Libraries and Mobile
                          Devices: Public Policy
                             Considerations

                          LITA National Forum
                             October 2009

                          Timothy Vollmer, ALA Office for
                          Information Technology Policy



                              1
Friday, October 2, 2009
ALA Washington Office
                                    http://www.ala.org/washoff




                     http://ala.org/oitp               http://ala.org/ogr


                                                2
Friday, October 2, 2009
What goes on in Washington?




                                        3
Friday, October 2, 2009
What does OITP do?

         •Researches and analyzes the implications of IT
         and IT policy for libraries and users
         •Educates the ALA community on information
         policy issues
         •Advocates for ALA’s information policy (but not
         lobbying)
         •Strategizes by looking at implication of
         technological trends

                                    4
Friday, October 2, 2009
What does OGR do?

         •informing government of the needs and concerns of
         the library community
         •providing library supporters with up-to-date
         information on government actions or proposals
         •building coalitions with Washington-based
         representatives of other groups with similar concerns;
         and
         •developing grassroots networks to lobby legislators
         and further library interests
                                         5
Friday, October 2, 2009
OITP Updates


                          •Google Book Settlement
                          •BTOP
                          •“Fiber to the Library”
                          •Opportunity Online Broadband Project
                          •Network Neutrality
                          •Copyright Activities
                          •Future of Libraries

                                      6
Friday, October 2, 2009
OGR Updates

                          •USA PATRIOT Act
                          •FRPAA
                          •Orphan Works
                          •CPSIA
                          •Health Care
                          •LSTA

                                   7
Friday, October 2, 2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/3662184306/
                              http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/
                              http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en

                          8
Friday, October 2, 2009
The mobile revolution is already in progress

       •computing power UP; size down
       •ubiquitous connectivity
       •“always-on” mobile cycle
       •pervasiveness of digital
       content

       •mobile as new mindset
                                       http://www.flickr.com/photos/offstandard/3825774286/
                                       http://www.flickr.com/photos/offstandard/
                                       http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en




                                   9
Friday, October 2, 2009
Libraries and Mobile Devices:
                                     Public Policy Considerations

                                                                   •digital copyright and
                                                                   content licensing

                                                                   •digital rights management

                                                                   •privacy

                                                                   •accessibility
           http://www.flickr.com/photos/inknoise/2695247558/
           http://www.flickr.com/photos/inknoise/
           http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en



                                                                      10
Friday, October 2, 2009
Mobile projects already in action

                                                                          •eBook checkout
                                                                          •Digital textbooks
                                                                          •Mobile reference
                                                                          •Mobile catalog
                                                                          •Third party multimedia
                                                                          download
               http://www.flickr.com/photos/vermininc/2777441779/
               http://www.flickr.com/photos/vermininc/
               http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en




                                                                            11
Friday, October 2, 2009
Where do we begin?


                                                                                              •exercise our rights
                                                                                              under the law

                                                                                              •look toward library
                                                                                              values and existing
                                                                                              frameworks



                          http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixteenmilesofstring/2596569134/
                          http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixteenmilesofstring/
                          http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en




                                                                                         12
Friday, October 2, 2009
Digital Copyright and Content Licensing
         •first sale doctrine
         •ownership vs. access
         •reliance on vendors
         •artificial walls around
         content

         •control, preservation,
         long term access
                                        Original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/giantginkgo/6171406
                                        Remix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/2845536335/
                                        http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/
                                        http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en




         •chilling effects on incumbent rights
                                   13
Friday, October 2, 2009
Digital Rights Management
       •DRM as control mechanism
       •non-interoperability good
       for business, bad for
       consumers
       •consumer protection
       •ALA Principles for
       Digital Content
       •FTC on DRM
       •clarify business practices          http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-b/44683696/
                                            http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-b/



       •Bittorrent doesn’t have DRM
                                            http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en




                                      14
Friday, October 2, 2009
Privacy
     •mobile environment creates novel
     concerns
     •location awareness
     •role and limit
     of advertising
     •user notice and consent
     •freedom of inquiry
                                     http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenghunglin/104434229/



     •support UGC community
                                     http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenghunglin/
                                     http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en




     •empower youth, carefully
                                15
Friday, October 2, 2009
Accessibility

                             •Kindle and text-to-speech
                             •screen quality
                             •mobile app and web
                             standards

                             •“Reader’s Bill of Rights”



                                16
Friday, October 2, 2009
Where do we go from here?

     •encourage innovation,
     experimentation

     •look to our strong
     library values, traditions

     •empower users                        http://www.flickr.com/photos/himalayan-trails/2868073936/
                                           http://www.flickr.com/photos/himalayan-trails/
                                           http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en




     •libraries remain engaged with
     technology and policy communities

                                      17
Friday, October 2, 2009
tvollmer@alawash.org


                          ala.org/washoff
                          wo.ala.org/districtdispatch


                          ALA OITP



                          @oitp

                               18
Friday, October 2, 2009

Libraries And Mobile Devices: Public Policy Considerations

  • 1.
    Libraries and Mobile Devices: Public Policy Considerations LITA National Forum October 2009 Timothy Vollmer, ALA Office for Information Technology Policy 1 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 2.
    ALA Washington Office http://www.ala.org/washoff http://ala.org/oitp http://ala.org/ogr 2 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 3.
    What goes onin Washington? 3 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 4.
    What does OITPdo? •Researches and analyzes the implications of IT and IT policy for libraries and users •Educates the ALA community on information policy issues •Advocates for ALA’s information policy (but not lobbying) •Strategizes by looking at implication of technological trends 4 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 5.
    What does OGRdo? •informing government of the needs and concerns of the library community •providing library supporters with up-to-date information on government actions or proposals •building coalitions with Washington-based representatives of other groups with similar concerns; and •developing grassroots networks to lobby legislators and further library interests 5 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 6.
    OITP Updates •Google Book Settlement •BTOP •“Fiber to the Library” •Opportunity Online Broadband Project •Network Neutrality •Copyright Activities •Future of Libraries 6 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 7.
    OGR Updates •USA PATRIOT Act •FRPAA •Orphan Works •CPSIA •Health Care •LSTA 7 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 8.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/3662184306/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en 8 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 9.
    The mobile revolutionis already in progress •computing power UP; size down •ubiquitous connectivity •“always-on” mobile cycle •pervasiveness of digital content •mobile as new mindset http://www.flickr.com/photos/offstandard/3825774286/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/offstandard/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en 9 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 10.
    Libraries and MobileDevices: Public Policy Considerations •digital copyright and content licensing •digital rights management •privacy •accessibility http://www.flickr.com/photos/inknoise/2695247558/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/inknoise/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en 10 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 11.
    Mobile projects alreadyin action •eBook checkout •Digital textbooks •Mobile reference •Mobile catalog •Third party multimedia download http://www.flickr.com/photos/vermininc/2777441779/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/vermininc/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en 11 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 12.
    Where do webegin? •exercise our rights under the law •look toward library values and existing frameworks http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixteenmilesofstring/2596569134/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixteenmilesofstring/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en 12 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 13.
    Digital Copyright andContent Licensing •first sale doctrine •ownership vs. access •reliance on vendors •artificial walls around content •control, preservation, long term access Original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/giantginkgo/6171406 Remix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/2845536335/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en •chilling effects on incumbent rights 13 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 14.
    Digital Rights Management •DRM as control mechanism •non-interoperability good for business, bad for consumers •consumer protection •ALA Principles for Digital Content •FTC on DRM •clarify business practices http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-b/44683696/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-b/ •Bittorrent doesn’t have DRM http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en 14 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 15.
    Privacy •mobile environment creates novel concerns •location awareness •role and limit of advertising •user notice and consent •freedom of inquiry http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenghunglin/104434229/ •support UGC community http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenghunglin/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en •empower youth, carefully 15 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 16.
    Accessibility •Kindle and text-to-speech •screen quality •mobile app and web standards •“Reader’s Bill of Rights” 16 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 17.
    Where do wego from here? •encourage innovation, experimentation •look to our strong library values, traditions •empower users http://www.flickr.com/photos/himalayan-trails/2868073936/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/himalayan-trails/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en •libraries remain engaged with technology and policy communities 17 Friday, October 2, 2009
  • 18.
    tvollmer@alawash.org ala.org/washoff wo.ala.org/districtdispatch ALA OITP @oitp 18 Friday, October 2, 2009