think about, and there are others that may also help explain why their estimates of hacking incidents may remain higher than other sources.

The differences in the findings are not unimportant, either. If an entity is trying to decide where to invest their security budget and resources, it may make a difference whether the biggest threats are inside or outside, right?

In the meantime, every time a new study comes out, I take a breath and wait for the headlines and bullet points from those who often haven’t drilled down into the sampling and methods used. Then I just go throw up my hands and head for the coffee pot.

This is interesting. Such a simple fix... Remember, if Canada can do it, they can teach other English speaking intelligence services to do it.

Canadian firms warned to encrypt client data or risk surveillance threat

Neasa MacEarlean reports:

The Canadian Anti-Terrrorism Act, now passing through parliament, could mean that law firms which do not encrypt data will imperil the confidentiality of clients – as the security forces will find it easier to get warrants that breach privacy.

The Act paves the way for greater powers for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to undertake mass transfers of data from government departments. David Fraser, technology and privacy specialist at McInnes Cooper, said: ‘There’s all kinds of mischief that can take place under the provisions.’ He continued: ‘Could a judge theoretically override solicitor-client privilege in one of these scenarios? Yes. Would it take place in secret? Absolutely.’

Read more on Global Legal Post.

This is how politics works. This is not how Intelligence services work. Political appointees are Chief-Politial-Officers, not really intelligence experts. In their world, if you “forget” you haven't really lied.

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/241508-spy-head-had-absolutely-forgotten-about-nsa-program

Attorney: Spy chief had 'forgotten' about NSA program when he misled Congress

Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper wasn’t lying when he wrongly told Congress in 2013 that the government does not “wittingly” collect information about millions of Americans, according to his top lawyer.

He just forgot.

… Litt on Friday said that Clapper merely did not have a chance to prepare an answer for Wyden and forgot about the phone records program when asked about it on the spot.

“We were notified the day before that Sen. Wyden was going to ask this question and the director of national intelligence did not get a chance to review it,” Litt said.

The next logical step? Have Uber pick up you order from restaurants that don't deliver.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/51808/20150509/hungry-now-order-food-delivered-right-google-search-results.htm

Hungry? Now Order Food And Get It Delivered Right From Google Search Results

… The way it works is that when a user searches for a restaurant that offers delivery, Google will now include a "Place an Order" option, which users can click on, after which users can select the delivery service they want to use, and will be whisked away to that company's website so the user can finalize the order.

Perhaps we should compose “Lawyers in the Cloud” (to the tune of “Riders in the Sky”)

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/82030.html?google_editors_picks=true

The Cloud's Threatening Legal Storm

… The cloud is not as safe as many people think, as a report from the Cloud Security Alliance explains. The CSA has outlined nine major categories of threats that face cloud technologies that organizations "must weigh ... as part of a rigorous risk assessment, to determine which security controls are necessary."

… At the end of 2014, CDW issued a white paper entitled "Playbook: Overcoming Cloud Security Concerns," which explains how to deal with the nine CSA threats and explains the difference between data loss and data breach:

… There are three important contract terms that companies should incorporate for better cloud protection, suggested a panel of attorneys including Microsoft Assistant General Counsel Mike Yeh, at a recent Advanced Compliance Education Summit meeting of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

No. 1: Limit Access to Data

No. 2: Privacy

No. 3: Customer Audits

At some point, “Hey. We're a lot more dangerous now!” will result in the old, “Then I guess we should attack you before you do something seriously stupid.” There is a fine line that North Korea is always willing to stick a toe across. Perhaps we haven't stomped on those toes hard enough.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/08/world/asia/ap-as-koreas-tensions-.html?_r=0

North Korea Says It Tests Ballistic Missile From Submarine

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea said Saturday that it successfully test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in what would be the latest display of the country's advancing military capabilities. Hours after the announcement, South Korean officials said the North fired three anti-ship cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Experts in Seoul say the North's military demonstrations and hostile rhetoric are attempts at wresting concessions from the United States and South Korea, whose officials have recently talked about the possibility of holding preliminary talks with the North to test its commitment to denuclearization.

For the second straight day, North Korea said it would fire without warning at South Korean naval vessels that it claims have been violating its territorial waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's presidential Blue House held an emergency national security council meeting to review the threat and discuss possible countermeasures.

"By raising tensions, North Korea is trying to ensure that it will be able to drive whatever future talks with the U.S. and South Korea," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor from the Seoul-based University of North Korean Studies.

This is the job I've been preparing my Data Management students for!

http://www.citeworld.com/article/2919710/internet-of-things/all-hail-the-next-big-job-the-chief-iot-officer.html?google_editors_picks=true

All hail the next big job, the Chief IoT Officer

In the near future, you may hear about the appointment of a Chief Internet of Things (IoT) Officer. Before you roll your eyes and chortle at the thought of another chief-of-something, consider the problem.

First, companies are beginning to make and implement smart, connected, data-producing products. That can be anything -- automobiles, assembly line robots, washing machines and even coffee makers. This data can be used in predictive analytics to avoid product failures, as well as to schedule maintenance around when a product actually needs it. These products, mechanical and electronic, will likely get ongoing software updates.

Second, connected products are now part of a broader system. Or as Michael Porter, a Harvard economist, pointed out at this week's ThingWorx conference, you aren't just selling a tractor, you are selling a tractor that is becoming part of a smart farm, a system. Things have to be able to work together.

… In his talk, Porter never mentioned Chief IoT officers, but he does see organizations creating Chief Data Officers to manage IoT-generated data. Firms will create new organizations to deal with this data, "and we're going to see a lot of chief data officers."

The bottom line: Whether your firm ends up with the Chief Data Officer or a Chief IoT Officer or both, a trend toward the creation of more chiefs may be on its way.

(Related) Michael Porter's talk.

http://blogs.ptc.com/2015/05/05/iot-offers-bright-future-says-harvard-professor/

IoT Offers Bright Future, Says Harvard Professor

The IoT is driving “one of the most powerful business transformations that I’ve ever studied, let alone experienced,” said Harvard’s Michael Porter, who follows this phenomenon, at LiveWorx today. “How we run a company is going to change, very dramatically. How we organize ourselves as companies is going to be changing because of the impact of smart, connected products on the nature of work, on the nature of what companies have to do.”

For my students. Programming anything is an easy way to learn how to program everything.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-sites-anyone-interested-learning-make-games/

5 Sites for Anyone Interested in Learning to Make Games

If the NSA can't gather and store these records we'll see requests for the providers (phone and internet) to keep the same records for X years in case the NSA needs to access them. FISA warrants required?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/us/nsa-phone-records-collection-ruled-illegal-by-appeals-court.html?_r=0

N.S.A. Collection of Bulk Call Data Is Ruled Illegal

A federal appeals court in New York ruled on Thursday that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal.

… In a 97-page ruling, a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a provision of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, known as Section 215, cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the bulk collection of domestic calling records.

(Related) Local “bulk collection” is Okay. Because somewhere in all those records there might be something that related to an investigation.

Appeals court says police can withhold license plate scans

Brian Melley reports:

Police don’t have to disclose license plate records that advocacy groups sought to gauge how high-tech surveillance was being used, a California appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The unanimous ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected a California Public Records Act request for data compiled by the Los Angeles police and sheriff’s departments.

Read more on Phys.org. You can find the court’s opinion here (pdf).

For my Data Governance students. Naturally this comes out (again) in an election year, have they never heard of Murphy? What else do they believe they can slip by us and no one will notice? Or do they think no one reads this stuff? Or do they think?

http://www.bespacific.com/white-house-documents-found-to-be-altered/

White House documents found to be altered

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on May 7, 2015

Via FGI – Free Government Information, by James R. Jacobs – “Researchers at the University of Illinois say they have found evidence on the Whitehouse Web site that suggests “a pattern of revision and removal from the public record that spans several years, from 2003 through at least 2005. Instead of issuing a series of revised lists with new dates, or maintaining an updated master list while preserving copies of the old ones, the White House removed original documents, altered them, and replaced them with backdated modifications that only appear to be originals.”

• Airbrushing History, American Style, Scott Althaus and Kalev Leetaru, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, November 25, 2008
• Iraq Ally Lists Were Altered, Study Shows, by Thom Shanker, New York Times, November 24, 2008.

Once again, our reliance on government websites for current information fails to preserve the historical record and yields an incomplete, unverifiable, and even altered record. We need government to instantiate information and actively deposit those instantiations outside the dot-gov realm (e.g., with FDLP libraries) to help guarantee a complete and accurate record.”

Perspective. Technology kills the school dance?

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-the-lives-of-teenagers-have-changed-over-the-last-20-years/

How Teen Media Consumption Has Changed Over the Years

Being a teenager in 2015 is very different than it was in 1995. While most teenagers spent their free time watching a little TV in the 90s, there were far fewer screens to put in front of their faces. A social network was the group of friends you hung out with at school.

Now, things have changed. Technology has opened all kinds of new things to teens, some good and some bad. So just how as being a teenager changed from the 90s? Are things better or worse? Take a look at the infographic below from TeenSafe that presents true facts about teens and media and decide for yourself.

http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TeenSafe-MediaNowThen.png?92a7a3

If it matters to the Sales team, it will matter to management, which means I should teach my Data Management students that it matters to them.

https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-technology-trends-that-matter-to-sales-teams

The Technology Trends That Matter to Sales Teams

The convergence of mobile, analytics, context-rich systems, and the cloud, together with an explosion of information, is transforming sales, and enabling buyers and salespeople to engage with each other in more effective and efficient ways. Recently, information technology research and advisory company Gartner compiled a list of top 10 strategic technology trends. At least five of these trends have significant implications for sales forces, including:

Oh wow, there's an App for that?

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-hilarious-yet-useful-bathroom-related-apps-android/

5 Hilarious yet Useful Bathroom-Related Apps for Android

For all my students. (I found this one in the 2015 GeekWire Awards)

http://www.joinkoru.com/

Koru

Recent college grads are dreadfully underemployed, yet many companies can’t find enough qualified applicants to fill key roles. That’s where Koru steps in. The Seattle company, co-founded by Onvia co-founder Kristen Hamilton, serves as a “coach and connector” for young people trying to break into the workforce.

As I've been suggesting, healthcare offers some “low hanging fruit.” Here's proof.

Criminal Attacks Are Now Leading Cause of Data Breach in Healthcare, According to New Ponemon Study

The healthcare industry is experiencing a surge in data breaches, security incidents, and criminal attacks—exposing millions of patients and their medical records—according to the latest Ponemon Institute study, sponsored by ID Experts®, the Fifth Annual Benchmark Study on Privacy & Security of Healthcare Data. The study reveals that criminal attacks in healthcare are up 125 percent since 2010 and are now the leading cause of data breach. The findings also show that most healthcare organizations are still unprepared to address this rapidly changing cyber threat environment and lack the resources and processes to protect patient data. According to the FBI, criminals are targeting the information-rich healthcare sector because individuals’ personal information, credit information, and protected health information (PHI) are accessible in one place, which translates into a high return when monetized and sold. To learn more about the Fifth Annual Study on Privacy & Security of Healthcare Data, visit www2.idexpertscorp.com/ponemon for a free copy.

(Related) And here's another in a long line of bad examples.

Pennsylvania-based Summit Health joins ranks of those falling for phishing

On March 18, attorneys for Summit Health, Inc. in Pennsylvania notified the Maryland Attorney General’s Office that on February 19, the hospital had learned [Translation: “We were told by someone else” Real computer security would have “discovered” or “detected” the breach. Bob] that some of its employees had fallen for a phishing attempt.

As a result of the successful phishing, employees’ information in the Lawson Employee Self-Service System, used to access payroll and benefits information, may have been accessed by unauthorized individuals. Included in that system was employees’ W-2 tax information, including income and Social Security numbers. Dependents’ information might also have been accessed.

Those employees who were affected were offered a year of credit monitoring with Experian.

The total number potentially impacted was not disclosed, but this seems to be another instance of healthcare entities being targeted by phishing attempts. In this case, it was employee information that was potentially compromised and not any patient information, but the problem is the same.

For my Computer Security students. It would be better to check email attachments yourself.

InterContinental Hotel Groups alerted by Secret Service to breach

It seems Six Continents Hotels (InterContinental Hotel Groups) was notified earlier this year by the Secret Service that some of its hotels had suffered a data security breach. One of the hotels IHG subsequently notified was Cities Service (Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Sulphur, Louisiana). IHG alerted them on February 11, 2015.

When Cities Service investigated, they found a malicious email attachment had compromised their payment system and exposed 613 customers’ names, addresses, payment card numbers, and expiration date. The exposure period was October 13, 2014 until February 11, when they contained the breach.

Cities Service said it had no evidence of misuse, but offered those affected credit monitoring and fraud assistance services with IDT911.

… Here’s Cities Service’s notification to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, but I’m wondering what the other impacted hotels were, how many there were, and whether we’ll see notifications from them. I don’t recall seeing any others related to this incident so far. You can find a listing of their chains and properties on IHG’s web site. There doesn’t seem to be any notice on their site that I can locate.

Is this Napoleon's law?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32621331

French secret tapes of Sarkozy ruled legal in inquiry

A French court has ruled that wire-tapped conversations between ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer can be used as evidence in an ongoing corruption investigation.

The decision is seen as a blow for the centre-right leader, who is likely to bid again for the presidency in 2017.

Mr Sarkozy is suspected of promising a sought-after position to a judge in return for information on another case.

But he was already being bugged as part of the earlier investigation.

That case against Mr Sarkozy, the UMP leader, was eventually dropped.

You can see why Google asked to be relieved of this search. Would Google's search make anything discovered automatically challengeable by the defense? (We teach students how to find the data needle in the Big Data haystack. Looks like they will have plenty of job opportunities with law enforcement when we graduate them.)

Google relieved of duty to search for relevant evidence in executing search warrant

Orin Kerr, having thanked the supporters of his very short-lived campaign for President,* returns to the hard work of legal scholarship:

I’m working on a new law review article about the internal procedures that Internet providers follow when executing search warrants for content. Given that, I was particularly interested in this new decision from a magistrate judge in Alaska relieving Google of a duty to execute a warrant by combing through stored files for relevant content.

The case involves a search for evidence in e-mail accounts that were used to respond to a Craigslist advertisement about underage sexual activity.

Read more on The Volokh Conspiracy.

*PogoWasRight.org is devastated that Orin, a candidate without a web site or a privacy policy, dropped out of the race, leaving us with the same stale candidates of yore.

[From the Alaska decision:

Specifically, for these narrow periods of time, the warrant directed Google to produce:

[T]he contents of electronic or wire communications held in the SUBJECT ACCOUNTS, including:

a) all electronic or wire communications with a minor or any person purporting to be a minor, or claiming to have access to a minor, or that otherwise involve the enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense (including email text, attachments, and imbedded files) in electronic storage by the PROVIDER, or held by the PROVIDER as a remote computing service (if any), within the meaning of Stored Communications Act;

… Google filed the instant motion in response to the published order.^[3] Google contends it resisted the first warrant, not because of the narrow date-range limitation—in fact, Google represents that it "prefers date range limitations," and regularly responds to warrants for email content circumscribed by date range limitations.^[4] Rather, Google asserts it objected to the first warrant because it required Google to inspect email content for relevancy and evidentiary value

(Related) Is the Ninth Circuit agreeing? Kind of? Would Google have stopped and asked for a new warrant?

CA9: No special protocol required for computer search warrant, but courts must be vigilant on review

FourthAmendment.com posted this summary and case, although I think John omitted an important “not” when he wrote “the least intrusive measures are required.” The opinion seems to indicate that the court held they were not required, citing Quon, unless I’ve misunderstood:

No special protocol required for a computer search warrant, but vigilance of the court is expected in review to protect against overreaching. Also, the least intrusive measures are required. United States v. Nessland, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7360 (9th cir. May 4, 2015):

It did not specify “‘the precise manner’” of execution, but it was not required to do so. United States v. Grubbs, 547 U.S. 90, 98, 126 S. Ct. 1494, 1500-01, 164 L. Ed. 2d 195 (2006). The officers were searching for a particular type of photographic image and came across the images in question here, which were in plain view. See United States v. Wong, 334 F.3d 831, 838 (9th Cir. 2003). Thereupon, they stopped their search, and did not return to it until they obtained another warrant that covered the new type of images. See United States v. Giberson, 527 F.3d 882, 885, 889-90 (9th Cir. 2008). That approach did not violate Nessland’s rights. Indeed, this case is much like United States v. Schesso, 730 F.3d 1040 (9th Cir. 2013). There, as here, no special protocol was required, and the officers did follow the procedures set forth in the warrant application. Moreover, as here, there was no real risk of exposing other people’s data, and there was no sign of overreaching. Finally, even if some added protections could have been used here, the officers were not required to seek out and use the least intrusive means. See City of Ontario v. Quon, 560 U.S. 746, 763, 130 S. Ct. 2619, 2632, 177 L. Ed. 2d 216 (2010); Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co., 554 F.3d 769, 772-73 (9th Cir. 2009); see also Giberson, 527 F.3d at 889-90. While we are well aware of the need for vigilance, [citing CDT] we are satisfied that Nessland’s rights were not violated by the search.

This (to me) is a failure of the State Department audit team. I would want to ensure that security procedures were followed, particularly when someone new takes over. What did they change? Did the change improve security?

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/241209-state-dept-clinton-email-use-not-acceptable

State Dept: Clinton's personal email use ‘not acceptable’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email account run through a private server was "not acceptable" and happened without officials’ knowledge, [Only possible if no one wanted to know. Bob] a top State Department record-keeper said on Wednesday.

… “The actions that we’ve taken in the course of recovering these emails has made it very clear what the responsibilities are [But not who was responsible? Bob] with regard to record-keeping,” she added in remarks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on government transparency.

Isn't this the candidate who said Presidential candidates had to understand technology?

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/241185-nbc-takes-down-fiorina-youtube-clip

NBC takes down Fiorina YouTube clip

… Hours after the former Hewlett-Packard CEO appeared on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers," the network blocked her campaign’s attempt to post a clip from the show on YouTube.

“This video contains content from NBC Universal, who has blocked it on copyright grounds,” an error message on the clip said on Wednesday morning.

Another predictable “conflict.” If I download the “blueprints” but don't own a 3D printer am I violating any gun laws? (Even in New York City?) If I have a 3D printer, but never download “blueprints” an I still a suspect in the eyes of the government? Isn't this exactly the same argument Phil Zimmerman made about PGP encryption? (Item 1)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/war-3d-printed-guns-snake-returns-smartphones-tech-news-digest/

The 3D-Printed Guns Fight Is On

Should 3D-printed guns be legal? It’s a question that isn’t easy to answer, because it pits the right to the freedom of speech against calls for stronger gun control. Two emotive subjects without much in the way of gray areas and compromise. Especially in the United States. Still, it’s an issue that needs deciding, and fast.

Why? Because the blueprints for a 3D-printed firearm are already out there on the Internet, and have been for two years thanks to Cody Wilson. He created the Liberator, a plastic pistol that anyone can piece together using 3D printing. The State Department demanded he remove the blueprints from the Internet, but two years on he’s challenging that demand.

According to Wired, Wilson’s advocacy group Defense Distributed has filed a lawsuit claiming the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) “violated their first amendment right to free speech.” The question is whether posting blueprints for a 3D-printed gun violates arms export controls or not. Suffice to say, it’s a highly complex issue.

The problem is that while it’s being discussed, hundreds of thousands of people are downloading the blueprints for Liberator, and the most enterprising of these people are actually evolving the design. It’s unlikely the 3D-printed firearms genie can ever be put back into the bottle, but we still need to decide what, if anything, we’re going to do about it from here on out.

Part of any Computer Security planning. If you can't stop employee access in a timely fashion, at least keep (and review) a log of the files the employee accesses.

Are you closing the door fast enough?

According to a recent survey by IS Decisions, 75% of businesses leave themselves open to infosecurity breaches from former employees by not following strict post-employment processes to ensure employees no longer have access to information. FreshBusinessThinking.com has more on the survey.

Now add in the risks of employees who know they will be leaving their jobs and help themselves to your valuable data to help them set up their own business. This week’s case in point is Experian, who has sued a former marketing executive, alleging he stole trade secrets and poached former employees to start his own firm when he learned his position would be eliminated.

This can't be a small gang. Should be interesting to follow.

Where’s The Beef?

… Only after they’d ruled out a silly accounting error or a simple case of some errant animals did they call the law enforcement arm of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. They reported what they’d feared from the start: 1,121 unbranded steer calves had been stolen, making it among the largest cattle thefts that anyone could remember.

The logistics of pulling off a heist of this size were straight out of “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” Braum’s had found that the stolen calves weighed between 300 and 750 pounds, meaning that the combined lot would likely have tipped the scales at over 500,000 pounds. Texas Monthly’s John Nova Lomax estimated that it would have taken more than 30 cattle trailers, each 36 feet long, to haul off the animals, and it insulted logic to imagine that a fleet of massive farm vehicles would have evaded detection.

A Big Data (gathering) issue.

http://www.bespacific.com/arl-joins-hague-declaration-for-changes-to-intellectual-property-law-equal-access-to-knowledge/

ARL Joins Hague Declaration for Changes to Intellectual Property Law, Equal Access to Knowledge

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on May 6, 2015

ARL – “More than 50 organizations around the world—including ARL—have signed the Hague Declaration on Knowledge Discovery in the Digital Age, which calls for immediate changes to intellectual property (IP) law and the removal of other barriers preventing widened and more equal access to data. Improved treatments for diseases, answers to global issues such as climate change, and billions in government savings are among the potential benefits to be gained, if the principles outlined in the Hague Declaration are adopted by governments, businesses, and society. The declaration asserts that copyright was never designed to regulate the sharing of facts, data, and ideas—nor should it. The right to receive and impart information and ideas is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but the modern application of IP law often limits this right, even when these most simple building blocks of knowledge are used. “The rapidly changing digital environment, increased computing power, and the sheer quantity of data being produced make it essential for researchers and society to be able to use modern techniques and tools to help them make new discoveries. Research practices could be revolutionized and lives could literally be saved, if we can achieve better access to the knowledge contained within big data,” said Kristiina Hormia-Poutanen, president of LIBER, the Association of European Research Libraries, which has led work to develop the declaration. A new approach to knowledge discovery is critical at a time when society is facing a literal data deluge. The digital universe, or the data we create and copy annually, is doubling in size every two years and is expected to reach 44 trillion gigabytes by 2020. In addition to clarity around the scope of IP law, a skills gap and a lack of infrastructure must also be addressed if computers are to be better employed to extract and recombine data in order to identify patterns and trends. This process, known as content mining, is widely recognized as the only way to deal effectively with big data…”

Professor Soma at DU's Sturm College of Law shared this:

http://www.bluekai.com/bluebook/assets_20150102/bluekai-little-blue-book.pdf

Guide to Big-Data Providers

Start planning. 2016 will be here this fall.

http://www.citeworld.com/article/2919321/consumerization/hands-on-office-2016-preview-focuses-on-data-gathering-and-collaboration-in-the-cloud.html?google_editors_picks=true

Hands on: Office 2016 preview focuses on data-gathering and collaboration in the cloud

… “We are moving from Office for us, to Office with others,” Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella declared during Microsoft’s Build keynote last week.

Microsoft released the consumer preview of Office 2016 on Monday. You won’t find dramatic redesigns of its user interface—those are reserved for the universal Office apps that Microsoft has built or is building for its mobile platforms.

… Office 2016 also shifts how we interact with data in one important way: It actively encourages you to share data via the cloud, rather than files that you download and append to documents. The “death of downloading” hasn’t happened yet, but it seems nigh.

(Related)

https://products.office.com/en-us/office-2016-preview#howToGet

Get the Office 2016 Preview for home

For my students.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-ways-install-ubuntu-linux-windows-computer/

4 Ways to Install Ubuntu Linux on a Windows Computer

This website always has interesting (and timely) examples of statistics for my students. Also look at the chart on fumbles!

FiveThirtyEight Dissects The Deflategate Report

This afternoon the NFL released the results of an investigation into whether or not the New England Patriots intentionally deflated footballs below league standards.

… The report — especially the stat-sy appendix — went to great lengths to show that the difference in pressure between the Pats’ and Colts’ footballs was not due to chance.

You don’t need a stats degree to look at that table and see that something is amiss.

I really, really, really suggest my students grab one of these.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2919020/rise-and-shine-8-eye-opening-alarm-clock-tips-for-ios-and-android.html

Rise and shine: 8 eye-opening alarm clock tips for iOS and Android

(Related)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-social-alarm-apps-help-get-bed/

5 Social Alarm Apps to Help You Get out of Bed