Gaining Advantage with Open Source
"Many organizations might be missing out on the benefits of open source software (OSS) because they simply don’t understand how it can benefit their enterprise.
"CIOs and IT departments that see the benefits of exploiting OSS are often put off by the ongoing debates about risk, licensing, support and maturity of open source. And, those organizations that do explore OSS, often employ a misguided one-size-fits-all approach to evaluation, selection, utilization and management within the company.
"This type of thinking about OSS is causing many IT organizations to miss out on the ongoing practical value that can be realized from using what is now a vast and diverse toolkit of useful software components."
Cyndi Mitchell. Understanding Open Source. CIO Update. Oct. 8, 2004.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Net Privacy Case
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand let stand a lower court decision holding that the recording industry can’t force internet service providers to turn over the names of users trading music files online, effectively stopping one of the legal tactics of the music business as it tries to stamp out piracy.
“The case (.pdf) pitted the Recording Industry Association of America against Verizon Internet Services, which earlier had challenged a 2002 copyright subpoena stemming from a provision in the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
“Tuesday’s loss came as a blow to the entertainment industry, which has tried to use litigation as a way to deter alleged copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks.”
Michael Grebb. Music Industry Spurned by Court. Wired News. Oct. 12, 2004.
See also:
Electronic Frontier Foundation. No “Fishing License” for the RIAA. Deep Links. Oct. 12, 2004.
No author. Subpoenas Snubbed in File-Sharing Fight. Red Herring. Oct. 12, 2004.
Gina Holland. High Court Won’t Hear Music Sharing Case. SiliconValley.com. Oct. 12, 2004.
Cynthia Webb. Supremes Quietly Change Piracy Debate. WashingtonPost.com. Oct. 13, 2004.
Update: WashingtonPost.com Supreme Court Internet Privacy Decision. Oct. 14, 2004. (Transcript of chat between Post writer David McGuire and Verizon vice president and associate general counsel Sarah Deutsch. Verizon was the lead party in the fight over keeping subscribers’ identities private from entertainment companies seeking to sue for copyright infringement.)
(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
An Alternative to Current Copyright Law
"Getting rights OK’d can be frustrating for artists, be they authors seeking to quote an essay or documentary filmmakers who’ve got snippets of pop songs playing in the background of key scenes. Artists and scholars who believe the current copyright system unduly stifles creativity are pushing a less restrictive alternative that they call the Creative Commons.
"Driving the movement is the belief that we all benefit when creative minds are free to expand upon others’ work — that public discourse is hurt when too much of it is weighed down by the baggage of commerce.
"’The (Creative) Commons encourages sharing and makes explicit that creativity depends on easy access to raw materials,’ said Siva Vaidhyanathan, a New York University professor critical of current copyright laws. ‘Right now, you have to assume you’re going to get in trouble if you quote from somebody extensively or build upon a previous expression.’"
Anick Jesdanun. Movement Seeks Copyright Alternatives. Yahoo! News. Oct. 10, 2004.
Microsoft Increases Industry Cooperation
"Microsoft Corp. is expanding its efforts to move from a ‘trade secrets’ company to one that banks on sharing its intellectual property (IP) and benefits from being seen as a more cooperative and open-industry player.
"Almost a year after announcing a new IP licensing policy and the formal licensing of two technologies, the software giant is set to announce new formal program licenses within the next two months, according to David Kaefer, director of business development, for Microsoft’s Intellectual Property and Licensing Group.
"The move comes amid an overall effort to even up the amount of technologies the company offers through licensing and those it licenses."
Scarlet Pruitt. Microsoft Opens IP in Licensing Push. InfoWorld. Oct. 8, 2004.
Movie & Record Companies Ask High Court to Rescue Their Industries
"Hollywood studios and record companies on Friday asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn a controversial series of recent court decisions that have kept file-swapping software legal, saying that letting the lower court rulings stand would badly undermine the value of copyrighted work.
"The decisions have been among the biggest setbacks for the entertainment industry in the past several years, as they have tried to quell the rampant exchange of copyrighted materials over peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus."
Editor’s Note: Former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr and former Bill Clinton impeachment counsel David E. Kendall are representing the entertainment industry in this matter.
John Borland. Hollywood Takes P2P Case to Supreme Court. News.com. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
U.S. Supreme Court. Petiton for Certiorari: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). Oct. 8, 2004.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. MGM v. Grokster Case Archive.
John Borland. Judges Rule File-Sharing Software Legal. News.com. Aug. 19, 2004.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). Aug. 19, 2004.
John Borland. Judge: File-Swapping Tools Are Legal. News.com. April 25, 2003.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). April 25, 2003.
Movie & Record Companies Ask High Court to Rescue Their Industries
"Hollywood studios and record companies on Friday asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn a controversial series of recent court decisions that have kept file-swapping software legal, saying that letting the lower court rulings stand would badly undermine the value of copyrighted work.
"The decisions have been among the biggest setbacks for the entertainment industry in the past several years, as they have tried to quell the rampant exchange of copyrighted materials over peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus."
Editor’s Note: Former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr and former Bill Clinton impeachment counsel David E. Kendall are representing the entertainment industry in this matter.
John Borland. Hollywood Takes P2P Case to Supreme Court. News.com. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
U.S. Supreme Court. Petiton for Certiorari: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). Oct. 8, 2004.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. MGM v. Grokster Case Archive.
John Borland. Judges Rule File-Sharing Software Legal. News.com. Aug. 19, 2004.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). Aug. 19, 2004.
John Borland. Judge: File-Swapping Tools Are Legal. News.com. April 25, 2003.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). April 25, 2003.
INDUCE Act Dies on Congress Floor
"A bill that would make it easier to sue online file-trading networks like Kazaa appeared on Friday to have died a quiet death, but other copyright bills sought by the entertainment industry continued to advance.
"The Senate Judiciary Committee declined late on Thursday to take up a bill that would hold liable anyone who ‘induces’ others to reproduce copyrighted material, a move observers said all but assures it would not become law this year."
Reuters. Copyright Bill Dies in Senate as Others Advance. News.com. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
Brooks Boliek. Induce Act Stalls as Compromise Talks Break Down. The Hollywood Reporter. Oct. 8, 2004.
Keith Regan. Congressional Action on Induce Act Could Be in Jeopardy. TechNewsWorld. Oct. 7, 2004.
COPYCENSE 