Archive for March 2006
French Government Fights File-Sharing Initiative
“The French government began a second attempt to push through anti-piracy legislation Tuesday, in a bid to overcome a rebellion by its own lawmakers that sought to legalize online file-sharing.
“Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres defended a revised version of his online copyright bill ahead of an evening debate at the National Assembly, France’s lower house.
“In a concession to critics, the latest draft lightens the penalties for those caught pirating music or movies online. But it also strengthens legal protection for anti-copy technologies known as DRMs, shielding them from challenges under French laws that grant consumers the right to make copies of music and film for private use.”
Laurence Frost. France Pushing for Anti-Piracy Crackdown. BusinessWeek Online. March 7, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Google, Amazon & Technology Dominate London Book Fair
“Authors who sign up with digitisation programs run by companies such as Google or Amazon may be unwittingly sacrificing some of their rights, a media lawyer has warned.
“Google’s Google Print and Amazon’s Look Inside programs have caused controversy in the publishing world. While both companies claim that making books searchable and viewable online can increase sales, and offer to digitise such texts for free, publishers and authors have expressed concerns over copyright violations. The topic has stirred major interest at the Book Fair — the largest publishing gathering in the English-speaking world — and a series of seminars on Google’s program have attracted capacity crowds.”
Angus Kidman. Authors Warned of Digitisation Threat. ZDNet Australia. March 6, 2006.
See also:
Samson Spanier. Theme of London Book Fair Is What Technology Can Do. The New York Times. March 7, 2006.
Terry Kirby. Electronic Pen Allows Atwood to Reach the World From Home. The Independent. March 6, 2006.
Updates:
William Pollard. Google Books Rescues the Backlist. OhMy News. March 10, 2006.
Information World Review. Publishers Call for Library Digitisation Boycott at Book Fair. March 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Google, Amazon & Technology Dominate London Book Fair
“Authors who sign up with digitisation programs run by companies such as Google or Amazon may be unwittingly sacrificing some of their rights, a media lawyer has warned.
“Google’s Google Print and Amazon’s Look Inside programs have caused controversy in the publishing world. While both companies claim that making books searchable and viewable online can increase sales, and offer to digitise such texts for free, publishers and authors have expressed concerns over copyright violations. The topic has stirred major interest at the Book Fair — the largest publishing gathering in the English-speaking world — and a series of seminars on Google’s program have attracted capacity crowds.”
Angus Kidman. Authors Warned of Digitisation Threat. ZDNet Australia. March 6, 2006.
See also:
Samson Spanier. Theme of London Book Fair Is What Technology Can Do. The New York Times. March 7, 2006.
Terry Kirby. Electronic Pen Allows Atwood to Reach the World From Home. The Independent. March 6, 2006.
Updates:
William Pollard. Google Books Rescues the Backlist. OhMy News. March 10, 2006.
Information World Review. Publishers Call for Library Digitisation Boycott at Book Fair. March 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Dickens Would Have Abhorred Google Book Search
“If you click on Great Expectations by Charles Dickens in Google Book Search, you may find yourself taking an unexpected journey. Google’s ambient advertising programme hotlinks to a dating agency called Great Expectations Dating. How crass is that? We can be sure that Dickens would have thought it so. Indeed, he would probably have reserved a special vituperation for Google’s literary land-grab.
“There are two aspects to this land-grab. The first involves scanning out-of-copyright work, provided by the great libraries, and surrounding it with such advertising. That’s not illegal, though it is of cultural concern. The second part of Google’s literary predations, in the case of American libraries, involves scanning in-copyright works — for the purpose of publication — without direct prior permission of the copyright holder. That is to say, the author or his or her estate. Google’s decision to scan first and ask permission later with copyrighted works is playing fast and loose. In America, it has already landed Google with a huge lawsuit from publishers.
“It is authors who will suffer most. Dickens isn’t around to defend the integrity of his work. Were he alive, he would certainly have tried. In Dickens’s spirit, I believe we need to take action against Google. ”
Nigel Newton. Google’s Literary Land-Grab. Guardian Unlimited. March 4, 2006.
See also:
Information World Review. French PA May Sue Google. March 3, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Paranoid? Big Publishing’s Not Paranoid
“Amazon.com came under fire from Britain’s book publishing and retailing industries on Monday even as the debate raged over a perceived threat presented by Google Inc.
“The chief executive of HarperCollins UK, said she feared the online book seller more than the Web search leader, which has created a stir with plans to digitize every book.
“She cited Amazon.com’s recruitment of senior executives from the publishing industry and its approaches to book agencies as evidence of the company’s ambition.”
James Goldfarb. Amazon Under Fire on Books as Google Debate Rages. Yahoo! News. March 6, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
AT&T, BellSouth Deal Influences Net Neutrality Debate
“Are consumers going to start having to spend a lot more to surf the Web?
“Phone and cable companies have stoked those fears recently by floating plans that would have Amazon, Yahoo and other Web sites paying new fees to ensure that their content will be delivered to customers faster.
“This possibility has raised the prospect that consumers may end up having to pay twice for access to the Internet — once to the phone or cable company that sells them a dial-up or broadband line, and again to Internet companies that pass along new charges for fast access to content from their sites.
Ken Belson. The High Speed Money Line. The New York Times. March 6, 2006.
See also:
Yuki Noguchi. AT&T Deal Raises Issue of Internet Control. WashingtonPost.com. March 9, 2006.
Arshad Mohammed. AT&T in $67 Billion Deal to Buy BellSouth. WashingtonPost.com. March 6, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
AT&T, BellSouth Deal Influences Net Neutrality Debate
“Are consumers going to start having to spend a lot more to surf the Web?
“Phone and cable companies have stoked those fears recently by floating plans that would have Amazon, Yahoo and other Web sites paying new fees to ensure that their content will be delivered to customers faster.
“This possibility has raised the prospect that consumers may end up having to pay twice for access to the Internet — once to the phone or cable company that sells them a dial-up or broadband line, and again to Internet companies that pass along new charges for fast access to content from their sites.
Ken Belson. The High Speed Money Line. The New York Times. March 6, 2006.
See also:
Yuki Noguchi. AT&T Deal Raises Issue of Internet Control. WashingtonPost.com. March 9, 2006.
Arshad Mohammed. AT&T in $67 Billion Deal to Buy BellSouth. WashingtonPost.com. March 6, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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