Archive for February 16th, 2006
Big Music Doublespeaks on Downloading CDs to iPod
“It is no secret that the entertainment oligopolists are not happy about space-shifting and format-shifting. But surely ripping your own CDs to your own iPod passes muster, right? In fact, didn’t they admit as much in front of the Supreme Court during the MGM v. Grokster argument last year?
“Apparently not.”
EFF Deep Links. RIAA Says Ripping CDs to Your iPod is NOT Fair Use. Feb. 15, 2006.
See also:
U.S. Copyright Office. Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies — Joint Reply of Association of American Publishers, et al. (.pdf, 550 KB) Feb. 2, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Publishers Should Praise Google Book Search
“Google’s new Book Search promises to save writers’ and publishers’ asses by putting their books into the index of works that are visible to searchers who get all their information from the Internet. In response, publishers and writers are suing Google, claiming that this ass-saving is in fact a copyright violation.
“When you look a little closer, though, you see that the writer/publisher objections to Google amount to nothing more than rent-seeking: an attempt to use legal threats to milk Google for some of the money it will make by providing this vital service to us ink-stained scribblers.”
Boing Boing. Why Publishing Should Send Fruit-Baskets to Google. Feb. 14, 2006.
Updates:
Xeni Jardin. You Authors Are Saps to Resist Googling. LATimes.com. Feb. 23, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Strong Critique of Google Video DRM
“With the introduction of its new copy-restriction video service, Google has diverged from its corporate ethos. For the first time in the company’s history, it has released a product that is designed to fill the needs of someone other than Google’s users.
“The question is, why has Google done this? There’s no Google customer who woke up this morning looking for a way to do less with her video. … That’s not to say that there’s nothing problematic about getting your video through Google this way. But the problems of the inability of the entertainment industry to adapt to the Internet are the entertainment industry’s problems, not Google’s. Google’s really good at adapting to the Internet — that’s why it’s capitalized at $100 billion while the whole of Hollywood only turns over $60 billion a year.
“But once Google starts brokering the relationship between Hollywood and their audience, this becomes Google’s problem too, which means that all the absurd, business-punishing avenues pursued by Hollywood are now Google’s business, as well.”
Boing Boing. Google Video DRM: Why is Hollywood More Important Than Users? Feb. 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
The Money Men Enter Patent Reform Debate
“Venture capitalists are turning into legal experts — and against each other — as Congress prepares to rewrite patent legislation.
“Patents are the commercial currency for inventors of the “next big thing” — time and resources spent on research and development are worthless without an exclusive right to exploit an invention. The Patent [Reform] Act of 2005, introduced in the House of Representatives in June, is intended to overhaul 50-year-old legislation that has failed to keep up with fast-moving and comprehensive changes in technology, particularly in the life sciences and information technology sectors.
“Everyone agrees that the system needs improving, but the venture capital industry is split on how this should be done.”
Marietta Cauchi. Patent Reform in Congress Drives Wedge in Industry. PostGazette.com. Jan. 27, 2006.
See also:
Government Accounting Office. USPTO Has Made Progress Hiring Examiners, But Challenges to Retention Remain (GAO-05-720). (.pdf) June 2005.
Florence Olsen. Patent Examiners Battle Stress. FCW.com. July 25, 2005.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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