We’re happy to announce that we’ve just released our first title in eBook form: United States Code -Title 17 – Copyrights. It is now available for download from the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook stores for $5.99.

The LII plans to offer the most full-featured primary legal materials available in two popular eBook formats. All LII titles feature live cross-references with fully-functional navigation between references within each title. Out-of-title cross-references and references to supporting notes and documents link directly to the LII web site. Each eBook title is updated annually, but links to the LII web site put the most recent official version and an array of updating and research tools at your disposal. The text of LII eBook editions is beautifully formatted and indented, making it far easier to read than other e-book editions.

One of the great advantages of eBooks over apps or websites is that regular users can bookmark frequent passages, highlight important text, and even annotate sections of the text with their own notes…just like scribbling or using sticky notes in the bulky desk copy! Depending on the e-reader you choose, relevant passages can also be sent to colleagues or shared online. The Amazon version will work on all Kindle devices and within the Kindle application on your PC, smartphone, or tablet. The Barnes & Noble version will work on all Nook devices and within the Nook application on your PC, smartphone, or tablet. Plus, the Barnes & Noble version will also work on all e-readers that support the open epub format, including Apple products. (We’re still working on placing our eBooks in Apple’s iBookstore.)

Other publishers have already made available free eBook versions of several titles of the U.S. Code and Code of Federal Regulations. We hope you’ll find that ours are the best and well worth the modest cost, the royalties from which will help support free, online access to law for over 13 million people each year. If you enjoy our versions, please leave a positive review on the site where you purchased your copy

Title 17 was selected as the first eBook to be published for a number of practical reasons, not least of which was that Title 17 was the first piece of legal information published on the World Wide Web, 20 years ago, by the LII. We’re selecting the next title by a popular vote. Visit the LII Facebook page to cast your vote for Title 5, 11, 18 or 51.

We are pleased to announce the full slate of speakers and presentations for the 2012 Law via the Internet Conference, to be held October 7-9, 2012, at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. The quality of the proposals we received was very high, and our Track Chairs had a difficult time narrowing down the limited number of presentations we were able to accept. We think you’ll agree that this year’s program is among the most comprehensive we have ever assembled and reflects the true diversity of disciplines and subjects that keeps the open access movement thriving after 20 years.

This year, we’ve invited several special guests, who have inspired us with their work in this new age of information and interaction. We’re excited to welcome legal technology innovator Richard Susskind and social media visionary Clay Shirky as our keynote speakers. We’ve also announced our featured headiners for each Conference Track, including GovLoop.com founder Steve Ressler, legal information analyst David Curle, head of the United Nations DESA in Rome Gherardo Casini, GovTrack.us founder Joshua Tauberer, and Google Scholar founding engineer Anurag Acharya.

We remember when social networking meant more than just Facebook, so we’ve created several special opportunities to mingle and celebrate our 20th Anniversary, including opening and closing receptions and our spectacular 20th Anniversary Gala. We also hope you’ll consider extending your trip to discover all that the beautiful Finger Lakes region has to offer. If you’re bringing guests who will not be attending the conference sessions, we’ve arranged special day trips for them and a reduced conference fee so that they can join you at the receptions and gala.

Now is the time to make your plans! Reserve your space before June 15 to enjoy significant savings on the conference registration fees. We also suggest you make travel and lodging reservations as soon as you can; flights to Ithaca and hotel rooms for this event will fill up quickly.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up with the latest news and information, and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write to us as info@lvi2012.org. We look forward to seeing you in October.