TECH TIPS
Web site battles copyright lawyers
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Almost since people started putting up their own Web pages, lawyers have been sending them threatening letters. Just ask "Harry Potter" fans who heard from Warner Bros. last year when they created fan sites that the studio said infringed on its trademarks. "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" fans have received similar "cease-and-desist" notices.
And last summer, Cindy Cohn, legal director of the digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, knew things had gotten out of hand. Even her organization — which often defends Net users in copyright cases — received a threatening letter from the company that owns the trademark for Barney, the purple dinosaur.
"The ability to scare people from speaking out looked to me like it was being abused," Cohn said.
She's hoping to change that with a site the EFF launched with four law schools. The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse does not provide legal advice, but it does provide examples and legal definitions to help educate Net citizens about their rights.
Attorneys often send letters saying Web pages contain illegal content, usually involving copyrights and trademark infringement. Many of the claims are unfounded and scare people into taking down material that is protected by the First Amendment, Cohn said. "Most of the people running Web sites don't have a phalanx of lawyers they can call in every time someone sends them scary lawyer letters."
EFF gets hundreds of inquiries a year. The donor-supported organization doesn't have the resources to get involved with all individual cases, but the new site should be a valuable resource. "Hopefully this will be a place where folks can go when they get one of these scary letters and learn whether the monster has fangs."
Shredders cheaper, tougher than ever
Maybe your finances haven't been quite up to snuff when it comes to the law? Might need to get rid of a few papers around the house before tax time?
Could a shredder be in your future?
With news reports showing boxes of shredded documents being removed from Enron headquarters in Houston, the handy little office machine is once again in the spotlight. Remember those good old days when Ollie North and his secretary, Fawn Hall, shredded government papers connected to the Iran-contra scandal? Well, those days are back.
But now shredders are smaller, stronger (some can destroy CDs and floppy disks), more affordable (some under $20) and not just for the big shots in Washington.
Here is a sampling of shredders available for personal and small-office needs. List prices are shown. Prices at retail or online may be lower.
$79.99
Shreds 3 to 4 sheets into paper chips that measure 5/32" x 1-1/2". Handles staples.
$229
Shreds 7 to 8 sheets into paper chips that measure 5/32" x 2". Shreds up to 350 sheets a day. Handles staples.
• Fellowes Cross-Cut Shredder PS60C-2
$169.99
Shreds up to 7 sheets at once. Shreds up to 350 sheets a day. Has 6.5-gallon capacity.
• Fellowes Powerhouse 1000 Straight-Cut Shredder
$499.99
Shreds up to 18 sheets at once. Shreds up to 3,000 sheets a day. Has 28-gallon capacity.
