E-book workshop with (c) implications

From: David H. Rothman <rothman[_at_]clark.net>
Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 23:20:44 -0400

E-book readers are the topic of an important workshop that the National Institute of Standards and Technology will hold Oct. 8-9 in Gaithersburg, MD. Panelists will come from Random House, the Association of American Publishers, Microsoft, Fuji Xerox, McGraw-Hill, NuvoMedia, Everybook and the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association, among others. But NIST tells me that it will also welcome other people with a serious interest in e-books; this is not just an industry gathering. See below for the full announcement.

Some fascinating copyright questions may arise -- I don't see how the workshop can separate copyright issues entirely from technical ones. NIST says: "The goal of this workshop is to illustrate the capabilities of a hand held electronic book (E-Book) and explore the integration technologies that will turn the E-Book from an emerging prototype into a commercially available product." Looks as if the workshop could venture at least a bit into copyright-protection territory, no? Protection certainly is a "must" capability if commercial e-books are to catch on and a market is to flourish for the hardware, and beyond that, there may be a need for standards in this area. I certainly wouldn't expect the workshop participants to solve the big problems, but perhaps they can talk about goals and briefly outline possible solutions. As I see it, the ideal protection/tracking system would:

• Protect material effectively. If there could be provisions for updating protection software via the Net, then so much the better -- since nothing will stay uncrackable forever. And I doubt that the anti-tampering legislation so dear to publishers will do the trick. I'd trust the appropriate technology much more as a solution.
• At the same time avoid hardships on readers--and respect fair use. Cumbersome protection systems will just backfire, and books as a medium will suffer.
• Not compromise the privacy of readers, or at least risk it as little as possible. Let's hope that neither marketers nor curious prosecutors will be able to track people's individual reading habits that easily. The controversy over Web marketing is but a hint of the problems that could arise with the wrong schemes to track the use of e-books in a DOI context. Ken Starr's snooping into Monica Lewinsky's book-buying habits is yet another illustration of the dangers here. I myself wonder if some variant of anonymous digital money might not be the real solution if there is a way to do this with sufficient fraud-proofing. The same mechanisms used for commercial purposes could work for a national digital fund fund that compensated writers and publishers by the number of accesses. Indeed the infrastucture could be shared and integrated with the DOI system.
• Be affordable to all book-publishers and other content creators (as I recall DOI now has a $1,000 minimum). And not jack up costs to the public, either.

Let me emphasize that copyright protection is just one of many potential issues for the workshop. Matters like video standards will matter just as much and probably much more to most participants. Quite rightly, NIST is hoping that the workshop can help avoid a repetition of VHS vs. Beta.

My own pet issue? I hope that book-reading devices eventually will also be terrific for e-forms and Web-browsing--as a way to stimulate electronic commerce and help cost-justify a well-stocked national digital library. In as many ways as possible, let's blend books into the Net and the world at large. Yes, the designers of the early products are right to focus mainly on book-reading in order to keep the costs down. But multi-functionality should be a goal.

David H. Rothman | rothman[_at_]clark.net | 703-370-6540 TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home: http://www.teleread.org/ U.S. News & World Report guest column on TeleRead:

     http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980504/4tele.htm 805 North Howard St., #240, Alexandria, VA 22304

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Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 16:28:27 -0500
To: "David H. Rothman" <rothman[_at_]clark.net> From: "Victor R. McCrary" <mccrary[_at_]email.nist.gov> Subject: Re: E-book workshop -- request for participation on panel In-Reply-To: <4.0.1.19980901183148.00e09870[_at_]pop3.clark.net>

ELECTRONIC BOOK '98 WORKSHOP:
"Turning a New Page in Knowledge Management"

October 8-9, 1998

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Green Auditorium

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

• For A Preliminary Agenda and Workshop Registration, Visit Our Website ****
  • <http://www.nist.gov/ebook98/> *****

Electronic books have long been a dream of both computer and book enthusiasts. They take up less space, are more portable, more durable, and contain editing features that are not available with ordinary books. The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at NIST and the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) are hosting a workshop, Electronic Book '98 at NIST on October 8-9, 1998. The focus of the workshop will be on portable devices which integrate displays and storage media for new learning, work, and entertainment tools, e.g. hand-held electronic books, advanced inventory managers, and personal digital assistants. The goal of this workshop is to illustrate the capabilities of a hand held electronic book (E-Book) and explore the integration technologies that will turn the E-Book from an emerging prototype into a commercially available product. This workshop aims to assemble and collect ideas from publishers, portable storage manufacturers, information technology experts, teachers, computer industry leaders, display manufacturers, electronic book developers, on-line bookstores, touch screen manufacturers, and personal digital assistant manufacturers. Topics directly related to electronic books that the workshop will explore include current E-Book concepts and prototypes, GUI interfaces and software for electronic books, storage devices for electronic content, standards and inter operability for electronic books, and applications of flat panel displays for electronic book readers. The conclusion of the workshop will bring a better understanding of the obstacles and advances in technology toward making electronic books a new platform for knowledge management and dissemination.

DATE:
October 8-9, 1998

WHERE: National Institute of Standards and Technology- NIST Green Auditorium

COST: $120.00 (NIST staff must register)

REGISTRATION: Register electronically at <http://www.nist.gov/ebook98/>

PRELIMINARY AGENDA THURSDAY October 8, 1998

7:30 a.m.
Registration, Green Auditorium
National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:15 a.m.
Welcome and Introduction
Ray Kammer, Director, National Institute of Standards & Technology

Shukri Wakid, Director, Information Technology Laboratory, NIST

Victor McCrary, Information Technology Laboratory, NIST

9:00 a.m.
Day 1: Keynote Address: Dick Brass, Vice President for Technology Development, Microsoft
"The History of Electronic Books"

9:30 a.m.
Daniel Munyon, Chief Executive Officer, EveryBook
"The Importance of Publishing Standards and the Electronic Book"

10:00 a.m.
Doug Klein, President & Chief Operating Officer, NuvoMedia
"The E-Book in a Reader's Life"

10:30 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m.
Paul Lloyd, Director of Marketing, Librius
"Digital Delivery Dynamics and Dangers"

11:30 a.m.
Rich Lysakowski, Executive Director, Collaborative Electronic Notebook Systems Association (CENSA)
"Electronic Notebook Systems for R&D and Testing: Driving Creation
and Acceptance for Industry"

12:00 p.m.
Nick Sheridon, Senior Research Fellow,
Matt Howard, Display Research Engineer
Xerox - Palo Alto Research Center
"Research on the Gyricon Media and other Aspects of the
Electronic Book at Xerox PARC"

12:30 p.m.
Dr. Robert Thibadeau, Director, Imaging Systems Laboratory, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University"Advanced Technologies for E-Books: Publishing Server, Color"

1:00 p.m.
Lunch

2:00 p.m.
Drew Loucks, Elo TouchSystems
"What do Touchscreens Make Possible?"

2:30 p.m.
Dr. J. William Doane, Kent Displays, Inc.
"Paper-like Displays for Electronic Books"

3:00 p.m.
Christina-Lampe-OnerudAssociate Director of Electrochemical Systems, Arthur D. Little, Inc
"Portable Power for Electronic Books"

3:30 p.m.
Break

4:00 p.m.
John Mancini, President, Association for Information And Image Management International
"Electronic Books and the Web: New Challenges for Information and
Image Mangement"

4:30 p.m.
Chris Pooley, Chief Executive Officer, Modern Age Books
"Electronic Books: Using the PC as a Gateway"

5:00 p.m.
Jerry McFaul, President, Special Interest Group on CD Applications and Technology -SIGCAT
"CDs and DVDs: The Driving Storage Technologies for E-Books of the Future"

5:30 p.m.
Barrett Comiskey, Principal Scientist, E Ink Corporation
"Electronic Inks for Electronic Publishing"

RECEPTION 7:00 p.m.
Exhibits and Reception - Gaithersburg Hilton Sponsored by the Video Electronics Standards Association - VESA

• ELECTRONIC BOOK '98 WORKSHOP *****

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1998 7:30 a.m.
Registration - Green Auditorium - NIST

8:00 a.m.
Joe Sullivan, Fuji Xerox
"Electronic Books and Reading Appliances: Can Computers Help Us Read?"

8:30 a.m.
Steve Stone, Microsoft
"Standards for an Emerging E-Book Industry"

9:00 a.m.
Douglas Kubach, Vice President for New Technology, McGraw-Hill Company

9:30 a.m.
Julia Blixrud, Senior Program Officer, Association of Research Libraries
"E-Books and Research Libraries: New Opportunities for Service, New
Challenges for Information Management"

10:00 a.m.
Jonathan Guttenberg, Vice President New Media, Random House
"Electronic Books from a Trade Publisher's Perspective"

10:30 a.m.
Break

11:00 a.m.
Day 2: Keynote Address: Gary Shapiro, President, Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association - CEMA
"Electronic Books - Creating the Market!"

11:30 a.m.
Cita Furlani, Director, Information Technology and Electronics, Advanced Technology Program, Department of Commerce
"ATP's Adaptive Learning Systems Project"

12:00 p.m.
Carol Risher, Vice President for Copyright and New Technology, Association of American Publishers - AAP
"E-Books and Copyright Issues - Some Uncharted Waters"

12:30 p.m.
James Morrison, Professor of Educational Leadership, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"The Impact of Electronic Books on Educational Practice"

1:00 p.m.
Lunch

2:00 p.m.
Electronic Book Panel Discussion - Dr. Dean Collins, Panel Moderator Chief, High Performance Systems and Services, Information Technology Laboratory, NIST

Panelists:
Moses Asom, Director for New Ventures, Lucent Technologies Mike Weiner, Chairman, Manning and Napier Information Services Robert Zich, Director Electronic Programs, National Digital Library Program, Library of Congress
Dr. Carole Ganz, International Programs, National Science Foundation Gordon Lyon, Group Leader, Information Technology Laboratory - NIST Dr. George E. Miller, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Johnson C. Smith University

4:00 p.m.
Concluding Remarks
Dr. Victor McCrary, Information Technology Laboratory, NIST

• FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT <http://www.nist.gov/ebook98/> OR CALL VICTOR MCCRARY AT 301-975-4321. *****

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Received on Wed Sep 09 1998 - 03:20:46 GMT