Who Owns Information?: From Privacy To Public Access [Hardcover]

Anne W. Branscomb (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 046509175X | ISBN-13: 978-0465091751 | Publication Date: June 8, 1994 | Edition: First edition.

Drawing on eleven case studies, a communications lawyer addresses the issue of who owns information, explaining the ramifications of the ownership of medical records, telephone numbers, personal names, culture, computer software, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Legal battles pitting individuals seeking privacy against information-based businesses have erupted over unwanted direct-mail solicitations, intrusive telemarketing phone calls and personal medical reports. Harvard-based policy analyst and lawyer Branscomb tackles these and other issues in a valuable, succinct guide to struggles over information assets in our electronic world. In nine case studies, she delves into fuzzy legal areas such as the new realm of electronic messages (e-mail, online information networks), protection of computer software, privacy issues engendered by the advent of Caller ID phone services and the clash between backyard satellite dish owners and cable TV programmers who scramble their images. Chapters also cover the rights to videocassettes and photographs, the federal government's computerized databases and scholars' struggle to gain access to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Demonstrating the glaring inadequacy of current laws to protect information assets and to safeguard individuals' rights, Branscomb urges readers to voice their concerns to their elected representatives so that more comprehensive and humane laws can be passed.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

What could be, to put it mildly, an extremely dry and confusing topic-the rights of persons both to access information and to maintain private ownership of it at the same time-has instead become the basis of an engrossing volume. Communications lawyer Branscomb focuses on several questions of information access, showing how personal rights conflict with those of society and what remedies should be available. She confronts problems that everyone can identify with in such areas as direct mail and telephone marketing, credit reports, and medical and personal records. The author then moves on to computer software and, in the most fascinating and thought-provoking chapter, religious information (who really owns the Dead Sea Scrolls? Can they be copyrighted?). Extremely well researched with an abundance of citations to statutes and major cases, yet immensely absorbing and written for lay readers, this is highly recommended for all collections.
Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; First edition. edition (June 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 046509175X
• ISBN-13: 978-0465091751
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,069,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Benchmark--The Post Office Owns Your Name, April 7, 2000

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Who Owns Information?: From Privacy To Public Access (Paperback)

This is a unique book by a very respected scholar. It methodically goes, chapter by chapter, over who owns your name and address (the U.S. Postal Service does), your telephone number, your medical history, your image, your electronic messages, video entertainment, religious information, computer software, and government information. The answers are not always obvious. A real benchmark.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, but dated, February 14, 2004

By 

Novathinker (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Who Owns Information?: From Privacy To Public Access (Paperback)

Information privacy is a dynamic field. This is a good introductory book to key concepts. It is also a nice guide to key legal decisions that have influenced current information privacy policy in the United States. The legal cases are presented in an approachable, narrative form -- not a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo. The only shortcoming of this book is that it was published in 1994. A lot has changed since then. Even so, I recommend it as a starting point for those just stepping into the realm of information privacy.

4.0 out of 5 stars ok; interesting perspective, April 7, 2007

By 

Mr. Nathaniel Singer (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Owns Information?: From Privacy To Public Access (Paperback)

You need to understand that information and knowledge are the key to overcoming or finding the most efficient way to solve a problem. Humanity's infrastructure has created a tremendous amount of infrastructure. It is critical, for the person who would be effective, to take a perspective of where the information may lie and how to best access it.

This book is not the most focused response to approaching this very fundamental problem - it is more a technical study for a subquestion in information science and policy. But it IS something that will begin to steer one in the right direction of developing a perspective of how to map knowledge in society - who owns it, where it is in society, and how to begin accessing it. The necessary skills are that this helps with is in developing a nascent understanding of the economics of information and knowledge sharing.