bjelkeman - Slashdot User

Submission + - Orphan 70-Year-Old Plane Data = 'Trade Secrets'?

Submitted by Anonymous Flyboy Coward on Thursday March 01, 2007 @12:43PM

Anonymous Flyboy Coward writes: The Experimental Aircraft Association is taking on the Federal Aviation Administration, which has denied a FOIA request for access to construction data to the owner of 70+ year old antique Fairchild F45 aircraft. The FAA sided with a company that was formed in 1990 (and which didn't even know the airplane type existed until the FAA's inquiry) that claims it "owns" the design and manufacturing data to the aircraft, calling the data a "trade secret". The company failed to register with the FAA (as required by law) yet the FAA is standing by it's assertion that they "own" this data, which was turned over to the public domain in the 1950s. Many vintage aircraft owners face a Catch-22 situation: they are required by law to perform maintenance to the manufacturer's specs, but much of this data is unavailable because the FAA refuses to release it without the data's owner's permission... even if there is no such owner. The decision in this case will likely have wide-ranging implications on FOIA requests, as well as affect whether historical antique aircraft will remain flyable or lost forever to a pointless bureaucratic death. The full story is available here.

Submission + - RIAA's "Expert" Witness Testimony Now Onl

Submitted by

NewYorkCountryLawyer

on Thursday March 01, 2007 @12:36PM

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The online community now has an opportunity to see the fruits of its labor. Back in December, the Slashdot ("What Questions Would You Ask an RIAA "Expert"?") and Groklaw ("Another Lawyer Would Like to Pick Your Brain, Please") communities were asked for their input on possible questions to pose to the RIAA's "expert", Dr. Doug Jacobson of Iowa State University, who was scheduled to be deposed in February in UMG v. Lindor, for the first time in any RIAA case. Ms. Lindor's lawyers were flooded with about 1400 responses. The deposition of Dr. Jacobson went forward on February 23, 2007, and the transcript is now available online (pdf). For those who would like an ASCII text version they can cut and paste, go here. Ray Beckerman, one of Ms. Lindor's attorneys, had this comment: "We are deeply grateful to the community for reviewing our request, for giving us thoughts and ideas, and for reviewing other readers' responses. Now I ask the tech community to review this all-important transcript, and bear witness to the shoddy "investigation" and 'junk science' upon which the RIAA has based its litigation war against the people. The computer scientists among you will be astounded that the RIAA has been permitted to burden our court system with cases based upon such arrant and careless nonsense.""

Submission + - Growth of e-waste may lead to national 'e-fee'

Submitted by

jcatcw

on Thursday March 01, 2007 @12:33PM

jcatcw writes: "A bill in Congress would add a recycling charge to the cost of laptop PCs, computer monitors, televisions and some other electronic devices, according to a story at Computerworld. The effort to control what's called e-waste could lead to a national "e-fee" that would be paid just like a sales tax. Nationwide the cost could amount to $300 million per year. Already, California, Washington, Maryland and Maine have approved electronics recycling laws, and another 21 states plus Puerto Rico, are considering them."

Submission + - Open Access For Research Gaining Steam

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2007 @10:40AM

An anonymous reader writes: The BBC reports that open access to research is gaining steam as more than 20,000 people, including Nobel Prize winners, have signed a petition calling for greater access to publicly-funded research. While publishers are fighting open access, a growing number of funding agencies and universities are making it a mandatory requirement.

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