Congress Discusses “Patent Trolls”
“U.S. politicians appeared sympathetic on Thursday to tech companies’ cries for help combating what are commonly called ‘patent trolls’ –companies that supposedly hold patents for no reason other than coaxing inflated settlements out of wealthy corporations.
“California Democrat Howard Berman said he was concerned about the patent holder who ‘spends not a cent on development…(and) patents every monkey he kisses. All he does is spend his time sitting around waiting, (hoping) that he can make enough of a case that it might infringe on his monkey that somebody will pay him to go away.’
“Each of the politicians has already put forth his own proposal aimed at improving what some decry as a broken patent system, though those suggestions remain works-in-progress while competing interests try to work out the best language. Both Berman and Smith said Thursday that they’d like to see new laws enacted this year. But that may prove tough because of an abbreviated election-year calendar.”
Anne Broache. Politicos Mull Action Against Patent System Abusers. News.com. June 15, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. Oversight Hearing on “Patent Trolls: Fact or Fiction?” June 15, 2006.
- Public Knowledge. H.R.2795: The Patent Reform Act of 2005. Undated.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
E$PN Goes Premium
“American office workers can watch every play of the midday World Cup soccer games on their desktop computers — but only if they subscribe to the right Internet providers.
“In a strategy inspired by cable television, the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN sports network offers online broadcasts of the World Cup and other sporting events as premium Internet programming. Internet providers who want to offer the service, called ESPN360, must pay special fees for the right to carry it, in the same way that cable TV systems pay Disney to carry ESPN’s TV shows. So far, a handful of Internet providers, including Verizon Communications Inc., Adelphia Communications Corp., and Charter Communications Inc., have signed up for ESPN360, making it available to about 8 million US households.
“It’s a policy that could help Disney and other companies find new revenue streams for their entertainment offerings.”
Hiawatha Bray. ESPN Selling Premium Content to Net Providers. Boston.com. June 15, 2006.
Not Everyone Can Edit at Wikipedia
“Wikipedia is the online encyclopedia that “anyone can edit.” Unless you want to edit the entries on Albert Einstein, human rights in China or Christina Aguilera.
“Wikipedia’s come-one, come-all invitation to write and edit articles, and the surprisingly successful results, have captured the public imagination. But it is not the experiment in freewheeling collective creativity it might seem to be, because maintaining so much openness inevitably involves some tradeoffs.
“At its core, Wikipedia is not just a reference work but also an online community that has built itself a bureaucracy of sorts — one that, in response to well-publicized problems with some entries, has recently grown more elaborate. It has a clear power structure that gives volunteer administrators the authority to exercise editorial control, delete unsuitable articles and protect those that are vulnerable to vandalism. Those measures can put some entries outside of the ‘anyone can edit’ realm.”
Katie Hafner. Growing Wikipedia Revises Its ‘Anyone Can Edit’ Policy. The New York Times. June 17, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Scholar Sues Over Fair Use
This story has been updated. Original CopyCense coverage: June 15, 2006.
“A Stanford University professor on Monday sued James Joyce’s estate for refusing to give her permission to use copyrighted material about the Ulysses author and his daughter on her scholarly Web site.
“In the federal court lawsuit filed here, Carol Shloss, an acting English professor and Joycean scholar, challenged the estate’s assertion that she would be infringing on its ownership of Joyce’s image by quoting his published works, manuscripts and private letters on her site. Instead, Shloss accused Joyce’s grandson, Stephen James Joyce, and estate trustee, Sean Sweeney, of destroying papers, improperly withholding access to copyrighted materials and actively intimidating academics to protect the Joyce family name.”
Lisa Leff. Stanford Prof Sues James Joyce’s Estate for Right to Quote Works. MercuryNews.com. June 12, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Carol Loeb Shloss v. Sean Sweeney and the Estate of James Joyce: Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief (No. ___). (.pdf). June 12, 2006.
- D. T. Max. The Injustice Collector. The New Yorker. June 12, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Sweatshop Conditions Charged in iPod Manufacture
“Apple Computer Inc. is having an iPod-related public relations headache this week, following a report by a British newspaper on working conditions at Chinese factories where the popular music player is built.
“The Mail on Sunday reported that a Chinese factory that manufactures iPods employs 200,000 workers who live in dormitories where visitors are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hour days for as little as $50 per month, according to the article.
“Apple said it is ‘investigating the allegations regarding working conditions in the iPod manufacturing plant in China.'”
Mike Musgrove. Sweatshop Conditions at IPod Factory Reported. WashingtonPost.com. June 16, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Senate Proposes Labeling Explicit Web Content
“Operators of commercial Web sites with sexually explicit content would have to post warning labels on each offending page or face imprisonment under a new proposal in the U.S. Senate.
“Caving to earlier demands from the U.S. Department of Justice, the 24-page proposed law focuses on a medley of new penalties related to child pornography and other sexual content on the Internet. For instance, Internet service providers that fail to report to authorities any sightings of child pornography on their networks would have to cough up fines that are triple those written into current law: $150,000 for the first violation and $300,000 thereafter.
“Called the Stop Adults’ Facilitation of the Exploitation of Youth Act, or Internet SAFETY Act, the bill actually beefs up the Justice Department’s suggested penalties for negligent Web labelers.”
Anne Broache. Web Labeling Mandate Surfaces In Senate. News.com. June 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
New Video Services Rip From YouTube
“Two services run by two people in Australia are giving people new ways to access and use video content from sites like YouTube and Google Video, and copyright holders may well find themselves up in arms about it.
“Known as Peekvid and Keepvid, the sister services are designed, respectively, to aggregate and index copyrighted YouTube content, and allow users to rip content from YouTube, Google Video and other services to their hard drives.
“Thus, though YouTube prohibits anyone except legitimate rights holders — such as NBC Universal, EMI Records and many others — from uploading copyrighted content to its site, such content does get posted illegally, and these sister services make it possible to easily view, and download, a wide variety of such content. A recent survey turned up clips including World Cup highlights, Beatles and 2Pac Shakur music videos, episodes of “Seinfeld,” an episode of “Lost” and dozens of other TV shows and music videos.”
Daniel Terdiman. Service Lets People Rip Videos From YouTube, Other Sites. News.com. June 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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