COPYCENSE

“Adult companies have joined conservative groups in celebrating an Internet regulator’s decision to reject the creation of a domain for adult Web sites.

“[Last week], the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted against the proposal, which would have led to the creation of an .xxx domain suffix for pornography sites. Conservative groups in the U.S., such as the Family Research Council, have welcomed the decision.

“Some in the adult industry are equally happy about the decision. Adult-industry observer Scott McGowan, in an article on the EyeOnAdult Web site, said he “just couldn’t be happier.” He claimed that ICM Registry, which proposed the new top-level domain, was driven purely by the desire to make money.”

Ingrid Marson. Adult Industry Welcomes .XXX Domain Rejection. News.com. May 12, 2006.

See also:

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN Board Votes Against .XXX Sponsored Top Level Domain Agreement. (Press Release) May 10, 2006.

Update:

Freedom to Tinker. ICANN Says No to .xxx. May 16, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“In a sign that Hollywood is trying to adapt to a technology it long feared, Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. announced that it will sell and rent movies and television shows online using BitTorrent Inc.’s peer-to-peer technology.

“Peer-to-peer technology has long been blamed for enabling the theft of music and movies online. But with Internet and DVD piracy on the rise, Hollywood studios are looking for ways to harness peer-to-peer and other Internet-based technologies. Given that peer-to-peer technology provides a cheap and efficient way to move large files around the Internet, it is looking increasingly attractive to some studio executives, provided the files move with robust copy protection.

“Expected to launch this summer, Warner’s service will sell and rent movies and television shows the same day they are released on DVD. Releases will include newer titles such as ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ as well as library titles including The Matrix.’ TV shows will include ‘Babylon 5’ and ‘Dukes of Hazzard.’ The content will have heavy-duty security features so they can’t be pirated.”

Sarah McBride. Online Sharing Evolves for Warner Bros. The Wall Street Journal. May 9, 2006

See also:

Between the Lines. Just What We Needed: Another Proprietary Form of CRAP (DRM). May 9, 2006.

Burt Helm. BitTorrent Goes Hollywood. BusinessWeek Online. May 9, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“We all know that corporate America is divided over the issue of network neutrality. In one corner are the Broadband Warriors (AT&T, Verizon, etc.), who don’t want any restrictions placed on their ability to ‘innovate.’ In the other corner stand the Titans of Tech (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc.) who don’t want to find themselves paying a whole new set of fees just to ensure the level of service they already receive. But lost in all this talk of two camps is the fact that many non-technology businesses in the US rely on mission-critical network links — and many of these industries have not yet decided where they stand on the issue of ‘Net neutrality.

“One such industry, notable for its size and political clout, is the financial services sector, which last year spent $117 billion on IT. The financial world is increasingly computerized, running everything from consumer-oriented online banking websites to sophisticated ATM networks, and they’ve recently awoken to the fact that network neutrality legislation will have a direct effect on their business.

“Philip Corwin, a DC lawyer, has been circulating a memo on the topic to Wall Street executives over the last few weeks. In it, he calls the industry to action on behalf of network neutrality. ‘If the industry does not engage quickly, it may find that the matter has been decided without its input and that the fallout will affect the industry’s cost structure and customer relations for years to come,’ he wrote.”

Ars Technica. Wall Street Wakes to Net Neutrality; Verizon Tries to Hit ‘Snooze.’ May 9, 2006.

See also:

Anne Broache. Smaller Cable Firms Take Aim at Net Neutrality Fans. News.com. May 8, 2006.

Kristin Roberts. U.S. Finance Sector Puts Web Pricing in Crosshairs. Yahoo! News. May 2, 2006.

CNet Politics Blog. Net Neutrality Proposal Revived in House. May 2, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“Congress’ leading proponent of forcing Internet service providers to retain records about their users’ activities lashed out at the industry on Wednesday, saying such a federal law will be a ‘very minor burden’ to bear.

“Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, said at a House of Representatives hearing that new laws were necessary to thwart child pornographers and other Internet predators. Investigations into illicit behavior have been hampered because data may be routinely deleted in the normal course of business, DeGette and other data retention proponents claim.

“She added that the committee plans to grill ISP representatives at another hearing that may occur as soon as next week. That happens to be a bipartisan view.”

Anne Broache and Declan McCullagh. Backer of ISP Snooping Slams Industry. News.com. May 3, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“RealNetworks has received a patent on a way to stream multimedia content over the Internet, and the company said last week that it believed the patent would give it leverage as companies rapidly expand their efforts to turn the Internet into a broadcast medium.

“RealNetworks competes against Apple, Adobe, Microsoft and other companies in developing and selling software to media businesses that use the Internet to broadcast audio and video. The patent could allow the company to demand royalty payments from those competitors or from media companies.”

John Markoff. Patent Awarded to RealNetworks May Give It a Competitive Edge. The New York Times. April 24, 2006.

See also:

Stephen Bryant. RealNetworks’ Streaming Media Patent: A Cause for Concern? Publish. April 25, 2006.

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Multimedia Communications System and Method for Providing Audio On Demand to Subscribers (No. 6,985,932). Jan. 10, 2006. (Patent awarded to RealNetworks.)

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Method and Apparatus for Operating A Multicast System on an Unreliable Network (No. 5,561,670). Oct. 1, 1996. (Patent awarded to Apple Computer.)

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“A host of tech outfits, from Google to Intel, suffered a setback in a battle over access to the Internet on Apr. 26. At issue is whether telcos like AT&T and cable operators such as Comcast, which maintain the country’s vast broadband networks, can favor one provider’s Web traffic over another’s. A measure that would bar the practice was shot down by a Congressional committee.

“In a vote of 34 to 22, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce rejected an amendment to a sweeping telecommunications law, the Communications, Promotion, & Enhancement Act of 2006. The proposal, by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), would have given the Federal Communications Commission the power to prohibit discrimination when it comes to sending traffic over the Internet. In effect, the amendment would block the creation of a multilane ‘information highway,”‘where network operators could give preference to their own content, or ensure speedier delivery to content providers that pay extra fees.”

Burt Helm. Tech Giants’ Internet Battles. BusinessWeek Online. April 27, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.