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Groundless copyright threats
,----[ Quote ]
| Just as the human mind is changeable and
| inconsistent, so intellectual property law
| is not without anomalies. For example,
| while copyright protects even the most
| banal 2-D images, the Lucasfilm judgment
| sets the bar for 3-D creations at a
| daunting height. Another anomaly that has
| risen to the surface in recent days is the
| penalty for groundless threats of
| infringement proceedings. There are stiff
| penalties for most intellectual property
| rights â patents, trade marks, registered
| and unregistered designs â but none for
| copyright.
|
| Lord Lucas is seeking to set this right by
| proposing a new section in the Copyright,
| Designs and Patents Act 1988. The noble
| lord, as previously noted, is eager to see
| some checks and balances in the Digital
| Economy Bill to rein in heavy-handed right
| owners, especially top-shelf copyright
| proprietors.
`----
http://the1709blog.blogspot.com/2009/12/groundless-copyright-threats.html
Beware of Comcast's Growing Power
,----[ Quote ]
| I write a lot of about the battle among
| large technology corporations in this space
| and the importance of competitive checks
| and balances. Yet Comcast seems to be
| growing into a super power with control
| over the very pipes that provide many of us
| with internet access, but without any real
| competition and often with government
| support.
|
| Most places in this country get internet
| access through one or at most two
| providers. That kind of concentration of
| power is increasingly a threat to the very
| foundation of business and society, as so
| many of us use the internet on one level or
| another to do our jobs, get our information
| and connect to one another.
`----
http://www.daniweb.com/news/story247878.html#
An invitation to Doctor Ficsor to explain the value to the citizens of
Canada in ratifying the WIPO Internet Treaties
,----[ Quote ]
| I'm a Canadian. Dr. Ficsor's 'An invitation
| to Canada to join the international
| community by ratifying the WIPO Internet
| Treaties' is one of the more insulting, and
| incorrect documents that I've perused over
| the years. So many errors, where oh where
| should I begin? How about the start?
`----
http://crankyoldnutcase.blogspot.com/2009/12/invitation-to-doctor-ficsor-to-explain.html
Recent:
Talking about Internet 'piracy'
,----[ Quote ]
| WITH LORD PETER MANDELSON stepping off of his
| media mogul friendâs yacht recently and
| announcing his newly found dislike for the
| peer-to-peer file sharer, Internet âpiracyâ
| has once again become a hot topic. Admittedly
| fanning the flames a little, the Inquirer sat
| down with a few key players involved in the
| current state of online file sharing to
| discuss the industryâs future developments
| and, perhaps more importantly, its legal
| status.
|
| The first big shot we got hold of was Gary
| Fung, the owner, creator and admin of
| isohunt.com, one of the worldâs largest
| torrent search engines. In case you have been
| living under a rock for the past half-decade,
| torrent files link multiple users to
| âtrackersâ that allow them to connect to one
| another in order to download legal or illegal
| content. We began our discussion by asking
| him to lay out his and his siteâs background.
| Initially isohunt.com began as a programming
| experiment way back in 2002, but with the
| growth of torrent usage in 2003, âit just
| explodedâ, rapidly expanding into the
| industry heavyweight it is today.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/1566338/talking-internet-piracy
Unknown filmmaker gets $30m for robot movie
,----[ Quote ]
| An unknown filmmaker from Uruguay has been
| given $30m by Hollywood studio bosses - to
| turn his $500 YouTube video of a giant robot
| invasion into a movie
|
| Would-be director Federico Alvarez, who runs
| a post-production visual effects house in
| Uruguay, filmed 'Panic Attack' with a budget
| of just $500 in his free time.
`----
http://newslite.tv/2009/12/02/unknown-filmmaker-gets-30m-for.html
Threatening Internet freedom in the UK
,----[ Quote ]
| All too often, the public policy world
| focuses on subtle legislative distinctions
| and on regulatory details. But once in a
| while, an issue comes along that strikes
| to the heart of the big principles. Such
| an issue erupted last week in the UK - an
| issue that incorporates two of the most
| important subjects on these pages: privacy
| and innovation.
`----
http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.com/2009/12/threatening-internet-freedom-in-uk.html
Pure Mint boss resigns BPI committee over Digital Economy Bill
,----[ Quote ]
| Hall believes the proposed legislation has
| been rushed in a bid to get it through
| parliament before the next General
| Election, that it is in danger of
| disregarding some sacred legal principles
| (regarding process, presumption of
| innocence and burden of proof) and that it
| won't solve the record industry's piracy
| problems anyway.
|
| In his resignation letter to the BPI, Hall
| writes: "I have enjoyed contributing to
| both [the BPI's] Rights [Committee] and
| the [IFPI's] ILC, but increasingly feel
| that my contributions are falling on deaf
| ears as an agenda has already been reached
| that I now consider is unmovable. As you
| know, I do not think the Digital Economy
| Bill is a sensible or well thought out
| piece of legislation. In my view it is
| being rushed through the last months of a
| parliament of an unpopular government and
| it is not legislation that I support".
|
| Referencing clause 17 - the one that gives
| senior ministers the right to change
| copyright laws on whim - he continued: "I
| am particularly surprised that the record
| industry has chosen to endorse s.17 of the
| DEB, which I consider is wholly
| undemocratic and contrary to centuries of
| good practice regarding the forming of our
| copyright legislation. I also believe it
| may set a dangerous precedent going
| forwards (and could come back to haunt the
| industry)".
`----
http://newsblog.thecmuwebsite.com/post/Pure-Mint-boss-resigns-BPI-committee-over-Digital-Economy-Bill.aspx
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