'Unaffordable, unsustainable and extremely unfair': Libraries battle publishers for equal access to ebooks - Irish Examiner

Today as Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere the Panzermobile was suddenly shaken by crying and the gnashing of teeth. Following all the ruckus, took our brave kitty boy to the Irish Examiner site. There he found a post about the financial problems of Irish libraries.

 

Big 5? Sounds like big bullies to me.

According to the post by Jess Casey, libraries in Ireland are facing funding issues due to the Big Five publishers ebook library policies. The Big Five publishers are Penguin/Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, and Macmillan. The publishers library policies for ebooks include charging libraries license fees, restrictions on the number of library patron loans an ebook can have before re-licensing, time limits before an ebook can become available in the library, and Hachette won't even license ebooks to libraries. The Library Association of Ireland wants legislation enacted so libraries have access to ebooks with reasonable terms and conditions and without embargo.

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Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty thinks this is familiar to what's happening to libraries in the U.S."

 

Note: This is a very, very long post. Bring a cup of tea, a muffin and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Irish libraries

An Australia With No Google? The Bitter Fight Behind a Drastic Threat - The New York Times

 Panzer was working on the Panzermobile's window cleaners when he heard crying and screaming coming from the Catosphere. Jumping in the pilot's seat, our brave kitty headed out to find the source of all the noise. Following the hubbub took him to The New York Times site. With no digging at all, he discovered a post about a dispute between Google and Facebook and the Australian senate.

 

According to the post by Damien Cave,  Google is threatening to remove it's search engine capabilities from Australia. At issue is a three part senate legislation. The proposed legislation would force online companies like Google and Facebook to pay a fee when Australians use their services to search for online news articles. In addition, if the company and the news media source can't come to an agreement on the fee, the company is forced into arbitration. Finally, the companies would be required to tell the media sources when they plan to change their algorithms.

 

I can blink. I'm not part of it.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... An old fashioned stare down. I wonder who will blink first."

 

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring a thermos of tea and six muffins for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Google and Facebook