Archive for March 2006
Google As Bookstore
“Still embroiled in controversy over its plans to digitize several of the world’s largest library collections, Google is inviting U.S. and U.K. publishers to sell online access to their copyright texts through its book search site.
“Right now, Google Book Search users can view free snippets of copyright books catalogued by its service but cannot read entire books online. They have the option of perusing a full version by clicking on links to outside booksellers or library catalogs.
“The new offering would allow people to sign in and purchase immediate, browser-based access to books, Google said on its site. Purchasers would not, however, be allowed to save a copy of the book to their computer or to otherwise copy pages from the book.”
Anne Broache. Google To Broker Online Book Sales. News.com. March 13, 2006.
See also:
Search Engine Watch Blog. Google Partnering With Publishers To Sell Online Books. March 13, 2006.
Maija Palmer. Publishers’ Soul Searching Over Google Plan. FT.com. March 13, 2006.
Alison Bone. Google to Sell Access to Book Content Online. Information World Review. March 13, 2006.
Kimberly Maul. Publishers to Control Paid-Access Books Available Through Google. The Book Standard. March 10, 2006.
Kimberly Maul. Checking Out the Machines Behind Book Digitization. The Book Standard. February 21, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
NASCAR Is Spelled C.R.E.A.M.
“According to the news release, Daytona 500 is a mix of yuzu, bergamot, mandarin, tarragon, sage, nutmeg, cardamom, amber and sandalwood. It is supposed to be “a fresh, masculine modern fragrance that captures the thrill and exhilaration of the Daytona 500.”
“Elizabeth Arden and International Speedway Corporation, which owns Daytona International Speedway and the licensing rights to the race, hope it is a mix that will inspire not only men, but women (as purchasing agents for their boyfriends and husbands). It is one more way to get women to buy into NASCAR. International Speedway is the sister company of NASCAR, which is doing its part to attract women and their purses with its latest link: a licensing deal with Harlequin Romance novels.
“Not to be left out of the money grab, drivers have forged their own licensing deals and, with NASCAR, are promoting Crock-Pots.”
Viv Bernstein. Eau de Nascar: Licensing and the Smell of Money. The New York Times. March 12, 2006
See also:
Orlando Business Journal. Elizabeth Arden Launches Daytona 500 Scent. Feb. 8, 2006.
Elizabeth Arden. Elizabeth Arden Partners with International Speedway to Launch the Daytona 500(R) Fragrance for Men. (Press release) Feb. 8, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Airline Uses DMCA Against YouTube
“American Airlines is demanding that Google and video-sharing site YouTube reveal the name of the person who posted a portion of one of the airline’s training videos on their Web sites.
“Someone uploaded part of a video used to train flight attendants on YouTube and Google Video. The airline subpoenaed those companies on Feb. 21 under the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), according to an airline spokesman. Under the provisions of the DMCA, companies have the right to request information in the event that their copyright materials are infringed upon.
“The video in question, titled “Flight Attendant, Upside Down,” is under copyright, the spokesman said.”
Greg Sandoval. American Airlines Subpoenas Google, YouTube. News.com. March 9, 2006.
See also:
EFF Deep Links. DMCA Subpoena Provision Still Endangers Privacy. March 9, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Amazon.com to Challenge iTunes’ Download Dominance
“Amazon.com is in talks with three Hollywood studios about starting a service that would allow consumers to download movies and TV shows for a fee and burn them onto DVD’s, according to three people briefed on the discussions.
“If the advanced negotiations are successfully concluded, Amazon’s service would position itself in the media world alongside rivals like Apple Computer’s iTunes as a place where people go not just to order goods to be sent by mail, but to instantly enjoy digital wares as well.
“So far, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers are engaged in the talks, said one person close to the talks who, like the others, asked not to be identified because the negotiations are continuing.”
Richard Skilos. Amazon Considering Downloads. The New York Times. March 10, 2006.
See also:
Byron Acohido and Laura Petrecca. Amazon Seeks Deal for Movie, TV Downloads. USA Today. March 12, 2006.
Bambi Francisco. Amazon Movie Downloads Are Coming. MarketWatch. March 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Yahoo’s Media Initiatives Less Than Stellar
“A year ago, Yahoo!’s ambitions in the media industry were nothing short of audacious. Yahoo! Inc. execs spoke of creating smash-hit, medium-defining programming for the interactive world, a sort of I Love Lucy for the Internet. With former movie mogul Terry S. Semel as its CEO and former ABC television Chairman Lloyd Braun running the media outfit, Yahoo looked capable of achieving its aspirations. The company furiously set to work on a number of high-profile content ideas, from adapting the abandoned reality-TV show The Runner into a multimillion-dollar Internet program to developing a home-electronics reality contest, dubbed Wow House.
“Today, after a turbulent year in the media business, Yahoo is singing a much more modest tune. Large projects such as The Runner are in a holding pattern as Yahoo susses out the potential business opportunities. Wow House has been sent back to the drawing board. And headline-grabbing content partnerships, which Yahoo once pursued with zeal, are increasingly ending up at competitors such as America Online, Google, and Microsoft’s MSN.”
“It’s the media education of Yahoo Inc.”
BusinessWeek Online. Yahoo’s Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. March 13, 2006.
See also:
David A. Utter. Yahoo May Run “The Runner.” WebProNews. Jan. 16, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Happy Birthday, Federal Register
“The Federal Register celebrates its 70th year as the country’s chronicle of regulatory minutia. True to the publication’s reputation as an encyclopedia for policy nerds, the party being thrown by the National Archives and Records Administration and the Government Printing Office starts at 9 a.m. — scheduled, no doubt, to let federal bureaucrats scurry back to their desks to write more rules.
“The celebration marks the evolution of a publication that began as a two-column, 16-page gazette of the burgeoning federal bureaucracy created by the New Deal. It has progressed from a diary of completed rulemakings — usually about five items a day at first — to an Internet-based reference that allowed some 208 million documents to be downloaded in 2004.”
Cindy Skrzycki. The Federal Register Turns 70. WashingtonPost.com. March 7, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Google to Settle Click-Fraud Litigation
Under a proposed $90 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over alleged click fraud, Google said Wednesday that it would offer advertising credits to marketers who claim they were charged for invalid clicks and not reimbursed.
The total amount of credits, including attorneys’ fees, will max out at $90 million, Nicole Wong, associate general counsel at Google, wrote in a Google blog posting.
The lawsuit, filed in February 2005 in state court in Texarkana, Ark., accused the defendant search engines of charging advertisers for clicks on online advertisements that were fraudulent or done in bad faith and not with the intention of legitimate commerce. The lawsuit was filed by Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles and Caulfield Investigations against Google, Yahoo, Time Warner and its America Online and Netscape subsidiaries, Lycos, FindWhat.com, now known as Miva Media, Buena Vista Internet Group doing business as Go.com, LookSmart and Ask Jeeves, now known as Ask.com.
Elinor Mills. Google Says Click Fraud Settlement Near. News.com. March 8, 2006.
See also:
Google Blog. Update: Lane’s Gifts v. Google. Mach 8, 2006.
Eric Goldman. Lane’s Gifts Click Fraud Lawsuit Near Settlement. Technology & Marketing Law Blog. March 8, 2006.
Search Engine Watch Blog. Google Agrees To $90 Million Settlement In Class Action Lawsuit Over Click Fraud. March 8, 2006.
John Battelle’s Search Blog. Google About to Settle Click Fraud Class Action Suit. March 8, 2006.
Updates:
Burt Helm. Gauging Google’s Gaffes. BusinessWeek Online. March 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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