28275372
submission
stanlyb writes:
Every new day, a new SOPA arises. In this case it is called "Research Works Act (RWA)". Or from the article: "If passed, the Research Works Act (RWA) would prohibit the NIH's public access policy and anything similar enacted by other federal agencies, locking publicly funded research behind paywalls. The result would be an ethical disaster: preventable deaths in developing countries, and an incalculable loss for science in the USA and worldwide. The only winners would be publishing corporations such as Elsevier (£724m profits on revenues of £2b in 2010 – an astounding 36% of revenue taken as profit)."
28273480
submission
stanlyb writes:
It is an "old" news, but having in mind the new coming "treaty" with the USA media goliats, i mean USA government, it all becomes to make sense. From the article: "WASHINGTON—Canada and the United States have pledged to overhaul border relations to save money and remove hassles but in return Ottawa will be exchanging more information on Canadian travellers and visitors with U.S. officials, a move that is raising concerns.
The agreement, which will bring far-reaching changes to travel, police intelligence and commercial relations between the two countries, was given high-level endorsement in a White House meeting by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama here Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to overhauling border operations, Canada and the United States are proposing to harmonize regulations on things like vehicle standards, food regulation and over-the-counter drugs in hopes of creating more efficient economic activity on both sides of the border."
And just for the record, one side effect of this treaty is that CANADA is going to effectively pay for screening, which the USA will use....ironic, ain't?
28160522
submission
stanlyb writes:
From the article: "Well, well, well. We've noted in the past that while the serious concerns about SOPA and PROTECT IP (PIPA) have been all over the web and newspapers, they've mostly been mostly been absent from cable news... companies that are owned by the biggest supporters of these bills (the one "exception" was Colbert). But can cable news really continue to ignore the story while so many people are speaking out about it? Looks like the tide may be shifting. On Friday, Fox Business Channel had on Jim Harper from the Cato Institute to explain why these are terrible ideas and how Congress is trying to rush it through despite so many concerns.".
