23 July 2008

EU Piratage sur internet: les fournisseurs doivent informer leurs clients

(AFP)
Commission européenne et Etats membres sont tombés d'accord, lors de la réunion informelle des ministres européens de la Culture et de l'Audiovisuel mardi à Versailles, sur la nécessité d'une "obligation d'information" sur les conséquences du piratage sur internet pour les fournisseurs d'accès.

Labels: ,

20 July 2008

EU - Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy

(RAPID)
The Commission has adopted a Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy. The Green Paper is an attempt to structure the copyright debate as it relates to scientific publishing, the digital preservation of Europe's cultural heritage, orphan works, consumer access to protected works and the special needs for the disabled to participate in the information society. The Green Paper points to future challenges in the fields of scientific and scholarly publishing, search engines and special derogations for libraries, researchers and disabled people. Comments should be submitted by 30 November 2008.

Labels:

17 July 2008

EU moves to free up music rights

(BBC)
Music download stores like Apple's iTunes could soon be able to operate one shop for the whole of Europe, under new rules brought in by EU regulators. Currently, iTunes has to negotiate the right to sell music with a different society in every European state. The European Commission says musicians should be free to choose from among the many collecting societies that handle music royalties in the 27-nation EU. The ruling will also let the societies license music in more than one country.

Labels:

16 July 2008

EU - European Commission proposes copyright extension Directive

(OUT-LAW News)
The European Commission has proposed a Directive that would give performers rights over recordings for 95 years after the recording. The change would give a player on a recording rights for the same length of time as the writer of the material. EU Competition Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has tried before to increase the term of copyright protection for performers but has previously lost the argument. The EU's commissioners have now decided to propose a Directive, though, extending the term from 50 to 95 years. See Terms of Protection page (Europa). See also Veteran rockers set for windfall (BBC).

Labels:

15 July 2008

US - Tiffany loses legal fight against eBay over counterfeit goods

(Guardian)
eBay has won a four-year legal battle with Tiffany over the jeweller's complaint that the online website amounted to a "rat's nest" auction of counterfeit watches, bracelets and necklaces. A judge in New York ruled that eBay could not be held responsible for policing the contents of its site, and that it was Tiffany's role to draw fake designer jewellery to the auctioneer's attention. The verdict is a relief to eBay which lost a similar case in Paris two weeks ago when a French court ordered it to pay ?38.6m in damages to the luxury goods manufacturer LVMH for allowing the sale of fake bags, perfumes and designer clothes.

Labels: ,

07 July 2008

Europe votes on anti-piracy laws

(BBC)
Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels. The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations governing Europe's telecom markets. Other amendments added to the packet of laws allow governments to decide which software can be used on the web. Campaigners say the laws trample on personal privacy and turn net suppliers into copyright enforcers.

Labels:

US - Google must divulge YouTube log

(BBC)
Gooogle must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled. The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement. Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights". The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details. While the legal battle between the two firms is being contested in the US, it is thought the ruling will apply to YouTube users and their viewing habits everywhere.

Labels: ,

04 July 2008

UK - Virgin admits disconnection threat mistake

(OUT-LAW News)
Virgin Media has said that a threat sent out to 800 of its customers that they could be disconnected from the internet because of alleged copyright infringement was a mistake. The envelope containing a letter warning subscribers that their account was being used for illegal file-sharing was printed with the words "Important. If you don't read this, your broadband could be disconnected". A Virgin Media spokeswoman told OUT-LAW that the message was a mistake. "We are not accusing our customers of doing anything, we are alerting them to the fact that illegal file sharing has been tracked to their account. This could have been someone else in the house or an unsecured wireless network. This is an education campaign," she said. The company has shared information with music rights holders' group the BPI in order to identify accounts which may have been used for copyright-infringing file sharing. The spokeswoman said, though, that no names or addresses were passed to the BPI and that it had been responsible for the envelope, a mistake that it was "rectifying immediately".

Labels:

28 June 2008

FR - Riposte graduée : la France propose son modèle à ses homologues européens

(ZDNet)
Le 1er juillet, la France prendra la présidence de l'Union européenne pour six mois. La ministre de la Culture entend en profiter pour dégager un consensus général sur la lutte contre le téléchargement sur les réseaux peer-to-peer. Christine Albanel, ministre de la Culture, veut transposer le modèle français de lutte contre le téléchargement illégal à l'ensemble de l'Europe. Elle a présenté à la presse ses objectifs en la matière, alors que la France s'apprête à prendre la présidence de l'Union européenne à partir du 1er juillet. voir aussi Projet Hadopi : retour sur les enjeux et les forces en présence.

Labels:

21 June 2008

UK - Virgin sends file-sharing warnings to customers

(OUT-LAW News)
Virgin Media has begun sending letters of warning to some of its customers saying that artists' lobby group the BPI has evidence of illegal file sharing from their accounts. Virgin, the UK's second largest ISP, is the first to take such action. The BPI and other content producers' lobby groups and the Government have urged internet service providers (ISPs) to operate a 'three strikes and you're out' policy to cut off internet access from people found to be engaging in illegal file-sharing. The Virgin letters contain no threat of disconnection, but do use a BPI-produced report of alleged illegal file sharing as the basis of the warning to customers to stop the activity.

Labels:

FR - France to ban illegal downloaders from using the internet under three-strikes rule

Anyone who persists in illicit downloading of music or films will be barred from broadband access under a controversial new law that makes France a pioneer in combating internet piracy. Under a cross-industry agreement, internet service providers (ISPs) must cut off access for up to a year for third-time offenders.

Labels:

03 June 2008

Privacy Principles for Digital Watermarking

(CDT)
CDT released a paper offering a set of principles for addressing potential privacy considerations when deploying digital watermarking technology. Digital watermarks encode information in a media file by making subtle changes to the image, audio, or video. Much like watermarks on stationary, these changes typically would not be noticeable to a person viewing or listening to the content.

Labels: ,

01 June 2008

EU - European Commission proposes forum on future of copying levies

(Intellectual Property Watch)
Charlie McCreevy, the EU commissioner for the internal market, has suggested that a forum of those directly affected by private copying levies should be set up with a view to finding "common ground" on the surrounding issues between the collecting societies, which administer levies, and electronics firms, which are required to pay them. Artists and consumers groups should take part in this forum, too, he told a Brussels conference. See Opening speech, Conference on 'private copying levies' ? Public Hearing, Centre Borschette, Brussels - 27 May 2008.

Labels:

28 May 2008

BE - Belgian papers seek €49m in copyright damages from Google

(Guardian)
Belgian newspapers are pushing for up to €49m in damages from Google for publishing and storing their content without paying or asking permission. Last year the search website lost a lawsuit filed by a number of French-language Belgian newspapers and was forced to remove their content which had been posted on Google News and stored in its search engine cache without the copyright owners' permission. Copiepresse, an organisation that represents the French and German language Belgian press, has summoned Google to appear again in September before a Brussels court that will decide on the claim for damages.

Labels:

27 May 2008

US - YouTube law fight 'threatens net'

(BBC)
A one billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube threatens internet freedom, according to its owner Google. Google's claim follows Viacom's move to sue the video sharing service for its inability to keep copyrighted material off its site. Viacom says it has identified 150,000 unauthorised clips on YouTube. In court documents Google's lawyers say the action "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information" over the web. They also maintained that YouTube had been faithful to the requirements of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and that they responded properly to claims of infringement.

Labels:

25 May 2008

DE- Bundesrat segnet Gesetz zur besseren Durchsetzung geistigen Eigentums ab

(Heise)
Der Bundesrat hat das Gesetz zur besseren zivilrechtlichen Durchsetzung geistiger Eigentumsrechte abgesegnet. Rechteinhaber erhalten damit erstmals einen Auskunftsanspruch gegen an Rechtsverstößen unbeteiligte Dritte wie Internetprovider. So soll die Identität möglicher Rechtsverletzer etwa in Tauschbörsen einfacher aufgedeckt werden können. Über die Herausgabe von hinter einer IP-Adresse stehenden Nutzerdaten muss ein Richter entscheiden. Das Gesetz soll nun nach der Unterzeichnung durch den Bundespräsidenten und der Veröffentlichung im Bundesgesetzblatt in Kraft treten. siehe auch GVU-Vorstand wirft Providern Verweigerung im "Kampf gegen Raubkopierer" vor

Labels: ,

06 May 2008

ISPs, Web Sites Must Tackle Piracy, Says CBS, Viacom Chief

(IDG)
Internet service providers, Web site operators and manufacturers of devices that are used by some to pirate content should play a part in stamping out that piracy, Sumner Redstone, chairman and controlling shareholder of both Viacom and CBS, said.

Labels:

30 April 2008

Charity advice on music downloads

(BBC)
The charity Childnet is launching a global information campaign to warn children about the potential dangers of downloading music illegally. The campaign, which is supported by the music industry, will distribute a pocket-sized guide to schools and colleges in 21 countries. Childnet says the risks include breach of copyright, the threat of viruses and the loss of privacy and security.

Labels:

13 April 2008

EU - Europe rejects anti-piracy plans

(BBC)
European politicians have voted down calls to throw suspected file-sharers off the net. The idea to cut off persistent pirates formed part of a wide-ranging report on creative industries written for the European parliament. But in a narrow vote MEPs backed an amendment to the report which said net bans conflicted with "civil liberties and human rights".

Labels:

US - Big tech companies accused of overstating patent problems

(CNet News)
Patent lawyers beat up on large technology companies lobbying for a U.S. patent system revamp, arguing that their efforts could discourage start-ups, prompt foreign competitors to rip off inventions, and tear apart the economy more generally. The debate over patent system changes that has been raging for several years now largely pits a coalition of major Internet and technology companies--including Microsoft, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Amazon.com, eBay, Oracle, Dell, and Comcast--against seemingly every other industry that relies on patents.

Labels:

04 April 2008

UK - Policing internet 'not ISP's job'

(BBC)
The head of one of Britain's biggest internet providers has criticised the music industry for demanding that he act against pirates. The trade body for UK music, the BPI, asked internet service providers to disconnect people who ignore requests to stop sharing music. But Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse, which runs the TalkTalk broadband service, is refusing.

Labels: ,

21 March 2008

UK - High Court says UK-IPO was wrong to reject software-related patent

(OUT-LAW News)
The High Court has overturned a decision of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) to reject a patent application as being nothing more than software. The UK-IPO said that the ruling is incompatible with other decisions and will appeal. The patentability of software is a controversial area of UK intellectual property law. The question seemed to be settled in a decision by the Court of Appeal in 2006 which outlined how courts should determine whether an invention consists purely of software, and therefore should not be awarded a patent.

Labels:

20 March 2008

SE - Swedish court rules against ads

(BBC)
Sweden's Supreme Court has ruled that advertising breaks inserted into films violate the film-makers' copyright. The case was brought by directors Vilgot Sjoeman and Claes Eriksson, who sued television channel TV4 for introducing ad breaks into their films. The two directors never gave permission for ads to be shown during their films. The ruling will not stop all ads on movies shown on Swedish TV as most directors have signed waivers to allow ads in order to obtain funding.

Labels:

IE - Irish ISP sued over file-sharing by users

(OUT-LAW News)
Ireland's biggest internet service provider (ISP) is being sued by the four biggest record labels over illegally downloaded music. The labels are demanding that Eircom take action to prevent its network being used to share copyright-infringing material. The Irish subsidiaries of EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner are taking a case under copyright law. They say that Eircom is infringing copyright because its network makes available copies of music without the owners' consent. The record labels want Eircom to filter the offending material out of its service, but Eircom will argue in Ireland's High Court that it has no legal obligation to monitor all the traffic on its network.

Labels: ,

06 March 2008

Warner drops locks across Europe

(BBC)
Warner Music has signed a deal with media site 7digital.com to offer its music without copy protection. Customers in the UK, Ireland, Spain, France and Germany will be able to download albums by artists such as Madonna and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Labels: ,

02 March 2008

FR - Dailymotion : la technologie de filtrage Signature entre en scène

(ZDNet.fr)
Dailymotion annonce le déploiement généralisé de la technologie Signature sur tous ses sites dans le monde. En octobre dernier, le site français de partage de vidéos a passé un accord avec l'Institut national de l'Audiovisuel (Ina), créateur de ce système de protection des contenus audiovisuels. Fonctionnant à partir d'une base d'empreintes numériques, il a été développé en interne par l'organisme public. Signature reconnaît et bloque la mise en ligne de vidéos piratées sur les sites de diffusion tels que Dailymotion.

Labels: ,

Online Scrabble Craze Leaves Game Sellers at Loss for Words

(New York Times)
The latest bane of office productivity is Scrabulous, a virtual knockoff of the Scrabble board game, with over 700,000 players a day and nearly three million registered users. Everyone seems to love the online game ? everyone, that is, except the companies that own the rights to Scrabble: Hasbro, which sells it in North America, and Mattel, which markets it everywhere else. In January, they denounced Scrabulous as piracy and threatened legal action against its creators.

Labels:

26 February 2008

AU - Judge on privacy: Computer code trumps the law

(CNET News) Australian Judge Kirby says computer code is more potent than the law--and that legislators are powerless to do anything about it. Technology has outpaced the legal system's ability to regulate its use in matters of privacy and fair use rights.

Labels: , ,

24 February 2008

UK - ISPs could face piracy sanctions

(BBC)
Internet service providers must take concrete steps to curb illegal downloads or face legal sanctions, the government has said. The proposal is aimed at tackling the estimated 6m UK broadband users who download files illegally every year. The culture secretary said consultation would begin in spring and legislation could be implemented "by April 2009". Its intentions are outlined in a creative industries strategy paper called Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy. The document is a broad ranging paper that sets out government support for the creative industries.

Labels: ,

22 February 2008

EU - Parliament demands action on criminal IP penalties

(OUT-LAW News)
The European Parliament has asked EU member states to press ahead with a plan to criminalise copyright infringement. The Parliament wants a proposal it agreed last year to be approved by ministers from each member state. The proposed EU directive would create new rules on copyright protection, and would require each EU country to pass laws criminalising intellectual property infringement. It must be approved by the Council of Ministers before it takes effect.

Labels:

EU - EC expresses doubt on Microsoft open-source move

(CNET News)
The European Commission has expressed doubt regarding Microsoft's recent announcement claiming a move toward greater interoperability. "The Commission would welcome any move towards genuine interoperability," the statement says. "Nonetheless, the Commission notes that today's announcement follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the importance of interoperability."

Labels: ,

21 February 2008

Microsoft pledges not to sue over open source

(CNET News)
A Microsoft press release announced changes in its business practices to work better with software from other providers, including open-source communities. The software maker had already taken baby steps in this direction, signing individual pacts with companies like Novell and Turbolinux, as well as agreeing not to sue individual developers. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said these steps are part of the company's efforts to comply with anti-trust obligations laid out by the European Court of First Instance (CFI).

Labels: ,

18 February 2008

UK - IPO changes software patent advice

(OUT-LAW News)
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) will not appeal against a High Court ruling that some computer programs can be patented. It has amended its guidance to firms on the controversial issue. In January the High Court demanded the re-examination of six companies' patent applications, saying that the UK-IPO was wrong to reject them on the grounds of their being software.

Labels:

17 February 2008

UK - Illegal downloaders 'face ban'

(BBC)
People in the UK who go online and illegally download music and films may have their internet access cut under plans the government is considering. A draft consultation suggests internet service providers would be required to take action over users who access pirated material via their accounts. See Net firms reject monitoring role.

Labels: ,

16 February 2008

EU - Extend performers' copyright to 95 years, says commissioner

(Guardian)
Performing artists, such as Cliff Richard, and session musicians would get copyright protection on their recordings for 95 years instead of the current 50, under plans put forward yesterday by Charlie McCreevy, the EU's internal market commissioner. McCreevy took issue with the Gowers report in Britain which rejected such a change despite intensive lobbying from long-standing artists such as Richard. "I disagree with Gowers," said McCreevy, who has been lobbied hard on the issue. See Extension of term of copyright protection for European performers speech by Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Press Conference, Brussels, 14 February 2008 and Commission Press Release.

Labels:

05 February 2008

CN - Record labels sue China's top search engine

(OUT-LAW News)
Three major record labels have launched court actions against three Chinese internet companies accusing them of building a business on copyright infringement. One of them is China's biggest search engine, Baidu.com. Music trade body The International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI) said that it, Warner, Sony BMG and Universal have all filed suits against Baidu, Sohu and a company associated with it, Sogou. The actions demand that the internet firms remove links from their services to copyright infringing material in which the three firms hold rights.

Labels: ,

31 January 2008

SE - Pirate Bay hit with legal action

(BBC)
Four men who run one of the most popular file-sharing sites in the world have been charged with conspiracy to break copyright law in Sweden. The Pirate Bay's servers do not store copyrighted material but offer links to the download location of films, TV programmes, albums and software.

Labels: ,

30 January 2008

EU - Countries can choose whether or not to force disclosure of file-sharers

(OUT-LAW News)
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that EU law does not force the disclosure of internet users' details in file-sharing cases. The judgment will be a blow to record labels but could also put ISPs in the UK at a commercial disadvantage, a copyright expert has said. The ECJ has said that it is up to each country to decide how to balance the rights of the copyright holders to protect their intellectual property and the rights of internet users to protect their privacy. See Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-275/06 Productores de Música de España (Promusicae) v Telefónica de España SAU (ECJ Press Release). See also EU court ruling on file-sharers is not what it seems (OUT-LAW News).

Labels: , ,

26 January 2008

UK - Writers' digital row with library

(BBC)
Scores of writers are refusing to let their works be scanned for an online archive at the National Library of Wales because they are not being paid. A year after a near-£1m project was awarded to digitise modern Welsh writing, a dispute between authors and the library has not been resolved. The library is putting some 3.5m words from 20th Century English and Welsh periodicals and magazines on the web.

Labels: ,

Web disconnection threat to downloaders

(Guardian)
Internet users who illegally share music could face having the plug pulled on their web connection after record labels yesterday called for new legislation to tackle digital piracy. New figures showed music sales continued to decline, down by about 10% in 2007 as strong growth in digital revenues failed to offset the continuing slump in CD sales and the effects of piracy. Global sales via the internet and mobile phones grew by 40% to an estimated $2.9bn (£1.48bn). The 2008 IFPI digital music report said that for every song sold legitimately through services such as Apple's iTunes music store, an estimated 20 were downloaded illegally. John Kennedy, chief executive of the IFPI, said it was time internet service providers (ISPs) took responsibility for file sharers and predicted that the threat of disconnection would prove a greater deterrent than legal action.

Labels:

17 January 2008

UK - Government continues to pressure ISPs for Internet filtering

(EDRI-gram)
On 8 January 2008, at the launching of the government consultation on new copyright exceptions, Lord Triesman, the UK minister for intellectual property, threatened the ISPs with the introduction of new legislation to force them to block illegal filesharing in case they cannot find a voluntary agreement together with the music and film industries by the end of summer.

Labels: ,

US - Should AT&T police the Internet?

(CNET News.com)
AT&T has said it is testing filtering technology that will look for copyrighted material. But should the company be acting as Internet cop?

Labels: ,

11 January 2008

UK - Government piles file-sharing pressure on ISPs

(The Register)
The government turned up the heat on internet providers, warning that laws to force disconnection of illegal filesharers are already being drafted for a parliamentary debut in November. Lord Triesman, the minister for intellectual property, said that if ISPs can't agree a voluntary scheme with the music and film industries by the end of summer, he will press Gordon Brown to introduce legislation in the next Queen's speech.

Labels: ,

10 January 2008

UK - Apple to cut UK download prices

(BBC)
Apple has announced that it will cut the price it charges for music downloads in the UK from its iTunes music store within the next six months. The cut will bring the UK into line with the charges in the rest of Europe. Apple currently charges 79 pence per download in the UK, compared with 99 euro cents (74p) in the rest of Europe. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes welcomed the move, saying that it would "allow consumers to benefit from a truly single market for music downloads". A Commission spokesman said the settlement had been the result of direct talks between Ms Kroes and Apple boss Steve Jobs. see also Commission Press Release.

Labels: ,

05 December 2007

EU - European scientific information - too late on open access?

(EDRI-gram)
The recent meeting on 22-24 November 2007 of the Competitiveness European Council meeting adopted its conclusions on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination and preservation. The conclusions underline the importance of scientific output resulting from publicly funded research being available on the Internet at no cost to the reader under economically viable circumstances, including delayed open access.

Labels:

FR - New agreement between the French ISPs and record industries

(EDRI-gram)
Under the patronage of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, an agreement was signed on 23 November 2007 between some French ISPs and the music and movie representatives in order to act directly against the big illegal file-sharers. These could be warned in the first stage and then their connection could be even cut-off..

Labels:

25 November 2007

FR - France unveils anti-piracy plan

(BBC)
French web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline. Those illegally sharing files will face the loss of their net access thanks to a newly-created anti-piracy body granted the wide-ranging powers. The anti-piracy body comes out of a deal agreed by France's music and movie makers and its net firms. The group who brokered the deal said the measures were intended to curb casual piracy rather than tackle large scale pirate groups. See Accord pour le développement et la protection des ?uvres et programmes culturels sur les nouveaux réseaux and Rapport sur le développement et la protection des oeuvres culturelles sur les nouveaux réseaux. Voir aussi Mission Olivennes : le détail des engagements du gouvernement, des ayants droit et des FAI. L'AFA (Association des fournisseurs d'accès et de services internet) n'a pas signé cet accord. Ce sont les principaux opérateurs (France Télécom, Iliad, Neuf Cegetel, Numéricâble et Télécom Italia), qui l'ont paraphé en leur nom propre.

Labels:

22 November 2007

FR - Téléchargement illégal : la mission Olivennes préconise la résiliation de l'abonnement en cas d'abus

(ZDNet.fr)
Le rapport du P-DG de la Fnac préconise que la future Autorité de régulation des mesures techniques puisse réclamer aux FAI de suspendre, voire de résilier l´abonnement des clients s´adonnant au téléchargement illicite. L´UFC dénonce la « surenchère répressive ».

Labels:

10 November 2007

Singer threatens to sue his fans over online images

(Guardian)
The artist currently known as Prince has threatened to sue thousands of his biggest fans for breach of copyright, provoking an angry backlash and claims of censorship. His lawyers have forced his three biggest Internet fansites to remove all photographs, images, lyrics, album covers, and anything linked to the artist's likeness.

Labels:

SE - File-sharing pirates attempt new software standard

(Reuters)
A Swedish Web site that promotes trading of pirated movies is developing a new software standard for Internet downloads in a move that could make it easier to swap media files, which is illegal in many countries. The Pirate Bay is the biggest ad-supported site using the software of BitTorrent. The program has been a good match for Internet denizens looking to pick up free downloads of copyrighted media, from Harry Potter movies to Xbox 360 video games.

Labels: ,

24 October 2007

UK - Huge pirate music site shut down

(BBC)
British and Dutch police have shut down a "widely-used" source of illegally-downloaded music. A flat on Teesside and several properties in Amsterdam were raided as part of an Interpol investigation into the members-only website OiNK. The UK-run site has leaked 60 major pre-release albums this year alone, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). A 24-year-old man from Middlesbrough was arrested.

Labels:

23 October 2007

US - RIAA tries to pull plug on Usenet.

(Declan McCullagh)
The Recording Industry Association of America has found a new legal target for a copyright lawsuit: Usenet. In a lawsuit, the RIAA says that Usenet newsgroups contain "millions of copyrighted sound recordings" in violation of federal law. Only Usenet.com is named as a defendant for now, but the same logic would let the RIAA sue hundreds of universities, Internet service providers, and other newsgroup archives. AT&T offers Usenet, as does Verizon, Stanford University and other companies including Giganews.

Labels: , ,

18 October 2007

US - Media groups challenge Google on copyright

(FT)
Some of the world?s largest media companies have agreed on a set of standards to govern the way that copyright law and anti-piracy measures should be applied to video and music on the internet ? a move that could push them into conflict with Google. The group includes Walt Disney, News Corp, NBC Universal, CBS, Viacom and Microsoft. People involved in the discussions said the intention was to avoid a round of expensive copyright lawsuits with the technology companies that have become distributors of their video online, or relinquishing the matter to Congress, which could impose legislation with unintended consequences. However, the effort also appears to have been designed to gain leverage over Google, whose YouTube site is the largest destination for online video, and has represented a major source of frustration for traditional media companies.

Labels:

Filter this: new YouTube filter greeted by concerns over fair use

(Ars Technica)
After months of threats, pleadings, and lawsuits from content owners, YouTube finally rolled out its video content identification system. Consumer groups aren't quite as thrilled about the news as are content owners, however. Even content owners might turn out to be a bit wary. The new system isn't magic; it requires that copyright holders submit copies of every piece of material that they want protected.

Labels: ,

16 October 2007

YouTube rolls out filtering tools

(BBC)
Video site YouTube is launching filtering tools to clamp down on the sharing of video without permission. The tools, called Video Identification, will block copyright material from appearing and spreading on the site. YouTube, which is owned by Google, is currently fighting a billion-dollar legal battle with Viacom over the spread of pirated files. The firm says it currently removes copyright works when it has been told of their existence on the website.

Labels: ,

14 October 2007

FR - La mission Olivennes relance la piste de la riposte graduée, de l'offre légale et du filtrage des contenus

(ZDNet.fr)
Depuis un mois, la mission mandatée pour trouver des remèdes contre le piratage a entendu les acteurs du secteur. Trois pistes se dégagent : riposte graduée, essor du téléchargement légal et filtrage des contenus illicites. Autant de solutions qui n'ont jamais fait l'unanimité. Denis Olivennes a livré un bilan d'étape à la ministre de la Culture Christine Albanel sur la mission de consultation sur le piratage.

Labels:

03 October 2007

GPL defenders say: See you in court

(CNET News)
A legal team enforcing the most widely used license in the open-source and free software movement has shown that it's not afraid to take its cases all the way to court. For years, violations of the General Public License, or GPL, have been met with quiet discussions to resolve compliance problems that can result when open-source software is used improperly. Now, however, the Software Freedom Law Center is taking a hard-line approach, filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against Monsoon Multimedia for allegedly failing to abide by requirements of the GPL.

Labels: ,

28 September 2007

UK - UKIPO consults on fast-tracking patent and trade marks

(OUT-LAW News)
The UK Intellectual Property Office has launched a public consultation on proposals to introduce a fast-track system for patent and trade mark applications. The plan builds on a suggestion made in the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property.

Labels:

21 September 2007

UK - Lawyers attack Nominet plan for domain name disputes

(OUT-LAW News)
The registry for .uk domain names has proposed a change in the way that name disputes are handled, but the proposed fast-track system faces criticism for not being radical enough.

Labels: ,

17 September 2007

US - Volkswagen files subpoena to identify YouTube user

(Wired)
A legal spat between YouTube and Volkswagen is throwing light on the increasing copyright surveillance of social networking sites. Volkswagen has filed a subpoena seeking the identity of a YouTube user who posted a Nazi-themed parody of a recent VW Golf commercial. Volkswagen's move underscores the privacy risks to a blossoming community of users on sites like YouTube and Yahoo Video, and social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Copyright holders and their agents have long been monitoring activity on file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Gnutella. Now they're turning their attention to the social networks.

Labels: ,

16 September 2007

FR - Is the IP address still a personal data in France?

(EDRI)
Two decisions from the Paris Appeal Court held that collection of IP addresses does not constitute a processing of personal data, and consequently was not subject to CNIL prior authorization, as required by the French Data Protection Act. In the mean time, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, in case C-257/06 Productores de Música de España (Promusicae) v. Telefónica de España, an entirely separate case lodged for reference by a Spanish Court under the preliminary ruling procedure, took the position that the EU legislation on personal data protection should prevail on the Community law on e-commerce, copyright protection and IP enforcement.

Labels: ,

15 September 2007

UK - Prince sues over internet copyright

(Financial Times)
Prince, the US rock star, has joined the list of media content owners suing internet distributors to try to recoup lost copyright revenues. A spokeswoman for the artist said he had taken legal action against YouTube, Ebay and Pirate Bay for "failing to filter out" unauthorised Prince content.

Labels:

BE - ISP claims court ruling will force it into 'illegal' behaviour

(OUT-LAW News)
A Belgian court ruling would force internet service providers into conducting "invisible and illegal" checks on internet users' actions, according to Belgian ISP Scarlet, who were recently ordered by a Belgian court to block its users from engaging in illegal file-sharing. It has now lodged an appeal against that ruling. "This measure is nothing else than playing Big Brother on the Internet,'' said Scarlet managing director. "If we don't challenge it today, we leave the door open to permanent, and invisible and illegal, checks of personal data."

Labels: , , ,

US - SCO files for Chapter 11

(Ars Technica)
SCO announces that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That sound you hear is the giddy chuckling of Linux devotees across the globe. The move comes one month after a judge ruled that SCO did not possess any of the UNIX copyrights it claimed to have received in a deal with Novell, a move that dealt a death blow to most of its Linux-related litigation.

Labels: ,

US - Defendant claims RIAA abusing courts to shore up "failing business model"

(Ars Technica)
Another file-sharing defendant who says she has never installed or used file-sharing software is fighting back against the RIAA, accusing the music industry of waging war in the US court system to "shore up the American recording industry's failing business model."

Labels: ,

US - Web ad blocking may not be (entirely) legal

(CNET News)
Advertising-supported companies have long turned to the courts to squelch products that let consumers block or skip ads: it happened in the famous lawsuit against the VCR in 1979 and again with ReplayTV in 2001. Tomorrow's legal fight may be over Web browser add-ons that let people avoid advertisements.

Labels: , ,

12 September 2007

US - NTP files patent suits against AT&T, Sprint and Verizon

(CNET News)
The holding company that brought BlackBerry Nation to its knees in 2006 is once again on the advance, this time filing suit against AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. Way back in 2002, NTP won a jury verdict that RIM infringed on patents for a wireless e-mail system. RIM tried several times to overturn that verdict on appeal but never prevailed, and in March 2006 the companies settled for $612.5 million. The settlement came despite the fact that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued final office actions invalidating most of NTP's patents at issue in the case. NTP is appealing that decision, in a process that could stretch on for years.

Labels:

US - DirecTV faces setback in dubious antipiracy campaign

(CNET Blog)
DirecTV lost an important case : Programmers, security researchers, and anyone who believes in a limited government won. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a default judgment against a pair of alleged DirecTV television pirates, saying an "unauthorized decryption device" law the company invoked against them does not apply. That law promises statutory damages of $100,000 per violation.

Labels: ,

08 September 2007

US - A patent improvement

(Economist)
The number of patent applications has soared in recent years, but patent offices have been unable to keep up - resulting in huge backlogs and lengthy delays. Standards have slipped and in America the number of lawsuits over contested patents has shot up. In an attempt to fix these problems, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Britain's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the European Patent Office are evaluating a radical change: opening the process up to internet-based collaboration. The scheme, known as "Peer to Patent", was created by Beth Simone Noveck, a professor at New York Law School. It applies an unusual form of peer review to a process which traditionally involves only a patent applicant and an examiner. Anybody who is interested may comment on a patent application via the internet. The scheme was launched as a one-year pilot programme in America on June 15th. The project is being supported by big technology firms including IBM, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

Labels:

07 September 2007

FR - Free ferme 14 newsgroups

(01net)
Free ferme 14 newsgroups utilisés pour le piratage de films. Des newsgroups ont été détournés pour le téléchargement de copies illicites de films et de logiciels. Le FAI aurait procédé à leur fermeture sous la pression de la justice.

Labels: ,

04 September 2007

SE - Sweden mulls forcing Internet providers to crack down on file-sharers

(Associated Press)
Swedish Internet service providers could be required by law to cut off customers who share large amounts of copyright music and films online under a new proposal presented to the government. A report prepared by a government-appointed investigator said illegal file-sharing was "a significant obstacle" to the development of legal alternatives to download copyrighted material on the Net. Internet providers should therefore be obliged to cancel services to customers found to engage in large-scale file-sharing or face fines, according to the report by Justice Department investigator Cecilia Renfors.

Labels: ,

18 August 2007

EU - Kids in Europe justify piracy: "Papa pirates, so I do, too"

(Ars Technica)
"Everybody's doing it!" That's one excuse provided by European kids as to why they pirate media or software from the Internet, according to new survey results from the European Commission. The qualitative survey consisted of 9-10 year olds and 12-14 year olds across all 27 of the European Union's member states (plus Norway and Iceland) and was meant to gauge how children in Europe use online technologies. And while most of them are aware that downloading things like music, movies, and video games is illegal, they're more than willing to justify it.

Labels: ,

DK - Dodos attack Sony BMG in Denmark, win landmark ruling

(Ars Technica)
One of the biggest Danish pop bands of the 80's has won a case against its record label that could remake the European digital music scene. Dodo & the Dodos charged that Sony BMG had no contractual permission to distribute its music over the Internet, and the Danish Eastern High Court agreed last week. Now, record labels could be forced to negotiate new contracts with every band who signed a deal in the pre-Internet era, and those bands could rake in much higher royalties.

Labels:

17 August 2007

RU - Russia throws out net piracy case

(BBC) A former owner of Russia's music website Allofmp3.com who sold cut-price downloads of Western music has been acquitted of copyright offences. A court in Moscow ruled that Denis Kvasov and his site had operated within the bounds of Russian law.

Labels:

14 August 2007

US - Judge says Unix copyrights belong to Novell

(New York Times)
In a decision that may finally settle one of the most bitter legal battles surrounding software widely used in corporate data centers, a federal district court judge ruled that Novell, not the SCO Group, is the rightful owner of the copyrights covering the Unix operating system. Judge Kimball's decision in favor of Novell could almost entirely undermine SCO's 2003 lawsuit against IBM.

Labels: ,

13 August 2007

EU - Kids justify illegal downloads, study finds

(Reuters)
Children in Europe are aware of the risks of illegal downloading but often rationalize their act by saying that everyone - including their parents--is doing it, according to a major European Commission survey. Other excuses included: the download is for personal and private purposes; the Web sites presumably remunerate the artists; claims of harm inflicted on artists lack credibility; and DVDs and CDs are simply too expensive.

Labels:

10 August 2007

Universal sells songs without DRM

(BBC)
Vivendi's Universal Music is to test the digital sale of songs from artists without the customary copy-protection technology. It will allow the sale of thousands of albums and tracks available in MP3-form without the protection, known as digital rights management (DRM). Most major recording studios insist music sellers use DRM technology to curb online piracy.

Labels:

07 August 2007

Conflict over digital content moves to cellphones

(IHT)
Microsoft and Nokia, which both make operating systems for mobile phones and compete for control of that market, are coming together in a rare accord in an effort to take advantage of the expected explosion of the sale of mobile digital content in the coming years. Under the agreement, Microsoft's PlayReady DRM technology - which helps content owners like music companies and service providers deliver digital content while restricting access - will be loaded directly on some Nokia phones beginning early next year.

Labels: ,

05 August 2007

US - Second Life sex toy creates copyright hotbed

(vnunet.com)
An entrepreneur in Second Life, maker of 'adult' items such as the SexGen bed, a piece of virtual furniture that allows Second Life users to simulate more than 150 sex acts, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against a fellow virtual resident. lthough the concept of 'virtual' property has been bantered around by lawyers in recent years, this will be the first time that such a copyright case will be taken to a US court.

Labels: ,

Facebook kicks Audio off Platform, bigger questions loom

(Inside Facebook)
Facebook has completely kicked the Audio application off the Facebook Platform, a first in Platform history for an application of this size. The reasons cited were IP violations. Audio was an application that let Facebook users upload MP3 files, share them with friends, and listen to them on the site. One of the fastest growing apps after launch, Audio had about 750,000 users before Facebook pulled out the rug.

Labels: ,

04 August 2007

Please don't steal this Web content

(CNET News.com)
Automated digital plagiarism in which software bots can copy thousands of blog posts per hour and publish them verbatim onto Web sites on which contextual ads next to them can generate money for the site owner. Such Web sites are known among Web publishers as "scraper sites" because they effectively scrape the content off blogs, usually through RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and other feeds on which those blogs are sent.

Labels:

02 August 2007

UK - Government rejects the extension of the copyright term for performers

(EDRI-gram)
To the big disappointment of the music industry, the UK Government refused to promote at the EU level, the extension of the presently 50-year copyright term for performers. According to the EU rules, the copyright period for song writers and their families covers their entire lives plus 70 years while performers and their producers benefit of a 50 year copyright period starting from the recording date. UK Government considers that the majority of the performers would not benefit of the extension as most of them "have contractual relationship requiring their royalties be paid back to the record label." It also stated that such an extension would lead to the increase of costs for the industry and to the consumers.

Labels:

Eminem sues Apple over downloads

(BBC)
Rap star Eminem is suing computer firm Apple for allegedly selling his music in its iTunes store without permission. A lawsuit claiming infringement of copyright has been filed on behalf of the singer by his music publishing company Eight Mile Style. Apple pays Eminem's record label for each download - but Eight Mile Style argues it has not approved the deal.

Labels:

01 August 2007

US - YouTube says content will be filtered this year

(OUT-LAW News)
Video sharing website YouTube hopes to filter out unauthorised copyrighted material by the end of the year, according to a lawyer for its owner, Google. He said that the company hoped to have its system in place by September or later in the autumn. Beck told a New York judge of the implementation timetable as part of a lawsuit being taken against it by content owners. Film and television company Viacom, music publisher Bourne and the English Premier League are suing YouTube and their cases have been combined.

Labels: ,

UK - Survey finds pirate downloads at all-time high and set to rise

(Guardian)
Illegal music downloading is at an all-time high and set to rise further, according to a report that urges the record industry to make legal buying easier and cheaper. Although social networking sites are boosting interest in music that translates into sales, a growing band of consumers are unconcerned about being prosecuted for illegal downloads, according to Entertainment Media Research.

Labels: , ,

31 July 2007

US - Mom Sues Universal Music for DMCA Abuse

(EFF)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), asking a federal court to protect the fair use and free speech rights of a mother who posted a short video of her toddler son dancing to a Prince song on the Internet. Stephanie Lenz's 29-second recording shows her son bouncing along to the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy," which is heard playing in the background. Lenz uploaded the home video to YouTube in February to share it with her family and friends. But last month, YouTube informed Lenz that it had removed the video from its website after Universal claimed that the recording infringed a copyright controlled by the music company. Under federal copyright law, a mere allegation of copyright infringement can result in the removal of content from the Internet.

Labels:

US - eBay wins round in 'Buy it now' patent dispute

(CNET News)
A tiny patent-licensing company has once again lost a plea to prohibit eBay from using its patent covering the auction giant's "Buy it now" feature, but the closely watched battle isn't over yet. Ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether an injunction is necessary in the long-running spat, a U.S. District Judge ruled that awarding monetary damages alone to MercExchange is enough to compensate any harms it experienced as a result of eBay's infringement.

Labels:

22 July 2007

US - Patent law changes ahead in Congress

(CNET News)
The U.S. patent system transformation long sought by high-tech industry players like Microsoft, Amazon.com and Cisco Systems may finally be gaining momentum in Congress. Supporters say the proposed Patent Reform Act of 2007 would go a long way toward staving off expensive court litigation, limiting what are perceived as excessive damage awards, and keeping questionable patents off the books in the first place.

Labels:

07 July 2007

UK - Cameron pledge over violent music

(BBC)
David Cameron has pledged to extend copyright on music to 70 years - in exchange for an effort by music bosses to curb violent music and imagery. The Tory leader told record industry chiefs they had a responsibility to help fix Britain's "broken society". See speech. See also ISPs face down Tories on file sharing (The Register) ISPs have given David Cameron's call for them to block P2P music sharing short shrift, repeating their stance that they are not "the gatekeepers of the internet", as he insists.

Labels: ,

05 July 2007

ENDitorial : The End of Multilateral Broadcast Treaty

(EDRI-gram)
The summer special session of United Nation's World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related rights (SCCR) ended with an outcome that effectively killed the proposed treaty for protection of broadcast organisations (Broadcast Treaty). The committee called off the Diplomatic Conference that was supposed to take place in November to approve the treaty. Even if the treaty remains on the agenda of SCCR, it is unlikely that there will be any serious push to overcome the vastly different positions on key issues relating to objectives, scope and object of protection.

Labels:

01 July 2007

Free Software Foundation releases GPL 3

(CNET News)
After 18 months of sometimes inflamed debate, the Free Software Foundation has released version 3 of the General Public License, a highly influential legal document that embodies the principles of the free- and open-source programming movement.

Labels: ,

22 June 2007

Lessig Moves On From Copyright to Corruption

(Google Blogoscoped)
Lawrence Lessig, founder of the Creative Commons movement and copyright analyst, is moving up onto a higher plane of the problem: the systematic corruption that makes politicians and professionals of different areas fail to understand his copyright analysis. For the last 10 years he worked on delivering clear arguments to

Labels:

14 June 2007

EU - EC seeks comment on loosening copyright rules

(CNET News)
The European Commission charged the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) in February 2006 with imposing anticompetitive territorial restrictions on authors and composers. Authors and composers have until July 9 to comment on proposed new European Union rules that would loosen restrictive territorial contracts for copyright registration on material transmitted via the Internet, satellite and cable.

Labels:

US - TorrentSpy ruling a 'weapon of mass discovery'

(CNET News)
A judge in Los Angeles found that a computer server's RAM, or random-access memory, is a tangible document that can be stored and must be turned over in a lawsuit. It was a pro-copyright ruling that stunned nearly everyone dealing with the issue of online piracy. You may have to surrender what's in your RAM if sued. Legal experts say decision may cost businesses big bucks and threaten Web privacy.

Labels: ,

US - Microsoft signs technology pact with Linspire

(CNET News)
Announcing the latest in a series of pacts with Linux sellers, Microsoft said that it has a deal with Linspire, a company it once sued for trademark infringement. Users of the Linux operating system will get patent protection and access to updated Windows Media technology.

Labels: ,

02 June 2007

New DVD DRM "fix" hacked in a day

(Ars Technica)
The ongoing war between content producers and hackers over the AACS copy protection used in HD DVD and Blu-ray discs continues the hackers came out on top. The hacker "BtCB" posted the new decryption key for AACS on the Freedom to Tinker web site, just one day after the AACS Licensing Authority (AACS LA) issued the key.

Labels: ,

Anger over DRM-free iTunes tracks

(BBC)
The launch of music tracks free of digital locks on iTunes has been overshadowed by the discovery that they contain data about who bought them. Some fear this data could be used to identify the owner of the tracks if they turn up on file-sharing sites.

Labels: ,

24 May 2007

US - Novell joins EFF for patent reform

(CNET News)
Facing criticism for its patent pact with Microsoft, Novell said it is supporting the Electronic Frontier Foundation's effort to challenge what it believes are bogus patents. In addition, Novell will work for patent reform in general and work to remove patent encumbrances from otherwise open standards.

Labels: ,

FR - Le Conseil d'État valide la traque automatisée des téléchargements illégaux

(ZDNEt.fr)
Le Conseil d'État a validé la mise en place de systèmes automatisés de surveillance des téléchargements sur réseaux P2P, estimant que ces dispositifs ne sont pas disproportionnés au regard de l'étendue du phénomène du piratage en France. La Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (Cnil) avait rejeté la demande de quatre sociétés d'auteurs et de producteurs de musique pour renforcer la lutte contre le piratage par internet.

Labels:

22 May 2007

UK - MP3 site's voucher system closes

(BBC)
An online voucher system which allowed customers to buy music from the Russian website allofmp3.com has been closed following a police raid in London. The worldwide music industry says the site, which offers downloads for around $1 (50p), is operating illegally. Before it closed, allofmp3vouchers.co.uk contained a code that allowed UK and European consumers to access and download music from allofmp3.com. Online payment companies and major credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard have withdrawn their payment facilities from allofmp3.com following complaints from the music industry.

Labels:

Open new window when link clicked
Subscribe to Newsletter
text | HTML
Daily Digest
RSS feed