COPYCENSE

"Downloading music from the Internet is not illegal. Plenty of music available online is not just free but also easily available, legal and – most important – worth hearing.

"That fact may come as a surprise after highly publicized lawsuits by the RIAA against fans using peer-to-peer programs like Grokster and eDonkey to collect music on the Web.

"But the fine print of those lawsuits makes clear that fans are being sued not for downloading but for unauthorized distribution: leaving music in a shared folder for other peer-to-peer users to take. As copyright holders, the labels have the exclusive legal right to distribute the music recorded for them, even if technology now makes that right nearly impossible to enforce.

"While the recording business litigates and lobbies over music being given away online, countless musicians are taking advantage of the Internet to get their music heard. They are betting that if they give away a song or two, they will build audiences, promote live shows and sell more recordings."

Jon Pareles. No Fears: Laptop D.J.’s Have a Feast. The New York Times. Sept. 10, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)

"People who illegally share copyrighted music and movies over the Internet could be jailed for up to five years under a bill approved by a powerful congressional panel today.

"The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004 is one of a handful of measures gathering steam in Congress that target the practice of Internet file sharing, which record companies blame for playing a part in a $2 billion dollar decline in yearly CD sales since 2000. The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure by voice vote, clearing it for debate in the full House.

"Congress has done little thus far to address Internet file-swapping, but that could change in the next few months as lawmakers in both houses consider a clutch of measures that target either individual downloaders or the companies — like Kazaa and eDonkey — that distribute the file-swapping software."

David McGuire. House Panel Moves to Criminalize Spyware, Net Piracy. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 8, 2004.

Cynthia L. Webb. Congress Puts Hooks in Spyware, Copyright Crooks. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 9, 2004.

See also:
Roy Mark. House Panel Gets Tough on Spyware, P2P Piracy. Internetnews.com. Sept. 8, 2004.
Public Knowledge. HR 4077, The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004.
Public Knowledge. Public Knowledge Reacts to House Judiciary Committee Approval of Copyright Bill. Sept. 8, 2004.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing of Music File Sharing.

(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)

"Altnet, a company that sells music and other digital goods through file-swapping services, sued the Recording Industry Association of America on Wednesday for alleged patent infringement.

"The company, a subsidiary of Brilliant Digital Entertainment, contends that the RIAA has been infringing on one of its patents in the course of copyright enforcement efforts inside peer-to-peer networks. Overpeer, a copyright company owned by Loudeye, and MediaDefender, also are named in the lawsuit.

"The patent infringement suit comes as one of the sideshows in an ongoing legal battle over peer-to-peer networks that has led to piracy charges against technology companies and antitrust claims against record companies, and that now appears to be headed ultimately to Congress for resolution."

John Borland. P2P Company Sues RIAA Over Patent. News.com. Sept. 8, 2004.

See also:
Business Wire. Brilliant Digital Entertainment and Altnet File Suit Against Infringers of Its "TrueNames” Patent. Sept. 8, 2004.

"A federal appeals court has ruled that rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work — even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music.

"Lower courts had ruled that artists must pay when they sample other artists’ work. But it has been legal to use musical snippets — a note here, a chord there — as long as they weren’t identifiable.

"The decision Tuesday by a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati gets rid of that distinction. The court said federal laws aimed at stopping piracy of recordings apply to digital sampling, and it ordered the case back to a lower court for rehearing."

Associated Press. Court: Musicians Must Pay for Any Size Sampling. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 9, 2004.

See also:
Barry A. Jeckell. Court To Hip-Hop Nation: No Free Samples. Billboard.com. Sept. 8, 2004.

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Bridgeport Music, et al. v. Dimension Films, et al.

(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)

"China on Monday touted the impact of a recent crackdown on pirated goods, seeking to mollify criticism from the United States that it has done little to curb the brazen and widespread sale of such things as illegally copied Hollywood films, fake auto parts and pharmaceuticals.

"At a news conference in Beijing, Zhang Zhigang, a vice minister of commerce, said China seized 2 million compact discs during the first half of the year in raids on 8,000 CD and software dealers around the country, fining violators about $3.6 million.

"The disconnect between the official word from the capital and the actuality of the street highlights the entrenched nature of one of the most nettlesome trade conflicts between Washington and Beijing. Though China is in the midst of one of a series of periodic crackdowns, experts said the continued blatant sales illustrate that the government is more interested in managing the politics of the problem than curbing the reality."

Peter S. Goodman. Pirated Goods Swamp China. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 7, 2004.

(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)

Remember the big controversy a few years ago about high schools and school districts signing revenue deals with Coke, Pepsi and other soft drink companies? The current wave of tech sponsorship may be the natural extension of that trend.

"It’s no secret that college campuses are hotbeds of technology innovation, so it shouldn’t be surprising that universities are among the first to try out new gadgets and applications. Many of these have direct educational benefits–for example, high-speed wireless video offers students the chance to watch a lecture that they couldn’t attend in person.

"But campuses are also beginning to resemble consumer technology marketing labs, with school-backed programs pushing gadgets and services that may have only a tenuous connection to the classroom."

Marguerite Reardon. Big Tech on Campus. News.com. Sept. 6, 2004.

See also:
CNet. Tech Specs of the Top 50 Universities.