approval
Google throws down gauntlet: no more book settlement changes
Yesterday, the parties involved in the Google book settlement made a series of filings, all of which requested that the Amended Settlement Agreement be ratified in its current form. The last time around, when faced with objections from groups ranging from the US Department of Justice to authors, the parties withdrew their initial settlement in order to make the changes that produced the ASA. Now, faced with many of the same objections from the same exact groups, Google and the plaintiffs have decided they’ve gone as far as they intend to, and will fight for the approval of the ASA.
Continue reading »P2P cutoff "reserve powers" get reconsideration in UK
UK lawmakers behind the controversial Digital Economy bill have agreed to “refine” provisions that would allow the Secretary of State to modify sanctions against P2P users at any time without Parliamentary approval. Though the Department for Business insists that it’s not backing off from the provision, it is considering ways to narrow the scope of power. The Digital Economy bill was introduced late last year and is meant to modernize the UK’s approach to everything from copyrights to broadband, video game ratings, and domain names.
Continue reading »FDA using weak clinical studies to approve cardiac implants
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for approving drugs for medical uses, and the agency has developed a set of expectations for using results from randomized clinical studies to determine (with varying degrees of success) whether a drug is safe and effective. But advances in materials science and miniaturization have led to an explosion in the use of medical implants, which do everything from acting as a replacement for balky knees to restarting arrhythmic hearts. Two new evaluations of the clinical studies used during the implant approval process suggests that the approval process for implants isn’t nearly as rigorous as it might be.
Continue reading »Googlebooks re-deal won’t let orphans go
Revised pact frees foreign works (UK excepted) Google and its fellow parties in the ongoing Google Book Search case have released a revised incarnation of their proposed settlement, as they attempt to win court approval of the controversial pact.…
Continue reading »