Pamela Samuelson Remains Wary of Google Book Deal

-CNET News, November 16, 2009 by Elinor Mills
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10398995-93.html

“The risk of price gouging over time is very high and universities in particular have experienced excessive increases in prices of scholarly journals over the last few years,” she said.

-The Wall Street Journal, Law Blog, November 17, 2009 by Ashby Jones
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/17/the-google-books-settlement-a-lawsuit-ripe-for-congress/

“Nobody should get a license to orphans without congressional action,” said Pamela Samuelson, a professor at UC-Berkeley School of Law. “This is a legislative matter — you shouldn’t use a class action for that.”

-The Huffington Post, November 17, 2009 by Pamela Samuelson
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-samuelson/new-google-book-settlemen_b_358544.html

To my mind, the most serious problem with GBS 1.0 has not been cured by GBS 2.0. Google will still get a de facto monopoly right to commercialize all out-of-print books, including the orphans, through the class action settlement process. No one else can get a comparable license, and hence no one else can offer a comprehensive database of books to allow competition in the market for institutional subscriptions.

-Library Journal, November 18, 2009 by Norman Oder
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6707799.html

“While I think that there were some substantial changes that were made to it, it more had to do with getting foreign rights holders out of the settlement and trying to respond at least in part to issues that the Department of Justice raised,” Samuelson said.

Ty Alper Backs Revised Lethal Injection Procedure

-KPTM-TV Fox 42, November 16, 2009 by Meghan Youker
http://www.kptm.com/Global/story.asp?S=11515542

“I don’t think any state wanted to be the first to get rid of a practice that they’ve been clinging to for years, but now that Ohio has said we’re going to do this, we’re going to make executions more humane, I would hope that Nebraska officials would take a serious look at that and do the same,” Alper said.

-KETV Omaha, November 16, 2009 by Andrew Ozaki
http://www.ketv.com/news/21633607/detail.html

“Six out of the last 11 people executed in California were likely awake and conscious as the excruciatingly painful potassium chloride entered their veins,” said Ty Alper.

-Omaha World-Herald, November 17, 2009 by Paul Hammel
http://www.omaha.com/article/20091117/NEWS01/711179944/-1/frontpage

“They’ve been sentenced to death. They weren’t sentenced to torture,” said Ty Alper, associate director of the Death Penalty Clinic.

-The Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 23, 2009 by Aaron Marshall
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/new_lethal_injection_policies.html

“I think this is something that is pretty well accepted,” he said. “It’s very similar to the way that animals are euthanized—there’s been a lot of testimony about it, and the effects of the anesthetic are pretty well known.”

John Yoo Says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Case Threatens National Security

The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2009 by John Yoo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574537370665832850.html#printMode

Prosecutors will be forced to reveal U.S. intelligence on KSM, the methods and sources for acquiring its information, and his relationships to fellow al Qaeda operatives. The information will enable al Qaeda to drop plans and personnel whose cover is blown. It will enable it to detect our means of intelligence-gathering, and to push forward into areas we know nothing about.

Elisabeth Semel Approves Ohio’s Death Penalty Procedure, with Caveat

Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2009 by Carol J. Williams
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lethal-injection14-2009nov14,0,2353684,print.story

“Ohio has taken an important step by abandoning the barbaric practice of paralyzing inmates before executing them,” said Elisabeth Semel, a law professor…. Semel added, however, that more medical information will be needed before courts can determine whether the one-drug method satisfies the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

Aaron Edlin Thinks AMD Came Out Ahead in Intel Settlement

Law.com / The Recorder, November 13, 2009 by Zusha Elinson
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202435428489&Intel_Agrees_to_Pay_AMD__Billion_in_Sudden_Settlement&hbxlogin=1

“The business concessions could be more valuable than the money,” said Edlin, who was not involved in the case. “I would judge from the settlement that the parties thought AMD had a very good likelihood of winning the trial. I would say that AMD, from what we know, appears to come out with what they wanted.”

Ty Alper Commends Ohio’s New One Drug Lethal Injection Procedure

-The New York Times, November 13, 2009 by Ian Urbina
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/us/14ohio.html?_r=4

“The hope is that other states will realize that there is no need to paralyze inmates before executing them,” he said, “and that, in fact, doing so risks a horribly torturous execution.”

-The Associated Press, November 14, 2009 by Julie Carr Smyth
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjqm49b-nlUteJMPUmp_qKOuxu6gD9BUTUPO0

“This is a significant step forward,” said Ty Alper, associate director of the Death Penalty Clinic…. “Paralyzing inmates before executing them — so we can’t tell whether they are suffering — is a barbaric practice, and Ohio should be commended for stopping it.”

-Toledo Blade, November 14, 2009 by Jim Provance
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091114/NEWS24/911140361

“Ohio had said that everything was on the table, and getting rid of the second two drugs is something that lawyers have recommended many times in other cases,” said Ty Alper.

-Delaware Online, November 15, 2009 by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091115/NEWS01/911150358/Ohio-changes-execution-method

“If tomorrow every death-penalty state got rid of the second two drugs in their protocols, certainly the Eighth Amendment concerns would be significantly alleviated,” said Ty Alper.

Kevin Quinn Tracks Supreme Court Justices’ Ideological Evolution

The Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2009 by Carl Bialik
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125789565331042445.html#printMode

“The famous statistician George Box once wrote that ‘all models are wrong, but some are useful,’ ” Kevin Quinn, a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied changing attitudes of Supreme Court justices, said in an email.”I think that is a useful way to approach what we’re doing.”