What are your rights if you purchase digital books?

As someone who normally writes notes in margins of articles and and carries sticky notes for books I've borrowed, there are a number of issues that need to be settled before we all rush out waving our Master Cards at Amazon or Barnes and Noble to purchase a new electronic library. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has just released a two page checklist with additional background information you might wish to review first.

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation's EFFector Vol. 23, No. 5, February 19, 2010 editor@eff.org

~ Digital Books and Your Rights: A Checklist for Readers
Over the last few months, the universe of digital books has expanded dramatically, with products like Amazon's Kindle, Google Books, Internet Archive's Text Archive, Barnes and Noble's Nook, and Apple's upcoming iPad poised to revolutionize reading. But while this digital books revolution could make books more accessible than ever before, there are lingering questions about the future of reader privacy, consumers' rights, and potential censorship.

What questions should consumers ask before buying a digital book or reader? EFF has published "Digital Books and Your Rights," a checklist for readers considering buying into the digital book marketplace.

Full press release: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/02/16-0

Full report on Digital Books and Your Rights:
https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-books-and-your-rights

If you are interested in e-book readers and digital books, I hope you'll take a look at the checklist and share the report with others interested in digital books as a consumer or someone interested in libraries and possibly electronic textbooks.

Hope the information helps...

Welcome to the updated Web Workshop...

I've been working on several blogs recently and it finally dawned on me that maintaining a blog was much easier than maintaining a multiple page website. I'd rather spend a little more time outside enjoying Arkansas, or looking at new ideas rather than buried in the elements of HTML or web page design. The blog format also makes it easy for questions, comments and the exchange of ideas. If you're never made a blog comment, look at the "Tips for Beginners" section at the bottom of the page for a few helpful pointers.

So the plan is to post any updates on this blog. Topics may include education, politics, maybe a few observations about sports cars and racing, other things that catch my interest and an occasional rant. My original web workshop space will contain more permanent features and storage for any class materials from an occasional River Valley Seniors class or workshop. In fact, if you actually visit my original web workshop, you find a similar note and a link back to this site. Some of the articles on the original site will still be linked from this blog and remain available. Think of this site as the new "office and workspace" for the workshop and the old site as the "parts department" and long term storage.

I hope the new arrangement will allow more frequent updates and make the workshop easier for everyone to use and share. Thanks for visiting. I hope you'll find something useful. - BR