Digital Copyright or The Costa Rica Reader

Digital Copyright: Protecting Intellectual Property on the Internet, the Digital Millennium Copyright ACT, Copyright Lobbyists Conquer the Internet, Pay per View... Pay per Listen... Pay per Use, What the Major Players Stand to Gain, What the Public

Author: Jessica Litman

In 1998, copyright lobbyists succeeded in persuading Congress to enact laws greatly expanding copyright owners' control over individuals' private uses of their works. The efforts to enforce these new rights have resulted in highly publicized legal battles between established media, and new upstarts.

In this enlightening and well-argued book, law professor Jessica Litman questions whether copyright laws crafted by lawyers and their lobbyists really make sense for the vast majority of us. Should every interaction between ordinary consumers and copyright-protected works be restricted by law? Is it practical to enforce such laws, or expect consumers to obey them? What are the effects of such laws on the exchange of information in a free society? Litman's critique exposes the 1998 copyright law as an incoherent patchwork. She argues for reforms that reflect common sense and the way people actually behave in their daily digital interactions.

This paperback edition includes an afterword that comments on recent developments, such as the end of the Napster story, the rise of peer-to-peer file sharing, the escalation of a full-fledged copyright war, the filing of lawsuits against thousands of individuals, and the June 2005 Supreme Court decision in the Grokster case.

Booklist

"Readers with an interest in doing business on the Internet, or in the specific issue of copyright, should not be without this book. . . . clearly written and sensibly argued. A timely and very useful resource."

Booknews

Litman (law, Wayne State U.) makes a forceful argument, written in clear English, for the imminent and current problems to be expected from the 1998 Copyright Law in the US, as well as other rulings leading up to it, that seek to limit free access to information on the Internet in favor of the companies that hold the copyright. She outlines the difficulties and inconsistencies within the law, and offers a revised version that would reform it. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Internet Book Watch

In 1998 copyright lobbyists persuaded Congress to enact laws expanding copyright owners' control over private uses of works, resulting in many notable legal battles - Napster being the latest. In Digital Copyright, law professor Litman questions whether copyright laws make sense, and how they are enforced. She argues for reforms which reflect how individuals use materials. An intriguing, relevant examination of how copyright applies to the modern online world.

Go to: Beers of the World or Super Cleanse

The Costa Rica Reader: History, Culture, Politics

Author: Steven Paul Palmer

Long Characterized as an Exceptional Country within Latin America, Costa Rica has been hailed as a democratic oasis in a continent scorched by dictatorship and revolution; the ecological mecca of a biosphere laid waste by deforestation and urban blight; and an egalitarian, middle-class society blissfully immune to the violent class and racial conflicts that have haunted the region. Arguing that conceptions of Costa Rica as a happy anomaly downplay its rich heritage and diverse population, The Costa Rica Reader brings together texts and artwork that reveal the complexity of the country's past and present. It characterizes Costa Rica as a site of alternatives and possibilities that undermine stereotypes about the region's history and challenge the idea that current dilemmas facing Latin America are inevitable or insoluble.

This essential introduction to Costa Rica includes more than fifty texts related to the country's history, culture, politics, and natural environment. Most of these newspaper accounts, histories, petitions, memoirs, poems, and essays are written by Costa Ricans. Many appear here in English for the first time. The authors are men and women, young and old, scholars, farmers, workers, and activists. The Costa Rica Reader presents a panoply of voices: eloquent working-class raconteurs from San Jose's poorest barrios, English-speaking Afro-Antilleans of the Limon province, Nicaraguan immigrants, factory workers, dissident members of the intelligentsia, and indigenous people struggling to preserve their culture. With more than forty images, the collection showcases sculptures, photographs, maps, cartoons, and fliers. From the time before the arrival of the Spanish, through the rise of the coffee plantations and the Civil War of 1948, up to participation in today's globalized world, Costa Rica's remarkable history comes alive. The Costa Rica Reader is a necessary resource for scholars, students, and travelers alike.