Internet Archive Loses Landmark E-Book Lending Copyright Appeal Against Publishers.
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    You are correct: the ruling simply affirms the plaintiff's claim against IA.

    Any out-of-copyright and non-copyright items, as well as items with permissive terms (e.g., Creative Commons licenses) will still be available on IA. Previously, the plaintiff Hachette offered a deal that IA rejected, in which IA would be allowed to make digital copies of Hachette texts that are either out-of-print titles, or titles for which digital copies have never been produced.

    Right now, it's up to Hachette and the other publishers affected in the case whether that offer is still available.

    edited: hyphens.

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  • The Internet Archive just lost its appeal over ebook lending
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 96%

    I definitely don’t like the obnoxious copyright system in the USA, but what the IA did seems obviously wrong.

    The publisher-plaintiffs did not prove the "obvious wrong" in this case, however US-based courts have a curious standard when it comes to the application of Fair Use doctrine. This case ultimately rested on the fourth, most significantly-weighted Fair Use standard in US-based courts: whether IA's digital lending harmed publisher sales during the 3-month period of unlimited digital lending.

    Unfortunately, when it comes to this standard, the publisher-plaintiffs are not required to prove harm, rather only assert that harm has occurred. If they were required to prove harm they'd have to reveal sales figures for the 27 works under consideration--publishers will do anything to conceal this information and US-based courts defer to them. Therefore, IA was required to prove a negative claim--that digital lending did not hurt sales--without access to the empirical data (which in other legal contexts is shared during the discovery phase) required to prove this claim. IA offered the next best argument (see pp. 44-62 of the case document to check for yourself), but the data was deemed insufficient by the court.

    In other words, on the most important test of Fair Use doctrine, which this entire case ultimately pivoted upon, IA was expected to defend itself with one arm tied behind its back. That's not 'fair' and the publishers did not prove 'obvious' harm, but the US-based courts are increasingly uninterested in these things.

    edited: page numbers on linked court document.

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  • F-22 stealth fighter aircraft above West Toronto
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    What an experience!

    The F-22 impressed us. In this photo, it is flying over the lake, which when compared to objects in the foreground shows how big it is. In the second photo, it flew vertically upward, was suspended for a moment to light off two flares, and briefly dropped line a stone before pulling out again. Dramatic stuff. These redditors have a bit more context on the significance of it flying here.

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  • archive.org

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor

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    archive.org

    Source: [https://archive.org/details/she-sells-swell-spells-hwln-04-022](https://archive.org/details/she-sells-swell-spells-hwln-04-022) Full-size image (3800x3800): [https://ia801506.us.archive.org/4/items/she-sells-swell-spells-hwln-04-022/HWLN-04-022.JPG](https://ia801506.us.archive.org/4/items/she-sells-swell-spells-hwln-04-022/HWLN-04-022.JPG) Medium: Watercolor and acrylic paint on watercolor paper (8"x 8")

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    archive.org

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallstreak_hole

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    archive.org

    Check the link for a full-size version (3600 x 4800).

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    archive.org

    This notice was found last summer (July 2023) on St. Clair W., after the Salsa on St. Clair festival.

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    Golden hour in the Yorkville neighbourhood (OC)
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    We were inspired by your recent photos. We'll post more.

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  • archive.org

    Photo taken from the west side in late December 2023.

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    Made using discarded parking tickets, among other things. More images here: https://archive.org/details/lawful-evil-hwmb-03-009

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    There are so many local names for this insect: water strider, water skipper, water skimmer, water bug... got any more?

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    Live TTC Transit Control broadcast feed = alternative source of info on delays, etc.
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    This broadcast is not official. Here's a RadioReference forum post with the technical details re: how someone can monitor the TETRA system that TTC uses to communicate across its network. This broadcastify feed is picking up the signal from the Birchmount location/frequency.

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  • www.broadcastify.com

    If you ever want more info about a transit delay than what you get from official communications, or if you want a better sense of daily issues on trains and buses (most of which are never reported to the police/press), check out this unofficial feed: https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/31629 Here's a 1-minute video showing the Transit Control centre where many of these calls are received: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQoKVmNJlSs

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    Nova Scotia's population is suddenly booming. Can the province handle it?
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    "We have new people whose life experiences have been radically different than ours. And so for those of us who have been here for decades or a long time, it gives us an insight into how people lived in other parts of the world, and now they're with us and we want to learn about them. So we are one united community."

    This is such a positive take from someone in leadership re: new immigration to their community. It can be difficult to manage unexpected population growth and the federal/provincial governments offer poor support to growing communities across Canada. Mr. Morrison and his neighbours deserve lots of credit and respect for welcoming new neighbours who've been through a lot. They sound like good people.

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  • Ontario is lowering its markups on pot, as cannabis companies struggle to stay afloat
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    Just a reminder that many former government staff, ex-elected officials, family members and acquaintances of current politicians, etc. are now lobbyists and/or investors in the commercial cannabis sector. For example, Smitherman (CEO of CCC) worked for 4 decades in Ontario politics before becoming a lobbyist. As the retailer quoted in this article says, these politically-connected producers are the intended beneficiaries of pricing changes, not the retailers or customers.

    Unfortunately, this is standard business practice in Canada: now that they have achieved market dominance over less-connected peers, they look to the government to help protect their profits, which they will use to purchase struggling competitors to further consolidate the industry and allow them to raise wholesale prices in the future. Once only 2-3 major producers remain in the country, they will have spent two decades lobbying the government and can look forward to protectionist government intervention, price collusion, and guaranteed profits, not unlike Rogers/Bell/Telus enjoy today.

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  • What can we do to keep the web open?
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    Swiss technology company that focuses on privacy products. Initially funded by a Swiss startup capital firm and now uses a subscription model. ProtonMail is not open source or non-profit, but the product they offer is privacy. Switzerland also has strict privacy laws and resists state-based information requests. Best option is to run one's own email client server, but simple folks like me don't have the skills to do so. (FWIW, I use ProtonMail and think it works great.)

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  • ‘You can discover a community’: Inside Toronto’s diverse comic-book library
  • huiccewudu huiccewudu Now 100%

    If anyone is interested, the address is 986 Bathurst Street (right between Dupont and Bathurst). It is currently staffed on Thursdays and Fridays, from noon to 6pm. Here's the website.

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  • Our most productive plant is [*K. laetivirens*](https://worldofsucculents.com/kalanchoe-laetivirens-mother-thousands/), an unusual succulent that yields many plantlets around the edges of its leaves. There are varieties: ours is bright green, resilient, and likes small pots. We grew a large one (to truly become a mother of thousands). We cultivate its many plantlets in glass pots and anonymously leave them for others in our neighbourhood in Toronto. [More photos of adopted plantlets, etc.](https://archive.org/details/verdant-hwli-03-008/)

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    I watched Canada v. Guadeloupe live last night. It was first time I've seen the men's team play and wanted to share some impressions. I follow European club football very closely and rarely watch international games/tournaments. Consequently, don't know almost *any* of these players. - BMO Field is a great stadium. Good view of the pitch from most seats, even the cheap bleachers behind the north-side goal. Atmosphere improved over the match, sound echoes and is amplified by the half-roof, and the regular supporters behind the south-side goal were great! Side note: also fun to see planes take off from the Island airport nearby. - Gold Cup security/organization was not great. I mean this sincerely: pre-match media and attempts to hype the game made me feel embarrassed to be there. - This was not a skilled game, but entertaining. The pitch was slick (rained for hours beforehand) so there were lots of slips and some unexpected chances. - The last-minute goal for Guadeloupe was heartbreaking and probably not deserved, on the balance of play. - **Guadeloupe**: 10-Phaeton and 9-Ambrose had very good chemistry, especially in the first half. They played defensively throughout the match, but Phaeton was really strong up the wing when he had the opportunity. They deserved their early goal. - **Canada**: 11-Millar was arguably Canada's best player on the pitch. (22-Laryea also did well). Millar was often in "acres of space" on the wing in the first half, but rarely received service. Constantly looking to get behind defenders, but service to him was inexcusably bad. Tracked back defensively and made a few important recoveries/stops. It didn't make any sense to substitute him early in the 2nd half, unless there was a fitness issue. 13-Shaffelburg was good from the moment he came on; unfortunately, had the same problem as Millar re: bad service. He also tracked back well and seemed to be a crowd favorite. - **Canada**: The midfield was very poor and, despite what post-match reports suggest, 20-Ahmed was possibly Canada's worst player on the pitch. Tons of energy, but not much else. Poor passing and even worse decision-making, especially from midfield positions when Canada really needed to push up the field. Frequently lost the ball, both with and without pressure. Would often (unsuccessfully) try little give-and-go passes on the wing with 22-Laryea when surrounded by Guadeloupe players, rather than find the open man. I couldn't understand why he returned in the second half and it was even more baffling that he played the whole match. Hometown bias, maybe? If you also attended/watched this match, let's talk about it! (edited to fix formatting issues)

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