"As Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy today, no television channel will be broadcasting the documentary series Eyes on the Prize. Produced in the 1980s and widely considered the most important encapsulation of the American civil-rights movement on video, the documentary series can no longer be broadcast or sold anywhere.

"Why?

"The makers of the series no longer have permission for the archival footage they previously used of such key events as the historic protest marches or the confrontations with Southern police. Given Eyes on the Prize’s tight budget, typical of any documentary, its filmmakers could barely afford the minimum five-year rights for use of the clips. That permission has long since expired, and the $250,000 to $500,000 needed to clear the numerous copyrights involved is proving too expensive.

"This is particularly dire now, because VHS copies of the series used in countless school curriculums are deteriorating beyond rehabilitation. With no new copies allowed to go on sale, ‘the whole thing, for all practical purposes, no longer exists,’ says Jon Else, a California-based filmmaker who helped produce and shoot the series and who also teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism of the University of California, Berkeley."

Guy Dixon. How Copyright Could be Killing Culture. The Globe & Mail. Jan. 17, 2005.

See also:
Katie Dean. Bleary Days for Eyes on the Prize. Wired News. Dec. 22, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Nicholas M. Ciarelli was not even old enough to shave when he started getting under Apple Computer Inc.’s skin. As a 13-year-old middle-schooler, the New Woodstock, N.Y., native built a Web site in 1998 and began publishing insider news and rumors about Apple, using the alias Nick dePlume.

"Three years later, ThinkSecret.com was first to report that the company would debut a G4 version of the PowerBook laptop series. The product launched soon thereafter, along with ThinkSecret’s reputation among Apple’s legendarily zealous fans, generating millions of page views per month.

"But after a series of letters warning the Web site to stop publishing proprietary information, Apple decided enough was enough. When Ciarelli scored yet another scoop in late December, by predicting the arrival of a new software package and a sub-$500 computer rolled out at this week’s MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, the computer maker filed a lawsuit accusing him of illegally misappropriating trade secrets."

Jonathan Finer. Teen Web Editor Drives Apple to Court Action. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 14, 2005.

See also:
Joseph M. Tartakoff. Apple Sues Student. The Harvard Crimson. Jan. 12, 2005.

Associated Press. Blogger Facing Apple Lawsuit Seeks Legal Aid. San Jose Mercury News. Jan. 14, 2005.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"A software company and its parent are claiming they hold patent rights to widely used Internet song-swapping technology, and they are demanding that several file-sharing networks obtain licenses in order to continue operating.

"Attorneys for Altnet Inc. and its parent company, Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc., sent letters to several U.S.-based file-swapping firms — including Lime Wire LLC, BearShare operator Free Peers Inc. and Mashboxx — claiming that the companies were using patented technology in their products. The letter doesn’t explicitly threaten a lawsuit but does invite the firms to ‘discuss licensing opportunities.’

"’You could call it a warning. We call it an offer to license our technology,’ said Lawrence M. Hadley, counsel for Altnet and Brilliant Digital.

"A valid patent would give the firm a tight hold on a popular means of identifying and trading digital copies of music, movies and software, just as a fledgling industry has sprung up to turn file sharing into a commercial enterprise."

David McGuire. Patents Pressed Against File-Sharing Networks. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. Altnet Seeks Patent Royalties From P2P. News.com. Jan. 12, 2005.

(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.)

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, on Monday began selling its version of Internet phone service in three markets, kicking off one of the most significant challenges traditional local phone companies have ever faced.

"Initially launching its Digital Voice service in three cities–Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Springfield, Mass.–Comcast plans to reach 20 markets by year’s end. The Philadelphia-based company says it intends to make the service available to all its 21 million customers six months after that."

Ben Charny. Comcast Pushes VoIP to Prime Time. News.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

See also:
Colin C. Haley. Comcast Answers VoIP Call. InternetNews.com. Jan. 10, 2005.

Mary Claire Dale. Comcast to Offer Web-Based Phone Service. SeattlePI.com. Jan. 11, 2005.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.