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Library associations including the ALA, AALL and ARL are voicing their collective opposition to the Super DMCA bills about which I posted on March 31. According to letters sent to the Colorado and Arkansas legislatures, the library groups contend that the proposed legislation will erode fair use, and “While digital piracy is a serious problem…some …
From Reuters, this announcement that the new trial of Jon Johansen has been scheduled for December 2. He posted to the Web the code to facilitate mass copying of DVDs, and his first trial ended in an acquittal.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has launched an anti-piracy campaign on university campuses similar to the well publicized one undertaken by the RIAA here in America. The estimated size of the UK piracy market for 2001 is documented by the industry in this chart. For additional perspective on the CD burning controversy, see Downloads Save …
From Edward Felton’s Freedom to Tinker, this page, State Super-DMCA Bills and Laws, provides a chart listing legislation introduced in nine states (AL, CO, FL, GA, MA, MD, MI, SC, TN, TX) that would preclude corporate and personal use of firewalls, routers and encrypted e-mail. See also this related posting from LawMeme about an April …
The Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property postponed their March 27, 2003 Legislative Hearing on H.R. 1417, the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act. See my previous posting on the demise of music webcasts as well as Declan McCullagh’s March 27 article.
Copyright Versus Consumers’ Rights: How Companies are Using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Thwart Competition, March 25. From the article: “Unlike in prior DMCA disputes, the object of Lexmark’s DMCA claim is not to prevent piracy of a copyrighted work. Instead, it is to prevent rivals from offering cheaper cartridges for Lexmark’s printers. This …
Via Copyfight, this link to The Media Institute’s “new online forum for the discussion of the many issues surrounding copyright and intellectual property in the digital age,” the Copyright Colloquium.
S.692, A bill to require the Federal Trade Commission to issue rules regarding the disclosure of technological measures that restrict consumer flexibility to use and manipulate digital information and entertainment content. Sponsor: Sen Wyden, Ron [OR] (introduced 3/24/2003). See Wyden’s press release here.
Slow Start for Long-Awaited Easing of Copyright Restriction describes the challenges faculty are facing in their efforts to properly comply with copyright requirements for distance learning stipulated by the TEACH Act. The article includes a helpful guide for professors, Copyright Checklist for Online Courses, produced by North Carolina State University.
Brown University temporarily terminated Internet access for 67 students after they were identified as having downloaded files using P2P applications through the campus network. See also this Message to the Brown Community on Illegal Downloading of Music and Videos and Your Vulnerability, which links to the Using Computing Resources at Brown University guidelines.
According to this article in the March 18 Chronicle of Higher Education, an important conflict has been identified between the Teach Act (2002), which lifts specific copyright restrictions for the purposes of distance learning, and the DMCA (1998), that has a provision preventing the circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been pursuing a high-profile campaign against P2P file sharing that stretches from college and university campuses to the cubicles of corporate America. On March 12, RIAA President Cary H. Sherman sent letters to 300 companies warning that “significant legal damages” could result from employers and employees who …
