COPYCENSE

"Just when we grasped what blogging was all about, along came podcasting, which in some ways is even more disruptive and exciting than blogging.

"Being a podcaster myself, I’ve seen firsthand the business and legal chaos podcasts have created. As you’ll see in this column, perhaps they might soon create some political chaos too."

Sam Whitmore. Podcasting: Making Waves. Forbes.com. April 21, 2005.

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

"Comcast Corp., the top U.S. cable television network operator, is being sued by a Seattle-area woman for disclosing her name and contact information, court records showed on Thursday.

"In a lawsuit filed in King County, Washington, Dawnell Leadbetter said that she was contacted by a debt collection agency in January and told to pay a $4,500 for downloading copyright-protected music or face a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Reuters. Comcast Customer Sues Over Disclosure. MSNBC News. April 14, 2005.

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

Although some people may not like it, copyright laws and regulations exist. Those who engage in mass copying and distribution of copyrighted works typically must pay licensing fees, or at least enter into an agreement with the owner of the content. That makes the free, unauthorized trading of massive numbers of music or video files over peer-to-peer networks illegal.

So far, the situation is clear.

What is not clear is the circumstances under which a technology company should be held liable if its product can be used to violate copyright restrictions. What standard should be used to judge this liability? How can one craft that standard so that the threat of liability is not so broad that it discourages beneficial technological innovation?

Anush Yegyazarian. Supreme Court Standards for Peer-to-Peer and Beyond. PC World. April 12, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology in our New Afternoon Edition. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Scholarship means little without publication. But the definitions of ‘publication’ are undergoing major changes.

The digital age has brought unprecedented opportunities to share research discoveries with a global audience, prompting a revolution some have compared to post-Gutenberg times. Yet as the Internet and World Wide Web have unleashed new resources and capabilities, they have also challenged the conventions of how research is published and shared.

Featuring presentations by leading thinkers from the scholarly community, this conference explores:

• Current challenges in scholarly communication and publication
• The ways in which research is shared and exchanged
• The role of the public university in sharing the products of research
• Alternative publication systems, including “open access” publishing
• Recent movements to legislate free access to the products of research

and

• The changing landscape of copyright and intellectual property

University of Minnesota. Publication, the Public University and the Public Interest. Tuesday, April 19, 2005, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota (East Bank Campus), 300 Washington Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, MN.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology in our New Afternoon Edition. A Seso Group™ Venture.

Book Bites provide webcasts featuring streaming video of authors talking about their works.

"Book Bites are NOT reviews, they are NOT written by the marketing departments of publishers – these are authors speaking from their heart – to YOU."

Meet the Author. Bringing Books to Life!

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

Some would argue that the learned professional dominated the 20th century, whereas, in the 21st century it appears that a paradigm shift is poised and ready. In an age where knowledge, information, and global communication is at the fingertips of almost anyone, the amateur enthusiast, the "citizen engineer", has the ability to make an impact the economy and society, to remix culture.

In a highly concentrated, super-charged discussion, Rael Dornfest, CTO of O’Reilly Media and series editor of the popular O’Reilly Hacks book series, outlines the theme of the 2005 O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, remixing. He examines the impact of the "remix culture" on business, innovation, the Internet, and the interaction between the customer with technology through mass amateurizaton. Mr. Dornfest discusses the ways in which we remix the web, remix music, remix television, remix networks, remix movies, remix data, remix text, remix syndication, remix the bookshelf, and other remixes.

Rael Dornfest. Rules for Remixing. ITConversations. March 15, 2005. (Speech is made available as a downloadable .MP3 and streamed Real Audio content.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology in our New Afternoon Edition. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Last month, Warner Brothers announced that they had paid for placement in a well-known podcast. They bought time in The Eric Rice Show, allowing that podcast to include exclusive content from The Used.  As part of the deal, the hosts of the show will announce that the inclusion of the content was paid for by Warner. Two other examples, U.K. based Virgin Radio and KCRW/Santa Monica, have both released content in the form of a podcast.

"Despite the authorized uses of music and content in these select instances, podcasting is still more of an underground technology, used by thousands of independent, Web-savvy users. According to a recent survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, many people have listened to podcasts. This represents a potentially significant problem because the majority of the music and content has not been authorized for use."

FMQB. Legality Of Using Music In Podcasts Remains Foggy. April 11, 2005.

See also:
Zachary Rodgers. Warner Brothers Sponsors Podcaster. ClickZ News. March 22, 2005.

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