‘Baby Einstein’ Founder Goes to Court

[alp227]

Source: Tamar Lewin, The New York Times

A co-founder of the company that created the “Baby Einstein” videos has asked a judge to order the University of Washington to release records relating to two studies that linked television viewing by young children to attention problems and delayed language development.

“All we’re asking for is the basis for what the university has represented to be groundbreaking research,” the co-founder, William Clark, said in a statement Monday. “Given that other research studies have not shown the same outcomes, we would like the raw data and analytical methods from the Washington studies so we can audit their methodology, and perhaps duplicate the studies, to see if the outcomes are the same."

Mr. Clark said that he had been seeking the information for years, but that the university had either denied his requests or failed to be fully responsive.

A spokesman for the university said its lawyers had not yet read the complaint and could not comment on the complaint.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/education/13einstein.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[hlthe2b]

1. Where's the female "founder" that Bush* lauded at hisState of Union

address? :eyes:

[Ian David]

2. She's sitting in a diaper in front of the TV drooling.

Apparently, it also works in reverse.

[Igel]

7. Click the link.

'In their news release and e-mail messages to reporters, the Clarks said they went to court to protect their legacy.

'“I’m proud of what I made,” Ms. Aigner-Clark said in an e-mail message on Monday night. “Welcome to the 21st century. Most people have televisions in their houses, and most babies are exposed to it. And most people would agree that a child is better off listening to Beethoven while watching images of a puppet than seeing any reality show that I can think of.” '

I assume it's "Ms. Aigner-Clark" that * referred to.

[No Elephants]

11. Q. What's the opposite of Baby Einstein? A. Dim Son

[naaman fletcher]

3. He has a good point..

If those studies are going to be used against him in court, then they need to cough up the underlying data of the studies. If not, then the judge should bar the studies from the court.

On another note, in my opinion all research from state universities and all research funded by a Government should be available for free.

[depakid]

5. The cases are unrelated

Bottom like is Clark & Disney engaged in fraudulent behavior in marketing their product.

As to your second point- that raises a serious issue re: abuse of intellectual property laws that ought to be addressed.

[Nikki Stone1]

6. I agree with every point you have made in your post.

I have long thought that any research on the public dime should be available for free to the public that funded it. I also believe that DOS, funded by taxpayers, should not have been able to have been sold to Bill Gates for a puny $100K. If Gates was going to use it, even though Palo Alto thought it was a piece of crap and shelved it, then Gates should have not charged the public for DOS, but only for the hardware he used with it or the software he built on top of it. DOS was taxpayer intellectual property.

[Gormy Cuss]

8. All they need to cough up is a comprehensive methodology report.

Providing them with the raw data really isn't needed if they want to replicate the research. If the court agrees that they can receive the raw data it should be done with severe restrictions on use and storage in order to assure confidentiality of the participants. IMHO the Einstein founders are fishing for a way to spin the studies as invalid without doing any research on their own.

As to the government funded research being available for free, it would never be free. Either the government would have to fund the cost of producing, maintaining, and transferring the data sets or the end user has to bear the cost. Some government funded research, mostly from larger studies, is available at little more than cost through ICPSR @ U Michigan, or through Federal agencies' own data services (NCES, NCHS, HUD User, to name a few.)

[No Elephants]

10. ? I didn't see anything about using the studies against him in court.

[naaman fletcher]

13. It's in other articles

[toopers]

4. Another useless lawsuit

eom

[mamaleah]

9. Baby Einstein is a just another way for parent sot ignore their jobs.

Want your kid to do well in school? SPEND TIME WITH THEM! Read to them, sing with them, dance, play....get involved.

I know many children are in single parent homes or homes where both parents work, however, that doesn't mean you insta plug them in to the tv or pc.

[xxqqqzme]

12. your are so correct.

Time is the most important gift you can give your child - time to teach, time to help, time to love.