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By Sabrina I. Pacifici - bespacific@earthlink.net
Free weekday coverage on current issues
April 17, 2007
Headlines - Use of Text Messaging for Emergency Alerts on the Rise
- FTC Unveils New Web Site Design
- More Class Action Cases Handled by Federal Courts
- FTC and DOJ Issue Report on Antitrust and Intellectual Property
- Gadgets Presentation from 2007 Computers in Libraries Conference
- Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005
- Estimated Cost of the Administration's Proposal to Increase the Army's and the Marine Corps's Personnel Levels
- World Health Organization Database Targets Tropical Diseases
- Report: How U.S. Companies Select International Outside Counsel
 Use of Text Messaging for Emergency Alerts on the Rise Free WSL article looks at Texting When There's Trouble: "The ubiquity of relatively new technologies allows electronic alerts to reach more people faster than ever before. In the aftermath of several recent disasters -- including the tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, and the terrorist attacks in New York, London and Madrid -- a growing number of governments, communities, school systems and universities have begun using automated electronic-alert systems that can send voice, email or text messages to residents and students, in addition to traditional broadcast emergency messages. The services mean that people no longer need to be listening to radio, watching TV, logged on to their email or near a home phone to be warned of trouble." FTC Unveils New Web Site Design FTC FAQ: "The Federal Trade Commission today unveiled a redesigned Web site to enhance consumers' ability to find the information they want quickly and easily. As the federal agency that works directly with and for consumers, the FTC strives to be accessible and transparent, with information that is clear, simple, and easy to access. The Web site acts as a clearinghouse for all of the FTC's actions, from reports and surveys, through policy recommendations and law enforcement actions, to consumer and business guidance. The new design organizes information according to the various functions of how the FTC serves the public, with tabs for consumer protection and competition, and the branches of the FTC that support the agency's overall mission, such as economics, policy, and international. The site consolidates all of the FTC's information in Spanish, making it easier to navigate. The information, whether in English or Spanish, is written in plain-language to make it accessible to everyone." More Class Action Cases Handled by Federal Courts Press release: " Federal courts are handling more class action cases since the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) was enacted, a study shows. "In the 16 months since CAFA went into effect on February 18, 2005...we find a substantial increase in class action activity based on diversity of citizenship jurisdiction," said the third in a series of interim reports from the Federal Judicial Center." The Impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Third Interim Report to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules , Thomas E. Willging; Emery Lee, April 16, 2007, 26 pages (Available On-line Only): "The Federal Judicial Center has undertaken a long-term study of the impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) on the resources of the federal courts. The third interim report was delivered to the committee on April 16, 2007 for discussion at its April 19 meeting and reports on the results of statistical tests of the impact of CAFA on federal courts across the country." FTC and DOJ Issue Report on Antitrust and Intellectual Property Press release: "The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) today issued a joint report, Antitrust Enforcement and Intellectual Property Rights: Promoting Innovation and Competition, April 2007, to inform consumers, businesses, and intellectual property rights holders about the agencies' competition views with respect to a wide range of activities involving intellectual property. The report discusses issues including: refusals to license patents, collaborative standard setting, patent pooling, intellectual property licensing, the tying and bundling of intellectual property rights, and methods of extending market power conferred by a patent beyond the patent's expiration." See also: The Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property Consumer Information: Promoting Competition, Protecting Consumers: A Plain English Guide to Antitrust Laws Gadgets Presentation from 2007 Computers in Libraries Conference On April 16, 2007 Barbara Fullerton, Manager, Librarian Relations, 10-K Wizard, Sabrina Pacifici, Editor & Publisher, LLRX.com and beSpacific.com and Aaron Schmidt, Director, North Plains Public Library, presented their always popular round-robin Gadgets presentation at Computers in Libraries 2007. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005 Press release: "...Total emissions of the six main greenhouse gases in 2005 were equivalent to 7,260 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. The report indicates that overall emissions have grown by 16 percent from 1990 to 2005, while the U.S. economy has grown by 55 percent over the same period." Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005 (April 2007) USEPA #430-R-07-002. Read or download the entire Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005 (PDF, 458 pages). For faster access, individual report sections are posted on this webpage, for example the Executive Summary (PDF, 28 pages). World Health Organization Database Targets Tropical Diseases World Health Organization Drug Target Prioritization Database: TDR Targets Database Identification and ranking of targets against neglected tropical diseases. seattlepi.com: "The Web site, TDRtargets.org, focuses on many diseases that have not been high on the pharmaceutical industry's priority list because most of them largely afflict poor people. Yet, taken all together, these diseases cause billions of people to fall ill and about 6 million deaths a year, according to WHO estimates." Report: How U.S. Companies Select International Outside Counsel ALM: "How do companies select counsel in foreign countries? What tools and resources do companies use to select overseas counsel? What are the "must-have" qualities for overseas outside counsel? See ALM's new study, How U.S. Companies Select International Outside Counsel."
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