July 16th, 2008 Brian Herzog
One of the local television stations in Boston, WHDH 7, just aired an investigative story into libraries:
Theaters and video stores usually require an age of 17 or older to see or rent an R-Rated release, unless there is parental permission. But something altogether different is going on in some local libraries. 7News’ Jonathan Hall investigates.
Read the transcript, or watch the video.
This is similar to the situation we had here a little while ago (except without the undercover investigators), which prompted us to put label ratings on VHS and DVDs when possible. And it looks like the Boston Public Library, “in line with American Library Association guidelines,” is on the same page as us.
Libraries do not raise children, we provide access to information. Parents raise children, and we do what we can to support that need - while at the same time supporting the informational and educational needs of everyone else in the community.
I found this news report interesting, but a bit sensationalized. I’m sure as long as there are parents and children (and news outlets in need of ratings), issues like this will never die.
Tags: children, dvd, dvds, libraries, Library, movies, mpaa, parents, public, rating, ratings, television, vhs, video, videos, whdh See Also
Posted under Library, Service | 2 Comments »
December 4th, 2007 Brian Herzog
In each of the DVD copies of “Live Free or Die Harder” purchased by my library, we found the little insert shown here.
I’d never seen this before, but it is instructions on how to download a digital copy of the movie, from the DVD itself, to your computer (or portable device through your computer).
That’s novel. It looks like a one-shot deal, as in, you can download it once (using the code on the card, which is internet-verified), and that’s it. No downloading to your computer then sync’ing to a device later, or to multiple devices. But still, for those people who purchase the DVD, it’s a nice thing to offer an easily-accessible digital format.
But bad that it can only be transferred once.
And bad that it requires an internet-verified code.
And bad that it doesn’t work on iPods, PSPs, or Zunes.
And bad that it’s yet another failed attempt at trying to control how people use the products they purchase.
digital rights, digital wrongs, drm, dvd, dvds, libraries, library, live free or die harder, public libraries, public library
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Posted under Library, Technology | 1 Comment »
