COPYCENSE

“The House passed revisions to the broad antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act on Tuesday, clearing the way for President Bush to sign legislation making permanent most of the major provisions of the original 2001 law.

“The bill passed, 280 to 138, with just two more votes than needed under special rules requiring a two-thirds majority. The vote was the last step in a tortuous journey through Congress. The House action approved amendments to a bill revising the original act; the revised bill passed the House last year and was adopted last week by the Senate after having been bottled up there for months.

“The vote on Tuesday was an important victory for Mr. Bush, who has maintained that the act is an essential component in fighting terrorism. The major provisions of the original bill had been set to expire on March 16. Mr. Bush is expected to sign the revised version before then.”

Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Patriot Act Revisions Pass House, Sending Measure to President. The New York Times. March 8, 2006.

See also:

U.S. Senate. S.2271: A bill to clarify that individuals who receive FISA orders can challenge nondisclosure requirements, etc. (Sponsor: Sununu). Feb. 10, 2006.

U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 3199: To extend and modify authorities needed to combat terrorism, and for other purposes. (Sponsor: Sensenbrenner) July 9, 2005.

BBC News. Final Approval for U.S. PATRIOT Act. March 8, 2006.

Updates:

Nedra Pickler. Bush Signs Renewal of Patriot Act. WashingtonPost.com. March 10, 2006.

CQ Transcriptions. Bush Speaks After Signing Patriot Act. WashingtonPost.com. March 9, 2006.

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

“Thirty-five years ago, a group of anonymous activists broke into the small, two-man office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Media, Pa., and stole more than 1,000 FBI documents that revealed years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent.

“The Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI, as the group called itself, forced its way in at night with a crowbar while much of the country was watching the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight. When agents arrived for work the next morning, they found the file cabinets virtually emptied.

To this day, no individual has claimed responsibility for the break-in. The FBI couldn’t solve it.

“Found among the Media documents was a new word, “COINTELPRO.”

Allan M. Jalon. A Break-In To End All Break-Ins. LATImes.com. March 8, 2006.

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

“New technologies have remade the consumer entertainment landscape, allowing creative content – such as movies, television, and radio programming – to be delivered in digital form. Because exact copies of digital content can be widely and quickly distributed, some content distributors are employing technical protection systems to manage consumer uses of copyrighted content, often characterized as “digital rights management (DRM)” technology. DRM systems are intended to enable distributors to manage consumer uses of content. In theory, this may prevent the making and distribution of infringing copies of digital works. However, use of these technologies has created controversy, especially as regards issues of “fair use” and public interest.

“The marketplace should determine the success or failure of DRM technologies but, increasingly, content distributors are turning to legislatures or the courts to erect new legal mandates to replace long-standing copyright regimes. DRM systems should be mechanisms for reinforcing existing legal constraints on behavior, not as mechanisms for creating new legal constraints. Striking a balance among consumers’ rights, public interest, and protection of valid copyright interests is no simple task for technologists or policymakers.

Association for Computing Machinery. USACM Policy Recommendations on Digital Rights Management. February 2006.

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

“The French government began a second attempt to push through anti-piracy legislation Tuesday, in a bid to overcome a rebellion by its own lawmakers that sought to legalize online file-sharing.

“Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres defended a revised version of his online copyright bill ahead of an evening debate at the National Assembly, France’s lower house.

“In a concession to critics, the latest draft lightens the penalties for those caught pirating music or movies online. But it also strengthens legal protection for anti-copy technologies known as DRMs, shielding them from challenges under French laws that grant consumers the right to make copies of music and film for private use.”

Laurence Frost. France Pushing for Anti-Piracy Crackdown. BusinessWeek Online. March 7, 2006.

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

“Authors who sign up with digitisation programs run by companies such as Google or Amazon may be unwittingly sacrificing some of their rights, a media lawyer has warned.

“Google’s Google Print and Amazon’s Look Inside programs have caused controversy in the publishing world. While both companies claim that making books searchable and viewable online can increase sales, and offer to digitise such texts for free, publishers and authors have expressed concerns over copyright violations. The topic has stirred major interest at the Book Fair — the largest publishing gathering in the English-speaking world — and a series of seminars on Google’s program have attracted capacity crowds.”

Angus Kidman. Authors Warned of Digitisation Threat. ZDNet Australia. March 6, 2006.

See also:

Samson Spanier. Theme of London Book Fair Is What Technology Can Do. The New York Times. March 7, 2006.

Terry Kirby. Electronic Pen Allows Atwood to Reach the World From Home. The Independent. March 6, 2006.

Updates:

William Pollard. Google Books Rescues the Backlist. OhMy News. March 10, 2006.

Information World Review. Publishers Call for Library Digitisation Boycott at Book Fair. March 10, 2006.

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

“Authors who sign up with digitisation programs run by companies such as Google or Amazon may be unwittingly sacrificing some of their rights, a media lawyer has warned.

“Google’s Google Print and Amazon’s Look Inside programs have caused controversy in the publishing world. While both companies claim that making books searchable and viewable online can increase sales, and offer to digitise such texts for free, publishers and authors have expressed concerns over copyright violations. The topic has stirred major interest at the Book Fair — the largest publishing gathering in the English-speaking world — and a series of seminars on Google’s program have attracted capacity crowds.”

Angus Kidman. Authors Warned of Digitisation Threat. ZDNet Australia. March 6, 2006.

See also:

Samson Spanier. Theme of London Book Fair Is What Technology Can Do. The New York Times. March 7, 2006.

Terry Kirby. Electronic Pen Allows Atwood to Reach the World From Home. The Independent. March 6, 2006.

Updates:

William Pollard. Google Books Rescues the Backlist. OhMy News. March 10, 2006.

Information World Review. Publishers Call for Library Digitisation Boycott at Book Fair. March 10, 2006.

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