/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ the politics of IP en-us wendy@seltzer.com 2006-03-21T16:57:13-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2006/03/21/dont_miss_cato_vs_the_dmca.php When organizations all around the political spectrum can agree a law is broken, you'd think that would lead to quick passage of the bill to fix it. Unless that law is the DMCA's anticircumvention. The Libertarian Cato Institute has released a terrific report (PDF link) documenting ways the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hinders innovation. Why won't iTunes play on Rio MP3 players? Why are viewers forced to sit through previews on some DVDs when they could have fast-forwarded through them on video? Why is it impossible to cut and paste text on Adobe eBook? In a just released study for... 53836@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2006-03-21T16:57:13-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2005/04/10/copyfighter_of_the_week.php Michael Geist works hard to ensure that Canada does not do as America has done. (Via Cory via Slashdot.)... 10081@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2005-04-10T11:41:03-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/11/18/journalism_happens.php Even on weblogs (gasp!). Congratulations to Carl Zimmer for winning an American Association for the Advancement of Science's 2004 Science Journalism Award for his excellent Corante weblog, The Loom.... 9604@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-11-18T16:49:39-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/08/30/new_york_times_editorial_board_copyfighters.php We've discussed the definition of "copyfighter" before (IAAC - I Am A Copyfighter and Defining "Copyfighter"). Regardless of the details of the definition, I think we certainly have to add the New York Times Editorial Board to the copyfighter category. For example, here are a few recent editorials from the Times: Grokster and the Information Exchange:These are thorny issues indeed. Freedom of information is at the root of American democracy, and yet every day we see that freedom being compromised, controlled and limited. The Grokster decision is a ruling in favor of keeping our bets open about which technologies will... 9487@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-08-30T02:02:55-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/07/26/bravo.php Fred Wilhems has written one of the most comprehensive and well-argued pieces I've seen about the Induce Act (PDF). The core argument: copyright infringement over peer-to-peer networks is a problem for artists -- but you don't solve that problem by killing technological innovation or sending it overseas. The fundamental problem I have with P2P is that the creators don’t get paid for the distribution of their work, and I don't really buy the arguments that this "free" dissemination encourages people to buy CDs, or that it builds a fan base, or that it promotes their live appearances. The hard numbers... 9423@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-07-26T15:33:30-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/07/22/same_blawg_time_new_blawg_channel.php A very cool new group "blawg" (law+blog) just debuted, snagging top talent: the Blawg Channel. It will combine the dry wit of Marty Schwimmer, the illuminating musings of Ernie (the Attorney) Svenson, the intelligent insights of Dennis Kennedy, and the enviably succinct, informed pointers of Tom Mighell. A sample post by Marty, poking a hole in the Krispy Kreme trademark lawsuit against Entenmann's: "My wife and I agreed to cut out the trans fats. Nevertheless, she purchased Entenmann's Original Glazed donuts, with the blue polka dot box. In Krispy Kreme's view, she was confused."... 9405@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-07-22T11:38:54-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/07/03/shout_out_to_jp.php I don't always agree with Dave Winer, but in this instance I couldn't agree more. In the last few years I was there, John Palfrey managed to rekindle, and then to build upon, what makes the Berkman Center for Internet & Society more than just another think tank: its commitment to active research. The Internet isn't an object to be studied from afar. You have to dig your hands into the dirt. Once you're there, you can't help but understand that it's something worth fighting for.... 9356@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-07-03T13:36:11-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/07/02/culture_of_hope.php Siva Vaidyanathan does a lot of excellent work evangelizing the importance of keeping our culture free. So I'm delighted to see his proposal for an academic counterpart to the free culture movement gain traction. Writes Jessica Clark @ In These Times (emphasis, mine): A more hopeful model [for cultural theory and criticism] was proposed [in a recent talk] by Siva Vaidhynathan...He outlined the work of a diverse and lively cadre of economists, sociologists, linguists, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, communications scholars, lawyers, computer scientists, philosophers, librarians, literary scholars, and historians who work together to explore an emerging set of concerns. These include intellectual... 9355@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-07-02T22:57:10-05:00 http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2004/06/15/directv_drops_guiltbypurchase_strategy.php This just in: satellite television giant DirecTV has decided at last to stop suing or threatening to sue people for merely possessing smart card devices. Instead, it will pursue lawsuits against only those people it suspects of actually using the devices to illegally intercept the company's satellite signal. This comes after months of negotiations with folks at EFF and Stanford's CIS Cyberlaw Clinic, who have been working together to help people defend themselves in the face of settlement demands that made it easier to give up than to fight. "American innovators and hobbyists shouldn't have to fear legal action merely... 9318@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/ Kudos 2004-06-15T11:39:29-05:00