Pitt Wire; How Pitt is Preparing for the Spread of the Coronavirus
"The University of Pittsburgh continues to monitor the spread of the
coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and is taking steps to respond to
community needs. As of Feb. 27, no cases of COVID-19 have been reported
in Pennsylvania. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has stated that the individual immediate health risk to those in
the United States is currently low, communities should prepare for the
coronavirus to spread.
Keeping our community informed
Since the emergence of the virus in December 2019, campus health and
public safety leaders have coordinated closely with the Allegheny County
Health Department and Pennsylvania Department of Health and are
following guidance from the CDC and World Health Organization.
Pitt encourages members of the University community to visit the Public Safety and Emergency Management website,
which remains a centralized and reliable source for information on this
issue. “Knowing where to find reliable information is important for
community members,” said Molly Stitt-Fischer, the University’s biosafety
officer. “As the health and scientific communities learn more as the
situation continues to change very quickly, access to the most current
guidance is critical.”
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain; Smithsonian Magazine, February 25, 2020
Katherine J. Wu
, Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain
"For the first time in its 174-year history, the Smithsonian has released 2.8 million high-resolution two- and three-dimensional images from across its collections onto an open access online platform for patrons to peruse and download free of charge. Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or a pair of bootie shorts.
And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting...
The database’s launch also marks the latest victory for a growing global effort to migrate museum collections into the public domain. Nearly 200 other institutions worldwide—including Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago—have made similar moves to digitize and liberate their masterworks in recent years. But the scale of the Smithsonian’s release is “unprecedented” in both depth and breadth, says Simon Tanner, an expert in digital cultural heritage at King’s College London.
Spanning the arts and humanities to science and engineering, the release compiles artifacts, specimens and datasets from an array of fields onto a single online platform."
"For the first time in its 174-year history, the Smithsonian has released 2.8 million high-resolution two- and three-dimensional images from across its collections onto an open access online platform for patrons to peruse and download free of charge. Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or a pair of bootie shorts.
And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting...
The database’s launch also marks the latest victory for a growing global effort to migrate museum collections into the public domain. Nearly 200 other institutions worldwide—including Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago—have made similar moves to digitize and liberate their masterworks in recent years. But the scale of the Smithsonian’s release is “unprecedented” in both depth and breadth, says Simon Tanner, an expert in digital cultural heritage at King’s College London.
Spanning the arts and humanities to science and engineering, the release compiles artifacts, specimens and datasets from an array of fields onto a single online platform."
Friday, February 21, 2020
Your DNA is a valuable asset, so why give it to ancestry websites for free?; The Guardian, February 16, 2020
; Your DNA is a valuable asset, so why give it to ancestry websites for free?
"The announcement by 23andMe, a company that sells home DNA testing kits, that it has sold the rights to a promising new anti-inflammatory drug to a Spanish pharmaceutical company is cause for celebration. The collected health data of 23andMe’s millions of customers have potentially produced a medical advance – the first of its kind. But a few weeks later the same company announced that it was laying off workers amid a shrinking market that its CEO put down to the public’s concerns about privacy.
These two developments are linked, because the most intimate data we can provide about ourselves – our genetic make-up – is already being harvested for ends we aren’t aware of and can’t always control. Some of them, such as better medicines, are desirable, but some of them should worry us...
These are the privacy concerns that may be behind layoffs, not only at 23andMe, but also at other DTC companies, and that we need to resolve urgently to avoid the pitfalls of genetic testingwhile [sic] realising its undoubted promise. In the meantime, we should all start reading the small print."
"The announcement by 23andMe, a company that sells home DNA testing kits, that it has sold the rights to a promising new anti-inflammatory drug to a Spanish pharmaceutical company is cause for celebration. The collected health data of 23andMe’s millions of customers have potentially produced a medical advance – the first of its kind. But a few weeks later the same company announced that it was laying off workers amid a shrinking market that its CEO put down to the public’s concerns about privacy.
These two developments are linked, because the most intimate data we can provide about ourselves – our genetic make-up – is already being harvested for ends we aren’t aware of and can’t always control. Some of them, such as better medicines, are desirable, but some of them should worry us...
These are the privacy concerns that may be behind layoffs, not only at 23andMe, but also at other DTC companies, and that we need to resolve urgently to avoid the pitfalls of genetic testingwhile [sic] realising its undoubted promise. In the meantime, we should all start reading the small print."
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Europe plans to strictly regulate high-risk AI technology; Science, February 19, 2020
Nicholas Wallace, Science; Europe plans to strictly regulate high-risk AI technology
"The European Commission today unveiled its plan to strictly regulate artificial intelligence (AI), distinguishing itself from more freewheeling approaches to the technology in the United States and China.
The commission will draft new laws—including a ban on “black box” AI systems that humans can’t interpret—to govern high-risk uses of the technology, such as in medical devices and self-driving cars. Although the regulations would be broader and stricter than any previous EU rules, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference today announcing the plan that the goal is to promote “trust, not fear.” The plan also includes measures to update the European Union’s 2018 AI strategy and pump billions into R&D over the next decade.
The proposals are not final: Over the next 12 weeks, experts, lobby groups, and the public can weigh in on the plan before the work of drafting concrete laws begins in earnest. Any final regulation will need to be approved by the European Parliament and national governments, which is unlikely to happen this year."
"The European Commission today unveiled its plan to strictly regulate artificial intelligence (AI), distinguishing itself from more freewheeling approaches to the technology in the United States and China.
The commission will draft new laws—including a ban on “black box” AI systems that humans can’t interpret—to govern high-risk uses of the technology, such as in medical devices and self-driving cars. Although the regulations would be broader and stricter than any previous EU rules, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference today announcing the plan that the goal is to promote “trust, not fear.” The plan also includes measures to update the European Union’s 2018 AI strategy and pump billions into R&D over the next decade.
The proposals are not final: Over the next 12 weeks, experts, lobby groups, and the public can weigh in on the plan before the work of drafting concrete laws begins in earnest. Any final regulation will need to be approved by the European Parliament and national governments, which is unlikely to happen this year."
Walter Shaub Wants You To Fight For An Ethical Democracy; WBUR On Point, February 18, 2020
WBUR, On Point;
"For decades, Walter Shaub advised presidential candidates about transparency, ethics and how to avoid conflicts of interest. We talk to Shaub about how he ran the Office of Government Ethics and the future of ethics in government."
Walter Shaub Wants You To Fight For An Ethical Democracy
"For decades, Walter Shaub advised presidential candidates about transparency, ethics and how to avoid conflicts of interest. We talk to Shaub about how he ran the Office of Government Ethics and the future of ethics in government."
Friday, February 14, 2020
Coronavirus: The global race to patent a remedy; The Mercury News, February 13, 2020
Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News; Coronavirus: The global race to patent a remedy
"As a lethal coronavirus triggers a humanitarian crisis in the world’s most populous nation, who owns the rights to a potential cure?
The Bay Area’s pharmaceutical powerhouse Gilead Sciences is first in line for a Chinese patent for its drug called Remdesivir, which shows promise against the broad family of coronaviruses.
But now a team of Chinese scientists say they’ve improved and targeted its use — and, in a startling move, have also filed for a patent...
“Each side wants to be the entity that came up with the treatment for coronavirus,” said Jacob Sherkow, professor of law at the Innovation Center for Law and Technology at New York Law School. “This is not a knockoff of a Louis Vuitton handbag,”...
Patent protection — and market exclusivity — is the lifeblood of drug companies such as Gilead, creating the incentive to find, test and market a medicine."
"As a lethal coronavirus triggers a humanitarian crisis in the world’s most populous nation, who owns the rights to a potential cure?
The Bay Area’s pharmaceutical powerhouse Gilead Sciences is first in line for a Chinese patent for its drug called Remdesivir, which shows promise against the broad family of coronaviruses.
But now a team of Chinese scientists say they’ve improved and targeted its use — and, in a startling move, have also filed for a patent...
“Each side wants to be the entity that came up with the treatment for coronavirus,” said Jacob Sherkow, professor of law at the Innovation Center for Law and Technology at New York Law School. “This is not a knockoff of a Louis Vuitton handbag,”...
Patent protection — and market exclusivity — is the lifeblood of drug companies such as Gilead, creating the incentive to find, test and market a medicine."
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Copyright could be the next way for Congress to take on Big Tech; The Verge, February 13, 2020
, The Verge; Copyright could be the next way for Congress to take on Big Tech
The 1998 DMCA attempted to outline how copyright should
work on the then-nascent internet, where you could almost freely and
infinitely copy a piece of media. But it’s been widely criticized by
people with very different stances on intellectual property."
"By the end of the year, Tillis — who chairs the Senate’s
intellectual property subcommittee — plans to draft changes to the DMCA.
He and co-chair Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) kicked off the process this
week with an introductory hearing, speaking to eight legal experts and
former congressional staffers. The hearing helped set the stage to
re-fight some long-running battles over the balance between protecting
copyrighted content and keeping the internet open — but at a time where
internet companies are already facing a large-scale backlash.
What China’s empty new coronavirus hospitals say about its secretive system; The Guardian, February 12, 2020
Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian; What China’s empty new coronavirus hospitals say about its secretive system
"A propaganda system designed to support the party and state cannot be relied on for accurate information. That is a problem not just for families left bereft by the coronavirus and businesses destroyed by the sudden shutdown, but for a world trying to assess Beijing’s success in controlling and containing the disease.
“China’s centralised system and lack of freedom of press definitely delay a necessary aggressive early response when it was still possible to contain epidemics at the local level,” said Ho-fung Hung, a professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins University in the US...
“There is no one quick fix to the Chinese system to make it respond better next time,” said Hung. “But if there is one single factor that could increase the government’s responsiveness to this kind of crisis, [it would be] a free press.”"
"A propaganda system designed to support the party and state cannot be relied on for accurate information. That is a problem not just for families left bereft by the coronavirus and businesses destroyed by the sudden shutdown, but for a world trying to assess Beijing’s success in controlling and containing the disease.
“China’s centralised system and lack of freedom of press definitely delay a necessary aggressive early response when it was still possible to contain epidemics at the local level,” said Ho-fung Hung, a professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins University in the US...
“There is no one quick fix to the Chinese system to make it respond better next time,” said Hung. “But if there is one single factor that could increase the government’s responsiveness to this kind of crisis, [it would be] a free press.”"
How To Teach Artificial Intelligence; Forbes, February 12, 2020
Tom Vander Ark, Forbes; How To Teach Artificial Intelligence
"Artificial intelligence—code that learns—is likely to be humankind’s most important invention. It’s a 60-year-old idea that took off five years ago when fast chips enabled massive computing and sensors, cameras, and robots fed data-hungry algorithms...
A World Economic Forum report indicated that 89% of U.S.-based companies are planning to adopt user and entity big data analytics by 2022, while more than 70% want to integrate the Internet of Things, explore web and app-enabled markets, and take advantage of machine learning and cloud computing.
Given these important and rapid shifts, it’s a good time to consider what young people need to know about AI and information technology. First, everyone needs to be able to recognize AI and its influence on people and systems, and be proactive as a user and citizen. Second, everyone should have the opportunity to use AI and big data to solve problems. And third, young people interested in computer science as a career should have a pathway for building AI...
The MIT Media Lab developed a middle school AI+Ethics course that hits many of these learning objectives. It was piloted by Montour Public Schools outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which has incorporated the three-day course in its media arts class."
"Artificial intelligence—code that learns—is likely to be humankind’s most important invention. It’s a 60-year-old idea that took off five years ago when fast chips enabled massive computing and sensors, cameras, and robots fed data-hungry algorithms...
A World Economic Forum report indicated that 89% of U.S.-based companies are planning to adopt user and entity big data analytics by 2022, while more than 70% want to integrate the Internet of Things, explore web and app-enabled markets, and take advantage of machine learning and cloud computing.
Given these important and rapid shifts, it’s a good time to consider what young people need to know about AI and information technology. First, everyone needs to be able to recognize AI and its influence on people and systems, and be proactive as a user and citizen. Second, everyone should have the opportunity to use AI and big data to solve problems. And third, young people interested in computer science as a career should have a pathway for building AI...
The MIT Media Lab developed a middle school AI+Ethics course that hits many of these learning objectives. It was piloted by Montour Public Schools outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which has incorporated the three-day course in its media arts class."
Sunday, February 9, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy; The Guardian, February 9, 2020
Richard McGregor, The Guardian; The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy
"The authoritarian strictures of the Chinese party state place a premium on the control of information in the name of maintaining stability. In such a system, lower-level officials have no incentive to report bad news up the line. Under Xi, such restrictions have grown tighter.
In Wuhan, Li and seven of his fellow doctors had been talking among themselves in an internet chat group about a new cluster of viral infections. They stopped after being warned by police. By the time the authorities reacted and quarantined the city, it was too late.
Li was neither a dissident nor a pro-democracy activist seeking to overthrow the Communist party. But he was risking jail to even discuss the virus. For in Xi’s China, the professional classes – doctors, lawyers, journalists and the like – all must subsume their skills and ethics to the political directives of the moment."
"The authoritarian strictures of the Chinese party state place a premium on the control of information in the name of maintaining stability. In such a system, lower-level officials have no incentive to report bad news up the line. Under Xi, such restrictions have grown tighter.
In Wuhan, Li and seven of his fellow doctors had been talking among themselves in an internet chat group about a new cluster of viral infections. They stopped after being warned by police. By the time the authorities reacted and quarantined the city, it was too late.
Li was neither a dissident nor a pro-democracy activist seeking to overthrow the Communist party. But he was risking jail to even discuss the virus. For in Xi’s China, the professional classes – doctors, lawyers, journalists and the like – all must subsume their skills and ethics to the political directives of the moment."
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Montana seeks balancing act with wildlife location data, hunting ethics; Independent Record, February 6, 2020
Montana seeks balancing act with wildlife location data, hunting ethics
"While GPS collars are invaluable to researchers and wildlife managers, the data they produce are the subject of debate about who should have access to the information and why. Some hunters have requested and received the exact latitude and longitude of collared animals, and that has conservation groups and lawmakers concerned about violating the edict of fair chase hunting or the potential to monetize the data."
"While GPS collars are invaluable to researchers and wildlife managers, the data they produce are the subject of debate about who should have access to the information and why. Some hunters have requested and received the exact latitude and longitude of collared animals, and that has conservation groups and lawmakers concerned about violating the edict of fair chase hunting or the potential to monetize the data."
Putting China in charge of the world’s intellectual property is a bad idea; The Washington Post, Janaury 30, 2020
, The Washington Post; Putting China in charge of the world’s intellectual property is a bad idea
"Beijing
is lobbying hard to take over leadership of the international
organization that oversees intellectual property, which could result in
dire consequences for the future of technology and economic competition.
But the U.S.-led effort to prevent this from happening faces a steep
uphill climb.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Chinese scientists ask for patent on US drug to fight virus; Associated Press, February 6, 2020
Joe McDonald and Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press; Chinese scientists ask for patent on US drug to fight virus
"China has the right
under World Trade Organization rules to declare an emergency and compel a
company to license a patent to protect the public. It would be required
to pay a license fee that is deemed fair market value.
The
government might be able to avoid that fee if the patent were granted
to the Wuhan institute, part of the elite Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The
institute said it applied for a “use patent” that specifies the Wuhan
virus as the drug’s target. Gilead’s patent application, filed before
the virus was identified, cites only the overall family of
coronaviruses."
Saturday, February 1, 2020
It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.; The Washington Post, January 31, 2020
, The Washington Post; It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.
"The Library of Congress abandoned plans last year to showcase a
mural-size photograph of demonstrators at the 2017 Women’s March in
Washington because of concerns it would be perceived as critical of
President Trump, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post...
Slayton
said the decision to remove the photograph was made by leadership of
the library’s Center for Exhibits and Interpretation. “No outside
entities reviewed this exhibition’s content before it opened or opined
on its content,” the spokeswoman wrote.
Librarian
of Congress Carla Hayden was informed of the decision soon after and
supported it, Slayton said. Hayden, who is in the fourth year of her
10-year term, was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016 and
confirmed by the Senate."
Friday, January 31, 2020
A whole class of Georgia state troopers was fired after cheating on an exam; The Washington Post, January 30, 2020
, The Washington Post; A whole class of Georgia state troopers was fired after cheating on an exam
"An
entire class of Georgia state troopers was compelled to hand over their
badges after investigators found that they had cheated on an academy
radar test, officials say.
Thirty
members of the 106th Georgia State Patrol trooper class were removed
from the force after an investigation found all of them had cheated on
an exam that tests cadets on how to operate speed-detection technology."
Users Lament PAIR Changes During USPTO Forum; IP Watchdog, January 30, 2020
Eileen McDermott, IP Watchdog; Users Lament PAIR Changes During USPTO Forum
"Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), seemed surprised to learn on Wednesday that both the Public and Private versions of the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) System have serious issues that are making workflows untenable for users.
Holcombe was participating in a public Forum on the PAIR system, where USPTO staff listened to stakeholders’ experiences since the Office implemented major security changes to the system on November 15, 2019. “The USPTO disabled the ability to look up public cases outside of a customer number using Private PAIR,” explained Shawn Lillemo, Software Product Manager at Harrity LLP, who attended the Forum. “Most patent professionals prior to the change could retrieve all the PAIR information they needed from Private PAIR. That is no longer true.”"
"Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), seemed surprised to learn on Wednesday that both the Public and Private versions of the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) System have serious issues that are making workflows untenable for users.
Holcombe was participating in a public Forum on the PAIR system, where USPTO staff listened to stakeholders’ experiences since the Office implemented major security changes to the system on November 15, 2019. “The USPTO disabled the ability to look up public cases outside of a customer number using Private PAIR,” explained Shawn Lillemo, Software Product Manager at Harrity LLP, who attended the Forum. “Most patent professionals prior to the change could retrieve all the PAIR information they needed from Private PAIR. That is no longer true.”"
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Happy “Data Privacy Day” – Now Read The New York Times Privacy Project About Total Surveillance; Forbes, January 28, 2020
Steve Andriole, Forbes; Happy “Data Privacy Day” – Now Read The New York Times Privacy Project About Total Surveillance
"It’s worth saying again: every time we blog, tweet, post, rideshare, order from Amazon, rent an Airbnb – or anything that leaves a digital trail – we feed what Shoshana Zuboff calls “surveillance capitalism,” which is the monetization of data captured through monitoring people's movements and behaviors online and in the physical world, and which is summarized in the New York Times. Countless digital systems now track where we are, where we go, what we eat, what we think, who we like, who we love, where we bank, what we know and who we hate – among lots of other things they know all too well because we remind them over and over again.
Just in time for Data Privacy Day, the New York Times described just how pervasive surveillance really is. On Sunday, January 26, 2020, in a special section titled “One Nation, Tracked,” the Times presented some frightening stories...
Part of the ongoing “Privacy Project,” the Times analyzes every aspect of surveillance."
"It’s worth saying again: every time we blog, tweet, post, rideshare, order from Amazon, rent an Airbnb – or anything that leaves a digital trail – we feed what Shoshana Zuboff calls “surveillance capitalism,” which is the monetization of data captured through monitoring people's movements and behaviors online and in the physical world, and which is summarized in the New York Times. Countless digital systems now track where we are, where we go, what we eat, what we think, who we like, who we love, where we bank, what we know and who we hate – among lots of other things they know all too well because we remind them over and over again.
Just in time for Data Privacy Day, the New York Times described just how pervasive surveillance really is. On Sunday, January 26, 2020, in a special section titled “One Nation, Tracked,” the Times presented some frightening stories...
Part of the ongoing “Privacy Project,” the Times analyzes every aspect of surveillance."
Pitt researcher’s work featured by U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; Trib Live, November 12, 2019
Patrick Varine, Trib Live; Pitt researcher’s work featured by U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
"Rory Cooper, who was recognized earlier this year by the office with a trading card created to honor U.S. inventors, holds more than two dozen patents related to mobility-improvement research. Cooper is the director at Pitt’s Human Energy Research Laboratories, a U.S. Army veteran and also serves as director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation...
Cooper was recognized in the patent office’s SUCCESS report, an update on progress achieved through the 2018 Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act. The act aims to promote patent applications by women, minorities, veterans, the disabled and other underrepresented classes.
“Without diversity of thought, potentially life changing work for wheel chair users and others with disabilities might not be possible,” Cooper said. “We have a world-class team at our labs that is committed to helping people with disabilities and older adults live full lives and contribute to society as much as they can and they like.”"
"Rory Cooper, who was recognized earlier this year by the office with a trading card created to honor U.S. inventors, holds more than two dozen patents related to mobility-improvement research. Cooper is the director at Pitt’s Human Energy Research Laboratories, a U.S. Army veteran and also serves as director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation...
Cooper was recognized in the patent office’s SUCCESS report, an update on progress achieved through the 2018 Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act. The act aims to promote patent applications by women, minorities, veterans, the disabled and other underrepresented classes.
“Without diversity of thought, potentially life changing work for wheel chair users and others with disabilities might not be possible,” Cooper said. “We have a world-class team at our labs that is committed to helping people with disabilities and older adults live full lives and contribute to society as much as they can and they like.”"
Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, October 2019
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, October 2019; Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018.
"America’s long-standing economic prosperity and global technological leadership depend on a strong and vibrant innovation ecosystem. To maximize the nation’s potential, it is critically important that all Americans have the opportunity to innovate, seek patent protection for their inventions, start new companies, succeed in established companies, and achieve the American dream.
The Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018 directed the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in consultation with the administrator of the Small Business Administration, to prepare a report that:
"America’s long-standing economic prosperity and global technological leadership depend on a strong and vibrant innovation ecosystem. To maximize the nation’s potential, it is critically important that all Americans have the opportunity to innovate, seek patent protection for their inventions, start new companies, succeed in established companies, and achieve the American dream.
The Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018 directed the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in consultation with the administrator of the Small Business Administration, to prepare a report that:
- Identifies publicly available data on the number of patents annually applied for and obtained by women, minorities, and veterans
- Identifies publicly available data on the benefits of increasing the number of patents applied for and obtained by women, minorities, and veterans and the small businesses owned by them
- Provides legislative recommendations for how to promote the participation of women, minorities, and veterans in entrepreneurship activities and increase the number of women, minorities, and veterans who apply for and obtain patents.
Final report to Congress
The USPTO's SUCCESS Act report was transmitted to Congress on October 31, 2019. Among its major findings:- A review of literature and data sources found that there is a limited amount of publicly available information regarding the participation rates of women, minorities, and veterans in the patent system.
- The bulk of the existing literature focuses on women, with a very small number of studies focused on minorities, and only some qualitative historical information on U.S. veteran inventor-patentees.
- One of the most comprehensive studies focused on women inventor-patentees is "Progress and Potential: a profile of women inventors on U.S. patents," a report published by the USPTO in February 2019. It found that women comprised 12% of all inventors named on U.S. patents granted in 2016, up from 5% in the mid-1980s.
- Overall, there is a need for additional information to determine the participation rates of women, minorities, and veterans in the patent system.
- The report concludes with a list of six new USPTO initiatives and five legislative recommendations for increasing the participation of women, minorities, and veterans as inventor-patentees and entrepreneurs."
Welcome to Chechnya’: Sundance’s Horrific ‘Gay Purge’ Documentary Every Human Must See; The Daily Beast, January 30, 2020
Kevin Fallon, The Daily Beast; 'Welcome to Chechnya’: Sundance’s Horrific ‘Gay Purge’ Documentary Every Human Must See
"Welcome to Chechnya, a documentary that debuted this week at the Sundance Film Festival ahead of a premiere on HBO this summer, has left audiences in Park City in shock, heartbreak, and outrage. Directed by David France, who previously helmed How to Survive a Plague and The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson, the film spotlights the crisis by following those brave few and the persecuted Russians whose lives they are saving by risking their own.
The film reveals an underground pipeline of activists working tirelessly to secretly remove at-risk LGBT+ Chechens and those who have survived being detained from the republic, transport them to safe houses, provide them with financial and psychological support, and help sneak them out of the country and find asylum...
The videos are horrific, the kind of atrocities no human should be meant to see. And it’s exactly why everyone must see it."
Death threats against the author of ‘American Dirt’ threaten us all; The Washington Post, January 30, 2020
, The Washington Post; Death threats against the author of ‘American Dirt’ threaten us all
"The
co-owner of Politics and Prose, Lissa Muscatine, articulated that goal
when she introduced Cummins last week. She noted that “American Dirt”
raises questions such as: “Who is entitled to tell whose story? What is
the purpose of literary fiction? Does a white-dominated publishing world
perpetuate cultural bias in its choices of authors and books to
promote?” Before turning over the microphone to Cummins, she reminded
us, “Here at P and P, our only requirement is that we all remain
respectful and generous as we listen to and hear from one another, even
when we disagree.”
Rumored executive order would change landscape of UC subscription partnerships; The Daily Californian, January 30, 2020
Alexandra Casey, The Daily Californian; Rumored executive order would change landscape of UC subscription partnerships
"Prominent Nobel laureate and chief scientific officer of New England Biolabs Rich Roberts has no online access to a paper he co-authored because his institution lacks a subscription to academic journal Nature Microbiology.
Roberts is one of 21 American Nobel laureates who submitted an open letter to President Donald Trump on Monday urging him to approve a rumored plan to make federally funded research free of cost and immediately accessible after publication. UC Berkeley’s Randy Schekman, who founded eLife — an open access scientific journal — led the Nobel laureates in their letter...
“This would effectively nationalize the valuable American intellectual property that we produce and force us to give it away to the rest of the world for free,” according to the letter from the publishers. “This risks reducing exports and negating many of the intellectual property protections the Administration has negotiated with our trading partners.”
The letter added that the cost shift could place an “additional burden” on taxpayers and undermine both the marketplace and American innovation."
"Prominent Nobel laureate and chief scientific officer of New England Biolabs Rich Roberts has no online access to a paper he co-authored because his institution lacks a subscription to academic journal Nature Microbiology.
Roberts is one of 21 American Nobel laureates who submitted an open letter to President Donald Trump on Monday urging him to approve a rumored plan to make federally funded research free of cost and immediately accessible after publication. UC Berkeley’s Randy Schekman, who founded eLife — an open access scientific journal — led the Nobel laureates in their letter...
“This would effectively nationalize the valuable American intellectual property that we produce and force us to give it away to the rest of the world for free,” according to the letter from the publishers. “This risks reducing exports and negating many of the intellectual property protections the Administration has negotiated with our trading partners.”
The letter added that the cost shift could place an “additional burden” on taxpayers and undermine both the marketplace and American innovation."
Libraries will champion an open future for scholarship; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 2020
Keith Webster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;
"All of us who work in academic libraries here in Pittsburgh and around the world aspire to improve the quality of science and scholarship. It’s increasingly clear that this can best be done through the open exchange of ideas and data, which can accelerate the pace and reach of scientific discovery.
The desire of researchers and their funders to make their research freely available to all is evident. As a result, the acceptance of open access publishing and article sharing services has soared in recent years. Meanwhile, the rapidly escalating journal costs experienced by libraries over the past 25 years are agreed to be unsustainable. It is against this backdrop that Carnegie Mellon University is establishing open access agreements with top journal publishers, with a special focus on the the fields of science and computing."
Libraries will champion an open future for scholarship
Open access deals help make knowledge and education accessible to the working class
"All of us who work in academic libraries here in Pittsburgh and around the world aspire to improve the quality of science and scholarship. It’s increasingly clear that this can best be done through the open exchange of ideas and data, which can accelerate the pace and reach of scientific discovery.
The desire of researchers and their funders to make their research freely available to all is evident. As a result, the acceptance of open access publishing and article sharing services has soared in recent years. Meanwhile, the rapidly escalating journal costs experienced by libraries over the past 25 years are agreed to be unsustainable. It is against this backdrop that Carnegie Mellon University is establishing open access agreements with top journal publishers, with a special focus on the the fields of science and computing."
Facebook pays $550m settlement for breaking Illinois data protection law; The Guardian, January 30, 2020
Alex Hern, The Guardian; Facebook pays $550m settlement for breaking Illinois data protection law
"Facebook has settled a lawsuit over facial recognition technology, agreeing to pay $550m (£419m) over accusations it had broken an Illinois state law regulating the use of biometric details...
It is one of the largest payouts for a privacy breach in US history, a marker of the strength of Illinois’s nation-leading privacy laws. The New York Times, which first reported the settlement, noted that the sum “dwarfed” the $380m penalty the credit bureau Equifax agreed to pay over a much larger customer data breach in 2017."
"Facebook has settled a lawsuit over facial recognition technology, agreeing to pay $550m (£419m) over accusations it had broken an Illinois state law regulating the use of biometric details...
It is one of the largest payouts for a privacy breach in US history, a marker of the strength of Illinois’s nation-leading privacy laws. The New York Times, which first reported the settlement, noted that the sum “dwarfed” the $380m penalty the credit bureau Equifax agreed to pay over a much larger customer data breach in 2017."
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
A Citizen of the World Retires; University of Pittsburgh, January 29, 2020
University of Pittsburgh; A Citizen of the World Retires
"After a 54-year career at Pitt, E. Maxine Bruhns announced her retirement earlier this month as director of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs at age 96.
Born in West Virginia in 1924, Bruhns is considered at Pitt as a “citizen of the world”—growing the Nationality Rooms into a collection of 31 mini-museums representing the immigrant populations of Pittsburgh and their contributions to the city. Today, the rooms are collectively designated a historical landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“The Nationality Rooms are, and will forever be, linked to the identity of the city of Pittsburgh. Maxine has been absolutely instrumental in this achievement,” said Ariel C. Armony, vice provost for global affairs and director of the University Center for International Studies (UCIS), which houses the Nationality Rooms. “This is her legacy.”"
"After a 54-year career at Pitt, E. Maxine Bruhns announced her retirement earlier this month as director of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs at age 96.
Born in West Virginia in 1924, Bruhns is considered at Pitt as a “citizen of the world”—growing the Nationality Rooms into a collection of 31 mini-museums representing the immigrant populations of Pittsburgh and their contributions to the city. Today, the rooms are collectively designated a historical landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.
“The Nationality Rooms are, and will forever be, linked to the identity of the city of Pittsburgh. Maxine has been absolutely instrumental in this achievement,” said Ariel C. Armony, vice provost for global affairs and director of the University Center for International Studies (UCIS), which houses the Nationality Rooms. “This is her legacy.”"
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
U.S. Accuses Harvard Scientist of Concealing Chinese Funding; The New York Times, January 28, 2020
, The New York Times; U.S. Accuses Harvard Scientist of Concealing Chinese Funding
“Charles M. Lieber, the chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, was charged on Tuesday with making false statements about money he had received from a Chinese government-run program, part of a broad-ranging F.B.I. effort to root out theft of biomedical research from American laboratories.
Dr. Lieber, a leader in the field of nanoscale electronics, was one of three Boston-area scientists accused on Tuesday of working on behalf of China. His case involves work with the Thousand Talents Program, a state-run program that seeks to draw talent educated in other countries.
American officials are investigating hundreds of cases of suspected theft of intellectual property by visiting scientists, nearly all of them Chinese nationals or of Chinese descent. Some are accused of obtaining patents in China based on work that is funded by the United States government, and others of setting up laboratories in China that secretly duplicated American research.”
“Charles M. Lieber, the chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, was charged on Tuesday with making false statements about money he had received from a Chinese government-run program, part of a broad-ranging F.B.I. effort to root out theft of biomedical research from American laboratories.
Dr. Lieber, a leader in the field of nanoscale electronics, was one of three Boston-area scientists accused on Tuesday of working on behalf of China. His case involves work with the Thousand Talents Program, a state-run program that seeks to draw talent educated in other countries.
American officials are investigating hundreds of cases of suspected theft of intellectual property by visiting scientists, nearly all of them Chinese nationals or of Chinese descent. Some are accused of obtaining patents in China based on work that is funded by the United States government, and others of setting up laboratories in China that secretly duplicated American research.”
Our privacy doomsday could come sooner than we think; The Washington Post, January 23, 2020
, The Washington Post; Our privacy doomsday could come sooner than we think
"The
case underscores with greater vigor than ever the need for restrictions
on facial recognition technology. But putting limits on what the police
or private businesses can do with a tool such as Clearview’s won’t stop
bad actors from breaking them. There also need to be limits on whether a
tool such as Clearview’s can exist in this country in the first place.
Top
platforms’ policies generally prohibit the sort of data-scraping
Clearview has engaged in, but it’s difficult for a company to protect information that’s on the open Web. Courts have also ruled against platforms
when they have tried to go after scrapers under existing copyright or
computer fraud law — and understandably, as too-onerous restrictions
could hurt journalists and public-interest groups.
Privacy legislation is a more promising area for action, to prevent third parties
including
Clearview from assembling databases such as these in the first
place, whether they’re filled with faces or location records or credit
scores. That will take exactly the robust federal framework Congress has
so far failed to provide, and a government that’s ready to enforce it."
A Notorious Sandy Hook Tormentor Is Arrested in Florida; The New York Times, January 27, 2020
, The New York Times;
Wolfgang
Halbig, who has falsely accused the families of shooting victims in
Newtown, Conn., of constructing an elaborate hoax, was charged with the
unlawful possession of personal identification.
"Mr.
Pozner has tried since 2014 to stop Mr. Halbig from targeting Sandy
Hook families and other victims of tragedy. In response, Mr. Halbig
posted online a 100-page TransUnion background report on Mr. Pozner,
which included his address and delicate personal information. Mr. Pozner
lives in hiding.
He added, “We have a long way to go, but this is a positive step in the right direction.”"
Friday, January 24, 2020
This App Is a Dangerous Invasion of Your Privacy—and the FBI Uses It; Popular Mechanics, January 22, 2020
, Popular Mechanics; This App Is a Dangerous Invasion of Your Privacy—and the FBI Uses It
"Even Google Wouldn't Build This
When companies like Google—which has received a ton of flack for taking government contracts to work on artificial intelligence solutions—won't even build an app, you know it's going to cause a stir. Back in 2011, former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said a tool like Clearview AI's app was one of the few pieces of tech that the company wouldn't develop because it could be used "in a very bad way."
Facebook, for its part, developed something pretty similar to what Clearview AI offers, but at least had the foresight not to publicly release it. That application, developed between 2015 and 2016, allowed employees to identify colleagues and friends who had enabled facial recognition by pointing their phone cameras at their faces. Since then, the app has been discontinued.
Meanwhile, Clearview AI is nowhere near finished. Hidden in the app's code, which the New York Times evaluated, is programming language that could pair the app to augmented reality glasses, meaning that in the future, it's possible we could identify every person we see in real time.
Fight for the Future tweeted that "an outright ban" on these AI tools is the only way to fix this privacy issue—not quirky jewelry or sunglasses that can help to protect your identity by confusing surveillance systems."
"Even Google Wouldn't Build This
When companies like Google—which has received a ton of flack for taking government contracts to work on artificial intelligence solutions—won't even build an app, you know it's going to cause a stir. Back in 2011, former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said a tool like Clearview AI's app was one of the few pieces of tech that the company wouldn't develop because it could be used "in a very bad way."
Facebook, for its part, developed something pretty similar to what Clearview AI offers, but at least had the foresight not to publicly release it. That application, developed between 2015 and 2016, allowed employees to identify colleagues and friends who had enabled facial recognition by pointing their phone cameras at their faces. Since then, the app has been discontinued.
Meanwhile, Clearview AI is nowhere near finished. Hidden in the app's code, which the New York Times evaluated, is programming language that could pair the app to augmented reality glasses, meaning that in the future, it's possible we could identify every person we see in real time.
Early Pushback
Perhaps the silver lining is that we found out about Clearview AI at all. Its public discovery—and accompanying criticism—have led to well-known organizations coming out as staunchly opposed to this kind of tech.Fight for the Future tweeted that "an outright ban" on these AI tools is the only way to fix this privacy issue—not quirky jewelry or sunglasses that can help to protect your identity by confusing surveillance systems."
The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It; The New York Times, January 18, 2020
, The New York Times; The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It
"Even if Clearview doesn’t make its app
publicly available, a copycat company might, now that the taboo is
broken. Searching someone by face could become as easy as Googling a
name. Strangers would be able to listen in on sensitive conversations,
take photos of the participants and know personal secrets. Someone
walking down the street would be immediately identifiable — and his or
her home address would be only a few clicks away. It would herald the
end of public anonymity.
Asked about the implications of bringing such a power into the world, Mr. Ton-That seemed taken aback.
“I have to think about that,” he said. “Our belief is that this is the best use of the technology.”"
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Five Ways Companies Can Adopt Ethical AI; Forbes, January 23, 2020
Kay Firth-Butterfield, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, World Economic Forum, Forbes; Five Ways Companies Can Adopt Ethical AI
"In 2014, Stephen Hawking said that AI would be humankind’s best or last invention. Six years later, as we welcome 2020, companies are looking at how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their business to stay competitive. The question they are facing is how to evaluate whether the AI products they use will do more harm than good...
Here are five lessons for the ethical use of AI."
"In 2014, Stephen Hawking said that AI would be humankind’s best or last invention. Six years later, as we welcome 2020, companies are looking at how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their business to stay competitive. The question they are facing is how to evaluate whether the AI products they use will do more harm than good...
Here are five lessons for the ethical use of AI."
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
It’s Copyright Week 2020: Stand Up for Copyright Laws That Actually Serve Us All; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), January 20, 2020
Katharine Trendacosta, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); It’s Copyright Week 2020: Stand Up for Copyright Laws That Actually Serve Us All
"We're taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, addressing what's at stake and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation...
We continue to fight for a version of copyright that does what it is supposed to. And so, every year, EFF and a number of diverse organizations participate in Copyright Week. Each year, we pick five copyright issues to highlight and advocate a set of principles of copyright law. This year’s issues are:
As we said last year, and the year before that, if you too stand behind these principles, please join us by supporting them, sharing them, and telling your lawmakers you want to see copyright law reflect them."
"We're taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, addressing what's at stake and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation...
We continue to fight for a version of copyright that does what it is supposed to. And so, every year, EFF and a number of diverse organizations participate in Copyright Week. Each year, we pick five copyright issues to highlight and advocate a set of principles of copyright law. This year’s issues are:
- Monday: Fair Use and Creativity
Copyright policy should encourage creativity, not hamper it. Fair use makes it possible for us to comment, criticize, and rework our common culture. - Tuesday: Copyright and Competition
Copyright should not be used to control knowledge, creativity, or the ability to tinker with or repair your own devices. Copyright should encourage more people to share, make, or repair things, rather than concentrate that power in only a few players. - Wednesday: Remedies
Copyright claims should not raise the specter of huge, unpredictable judgments that discourage important uses of creative work. Copyright should have balanced remedies that also provide a real path for deterring bad-faith claims. - Thursday: The Public Domain
The public domain is our cultural commons and a crucial resource for innovation and access to knowledge. Copyright should strive to promote, and not diminish, a robust, accessible public domain. - Friday: Copyright and Democracy
Copyright must be set through a participatory, democratic, and transparent process. It should not be decided through back-room deals, secret international agreements, unaccountable bureaucracies, or unilateral attempts to apply national laws extraterritorially.
As we said last year, and the year before that, if you too stand behind these principles, please join us by supporting them, sharing them, and telling your lawmakers you want to see copyright law reflect them."
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
How Music Copyright Lawsuits Are Scaring Away New Hits; The Rolling Stone, January 9, 2020
Amy X. Wang, The Rolling Stone;
How Music Copyright Lawsuits Are Scaring Away New Hits
"Artists, songwriters, producers, and labels are now awaiting the next Zeppelin verdict, with many hoping that a judgment in Page and Plant’s favor could unwind some of the headache-inducing ambiguity introduced by the “Blurred Lines” ruling. Others see the case, which has a chance of going all the way up to the Supreme Court, as a reopening of Pandora’s box. Will the latest ruling clarify the scope of music copyright — or muddy it even further? “At what point is an element of creative expression protectable?” says media intellectual-property attorney Wesley Lewis. “Litigators are all hoping for more clarity.”"
Monday, January 20, 2020
A Practical Guide for Building Ethical Tech; January 20, 2020
Zvika Krieger, Wired;
""Techlash," the rising public animosity toward big tech companies and their impacts on society, will continue to define the state of the tech world in 2020. Government leaders, historically the stewards of protecting society from the impacts of new innovations, are becoming exasperated at the inability of traditional policymaking to keep up with the unprecedented speed and scale of technological change. In that governance vacuum, corporate leaders are recognizing a growing crisis of trust with the public. Rising consumer demands and employee activism require more aggressive self-regulation.
In response, some companies are creating new offices or executive positions, such as a chief ethics officer, focused on ensuring that ethical considerations are integrated across product development and deployment. Over the past year, the World Economic Forum has convened these new “ethics executives” from over 40 technology companies from across the world to discuss shared challenges of implementing such a far-reaching and nebulous mandate. These executives are working through some of the most contentious issues in the public eye, and ways to drive cultural change within organizations that pride themselves on their willingness to “move fast and break things.”"
A Practical Guide for Building Ethical Tech
Companies
are hiring "chief ethics officers," hoping to regain public trust. The
World Economic Forum's head of technology policy has a few words of
advice.
""Techlash," the rising public animosity toward big tech companies and their impacts on society, will continue to define the state of the tech world in 2020. Government leaders, historically the stewards of protecting society from the impacts of new innovations, are becoming exasperated at the inability of traditional policymaking to keep up with the unprecedented speed and scale of technological change. In that governance vacuum, corporate leaders are recognizing a growing crisis of trust with the public. Rising consumer demands and employee activism require more aggressive self-regulation.
In response, some companies are creating new offices or executive positions, such as a chief ethics officer, focused on ensuring that ethical considerations are integrated across product development and deployment. Over the past year, the World Economic Forum has convened these new “ethics executives” from over 40 technology companies from across the world to discuss shared challenges of implementing such a far-reaching and nebulous mandate. These executives are working through some of the most contentious issues in the public eye, and ways to drive cultural change within organizations that pride themselves on their willingness to “move fast and break things.”"
Sunday, January 19, 2020
The National Archives was wrong to alter history. Fortunately, it reversed course.; The Washington Post, January 18, 2020
, The Washington Post; The National Archives was wrong to alter history. Fortunately, it reversed course.
"This editorial has been updated.
And
how reassuring to read the Archives’ forthright — and, for Washington,
extraordinary — statement on Saturday: “We made a mistake. . . . We have
removed the current display. . . . We apologize.”
The Post’s Joe Heim reported
Friday that the Archives made numerous alterations to a photograph
included in an exhibit dedicated to the 100th anniversary of women’s
suffrage. The photo shows the massively attended Women’s March held in
January 2017 to protest President Trump’s inauguration. But Archives
curators altered signs being carried by the women to delete references
to Mr. Trump — and thereby they seriously distorted the meaning of the
event. “A placard that proclaims ‘God Hates Trump’ has ‘Trump’ blotted
out so that it reads ‘God Hates,’ ” The Post reported. But “God Hates”
was not the message of the protester carrying that sign. Another sign
that reads “Trump & GOP — Hands Off Women” has the word ‘Trump”
blurred out.
In
their initial weak defense, Archives officials noted that they had not
altered articles they preserve for safekeeping, only a photograph for a
temporary exhibit. We did not find that reassuring, as we said in the
first published version of this editorial. Photo alteration long has
been the preserve of authoritarian governments, most famously Soviet
dictator Josef Stalin, who erased comrades from historical photographs one by one as he had them executed.
The
United States government should never play the same game, even on a
small scale. The goal in this case may have been not to irritate the
snowflake in chief residing up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Archives.
After all, the Women’s March harks back to one of the foundational lies
of the Trump presidency, when he falsely insisted, and insisted that his
officials likewise falsely insist, that his inauguration crowd was the
largest of all time. Mr. Trump’s refusal to back down then set the
pattern for his presidency: Lies are acceptable, and evidence can be
ignored.
Rather
than remind anyone of such unpleasantness, the Archives chose to
falsify history and pretend that the Women’s March had nothing to do
with Mr. Trump. That, as we wrote, offered a terrible lesson to young
visitors to the exhibit about how democracies deal with news, with
history — with truth.
Now
the Archives has presented a far more uplifting lesson. Admitting and
correcting a mistake are usually a lot harder for any of us than erring
in the first place. But in their statement, officials did not flinch.
The Archives will replace the altered image “as soon as possible with
one that uses the unaltered image. We apologize, and will immediately
start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that
this does not happen again.”
Good for them."
The Washington Post; National Archives says it was wrong to alter images; The Washington Post, January 18, 2020
and , The Washington Post; National Archives says it was wrong to alter images
"Officials
at the National Archives on Saturday said they had removed from display
an altered photo from the 2017 Women’s March in which signs held by
marchers critical of President Trump had been blurred.
In tweets on Saturday, the museum apologized and said: “We made a mistake.”
“As
the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been
completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without
alteration,” one of the tweets said.
“This
photo is not an archival record held by the @usnatarchives, but one we
licensed to use as a promotional graphic,” it said in another tweet.
“Nonetheless, we were wrong to alter the image.”...
Marchers in the 2017 photograph by Mario Tama of Getty Images were shown
carrying a variety of signs, at least four of which were altered by the
museum. A placard that proclaimed “God Hates Trump” had Trump blotted
out so that it read “God Hates.” A sign that read “Trump & GOP —
Hands Off Women” had the word Trump blurred. Signs with messages that
referenced women’s anatomy were also digitally altered."
The National Archives used to stand for independence. That mission has been compromised.; The Washington Post, January 18, 2020
, The Washington Post; The National Archives used to stand for independence. That mission has been compromised.
"Now the Archives has foolishly compromised the public’s sense of its independence, so artfully embedded in its landmark building. By blurring out details from protest signs
in an image of the 2017 Women’s March, including the name of President
Trump and references to the female anatomy — a decision the Archives
publicly apologized for
on Saturday — it has damaged the faith many Americans, particularly
women, may have had in its role as an impartial conservator of the
nation’s records. It has unnecessarily squandered something that cannot
easily be regained.
There must be consequences.
An
Archives spokeswoman told The Washington Post the changes to a
large-format image included in an exhibition about women’s suffrage were
made “so as not to engage in current political controversy.” If that
was the intent, they obviously failed, embroiling the institution in
exactly the controversy they say they wanted to avoid. But no matter the
proferred explanation or statement of apology,
the decision indicates a lack of leadership and distinct confusion
about the mission at the Archives. If the Archives wants to teach
Americans about history, then it must be scrupulously honest in its
presentation of all documentary evidence."
Saturday, January 18, 2020
National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump; The Washington Post, January 17, 2020
, The Washington Post; National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump
""There's no reason for the National Archives to ever digitally alter a
historic photograph," Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said.
"If they don't want to use a specific image, then don't use it. But to
confuse the public is reprehensible. The head of the Archives has to
very quickly fix this damage. A lot of history is messy, and there's
zero reason why the Archives can't be upfront about a photo from a
women's march."...
Karin
Wulf, a history professor at the College of William & Mary and
executive director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History
and Culture, said that to ensure transparency, the Archives at the very
least should have noted prominently that the photo had been altered.
"The
Archives has always been self-conscious about its responsibility to
educate about source material, and in this case they could have said, or
should have said, 'We edited this image in the following way for the
following reasons,' " she said. "If you don't have transparency and
integrity in government documents, democracy doesn't function.""
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