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Top Stories: Jan. 12, 2010

Google in China; Google vs. AP; Facebook vs. Privacy

by Danny Wool on Jan 12, 2010
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267 Acres of Redwoods Saved
The struggling economy may actually benefit the environment. Redtree Properties, a timber company that operates in the Santa Cruz Mountains, has agreed to sell 267 acres of second growth redwoods to the Sempervirens land trust fund, which eventually wants to transform the area into an extension of Castle Rock State Park, located south of Saratoga.

The deal came just in time, since about one-third of the trees on the property had already been marked for logging. But the demand for lumber has dropped because of the recession, and lumber companies are increasingly selling their properties to conservationists.

The land consists of two parcels: one 107-acre area adjacent to the Skyline-to-the-Sea hiking trail, and another 160-acre area plot in San Mateo County.

The Sempervirens Fund, which purchased the land, was founded over a century ago by photographer Andrew P. Hill. His efforts to save the local redwood trees eventually formed the basis of California's state park system.
Read More at the Mercury News.

Google Ready to Apologize to Chinese Authors
Isn't it ironic? The booming Chinese economy owes a lot to its flagrant violation of patents and copyright rules, making cheap knock-offs of everything from blockbuster DVDs to high-end watches and handbags to computer programs. But when someone tries to beat them at their own game, and do it legally at that, they run to the courts shouting “foul.”

That just happened recently in a spat between Google and the Chinese Writers' Association. As part of its plan to create a virtual library of all the world's books, Google Books must inevitably include the vast literature of China. The country has a literary tradition extending back almost 3,000 years, and began using movable type to print books mor than four centuries before the West. Just last year, China was named the Guest of Honor at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair. So there are plenty of books to scan.

But the Chinese Writers' Association claims that Google Books violates its authors' copyrights. One author, Mian Mian, even tried to sue Google over the project. Ironically, some of Mian Mian's books are actually banned in China because of the way they tackle sensitive topics, but that didn't stop her from seeking China's protection, at least for her acceptable books.

Now Google is admitting that "our communication with Chinese writers has not been good enough." It is preparing to apologize to the Writers' Association, and will list all the contemporary Chinese works it already has posted. It even removed Mian Mian's work, and agreed to work out a settlement with other Chinese authors. If only things could be worked out as smoothly with American author Ursuala LeGuin.


Google News Stops Hosting AP Stories
People who turn to Google News every morning to check out the headlines will be disappointed to find that the site no longer hosts stories from the Associated Press. The search engine is still in the midst of sensitive—and often contentious—negotiations with the cooperative news agency. The AP is the latest of a series of news agencies that are fighting back against the aggregation of news stories on the Internet, following the likes of Rupert Murdoch.

Last November, Dean Singleton, chair of AP and CEO of NewsMedia, (which owns the Mercury News and many other Bay Area newspapers) announced that he plans on blocking Google from accessing their content. At the time he said that "We can no longer stand by and watch others walk off with our work under misguided legal theories."
Read More at the Business Journal.


Facebook Founder Has an About Face on Privacy
Some Facebook users were up in arms when the social networking site changed its default user privacy settings. Speaking at the Crunchie awards in San Francisco, Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg justified the decision with his social observation that privacy is no longer a "social norm."

He said he viewed the change "as a really important thing," and what he would have chosen to do if he was starting the site anew, and not in his Harvard dorm back in 2003. As for complaints that the interface to restore privacy settings is too complicated for many users, he said that one of the company's goals is redesigning that interface.

Some have claimed that Facebook's decision was part of a deal that the company recently made with Google and Bing to update profile changes. A similar deal with search engines has been a major source of revenue for Twitter. But Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said that Facebook is not making any money off the new arrangements, while Microsoft and Google have refused to comment.

But the new privacy rules are not the only controversy facing Facebook. An anonymous Facebook employee recently claimed that the company's engineers have a secret "master password" that allows them access to all profiles on the site, and that even erased information can be found through the site's backups.

While that may not be a bad thing per se, what is more worrying is the claim that some employees have abused this access and been fired for it. But it still means that Facebook's claims to protect user's privacy are more hype than practice.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.
Read More at the Rumpus.


NAACP to Boycott Annual Freedom Train
For years, the MLK Association of Santa Clara has marked Martin Luther King Junior Day with a Freedom Train ride through Silicon Valley. This year will be no different, except that the NAACP won't be aboard. They announced that they will be boycotting the event because this year the San Jose Police Officer’s Association is being listed as a chief sponsor.

The NAACP has long claimed that the SJPD regularly violates the rights of minorities in San Jose. "You cannot buy civil rights. You have to work at it," said Chapter President Jethro Moore II, referring to the POA's donation of $5,000 to the event. This has not deterred POA President George Beattie, who insists that the group will continue to sponsor local events, regardless of the controversy that ensures.

And there is controversy. In a recent op ed piece in the Merc, repeated on Protect San Jose, outgoing POA head Bobby Lopez argues that most arrests of Latinos are discretionary arrests resulting from alcohol abuse: "Cultural factors, not police practices, are the major driver for Latino arrests for public intoxication," he writes, defending himself against accusations of racism by stating that he himself is Latino. "In particular," he goes on to write, "Mexican-American men are more vulnerable to binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse than males of other ethnic backgrounds—even other Latino groups like Cubans and Central Americans.

But apparently, not everyone disagrees. In fact, the MLK Association of Santa Clara is honoring Lopez on the train ride for helping to sponsor the event.
Read More at KCBS.
Read More at Protect San Jose.
Read More at KLIV.


New "Tax Estimator" Tool Appears on County Website
Property owners in Santa Clara County have been waiting for months to find out whether they are owed a tax refund or have to pay more. Though the county has automatically reassessed the taxes on 90,000 properties—20 percent of all properties in the county—there are still record numbers of people submitting reassessment requests, resulting in an enormous backlog.

But things may get easier with a new "Supplemental Tax Estimator" tool now available on the county's website. The tool is intended to help property owners anticipate additional tax payments that will be due on their properties, or alternately, to help them get the refunds owed them.

County Assessor Larry Stone says that there could be many refunds. Nevertheless, he cautions people that the new tool is an "Estimator," and that the precise sums owed in either direction will be sent in a formal notice by mail.
Read More at The Mercury News.



More Arrests to Be Made in Ramirez Death
When the police charged Jennifer Bautista with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of her former girlfriend Letty Martinez, it would have seemed that the case was closed. It hasn't. The SJPD is still looking for the vehicle that led to Martinez's death, and has even issued an arrest warrant for Bautista's parents, Wilmar and Elizabeth Bautista of Sunnyvale. They claim the couple lied to them about their daughter's whereabouts in the early days of the investigation.

Meanwhile, Bautista remains in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. Though she appeared in court yesterday, she did not enter a plea, because she has not yet found a lawyer to represent her. If convicted, Bautista could face seven years in prison.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.



by Danny Wool on Jan 12, 2010
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