Alan Moore's Neonomicon censored by US library; Guardian, 12/6/12

Alison Flood, Guardian; Alan Moore's Neonomicon censored by US library: ""In looking at it (Neonomicon) again, as I say, it was purchased on the basis of being an award winner and on the reputation of the author, but then with further consideration, we decided that those qualifications were outweighed by some of the disturbing content of the item," the library's access services manager Barbara Yonce told WSPA. Neonomicon sees two FBI agents, Brears and Lamper, investigating a series of ritual murders. An exploration of the works of HP Lovecraft, it looks at issues of race and sexuality and contains a brutal rape scene. It is also the winner of the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. In June, the National Coalition Against Censorship and other free speech organisations said that the authors' "deliberately disturbing depictions of sexual violence are included as a critical comment on how such subject matter is handled elsewhere within the genre", and that the book's "critical acclaim testifies to its artistic value which is aided, not eclipsed, by its sexual content". Learning of the library's decision to remove the book this month, Acacia O'Connor, project coordinator for the Kids' Right to Read Project, said that "they may be calling it 'deselection' but we have another name for it: censorship"."

New Jersey Symphony President Quits After Questions on His Past; New York Times, 1/11/13

New York Times; New Jersey Symphony President Quits After Questions on His Past: "The development came as a New York Times investigation into Mr. Dare’s background raised questions about aspects of his résumé and business accomplishments. Former associates have suggested that he exaggerated the extent of his business dealings, and evidence to support some of his claims — like his having testified frequently before Congress — could not immediately be found."

Mother finds lost wallet, then distributes cash to her kids; Yahoo News, 1/10/13

Yahoo News; Mother finds lost wallet, then distributes cash to her kids: "Joseph Smith had been shopping with his family at the Fayetteville, Georgia Kohl’s department store on a rainy day and was wrestling with a baby stroller when unbeknownst to him, his wallet fell out of the top part of the stroller. The next day he realized his wallet containing about $100 in cash & $200-$300 in gift cards was missing so he returned to Kohl’s in hopes of retrieving it. But instead he watched surveillance video that surprised him showing a woman picking up the wallet near the store entrance, and then handing out the wallet’s contents to her kids."

Yes, You've Got Something To Hide; TechDirt.com, 1/9/13

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; Yes, You've Got Something To Hide: "We've tried a few times to debunk the ridiculous logic of "if you've got nothing to hide..." argument in favor of surveillance, but leave it the awesome Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal to do a much better job in the form of a simple webcomic."

Patron Privacy in a Digital World; American Libraries, 12/19/12

Christopher Harris, American Libraries; Patron Privacy in a Digital World: "As content and patron interactions go online, there are a whole slew of new regulations to consider. There are the usual Section 508 compliance requirements to make resources accessible to people with disabilities, but other privacy requirements have been cropping up around the country. As of now, libraries are mostly exempt from these laws, but it may not hurt to be in compliance anyway."

Defending the Notorious, and Now Himself; New York Times, 1/5/13

Benjamin Weiser, New York Times; Defending the Notorious, and Now Himself: "IVAN S. FISHER, a prominent criminal defense lawyer in New York, has long believed in doing whatever it takes to win a case, “going to the line,” as he puts it — the line between putting on an aggressive defense and an unethical one."

If Lance Armstrong is coming clean, he owes hundreds of apologies to those he bullied; Yahoo Sports, 1/5/13

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports; If Lance Armstrong is coming clean, he owes hundreds of apologies to those he bullied: "Maybe this is a redemption story if he acted differently in the past. Maybe it would be easier to understand that this was a lie that got so big, with so many people counting on it to be true, that he couldn't get out from under it. Maybe this would be easy. But after all the damage was done, after all the times his lawyers napalmed someone's reputation, after all the times Armstrong took the people closest to him, ones who understood the truth and tried to bury them, this can't be just admitting to something that any thinking person long ago was fairly certain he did. Only his sizeable ego could think that's enough. No, if this is a new day for Lance, then it needs to be about someone other than just Lance. This needs to be about making amends, publicly and painfully, one by one, name by name, to all the people he and his machine tried to run over, all the people whose crime was merely wanting to acknowledge the truth long before the schoolyard bully ran so short of friends he too finally realized it was his only option."

Yet Another Rankings Fabrication; Inside Higher Ed, 1/2/13

Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed; Yet Another Rankings Fabrication: "Tulane University has admitted that it sent U.S. News & World Report incorrect information about the test scores and total number of applicants for its M.B.A. program. The admission -- as 2012 closed -- made the university the fourth college or university in that year to admit false reporting of some admissions data used for rankings. In 2011, two law schools and one undergraduate institution were found to have engaged in false reporting of some admissions data."

Outmaneuvered at Their Own Game, Antivirus Makers Struggle to Adapt; New York Times, 12/31/12

Nicole Perlroth, New York Times; Outmaneuvered at Their Own Game, Antivirus Makers Struggle to Adapt: "Part of the problem is that antivirus products are inherently reactive. Just as medical researchers have to study a virus before they can create a vaccine, antivirus makers must capture a computer virus, take it apart and identify its “signature” — unique signs in its code — before they can write a program that removes it. That process can take as little as a few hours or as long as several years. In May, researchers at Kaspersky Lab discovered Flame, a complex piece of malware that had been stealing data from computers for an estimated five years... Symantec and McAfee, which built their businesses on antivirus products, have begun to acknowledge their limitations and to try new approaches. The word “antivirus” does not appear once on their home pages. Symantec rebranded its popular antivirus packages: its consumer product is now called Norton Internet Security, and its corporate offering is now Symantec Endpoint Protection."

Congressional ethics investigators could soon be silenced; CNN.com, 12/29/12

Scott Bronstein, Joe Johns, and Rahel Solomon, CNN.com; Congressional ethics investigators could soon be silenced: "Inside an ordinary office building six blocks from the Capitol, investigators sift through evidence of possible violations against ethics and laws committed by the nation's elected representatives. This is the Office of Congressional Ethics, also known as the OCE. It is one of the most important watchdogs in Washington. That's because the OCE is the only quasi-independent government body whose sole mandate is to formally investigate members of Congress. But it could soon be silenced by the very people it investigates. "What is outrageous about it is that you see members of Congress on both sides saying they have zero tolerance for unethical conduct," said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who now directs Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). "But then behind closed doors they are quietly trying to kill the one body in Congress that is seriously going after unethical members.""

Childhood, Uncensored; New York Times, 12/28/12

Catherine Saint Louis, New York Times; Childhood, Uncensored: "Last year, Ms. Myracle’s so-called Internet girls series — consisting of the titles ”ttyl,” “ttfn,” and “l8r, g8r” (ask a young person to decipher the texting language) — topped the list of challenged and banned books nationwide, according to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. (Angela Maycock, its assistant director, estimated that only 20 to 25 percent of challenges to books on school or public library shelves are reported.) Earning such a ranking requires a groundswell of people going to their libraries and declaring, “This is trash,” Ms. Maycock explained."

Newspaper on Cape Cod Apologizes for a Veteran Reporter’s Fabrications; New York Times, 12/28/12

Katherine Q. Seelye, New York Times; Newspaper on Cape Cod Apologizes for a Veteran Reporter’s Fabrications: "In their apology, the publisher and editor wrote, “Clearly, we placed too much trust in a reporter and did not verify sourcing with necessary frequency.” To prevent it from happening again, they said they would make spot checks of sources more often and hold ethics training sessions. Mr. Pronovost said he had expected “to get hammered” by critics “as the latest example of lax standards,” citing past cases of plagiarism and fabrications at other publications, including The New York Times. Instead his newspaper was praised in journalism circles and received positive messages for the front-page apology and response."

Blogger Christopher Fountain Hits Back Against Gun Owners' Map, Publishes Addresses Of Journal News Staff; HuffingtonPost.com, 12/27/12

HuffingtonPost.com; Blogger Christopher Fountain Hits Back Against Gun Owners' Map, Publishes Addresses Of Journal News Staff: "Blogger Christopher Fountain retaliated against a New York newspaper, which recently published the addresses of local gun owners, by publishing the addresses and phone numbers of the newspaper's staff. The Journal News published the names and addresses of legal gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties. The paper has been criticized for allegedly putting people in danger."

Cranberry man files suit against LinkedIn; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/27/12

Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Cranberry man files suit against LinkedIn: "A Cranberry man who heads a local foundation has filed suit against the networking firm LinkedIn Corp. to find out who put his name, personal cell phone and email on the popular site. And so far, LinkedIn won't tell him. Rick D. Senft, president and CEO of the Passavant Memorial Home Foundation, filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh."

The Shocking Amazing Spider-Man Plot Twist That Inspired Death Threats; Wired.com, 12/27/12

Laura Hudson, Wired.com; The Shocking Amazing Spider-Man Plot Twist That Inspired Death Threats: "Poor Spider-Man. Five years after the webslinging superhero was forced to retroactively erase his marriage to Mary Jane in a desperate deal with the devil (true story), things are about to get even worse for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #700, a issue so controversial that it inspired numerous death threats against the book’s long-time writer Dan Slott. So what could happen to Spidey that would make his satanic retroactive divorce look tame in comparison?"

Netflix Social Sharing Bill Passes Without Email Privacy Protection; HuffingtonPost.com, 12/26/12

HuffingtonPost.com; Netflix Social Sharing Bill Passes Without Email Privacy Protection: "The "Netflix amendment" to the Video Privacy Protection Act is headed to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature after it was unanimously passed by the Senate on Dec. 20. The bill was crafted to let the movie rental giant allow users to share their online viewing habits on social networking sites like Facebook. Privacy protections imposed after Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork had his video rental history exposed in 1987 had prohibited users from doing that."

New York Journal News Publishes Gun Owners' Names In Westchester, Rockland Counties; HuffingtonPost.com, 12/25/12

Rebecca Shapiro, HuffingtonPost.com; New York Journal News Publishes Gun Owners' Names In Westchester, Rockland Counties: "Some critics felt the Journal News article put people in danger. "Do you fools realize that you also made a map for criminals to use to find homes to rob that have no guns in them to protect themselves? What a bunch of liberal boobs you all are," one commenter wrote on the newspaper's website. Others worried that the names would expose law enforcement officials. "You have judges, policemen, retired policemen, FBI agents — they have permits. Once you allow the public to see where they live, that puts them in harm’s way," Paul Piperato, the Rockland county clerk, told Journal News reporter Worley."

When Media’s Decision in the Face of Events Is to Say Nothing About Them; New York Times, 12/23/12

Will Storey, New York Times; When Media’s Decision in the Face of Events Is to Say Nothing About Them: "For the previous decade, The A.P. had been adjusting to an increasing demand for entertainment-related news. There was frustration in the newsroom about reporting entertainment news, but widespread recognition that the industry was changing and that they had to reconsider what was newsworthy. “The A.P. was feeling our way through this transition,” Mr. Washington said. “What do we cover? What do we not cover? Do we dip our toe or go in waist-deep?” He went on to point out that reporters make decisions about what is news and what is not news every day, and that as the industry evolves, the types of news that are covered change. “Everyone knew that J.F.K. and Marilyn Monroe were sleeping together,” he said, “but no one reported it.”... “In some ways, it’s commendable,” said Edward Wasserman, a professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University. “What they’re doing is making public the criteria they’re applying; they are inviting the public to consider whether the criteria they are applying are valid.” On the other hand, he added, “To say, ‘I don’t care what he has to say, he’s a clown’ — you run the risk of giving insufficient consideration to potential newsmakers.”"

Giving Mom’s Book Five Stars? Amazon May Cull Your Review; New York Times, 12/22/12

David Streitfeld, New York Times; Giving Mom’s Book Five Stars? Amazon May Cull Your Review: "Amazon has not said how many reviews it has killed, nor has it offered any public explanation. So its sweeping but hazy purge has generated an uproar about what it means to review in an era when everyone is an author and everyone is a reviewer. Is a review merely a gesture of enthusiasm or should it be held to a higher standard? Should writers be allowed to pass judgment on peers the way they have always done offline or are they competitors whose reviews should be banned? Does a groundswell of raves for a new book mean anything if the author is soliciting the comments?"

As Debt Rises and Job Prospects Dim, Some Say It's Time to Put a Warning Label on Graduate School; Chronicle of Higher Education, 12/9/12

Stacey Patton, Chronicle of Higher Education; As Debt Rises and Job Prospects Dim, Some Say It's Time to Put a Warning Label on Graduate School: "The student-debt problem, coupled with the dearth of jobs, has sparked a national conversation about whether going to graduate school is worth it. Attendees at the conference said it is unethical to keep admitting students to programs and training them for jobs that don't exist while they are racking up piles of debt only to risk finding university employment as just an adjunct, or obtaining some other low-wage job for which a graduate degree is not necessary, or ending up on food stamps."

eBooks For Libraries Web Site Relaunches, Focus is Now Public Awareness About Issues; Library Journal, 12/11/12

Gary Price, Library Journal; eBooks For Libraries Web Site Relaunches, Focus is Now Public Awareness About Issues: ""The eBooks For Libraries web site, sponsored by Library Renewal and the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Kansas, has relaunched and will now provide public awareness and news about ebooks for libraries. David Lee King writes, “Our goal isn’t to complain, but to share information about the current ebook landscape, and how it affects libraries. We’ll explain current issues, and what they actually MEAN for libraries... We do hope eBooks For Libraries takes some time to explain privacy concerns with ebooks (including borrowing them from the library and reading on a Kindle) with those who visit their site. Libraries have earned a lot of well-deserved praise for keeping reader records private. We, at the very least, should make users clear about what ebook information is shared and with whom. In other words, be transparent, informative, and clear. That’s all.”"

Basketball Players’ Night Off Makes a Stand for Sitting Out; New York Times, 11/30/12

Sam Borden, New York Times; Basketball Players’ Night Off Makes a Stand for Sitting Out: "“I don’t think he did anything unethical,” said W. Michael Hoffman, the executive director of the center for business ethics at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. “I’d also say that if Stern decides to sanction, that would be closer to an ethical discussion. To sanction him for Popovich trying to do his job the best way he determines? That is what leaders of any organization are hired to do. Popovich’s primary obligation is to the team.”...Hoffman acknowledged the conflicting ethical obligations in the Spurs’ situation — Stern’s emotion came from what he apparently perceived as an act disrespectful to the fans and the game, while Popovich felt compelled to act in the best interest of his team — but cautioned that imposing discipline was wrong if there were no specific guidelines given ahead of time."

Can a Professor Require Civility?; Inside Higher Ed, 11/19/12

Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed; Can a Professor Require Civility? : "Robert Kreiser, senior program officer at the American Association of University Professors and adjunct history professor at George Mason University, said civility clauses resemble speech codes. The association rejects such codes as inconsistent with the principles of academic freedom. Although he acknowledged differences between Canadian and U.S. free speech laws, Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said it has long been established that student free speech can't be limited on U.S. public university campuses "in the name alone of 'conventions of decency.’ ” The precedent was set by 1973's Supreme Court case Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri, which found that students can’t be punished for offensive speech that doesn’t disrupt campus order or interfere with others’ rights."

Educator Aided Others at Cheating, U.S. Charges; New York Times, 11/26/12

Motoko Rich, New York Times; Educator Aided Others at Cheating, U.S. Charges: "Federal prosecutors in Memphis are investigating an educator who they say ran a test cheating ring in three Southern states for teachers and prospective teachers who wanted to pass standardized certification exams."

YouTube Refuses to Yank Israeli Kill Video as Hamas Attacks Jerusalem; Wired.com, 11/16/12

Noah Shachtman, Wired.com; YouTube Refuses to Yank Israeli Kill Video as Hamas Attacks Jerusalem: "Israel launched its “Operation Pillars of Defense” on Wednesday by blowing up Ahmed al-Jabari as he was driving his car down the street in Gaza. Hours later, aerial footage of the kill shot was posted to YouTube — and instantly went viral, racking up nearly two million views. The video not only kicked of a fierce battle of opinion on social media that’s roughly paralleling the rockets-and-airstrikes conflict. It also appeared to violate YouTube’s community guidelines, which tells users: “if your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don’t post it.” But a YouTube employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the guidelines are just that — guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. Users can flag a video as potentially objectionable, but the decision to take a clip down ultimately rests with YouTube’s global team of reviewers. The calculations get complicated, especially for warzone footage. “We look at videos on a case-by-case videos when they’re flagged,” the employee tells Danger Room. “And we look at the context, the intent with which something is posted.”"

Many Rural AT&T Customers Still Lack High-Speed Internet Despite Merger Promise; HuffingtonPost.com, 11/18/12

Gerry Smith, HuffingtonPost.com; Many Rural AT&T Customers Still Lack High-Speed Internet Despite Merger Promise: "The disconnect here in rural Mississippi highlights a major shortcoming of American telecommunications policy, consumer advocates say. Time and again, regulators have approved enormous mergers in exchange for promises that companies will extend high-speed Internet to underserved communities. Time and again, companies have pocketed the profits from those deals while regulators have failed to enforce their obligations."

You Can’t Say That on the Internet; New York Times, 11/16/12

Evgeny Morozov, New York Times; You Can’t Say That on the Internet: "Thanks to Silicon Valley, our public life is undergoing a transformation. Accompanying this digital metamorphosis is the emergence of new, algorithmic gatekeepers, who, unlike the gatekeepers of the previous era — journalists, publishers, editors — don’t flaunt their cultural authority. They may even be unaware of it themselves, eager to deploy algorithms for fun and profit. Many of these gatekeepers remain invisible — until something goes wrong... The limitations of algorithmic gatekeeping are on full display here. How do you teach the idea of “fair use” to an algorithm? Context matters, and there’s no rule book here; that’s why we have courts."

Online Privacy Issue Is Also in Play in Petraeus Scandal; HuffingtonPost.com, 11/13/12

Scott Shane, HuffingtonPost.com; Online Privacy Issue Is Also in Play in Petraeus Scandal: "The F.B.I. investigation that toppled the director of the C.I.A. and has now entangled the top American commander in Afghanistan underscores a danger that civil libertarians have long warned about: that in policing the Web for crime, espionage and sabotage, government investigators will unavoidably invade the private lives of Americans. On the Internet, and especially in e-mails, text messages, social network postings and online photos, the work lives and personal lives of Americans are inextricably mixed. Private, personal messages are stored for years on computer servers, available to be discovered by investigators who may be looking into completely unrelated matters."

Apple Bans 'Erotic' Book Cover From iTunes; HuffingtonPost.com, 11/16/12

HuffingtonPost.com; Apple Bans 'Erotic' Book Cover From iTunes: "Apple has censored books before. Earlier this year, Naomi Woolf's Vagina, a feminist analysis of female anatomy, was asterisked in their store, written as "V****a." They've also eliminated portions of Ulysses, Moby Dick and the Kama Sutra. What makes the removal of Salwa Al Neimi's book unique is that it was censored not due to its content, but its supposedly pornographic cover."

China Blocks Web Access to Times After Article; New York Times, 10/25/12

Keith Bradsher, New York Times; China Blocks Web Access to Times After Article: "The Chinese government swiftly blocked access Friday morning to the English-language and Chinese-language Web sites of The New York Times from computers in mainland China in response to an article in both languages describing wealth accumulated by the family of the country’s prime minister... China maintains the world’s most extensive and sophisticated system for Internet censorship, employing tens of thousands of people to monitor what is said, delete entries that contravene the country’s extensive and unpublished regulations and even write new entries that are favorable to the government. Rebecca MacKinnon, a senior fellow specializing in Internet free expression and privacy issues at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan group headquartered in Washington, said that the Chinese interruption of Internet access was typical of the response to information that offended leaders. “This is what they do: they get mad, they block you,” she said."

UNC’s Erik Highsmith caught plagiarizing 11-year-olds; Yahoo Sports, 10/23/12

Graham Watson, Yahoo Sports; UNC’s Erik Highsmith caught plagiarizing 11-year-olds: "Per a report in the News & Observer, North Carolina receiver Erik Highsmith plagiarized content from four 11-year-olds in order to fill a class requirement. Highsmith was required to add posts to blog for 30 percent of his grade and wrote about poultry farming and people and pets — the poultry piece was originally written and posted by kids in grade school."

Teachers make extra money selling materials on the Web; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/20/12

Donna Gordon Blankinship, Associated Press via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Teachers make extra money selling materials on the Web: "While most characterize these sites as an inexpensive way for teachers to supplement textbook materials, some teachers may get pushback from administrators for their entrepreneurial efforts. Seattle Public Schools recently revised its ethics policy, with the new policy prohibiting teachers from selling anything they developed on district time, district spokeswoman Teresa Wippel said. "Anything created on their own time could also cross a gray line, depending on the item and how closely tied it is to classroom work," she said. Teacherspayteachers.com currently has about 300,000 items for sale plus more than 50,000 free items. All told, more than 1 million teachers have bought or sold items on teacherspayteachers.com since it began. After paying the site fees, teachers have collectively earned more than $14 million on the site since it was founded."

Twitter Removes Anti-Semitic Postings, French Jewish Group Says; New York Times, 10/19/12

Steven Erlanger and Alan Cowell, New York Times; Twitter Removes Anti-Semitic Postings, French Jewish Group Says: "Several Twitter users posting under the hashtag criticized the decision to delete the anti-Semitic posts, calling it censorship. A user calling himself Andre said: “Better to educate than censure. Shame on you Twitter.” Another, Craig McLeod, asked, “Who decides what is anti-Semitic and abusive?” Asked for comment, Twitter repeated its standard policy statement: “Twitter does not mediate content. If we are alerted to content that may be in violation of our terms of service, we will investigate each report and respond according to the policies and procedures outlined in our support pages.” No one at Twitter would talk on the record about the French posts, but it has its own criteria for regulating content and will sometimes suspend an individual account or withhold individual posts."

Free Speech in the Age of YouTube; New York Times, 9/22/12

Somini Sengupta, New York Times; Free Speech in the Age of YouTube: "COMPANIES are usually accountable to no one but their shareholders. Internet companies are a different breed. Because they traffic in speech — rather than, say, corn syrup or warplanes — they make decisions every day about what kind of expression is allowed where. And occasionally they come under pressure to explain how they decide, on whose laws and values they rely, and how they distinguish between toxic speech that must be taken down and that which can remain. The storm over an incendiary anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube has stirred fresh debate on these issues. Google, which owns YouTube, restricted access to the video in Egypt and Libya, after the killing of a United States ambassador and three other Americans. Then, it pulled the plug on the video in five other countries, where the content violated local laws."

Twitter’s Free Speech Defender; New York Times, 9/2/12

Somini Sengupta, New York Times; Twitter’s Free Speech Defender:

"At a time when Internet companies control so much of what we can say and do online, can Twitter stand up for privacy, free expression and profitability all at the same time?

“They are going to have to monetize the data that they have and they can’t rock the boat maybe,” said Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington. “I don’t predict Twitter is going to lose its way, but it’s a moment to watch.”

Jonathan Zittrain, one of his former professors at Harvard Law School, called it both a challenge and opportunity for Mr. Macgillivray, widely known as @amac, his handle on Twitter, and one that could influence the Internet industry at large."

Tweeting Up Controversy in 'Socialympics'; New York Times, 7/31/12

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; Tweeting Up Controversy in 'Socialympics':

"In the run-up to the Summer Olympics in London, the International Olympic Committee hailed the dawn of the first “conversational” Games, saying social media would make possible new ways of “sharing and connecting.”

Only a few days into the Games, the conversation is getting messy — especially on Twitter, the microblogging platform."

Lehrer Apologizes for Recycling Work, While New Yorker Says It Won’t Happen Again; New York Times, 6/20/12

Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times; Lehrer Apologizes for Recycling Work, While New Yorker Says It Won’t Happen Again:

"The science writer Jonah Lehrer, author of the runaway bestseller “Imagine: How Creativity Works,” has become the latest high-profile journalist to be caught up in a plagiarism scandal, with a counterintuitive twist that could come right out of his own books: The journalist he has been accused of borrowing from is himself...

The news of Mr. Lehrer’s journalistic infractions arrive at a moment when social science is wrestling with its own credibility problems...

More recently, the psychologist Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia, began an effort, informally known as the Reproducibility Project, to replicate research findings, a high percentage of which he has estimated may not hold up."

Jonah Lehrer Resigns From The New Yorker After Making Up Dylan Quotes for His Book; New York Times, 7/30/12

Julie Bosman, New York Times; Jonah Lehrer Resigns From The New Yorker After Making Up Dylan Quotes for His Book:

"An article in Tablet magazine revealed that in his best-selling book, “Imagine: How Creativity Works,” Mr. Lehrer had fabricated quotes from Bob Dylan, one of the most closely studied musicians alive. Only last month, Mr. Lehrer had publicly apologized for taking some of his previous work from The Wall Street Journal, Wired and other publications and recycling it in blog posts for The New Yorker, acts of recycling that his editor called “a mistake.”"

Journalism’s Misdeeds Get a Glance in the Mirror; New York Times, 7/29/12

David Carr, New York Times; Journalism’s Misdeeds Get a Glance in the Mirror:

"Now would seem to be journalism’s big moment to turn that light on itself, with deeply reported investigative articles about how things went so wrong: the failures of leadership, the skewed values and the willingness of an industry to treat the public with such contempt. The Guardian correctly suggested that the arrests were unprecedented in the history of newspapers."

Why Do the Chinese Copy So Much?; International Herald Tribune, 7/25/12

Didi Kirsten Tatlow, International Herald Tribune; Why Do the Chinese Copy So Much? :

"As news spread in Austria and around the world that a copy of the medieval town’s market square, a church and other important buildings had been erected in Boluo, Guangdong province (part of a bigger development designed to attract wealthy buyers to expensive villas built by Minmetals Land), a debate began in media and in private conversations: Was it OK for the Chinese to do this? And why do they copy so much, anyway?

As I report in my latest Page Two column, the Chinese didn’t ask permission: five Chinese architects walked around incognito, photographing the town, then returned to Boluo where the town square was copied at high speed.

And it’s not just a question of architecture and iPads.

In China, academic journals are riddled with plagiarism."

Japanese Anesthesiologist Completely Faked 172 Papers; PopSci, 7/3/12

Bob Nosowitz, PopSci; Japanese Anesthesiologist Completely Faked 172 Papers:

"Scientific papers are faked sometimes. That's obviously dangerous, especially when the researcher works for the pharmaceutical industry or has a clear agenda. But we've never seen anything quite like this: a Japanese anesthesiologist named Yoshitaka Fujii has been found to have fabricated a hundred and seventy-two papers over the course of 19 years, more than even Joachim Boldt, who fabricated 90.

As reported by Science Insider, Fujii's work included 126 instances of completely fabricated studies and trials. (Of his other work, only three papers were proven legitimate; 37 could not be proven either way.) Some scientists listed as co-authors on his work were never even consulted, and their signatures forged. Patients were invented."

Grade Changes Spark Dispute at Tennessee State U.; Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/11/12

Chronicle of Higher Education; Grade Changes Spark Dispute at Tennessee State U.:

"More than 100 students who took mathematics courses at Tennessee State University last fall had their marks switched from “incomplete” to letter grades, and university leaders are questioning who authorized the changes and whether or not they were ethical, reports The Tennessean."

Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have 'Nothing to Hide'; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/15/11

Daniel J. Solove, Chronicle of Higher Education; Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have 'Nothing to Hide' :

"When the government gathers or analyzes personal information, many people say they're not worried. "I've got nothing to hide," they declare. "Only if you're doing something wrong should you worry, and then you don't deserve to keep it private."

The nothing-to-hide argument pervades discussions about privacy. The data-security expert Bruce Schneier calls it the "most common retort against privacy advocates." The legal scholar Geoffrey Stone refers to it as an "all-too-common refrain." In its most compelling form, it is an argument that the privacy interest is generally minimal, thus making the contest with security concerns a foreordained victory for security."

Psychiatrist’s Apology Stands Out From Typical Scientific Regrets; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/18/12

Josh Fischman, Chronicle of Higher Education; Psychiatrist’s Apology Stands Out From Typical Scientific Regrets:

"Dr. Spitzer, on the other hand, has a keen awareness of the larger effects of his work. His study was taken up by anti-homosexual activists and therapists who said they could “cure” patients of their sexual orientation. (Mr. Arana, the American Prospect journalist and a gay man, spent years in such therapy.) Dr. Spitzer also apologized to those patients. He said he did not start the study to show that homosexuality could be done away with. He did it, rather, to debunk the claim that “reparative therapy” was completely ineffective in changing sexual orientation.

But he did so with bad science. He interviewed 200 people who said they used to be gay, and asked them if therapy helped them make the switch. There was, he now says, no way to determine if they were telling the truth, and no comparison group of people who didn’t undergo therapy. And there was no replication of the study. It didn’t validate anti-gay therapy for most scientists, but it did give ammunition to anti-gay groups. So he asked Mr. Arana to print his retraction. Dr. Spitzer wants not only to set the research record straight, but correct a mistaken cultural idea.

Bad science then, but few could say a bad scientist now."

Ex-Rutgers student webcam spy sentenced to 30 days in jail; ArsTechnica.com, 5/21/12

Cyrus Farivar, ArsTechnica.com; Ex-Rutgers student webcam spy sentenced to 30 days in jail:

"Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student who was convicted in March of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail by a New Jersey judge."

Wikipedia Kills Page Linking Obama Slogan to Socialist Movement; New York Times, 5/8/12

Noam Cohen, New York Times; Wikipedia Kills Page Linking Obama Slogan to Socialist Movement:

"After a debate among readers who also cast votes on the issue, the Wikipedia administrator essentially killed the page by having it redirect to the general article on the Obama-Biden presidential campaign; all that is left of the original article is the simple statement: “On April 30, 2012, the campaign announced that its slogan would be ‘Forward.’”"

In the Undoing of a C.E.O., a Puzzle; New York Times, 5/18/12

James B. Stewart, New York Times; In the Undoing of a C.E.O., a Puzzle:

"Mr. Thompson now joins a lengthy and puzzling list of prominent people who have embroidered or falsified their résumés and were felled for doing so, including a former Notre Dame football coach, chief executives of RadioShack and Bausch & Lomb, a director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and an MIT admissions director.

While the Yahoo matter remains under investigation, how and why Mr. Thompson’s résumé came to reflect the false claim that he had a degree in computer science remains a mystery. If it wants to solve it, Yahoo may need to add a psychologist to its investigative team."

Yahoo’s Chief Said to Tell Executives He Did Not Submit a Résumé; New York Times, 5/10/12

Michael J. De La Merced, New York Times; Yahoo’s Chief Said to Tell Executives He Did Not Submit a Résumé:

"Yahoo‘s embattled chief executive, Scott Thompson, told the company’s senior management on Thursday that he never submitted a résumé or falsified his academic credentials, a person briefed on the matter said.

Mr. Thompson’s comments are the latest in an effort to quell the firestorm of controversy surrounding his credentials."

Third Point Demands Records From Yahoo’s C.E.O. Search; New York Times, 5/7/12

Michael J. De La Merced, New York Times; Third Point Demands Records From Yahoo’s C.E.O. Search:

"Third Point sent Yahoo a request for records relating to its selection of Scott Thompson, a former eBay executive, as its chief executive, after the besieged technology company admitted that it had misstated its leader’s academic credentials.

The request follows Yahoo’s admission, after prodding by the activist hedge fund, that while Mr. Thompson’s official biography said that he had earned degrees in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College, in reality he held only the former.

Yahoo also conceded that the director in charge of finding and hiring Mr. Thompson, Patti Hart, also had factual errors in the description of her academic record."

Loeb Accuses Yahoo Officials of Résumé Padding; New York Times, 5/3/12

Kevin Roose, New York Times; Loeb Accuses Yahoo Officials of Résumé Padding:

"In a letter sent to Yahoo’s board on Thursday, Mr. Loeb, the founder of the hedge fund Third Point, said that Yahoo’s chief executive, Scott Thompson, had falsified his résumé to include a degree in computer science that Mr. Thompson never earned.

Mr. Thompson, who was appointed to head Yahoo in January, has a “bachelor’s in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College,” according to his official biography on Yahoo’s Web site.

But according to Mr. Loeb’s letter, Mr. Thompson’s credentials don’t mesh with information listed on other online sites – a discrepancy that led Mr. Loeb to do some digging. A representative of Stonehill College, Mr. Loeb wrote, told Third Point that Mr. Thompson had graduated with a degree in accounting only, and that the school did not even award degrees in computer science until 1983 – “four years after Mr. Thompson graduated.”"