[ALAC] The end of time?

[Evan Leibovitch]

Hello everyone,

I call your attention to this post on The Economist
<http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/10/copyright-and-time-zones>regarding
the database of timezones used by the world's computers. Apparently a US
company has issued a takedown order based on a copyright claim.

Further in the article there is mention that IANA was considered a possible
custodian of the database, hence the relevance here. The article also
suggests that the takedown notice might be invalid since timezones are facts
and not expression -- but that this won't be tested in court.

Is there anyone here that understands the issue better than I? Is this
something in which At-Large can -- or should -- play a role?

More info can be found -- including detauls of efforts to recreate the
database -- are found in this blog
post<http://blog.joda.org/2011/10/today-time-zone-database-was-closed.html>
.

- Evan