Archive for June 2006
Merck Loses Zocor Patent, Cuts Price
“Friday was the day that Merck — and Pfizer — have long dreaded.
Last week, Merck’s cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor lost its United States patent protection, becoming the largest-selling drug yet to be opened to cheap generic competition.
That change will cost Merck billions of dollars a year. But it could be nearly as damaging to Pfizer, whose rival cholesterol drug, Lipitor, is the world’s most popular medicine, with global sales last year of $12 billion. Now insurers are hoping to convince patients and doctors that cheap clones of Zocor will make full-priced Lipitor an unnecessary luxury.
Alex Berenson. Merck Loses Protection for Patent on Zocor. The New York Times. June 23, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- Lisa Rapaport and Angela Zimm. Merck Prices Zocor Below Generic. WashingtonPost.com. June 23, 2006.
- National Public Radio. Merck to Drop Price as Zocor Patent Lapses. June 23, 3006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
DRM Debates and Argument Framing
“Consumers now have the ability to buy digital versions of music and movies from a vast (and growing) online catalog. But that convenience has come at a price: Most of the digital content is packaged with technology called digital rights management, or DRM, a sort of copy protection that limits what users can do with the material.
“The music and movie industries defend DRM as a means of protecting artists and publishers — without it, they say, it would be too easy for users to abuse copyrights by illegally swapping files over the Internet. They also argue that without DRM technologies, publishers wouldn’t have been willing to distribute their content in online music and video stores, such as Apple’s iTunes.
“But some consumer advocates argue that DRM often goes too far, treating customers as would-be criminals and putting burdensome restrictions on what they can do with music and movies that were legally purchased. (ITunes, for instance, allows users to burn music to an unlimited number of CDs, but limits the number of computers on which users can play purchased music.)
“The Journal asked Fritz Attaway, a senior executive with the Motion Picture Association of America, to debate the issue over email with Wendy Seltzer, a law professor who specializes in intellectual property and First Amendment issues.”
Fritz Attaway and Wendy Seltzer. ‘DRM’ Protects Downloads, But Does It Stifle Innovation? The Wall Street Journal Online. June 20, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- DRM Blog. The DRM Cycle. June 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Critic Caught Palming Off Review Copies
“A former freelance film critic for the Boston Herald and past president of the Boston Society of Film Critics is to be sentenced in October after pleading guilty in a San Jose, Calif., court last month to aiding in copyright infringement.
“Paul Sherman , 46, of Malden, sold on eBay copies of DVDs he had received to review, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
“One man who bought Sherman’s DVDs put several of them on the Internet, where they could be viewed before their commercial release, the Chronicle reported Thursday.”
Richard Cherecwich. Film Critic Pleads Guilty In Movie Copyright Case. Boston.com. June 24, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- William Triplett. Critic Cops to Selling Screeners. Variety. June 21, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
French Resist Forcing Open iPod DRM
“Leading French lawmakers voted Thursday to water down a draft copyright law that could force Apple Computer Inc. to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals’ offerings.
“Currently, music bought on Apple iTunes can be played only on iPods, and an iPod can’t play songs purchased from rival stores, such as Sony Corp.’s Connect. Critics have called the restrictions anti-competitive and anti-consumer, but the lock-in is a key part of the companies’ business models.
“The National Assembly, France’s lower house, voted in March to force companies like Apple and Sony to abandon their closed approaches and hand over exclusive copy-protection technologies to any rival that wants to offer compatible music players and online stores. While the compromise adopted Thursday still asserts that companies should share the technical data essential to such ‘interoperability,’ it tones down many of the tougher measures backed by the lower house.”
Laurence Frost and Nathalie Schuck. French Lawmakers Soften iTunes Proposal. MercuryNews.com. June 22, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- Jo Best and Estelle Dumout. France Rolls Over on iTunes DRM-Busting Law. News.com. June 23, 2006.
- Ars Technica. C’est la DRM! French Bill Falls Flat, Leaves Major Interoperability Loophole. June 23, 2006.
- Bill Rosenblatt. France Approves Modified Copyright Bill. DRM Watch. June 22, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Web’s Father Simplified Net Neutrality
Tim Berners-Lee: “When I invented the Web, I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that that is going end in the USA.
“I blogged on net neutrality before, and so did a lot of other people. (see e.g. Danny Weitzner, SaveTheInternet.com, etc.) Since then, some telecommunications companies spent a lot of money on public relations and TV ads, and the U.S. House seems to have wavered from the path of preserving net neutrality. There has been some misinformation spread about. So here are some clarifications.”
Decentralized Information Group. Net Neutrality: This Is Serious. June 21, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
King Family Auctions Off Papers
“From history’s vantage point, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s notes, papers and books are priceless. But the King family and the auction house Sotheby’s estimate they’re worth at least $15 million and possibly twice that. And they’re about to go on the block.
“Museums and libraries, groups and individuals are busy raising funds to acquire the collection, while Atlanta natives are concerned that a cornerstone of the city’s culture is about to be chipped away.
“The collection goes on public display at Sotheby’s New York galleries starting June 21. It will be auctioned off on June 30.”
Joshua Levs. Sotheby’s to Auction Martin Luther King’s Papers. National Public Radio. June 21, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Another European Country Reviews Apple’s FairPlay
This story has been updated. Original CopyCense coverage: June 8, 2006.
“FairPlay has been one of Apple’s best friends since the company came up with the DRM format prior to launching the iTunes Music Store. It ties songs purchased at the iTMS to Apple hardware and software, meaning that if a customer wants to listen to a purchased track, she’ll have to do it on an iPod.
“Lately, Apple’s dominance of the digital music download scene has come under the scrutiny of some European governments. Earlier this week, the Norwegian government ruled that the FairPlay DRM used in the iTMS was unreasonable. It also found that iTMS pricing was discriminatory and that Apple’s terms and conditions are too restrictive.
“As a result of the decision, Apple will have to alter its terms and conditions for its Norwegian iTMS storefront by June 21. This may prove to be the first domino to be toppled in what could become a long string, as the governments of Denmark and Sweden are also investigating similar complaints against the iPod maker.”
Ars Technica. Apple Could Find Trouble in Norway. June 7, 2006.
Updates:
- Stan Beer. Will Europe be Apple’s Waterloo? ITWire. June 19, 2006.
- Boston Globe Editorial Board. Let iTunes be iTunes. June 19, 2006.
- Natali T. Del Conte and Mark Hachman. Can Europe Force Apple To Rework iTunes? PCMag.com. June 16, 2006.
- Ars Technica. Europe Taking A Careful Approach to iTunes. June 16, 2006.
- Darcy Richardson. What’s Wrong with iTunes? Is It the iPod…Or What? Apple Matters. June 16, 2006.
- The Gripe Line Weblog. Culture Clash Over Sneakwrap and iTunes. June 15, 2006.
- Reuters. Scandinavian Agencies Extend Apple Reply Deadline. Yahoo! Finance. June 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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