COPYCENSE

Broadcast.com billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has announced that he will finance Grokster’s defense against MGM’s peer-to-peer lawsuit, which is expected to be argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 29.

Cuban, who sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion and is now president of HDNet, a provider of high-definition TV programming, wrote in a blog entry Saturday that he had agreed to fund the software company’s defense after he was approached by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others.

Steven Musil. Mark Cuban to Finance Grokster Defense. News.com. March 27, 2005.

See also:
Blog Maverick. Let the Truth Be Told�MGM vs Grokster. March 26, 2005.

MercuryNews.com. Is a Software Maker or Distributor Obliged to Build Anti-theft Protections, Like Encryption, Into Its Design?. March 27, 2005. (Editorial)

Joan Biskupic. Online File Sharing to Face Judicial Test. USA Today. March 27, 2005.

P2PNet.com. Crux of Big Music’s Problems. March 25, 2005.

Grant Gross. P-to-P Case May Have Far-Reaching Impact. PC World. March 25, 2005.

The Economist. Grokster and StreamCast Face the Music. March 24, 2005. (Editorial)

Julie Hilden. File Sharing Goes Before Supreme Court. CNN.com. Feb. 16, 2005.

Electronic Frontier Foundation. MGM v. Grokster archive. No date.

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

The peer-to-peer case is not the only important social software case on Tuesday’s Supreme Court docket.

"When Brand X, a California ISP, gets its day in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, there will be a lot more at stake than whether the company can get access to cable lines. In fact, depending on the details of the court decision, the case could determine the way in which the Federal Communications Commission regulates phone and information companies.

"At the core of the case is Brand X. The ISP wants the FCC to require cable companies to sell access to their networks at wholesale in much the same way that EarthLink Inc and other ISPs are sold access over DSL networks.

"The FCC has ruled that cable is an information service, and as such is not regulated by FCC rules. Because of this concept, the FCC has preempted rules that would tax phone service using cable lines, and state laws that require 911 access for people who use VOIP over cable."

Wayne Rash. Supreme Court Will Rule on ISP Cable Access. eWeek. March 25, 2005.

See also:
Jim Hu. Broadband Scuffle Reaches Supreme Court. News.com. March 25, 2005.

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

"Sony has just introduced the Playstation Portable in the United States. This is a very impressive device with plenty of features any Palm OS or Pocket PC user would envy. But the Playstation Portable just isn’t the device most current handheld users want, and they shouldn’t waste their time thinking it is.

"I’m not down on the PSP, as it’s usually called. It’s a device that has a lot going for it. But, at the same time, it’s focused on a target market quite different from the one that typically buys handhelds."

Ed Hardy. Why the Playstation Portable Isn’t Going to Replace Your Handheld. Brighthand. March 25, 2005.

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

"Somewhere between the live music showcases on Sixth Street and the endless schmoozing that ran well past midnight, the deep-fried drunkfest known as South by Southwest also squeezed in some discussion of technology and how it’s changing the music industry.

"In the tradition of the annual Austin music festival, which ended last weekend, panels covered both the industry and artistic side of the music game. Labels and managers, after all, are just as interested as the artists themselves in how the internet, digital downloading and other technologies are turning the music business on its head."

Michael Grebb. P2P: Music’s Death Knell or Boon?. Wired.com. March 22, 2005.

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

"The Americans For Fair Electronic Commerce Transactions (AFFECT) coalition has announced its Stop Before You Click campaign promoting its 12 Principles for Fair Commerce in Software and Other Digital Products.

"My long-time readers know AFFECT as the organization that succeeded in stopping the spread of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). UCITA, an incredibly customer-unfriendly model state law pushed by Microsoft and friends, was hurriedly enacted in Virginia and Maryland before interest groups opposed to it could effectively get organized.

"While UCITA itself is still dead for the most part, unfortunately its spirit is still with us in the DMCA and other legislation. So AFFECT formed a task force to draft a set of principles for fair dealing in digital products."

Ed Foster. Why You Should Stop Before You Click. The Gripe Line Weblog. March 11, 2005.

See also:
AFFECT. Stop Before You Click. No date.

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