Second Plaintiff in Yahoo Human Rights Suit
The lawsuit alleging Yahoo aided human rights abuse in China has been joined by another plaintiff, journalist Shi Tao.
Archives for May 2007
Pres. Candidates on Net Neutrality
The Save The Internet blog has a roundup of presidential candidates’ views on net neutrality.
Spyware vs. Spyware
Eric Goldman comments on Zango v. PC Tools, a complaint against an anti-spyware software manufacturer.
The Supreme Font
Under proposed new rules, Supreme Court appellate briefs may be limited to certain fonts. The WSJ Law Blog article also lists Judge Richard Posner’s favorite fonts.
U.S. Broadband Speeds Are Low
Ars Technica reports on studies showing that broadband speeds in the U.S. are slow compared to other developed countries. While different studies produce different figures for the average speed of U.S. broadband, they agree that the U.S. is falling behind other countries.
Cyberattack on Estonia Analyzed
Jose Nazario, a computer security research, speaks to CNET News.com about the recent denial-of-service attacks on Estonian web sites.
Competitive Email Harvesting
Eric Goldman comments on Facebook v. ConnectU and competitive email harvesting.
"Copyright Alliance" Launched
A new organization called the Copyright Alliance has opened for business in Washington. Its members include AFTRA, ASCAP and the MPAA, as well as a number of media corporations. Its stated goals are “promoting the cultural and economic benefits of copyright, providing information and resources on the contributions of copyright, and upholding the contributions of copyright to the fiscal health of this nation and for the good of creators, owners and consumers around the world.”
Reported at Ars Technica, with some critical commentary.
Finnish Court Calls CSS "Ineffective"
A Finnish Court ruled that breaking the DRM on DVDs is legal because the CSS used for DRM on DVDs is “ineffective.” EU directives and Finnish law forbid circumvention only of “effective” DRM systems. Via Boing Boing
Smithsonian Copyrights Public Domain Images
Deven Desai writes at madisonian.net about a challenge to Smithsonian Images’ copyright language brought by Public.Resource.Org
Update: John Ottaviani writes about this in a post titled At the Intersection of Copyright and Contract
2nd Prototype for Whitespace Broadband
The White Space Coalition has submitted a second prototype broadband device to the FCC. The device uses the “white space” between television stations to carry broadband Internet.
Al Gore Promotes Net Neutrality
“[N]eutrality should be the central tenet that will set us on a path toward an open, democratic Internet where free speech and free markets are encouraged,” says Al Gore, in his new book The Assault on Reason. More at the Save the Internet Blog.
OpenNet Tracks Net Censorship
The OpenNet Initiative has released its new site with interactive maps of Internet censorship levels worldwide.
Google Print's Public Domain Works
Blogger Cory Doctorow writes about Google Print’s contracts with libraries and restrictions on their scans of public domain works.
HD-DVD/Blu-ray Will Allow "Managed Copy"
Ars Technica reports on the nearly-completed Managed Copy specification for HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. Recently published cracks of the AACS encryption system used on the high-definition DVDs have slowed the development process.
Turkey Enacts General Internet Censorship
After banning YouTube earlier this year, the Turkish parliament has now passed a bill allowing the government to block any web site containing content considered insulting to Turkey’s founder.
Video Mashups and Star Wars
George Lucas has released Star Wars clips for video mash-ups.
Mike Madison describes how this affects fair-use.
Randy Picker writes about a possible universal database of video clips for mashups.
Randy Barnett says George Lucas wants free labor.
Congress Considers Internet Taxes
Deven Desai writes at madisonian.net about possible new Internet taxes
Passwords and the Fourth Amendment
Stanford’s Jennifer Granick writes for Wired about United States v. Andrus and the Fourth Amendment
MySpace Makes Take Down Permanent
Zohar Efroni, a fellow at Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, comments on MySpace’s announcement of “Take Down Stay Down” which will take digital fingerprints of user-uploaded content targeted by takedown notices to prevent it from being uploaded again.
Hageseth v. Superior Court
Orin Kerr and David Post have a conversation on the Volokh Conspiracy about Hageseth v. Superior Court and cyberspace jurisdiction.
Copyright Office on Fair Use and DVDs
Ars Technica interviewed Marybeth Peters, the Register of Copyrights about fair use, Betamax, and DVDs. “Nothing says that fair use says you get to do it in the most convenient form,” Peters says.
Wu: Copyright's Authorship Policy
Prof. Tim Wu has released a draft of a new paper, On Copyright’s Authorship Policy. It is a defense of the role of authors, as opposed to distributors, in the copyright system.
Wu Wants Cellular Carterfone
Columbia Law Prof. Tim Wu wrote an article for Forbes magazine titled Hooking Up about innovation in the wireless industry. He proposes an additional rule for the upcoming FCC spectrum auction: whoever wins must comply with a Cellular Carterfone rule that would allow consumers to attach any safe device to the network.
Ars Technica also reports on the article.
Businesses Want Wirelss Net Neutrality
Information Week reports that business users are pressuring wireless carriers for open networks as mobile platforms become more important than the networks they run on. Prof. Tim Wu calls the article a humdinger!
Perfect 10 v. Amazon
The 9th Circuit delivered a generally pro-search-engine decision in Perfect 10 v. Amazon. John Ottaviani has a summary. Commentary by Alfred Yen, Wendy Seltzer, and Eric Goldman.
Randy Picker on Copyright
Chicago law professor Randy Picker is writing a series of blog posts about the history of copyright, beginning with Gutenberg’s printing press. The latest is The Copy and Copyright
Senate Resolution for Universal Broadband
Senator Jay Rockefeller has introduced a nonbinding resolution to deliver 100 Mbps broadband to every home in the U.S. (Ars Technica).
Keyword Ads Ruled Not Infringement
Eric Goldman comments on the recent E.D.N.Y. ruling in Site Pro-1 v. Better Metal that keyword ads and metadata do not constitute “use” of a trademark.
Teaching Computers to Forget
Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, a professor at the Harvard JFK School of Government, has published a paper about the need for computers to ‘forget’ old data (from Ars Technica). He proposes a combination of legal and technological measures to ensure that digital data is erased after a limited period.
The paper is Useful Void: The Art of Forgetting in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing [PDF]
Tech Industry Fights Broadcast Treaty
Cory Doctorow writes that a coalition of technology companies oppose the WIPO Broadcast Treaty. The coalition, which includes major companies such as AT&T, Google, and Dell, signed a paper urging the U.S. government to reject the treaty, which would impose limits on devices capable of decrypting broadcast signals.
Maine Considers Net Neutrality Bill
The state of Maine is considering a Net Neutrality Bill, LD 1675.
EFF Sues Psychic for DMCA Abuse
Ars Technica reports that the EFF is suing Uri Geller for abusing the DMCA. Uri Geller is a popular psychic. He sent DMCA takedown notices to YouTube to remove video clips critical of his work. However, Geller was not the copyright owner of the video clips, which came from a PBS documentary and other sources. The EFF says this means Geller violated the DMCA by “knowingly and materially” misrepresenting his claim.
Podcast on Ecommerce and the Internet
This Week in Law, a legal podcast, has released an episode on Ecommerce and the Internet.
iTunes May Drop All DRM
Alfred Yen comments on rumors that Apple may remove all DRM from iTunes.
Wikis for Lawyers
Law.com has an article on the growing number of legal wikis.
Utah Reconsiders Trademark Protection
Eric Goldman comments on new developments in the Utah Trademark Protection Act. The act makes it illegal to sell keyword advertising on search engines.
Case Offers Rules for Search & Seizure
Orin Kerr points to United States v. Vilar and its impact on rules for searching and seizing computers.
Harvard Law Profs. Says "Protect Us From the RIAA"
Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson wrote an op-ed for the Harvard Crimson saying that the school should help students fight legal threats from the RIAA.
Possible Defenses Against AACS
Two authors suggest possible defenses news site Digg might have if sued by the AACS. Wendy Seltzer considers the liability in the Microsoft v. AT&T decision. Mike Madison writes about the Section 230 safe harbor.
AACS, Free Speech, and Civil Disobediance
The discussion about the “civil disobedience” of posting copies of the AACS encryption key continues. Timothy Lee writes on the relationship between hacking and innovation. Randy Picker responds with a discussion of civil disobedience and speech-speech tradeoffs.
Two Law Firms Sue Google
As reported by the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, two law firms are suing Google for copyright infringement carried out on YouTube. The case aspires to be a class-action lawsuit.
Wireless Industry Responds to Wu
Columbia Prof. Tim Wu’s popular 2007 paper Wireless Net Neutrality prompted Skype to petition the FCC to force mobile phone carriers to allow VoIP on their networks.
Now the wireless industry, through its trade group CTIA, has responded to Prof. Wu. The AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies has released a paper criticizing net neutrality regulation for wireless networks, as reported by Ars Technica.
Do Databases Reduce Supreme Court Docket?
Orin Kerr comments on a suggestion by Chief Justice John Roberts that on-line legal databases have reduced the Supreme Court’s case load by making it easier to find precedents.
The Criminality of "Virtual Rape"
Wired News’ Regina Lynn comments on a Belgian case accusing one Second Life user of raping another user within the virtual world.
FCC: Wireless May Not Block Conferences
The FCC has told mobile phone carriers to stop blocking calls to teleconferencing services such as FreeConferenceCall and FuturePhone.
AACS Chairman Says Legal Fight Will Continue
The chairman of the AACS group spoke to the BBC. AACS is the recently-cracked copy-prevention mechanism on high-definition DVDs. The chairman, Michael Ayers, says the group will “take whatever action is appropriate” to prevent the spread of the circumvention technique.
DVD Key Spreads Rapidly on Web
In February of this year, a programmer uncovered a secret 128-bit number that can be used to circumvent the Advanced Access Content System that prevents copying of high-definition DVDs. As the number spread to various web sites and message boards, the AACS Licensing Administrator began sending DMCA takedown notices. However, as the New York Times reports, thousands of copies have appeared on the web, similar to the spread of the DeCSS algorithm in 1999.
Randy Picker calls the response ‘inappropriate’.
The EFF’s Fred von Lohmann writes about the legal issues involved.
Ed Felten explains the point of view of those posting the number.
Goldman on Kids' Email Registry
Eric Goldman criticizes state email registry laws that forbid the sending of bulk email to addresses that belong to children.
KSR Ruling May Save Vonage
Vonage has requested a new trial in Federal District Court for the patent case brought by Verizon following the Supreme court ruling in KSR v. Teleflex. Peter Lattman at the WSJ Law Blog says this may be a lifeline for Vonage.
Scott Hemphill to Testify on H.R. 1902
Columbia Law Professor Scott Hemphill will testify in Congress tomorrow, Wednesday, May 2, 2007, on H.R. 1902, Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2007
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Hearing, 3:00 p.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Supreme Court Ruling in KSR v. Teleflex
The WSJ Law Blog reports on a major Supreme Court decision regarding patents and “obvious” inventions, with comments from those involved in the case.
Google Defends Against Viacom Suit
Peter Lattman at the WSJ law blog reports on Google hiring Phil Beck and David Kramer to defend itself against the $1 billion lawsuit brought by Viacom for copyright infringement on YouTube.
Ars Technica reports on Google’s defense, which relies on DMCA safe harbors and fair use.