COPYCENSE

Deborah Solomon had the opportunity to interview Dan Glickman.

"As the new head of the Motion Picture Association of America, do you find it hard to follow in the steps of Jack Valenti, who was so flamboyant?

"It’s true, no one knows who I am, but I am hoping that will change.

"Do you have any other ambitions?

"The big substantive issue for me right now is antipiracy, fighting those who want to get the content of movies free.

"Are we talking about school kids watching movies online? Or organized-crime lords?

"We are talking about an awful lot of people worldwide who are engaged in criminal activity. We need to educate kids so they understand the value of intellectual property."

Deborah Solomon. Going Hollywood. The New York Times. Feb. 6, 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.)

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"A schoolteacher was fined 10,200 euros (13,300 dollars) for uploading and downloading music on the Internet in France’s first big case designed to deter other peer-to-peer pirates.

"The 28-year-old teacher was ordered by a court in the Paris suburb of Pontoise to pay the money to copyright companies after being found guilty of illegally transferred 30 gigabytes of music files — the equivalent of around 10,000 songs, or 614 albums."

Associated France Press. French Teacher Fined 10,200 Euros for Downloading Music. Yahoo! News. Feb. 2, 2005.

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"Michael Robertson, the outspoken entrepreneur who helped set off the early digital music wars with his MP3.com site, said Wednesday that he is getting back in the online music business.

"Robertson, now chief executive both of Linux software company Linspire and Net-calling service SIPphone, said he wanted to give consumers–particularly those who use Linux-based computers–a broader choice of stores. His service would set itself apart from others by providing music without any copy protection added, he said.

"True to form, Robertson is launching a few barbs along with the new service, which will be unveiled at his Desktop Linux Summit conference in San Diego next week."

John Borland. MP3.com Founder Returns to Music Biz. News.com. Feb. 2, 2004.

Update: Matt Hines. MP3tunes.com Shuns Digital Rights Management. News.com. Feb. 9, 2005. (Michael Robinson launched  MP3tunes.com on Wednesday. The songs are for sale in MP3 format without any digital rights management technology, which means the music can be copied without restrictions on any portable player that supports this standard.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Freely distributed open-source software like the Linux operating system has become increasingly popular, but one cloud over its future has been legal risk. So far, most of the lawsuits have involved claims that software code owned by someone else found its way into a cooperative programming project.

"A nonprofit legal center opening today, backed by $4 million in initial financing from a corporate consortium, will provide advice from specialists that is intended to minimize the risk that developers and users of free software will be sued.

"The Software Freedom Law Center, its founders say, will focus on helping the leaders of open-source software projects organize and manage their work in ways that anticipate and avoid potential legal pitfalls."

Steve Lohr. An Effort to Help Free-Software Developers Avoid Suits. The New York Times. Feb. 1, 2005.

See also:
Jim Wagner and Michael Singer. Open Source Law Center Opens Doors. InternetNews.com. Feb. 1, 2005.

Stephen Shankland. Lawyers Ride Shotgun for Open Source. News.com. Jan 31, 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™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Microsoft and copy-protection company Macrovision have struck a deal that will add a new layer of anticopying defenses to video content being swapped between home devices.

"The two companies said that Microsoft had licensed Macrovision’s technology, which aims to stop people from making copies using analog connections between devices, such as those that typically link a set-top box to a television.

"The deal could make it harder for consumers to make permanent copies of TV shows and movies without permission, if they use computers running the Windows operating system. It should also help convince movie studios and other content producers to release their products in new ways online, the companies said."

John Borland. Microsoft, Macrovision Align on Copy Protection. News.com. Jan. 31, 2005.

See also:

Todd Bishop. Microsoft Makes Deal with Macrovision. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Feb. 1, 2005.

Tony Smith. MS Licenses Analog Anti-Rip Technology. The Register. Feb. 1, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.