Africa Gets Bitten By Copyright Bug, Too
“Since Uganda’s first FM radio station hit the airwaves, DJs and presenters have been broadcasting music without paying artistes’ royalties. The stage is set for a major showdown between Uganda’s FM radio station owners and artistes over payment of music royalties.
“For more than a decade, ever since Uganda’s first FM radio station hit the airwaves, DJs and radio presenters have been broadcasting music without paying artistes’ royalties to the performers, composers and so on. “By playing their music,” radio owners argue, “we are promoting them.” Some DJs say that artistes often bring their CDs to the radio stations, lobbying for their music to be played for free.
“Artistes now say the radio stations are reaping advertising revenue by playing their popular music, for which they are not paid. With the recently passed Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006, artistes may at last be able to reap from their sweat by asking radio stations to pay royalties every time they play a song. The law, which only awaits the president’s assent to come into force, criminalises infringement on copyrighted works by way of reproduction, distribution or broadcast.
Frank Sserwaniko. Uganda: New Copyright Law to Protect Musicians. The East African. June 13, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Apple Ready for Movies, But Pricing Is Problematic
“After conquering the digital music biz and taking the lead with TV shows online, Apple is looking to feature films. The computer company is in active negotiations with most major studios to add movies to its iTunes Music Store, most likely by the end of the year, numerous sources confirm.
“The main sticking point is price.
“Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who has been personally involved in the talks, initially proposed selling all films at a flat price of $9.99 — an offer the studios flatly rejected.
Ben Fritz. Apple Plants Seeds For Pic Downloads. Variety. June 18, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- Ars Technica. Apple, Studios Reportedly at Pricing Impasse on Movie Downloads. June 19, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
The Googleplex Grows
“On the banks of the windswept Columbia River, Google is working on a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing. But it is hard to keep a secret when it is a computing center as big as two football fields, with twin cooling plants protruding four stories into the sky.
“The complex, sprawling like an information-age factory, heralds a substantial expansion of a worldwide computing network handling billions of search queries a day and a growing repertory of other Internet services.
“And odd as it may seem, the barren desert land surrounding the Columbia along the Oregon-Washington border — at the intersection of cheap electricity and readily accessible data networking — is the backdrop for a multibillion-dollar face-off among Google, Microsoft and Yahoo that will determine dominance in the online world in the years ahead.”
John Markoff and Saul Hansell. Hiding in Plain Sight, Google Seeks More Power. The New York Times. June 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
End of Congress Breeds Net Neutrality Rush
“The latest Net neutrality provisions in a mammoth Senate communications bill stopped short of giving Internet companies and consumer advocacy groups all the assurances they’ve requested.
“Unveiled formally at a briefing here for reporters on Monday, new provisions in the latest draft of the sweeping Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act would allow the Federal Communications Commission to police subscribers’ complaints of “interference” in their Internet activities and to levy fines on violators.
“Specifically, the bill would require all Internet service providers to adhere to what the proposal calls an ‘Internet consumer bill of rights.’ But critics say the latest draft refrained from addressing a major complaint of advocates of network neutrality–that is, the idea that network operators should give equal treatment to all content that travels across their pipes.”
Anne Broache. Senate Panel Proposes Net User ‘Bill of Rights’. News.com. June 19, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- U.S. Congress. Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act (S. 2686). June 22, 2006.
- Ars Technica. Senate Bill Compromise Paves the Way for “Net Neutrality Lite.” June 18, 2006.
- Talking Points Memo. Net Neutrality Senate Vote Tally. June 15, 2006. (Last update.)
- Anne Broache. Net Neutrality Field In Congress Gets Crowded. News.com. May 19, 2006.
- U.S. Congress. Internet Freedom Preservation Act. (.pdf) Undated draft. (Courtesy of Public Knowledge)
- The Conservative Voice. What the Misguided Have Missed Regarding Network Neutrality. May 9, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Lessig & Publisher President Debate Google Lawsuit
“The D; All Things Digital session featuring Random House’ Richard Sarnoff and Lawrence Lessig provides a candid picture of the difference of opinion about the meaning and value of copyright. Lessig, a lawyer, is reported to have lambasted Sarnoff for “unleashing” Random House’s lawyers to “suck value out of [the information] economy.” Predictably, because it’s easy to dislike lawyers (and because, as a lawyer, Lessig sounds noble making this statement) he got riotous applause.
“But I think it’s a little too easy to applaud lawyers complaining about lawyers when the problem is a question of, as Lessig said, “the digital destiny of American culture or world history” The lawyers are the sideshow, the problem is how to pay for the culture Mr. Lessig wants to preserve, and lawyers aren’t the experts I’d rely on for culture. After all, with rare exceptions, lawyers don’t produce writing or video or music that anyone would want to read, see or hear except to pass a test.”
Rational Rants. Lessig’s Razor. June 1, 2006.
Note: An abbreviated transcript of this speech appears in a special section published Monday, June 19, 2006, in The Wall Street Journal.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Lessig & Publisher President Debate Google Lawsuit
“The D; All Things Digital session featuring Random House’ Richard Sarnoff and Lawrence Lessig provides a candid picture of the difference of opinion about the meaning and value of copyright. Lessig, a lawyer, is reported to have lambasted Sarnoff for “unleashing” Random House’s lawyers to “suck value out of [the information] economy.” Predictably, because it’s easy to dislike lawyers (and because, as a lawyer, Lessig sounds noble making this statement) he got riotous applause.
“But I think it’s a little too easy to applaud lawyers complaining about lawyers when the problem is a question of, as Lessig said, “the digital destiny of American culture or world history” The lawyers are the sideshow, the problem is how to pay for the culture Mr. Lessig wants to preserve, and lawyers aren’t the experts I’d rely on for culture. After all, with rare exceptions, lawyers don’t produce writing or video or music that anyone would want to read, see or hear except to pass a test.”
Rational Rants. Lessig’s Razor. June 1, 2006.
Note: An abbreviated transcript of this speech appears in a special section published Monday, June 19, 2006, in The Wall Street Journal.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Bill Gates To Cease Running Microsoft in 2008
“After more than 30 years, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates concluded this week that it’s time for him to start moving on.
“Some analysts and investors believe he might just be right.
“A day after Gates detailed plans for a two-year transition from his day-to-day duties, the company’s shares closed up 3 cents, at $22.10. It wasn’t a ringing endorsement by any means, but it also wasn’t the negative reaction that easily could have accompanied such an announcement from someone who so deeply personifies a company.”
Todd Bishop. Gates’ Decision ‘A Good Thing’ for Microsoft. SeattlePI.com. June 17, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- Forbes.com. Bill Gates Time Line. June 17, 2006.
- Robert Weisman. Gates’s Successor Has Tough Act to Follow at Microsoft. Boston.com. June 17, 2006.
- Bill Virgin. Can Bill Gates Really Hit Delete? SeattlePI.com. June 16, 2006.
- Michael Kanellos and Ina Fried. Microsoft’s Mixed Scorecard. News.com. June 15, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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