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Search results for «amazon»
Will Amazon’s new ePub capability help the anti-DRM movement?
David H. Rothman has been writing about the issues inherent in publisher control of e-books and e-readers and the impact of digital rights management for many years. Whether you use personal devices or institutional devices, the issues Rothman raises here will impact you.
Amazon Puts Its Own “Brands” First Above Better-Rated Products
Investigative Reporter Adrianne Jeffries and Investigative Data Journalist Leon Yin document how the online giant gives a leg up to hundreds of house brand and exclusive products that most people don’t know are connected to Amazon.
Can current antitrust law deal with Amazon?
Chris Meadows calls our attention to a Yale Law Journal by Lina M. Khan published in January 2017 titled Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox. The author presents an argument in favor of modifying antitrust law in light of the realm of competition created by a burgeoning, powerful and often narrow group of players in specific e-commerce marketplaces. For librarians, researchers, professors and student among others, the issue of pricing and competition in the ebook market is particularly salient.
Search Warrant Issued For Amazon Echo Data
An Amazon Echo device is the subject of a prosecutor’s search warrant related to an Arkansas murder case. Nicole Black illuminates how such devices are complicating issues related to consumer privacy and vendor responses to search warrants. The ubiquity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in homes will no doubt result in more warrants for the data they collect.
Fight for Kindle all-text bold option: Why you STILL need to write Amazon – and the media
David Rothman has been proactively and consistently engaged in an effort to increase visual usability of the Kindle for K-12 kids, the elderly and others with contrast-sensitivity problems. He has requested the company implement either an all-text-bold option or the ability to use a slider to vary the boldness.
No Paperwhite read-aloud for you! FCC again lets Amazon and friends diss people with disabilities
David Rothman continues his reporting on the status of Text to Speech applications that have yet to be added to E-Ink readers due to the FCC’s extension of vendor exemptions from complying with a key benefit for the disabled that is part of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010.
The top six library issues – from the Amazon threat to the need for a national digital library endowment
Long time public library advocate David Rothman shares what he identifies as the Six Big Issues for libraries, and a related discussion about each. They are: 1. Whether public libraries will even exist half a century from now; 2. The urgent need for a national digital library endowment to help fund two separate but intertwined systems, one public and one academic; 3. America’s changing demographics. Can public libraries respond when both their hiring practices and book collections lag so badly in this respect?; 4. Copyright threats and opportunities; 5. Threats to patron confidentiality from governments, marketers and others; 6. Censorship and onerous porn-filter requirements.
The sad reasons why Amazon’s #1 reading city doesn’t belong on the list
In this article David Rothman highlights the backstory on Amazon’s new list of America’s “Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities,” based on its sales of books, magazines and newspapers. As has been the case previously, the winner is Alexandria, Virginia, his hometown, which should be able to afford a book-rich public library system. This scenic Washington suburb on the Potomac River pays the city manager $245K a year. Yet the Alexandria library’s budget for books and other materials is well below the national average despite the needs of the city’s many African-Americans, Hispanics and and low-income people. Around half of Alexandria’s students qualify for free school lunches. Simply put, we’re talking about two different realities–Amazon’s and the actual Alexandria’s.
Ouch! Text to speech is also AWOL from THIS year’s Paperwhite from Amazon
David Rothman’s discussion of the newest Kindle Paperwhite E Ink reader from Amazon highlights that the device is still missing text to speech – among the very features Jeff Bezos touted when he unveiled the second Kindle in 2009. He advises that we refer to the Paperwhite users guide and see what’s AWOL.
Obama speech and PTA-Amazon alliance validate LibraryCity’s K-12 priorities: Now how about a national digital library endowment?
David Rothman continues to expand upon the seminal foundation he has built with his critical advocacy for American libraries to do more to meet the digital content needs not just of K-12 students but also of their parents and other Americans.
Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research, Public Health and the Rule of Law – Part 9
This article is the ninth in a series by Sabrina I. Pacifici focused on the Trump administration’s unrelenting policy of attacking science, healthcare, public health, and the rule of law. The cornerstone of this series are topical highlights on hundreds of anti-government actions conducted by this administration. The greater goal of the series is to identify the consequences of these actions to shatter the health and welfare of our nation – terms broadly used to encompass our nation’s democracy. Together these articles form an actionable pathfinder to identify what must be restored or recreated and relaunched, when we commence the hard work of rebuilding our government.
Tracking hallucination marketing claims from legal tech vendors
Damien Charlotin tracks the claims made by some LegalTech vendors in the past and today with respect to how they handle hallucinations from their offerings. Charlotin is relying on internet-based written marketing material, trying to highlight the changes in how these products are and were presented. The main vendors were a bit more cautious he thought though most still overclaimed in this respect and eventually backtracked, at least implicitly.
The form asked my permission to share my health data. Then it wouldn’t let me say no.
Over the last year, Alex Rosenblat, Director of Sociotechnical Research, The Markup, interviewed more than 20 patients, healthcare providers, experts and advocates about the privacy forms they must sign to get care at their providers’ offices. Time and again she was told the same thing: Across the country, from large hospital systems to small, private clinics, patients are being asked to sign waivers blindly without knowing exactly what they’re signing. When patients ask to see more, staff usually don’t have an easy way to show them. When patients do get the forms, it tells them all the ways their medical data will be shared and reused, and some of the ways patients can refuse. But electronic systems make it impossible to opt out on the spot, requiring follow up emails. Records sharing between unaffiliated providers through these networks can benefit patients by making their scattered records more visible to the provider who is treating them. But it can also harm patients.
Book Review – How To AI: Cut Through The Hype. Master The Basics. Transform Your Work.
In the current publishing cycle, books about AI are being produced at a rate that suggests at least some were written with hyperspeed AI. How To AI swims against the tide of fast, disposable books. Jerry Lawson recommends this book as a keeper.
One‑way attack drones: Low‑cost, high‑tech weapons ‘democratize’ precision warfare.
Commercial manufacturing, precision guidance and advances in artificial intelligence and autonomy have democratized the ability of militaries and militant groups to accurately strike their adversaries. This includes first-person-view, or FPV, drones – a type of one-way attack drone with interfaces like video games – that groups aligned with Iran are already using to target American forces in the Middle East. Prof. Michael C. Horowitz and Senior Research Analyst Lauren Kahn discuss how drones have rapidly changed military strategy, tactics, and pinpoint destructive force.
AI in Finance and Banking, April 15, 2026
This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Six highlights from this post: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley see their stocks soar as the AI boom fuels big bank; Forecasting the Economic Effects of AI; The new, AI-powered Google Finance is expanding to more than 100 countries; Wall Street Banks Cut 5,000 Jobs Even as They Notched Record Profits; Financial institutions are no longer just managing risk and capital: They are building algorithms, deploying machine learning models; and UNC Charlotte unveils M.S. in Financial Engineering and Fintech to meet rising demand for AI-driven finance talent.
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 11, 2026
Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: As the Federal Government Rushes Toward AI, Here Are Three Cautionary Tales; Combating cybercrime and fraud: A unified approach; Signal messages on an iPhone have been harvested despite app security; Anthropic Says Its Latest AI Model Is Too Powerful to Be Released; and Cybersecurity Alert: Criminals Are Now Using Emojis to Avoid Detection.
The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research, Public Health, and the Rule of Law – Part 8
This article by Sabrina I. Pacifici is the eighth in a series with a focus on the continuing onslaught on science, healthcare and public health, and the rule of law. Since the 1990s, the public and private sectors have mobilized to coordinate, fund, build, expand and sustain one of most vibrant and impactful scientific communities in the world. But in little more than one year, this administration has engaged in a relentless campaign of targeted and sustained attacks against America’s highly interconnected network structure of scientific research and development. The specifics of the dozens of destructive actions taken by this administration have been documented in this series. The overall goal of these articles is to track and identify the magnitude of the loses we have sustained and the damage done to our democracy, economy, the lives of countless Americans who will suffer from the termination of vital research and routine vaccinations, and to our free and fair elections.