COPYCENSE

"Marco Montemagno, an Italian new media communication expert, entrepreneur and blogger, who has worked and collaborated with some of the most established media corporations including Italy’s RAI and Murdoch’s Sky TV network, has just published online a notable P2P manifesto, in which he shares his uncensored view of what the majors (established media) should expect from P2P and its unstoppable growth.

"Montemagno central tenet is that P2P is unstoppable, good, useful, effective and a major disruptive technology able to breach into the oligarchy of established media business."

Robin Hood. Why P2P File Sharing Is Good: The P2P Manifesto Content Delivery And Distribution. Robin Good. Jan. 17, 2005.

Attribution: SNTReport.com first discovered news of the P2P Manifesto through a posting in Slashdot, edited by Rob Malda.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"The federal government has stepped into the middle of a high-stakes patent infringement battle between Research in Motion Inc. and a U.S. company, claiming a recent U.S. court ruling against the creator of the iconic BlackBerry communications device threatens to chill innovation by Canadian firms and give extra-territorial reach to U.S. patent law.

"At stake are not only millions of dollars worth of royalty payments on the sale of BlackBerry handhelds in the U.S. every month, but also issues of how old laws for guarding intellectual property are applied in a new era when technology is increasingly blurring national boundaries and economies.

"In what legal experts say is an unusual move, the Canadian Department of Justice filed an amicus curiae brief (.pdf) with a U.S. federal appeals court on Jan. 13, urging it to grant RIM’s request for a re-hearing before all 15 judges of the federal appeals circuit."

Simon Avery. Ottawa Intervenes in RIM Patent Infringement Battle. The Globe and Mail. Jan. 17, 2005.

Editor’s note: See also SNTReport.com’s prior story on RIM’s patent infringement case.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

As reported in SNTReport.com recently, BayTSP announced FirstSource, an automated system that identifies the first users to upload copyright or trademark-protected content to P2P file sharing networks.

SNTReport.com also reported the legal and monetary issues surrounding documentary filmmaker’s inability to broadcast or sell copies of  Eyes on the Prize.

"The two news items offer a nice pair of brackets in which to frame the current state of copyright affairs. On the one hand, the public is denied the opportunity to view one of the most compelling histories of modern American life produced in the last 30 years because copyright restrictions make it financially unfeasible to broadcast it. On the other hand, actual copyright violation continues unabated, giving rise to an entire market niche devoted to the task of stamping it out. Is there any way to look at this situation in which it is not a complete mess?"

"The tragedy that a socially enriching documentary series like ‘Eyes on the Prize’ might fall victim to a copyright snafu seems like the kind of thing that could be addressed by selective tweaking of copyright laws. Perhaps a waiver for materials deemed ‘educational’ or a weakening of restrictions on the protections granted to archival footage. When do the benefits to society from increased access to information outweigh the financial interests of those who own the copyrights? In an ideal world, this is the kind of question that a democratic society could debate and answer to its own satisfaction."

"But we do not live in an ideal world. We live in a world where lobbyists for entertainment corporations routinely get the laws rewritten to serve their own profit-seeking special interests, and where trend lines reveal that copyright protections are only increased, never weakened."

Andrew Leonard. Eyes on Your Copyrighted Prize. Salon. Jan. 5, 2005.

(Editor�s Note: Salon.com normally requires a paid subscription, but you can view articles if you register for a free day pass.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Electronic Arts, hoping to shore up its eroding dominance in the sports video game market, said yesterday that it had signed a 15-year deal giving it the exclusive right to use the ESPN brand in games.

"Under the agreement, Electronic Arts, the largest independent video game publisher, will pay $750 million to $850 million for the right to use the ESPN brand for games based on at least nine sports, including baseball, basketball and football, according to people briefed on the contract’s terms. Some of that money will pay for commercials promoting the games on ESPN channels, they said.

"Beyond the deal’s length, which is substantial by industry standards, it comes at a significant juncture in the video game business. In the last year, Electronic Arts’ long-dominant position selling sports games has come under assault amid heavy price competition."

Matt Richtel.
Electronic Arts and ESPN Sign 15-Year Deal to Sell Games. The New York Times. Jan. 18, 2005.

See also:
Reuters. Electronic Arts Signs Licensing Deal with ESPN. News.com. Jan. 17, 2005.

David Becker. Electronic Arts Plays Hardball. News.com. Jan. 18, 2005.

(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.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.