“Pamela Samuelson played a lead role in voicing academic authors’ concerns over the Google Books settlement. That advocacy made an impact: Judge Denny Chin cited her writing in his ruling rejecting Google’s deal with authors and publishers, who were represented by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers …” (more)
[Marc Parry, Chronicle of Higher Education, 23 March]
“Tuesday, a federal judge tossed out the proposed settlement in the lawsuit over Google’s vast book-digitization project. Still, research libraries with a stake in that work said they were undeterred …” (more)
[Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education, 23 March]
“Her case is the latest example of the increasingly frequent phenomenon of the litigious student, and it raises some very important legal issues …” (more)
[Eoin O’Dell, Cearta, 23 March]
“A scam involving a Perth university employee charging Indian students thousands of dollars for fake English test results stretched across the country, with one student flying from Queensland to obtain dodgy marks …” (more)
[Debbie Guest, The Australian, 24 March]
“Readers of this blog will by now be well familiar with the Irish ‘employment control framework’, the state-imposed mechanism for restricting the capacity of universities to hire and promote staff, even within budget …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 23 March]
“The British government provided details on Tuesday of long-anticipated changes in immigration policy that are expected to cut the number of foreign students in Britain by 25% …” (more)
[Aisha Labi, Chronicle of Higher Education, 22 March]
“Government to close fake colleges, bar students with poor English skills and bring in new rules on staying after courses end …” (more)
[Guardian, 22 March]
“From September 2012 universities in England and Wales will be able to charge up to £9,000 in tuition fees per year, and many universities have already signalled their intention to charge the full amount. This will change the way that students see their universities. As costs rise for so will expectations. Students will be more focused on making sure they get their money’s worth. How? One way will be by looking to enforce their contractual rights …” (more)
[Julian Sladdin, OUT-LAW News, 22 March]
“More than 150 of the world’s foremost academics have intervened in a simmering row over the banning of debates on the Israel-Palestine question at one of France’s universities, calling the move a threat to free speech …” (more)
[Kim Willsher, Guardian, 21 March]
“Eight people were arrested on St Patrick’s Day in the Holylands for offences including disorderly behaviour, criminal damage and assault. There were also a number of people injured and taken to hospital for treatment …” (more)
[Kerri-Anne Campbell, The Gown, 21 March]
“According to Article 11 of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 16 August 1789, the right to free expression of ideas and opinion is one of the most precious human rights …” (more)
[Laurent Pech, EJIL: Talk!, 21 March]
“A storm broke on February 26th when word got out that publisher HarperCollins had unilaterally decided to limit the ‘shelf life’ of its ebooks catalogue. Overdrive, a major distributor of ebooks in the public library world, found itself caught between the publishing powerhouse and a furious library community when it was announced that library loans of ebooks would be capped at 26 …” (more)
[slaw, 21 March]
“Incredibly, the illegal disciplinary statute that caused this ruckus and ruined many of our lives is still on the web, 4 years after being ruled illegal by the High court and 9 years after the Labour court demanded revisions ‘within two months’ …” (more)
[University Blog on Academic Tenure in Ireland, 20 March]
“Reading about evolution has made me think about why some professions grow and thrive while others die out. I’m intrigued by the expansion in numbers of people regulating the activities of researchers …” (more)
[BishopBlog, 20 March]
“As recent events in Libya unfolded, one story that got a fair amount of air time was the donation to the London School of Economics of money from Saif Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader. Inevitably of course further investigations by journalists have revealed other donations and grants from the region …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 20 March]
“In recent years, across a number of countries, there have been occasional court cases involving actions brought by students against their universities …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 19 March]
“Further doubt has been cast on Scottish Government plans to charge European students up to £1700 a year to stave off the current crisis in university funding. Academics and student representatives argued that the proposals from Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, could be open to challenge on the grounds of discrimination …” (more)
[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 18 March]
“Liverpool John Moores University has threatened to sue a Conservative MP after he criticised its relations with the Libyan regime, Index on Censorship has learned …” (more)
[Index on Censorship, 18 March]
“… Professor Richard Barnett paid tribute to the efforts of around 80 volunteers from the University of Ulster, QUB and Belfast Metropolitan College yesterday alongside community and political representatives, the PSNI and Belfast City Council to minimise anti-social behaviour on St Patrick’s Day …” (more)
[University Of Ulster, 18 March]
“Eight people were arrested in south Belfast’s Holylands on St Patrick’s Day. They were detained for offences including disorderly behaviour, criminal damage and assault. A large amount of alcohol was confiscated by police …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 18 March]
Ninth Level Ireland 