“What began late last year as an effort by France to ratify the European copyright standard is now likely to produce some of the weakest penalties in the world for Internet music piracy — the equivalent of a parking ticket.
“The light penalties for piracy that legal commentators say the final legislation is likely to prescribe have been described by some members of the music industry as the equivalent of an economic firing squad. Others speak of a betrayal of the principles of Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the 18th-century playwright whom the French credit with inventing the concept of copyright to protect authors.”
Thomas Crampton. Will France, Birthplace of Copyright, Go Soft On Piracy? International Herald Tribune. March 13, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
“Research In Motion took out a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and several other newspapers earlier this week, thanking those who supported the company in its dispute with NTP and also urging patent reforms. In the letter attributed to RIM’s co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, RIM said it was “pleased to put this matter behind us and remove any uncertainty from our customers’ minds.”
“Eleven days ago RIM paid NTP $612.5 million to end the long-running dispute over whether the popular BlackBerry wireless e-mail system infringed on patents held by NTP. Prior to the settlement, Judge James Spencer appeared set to impose an injunction on the sales and support of BlackBerry devices and software in the U.S. after RIM failed to overturn a 2002 jury verdict that it infringed on NTP’s patents.
“RIM settled with NTP even though — after the jury verdict and appeals process — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had has rejected the claims in NTP’s five patents at issue in the case.”
Tom Krazit. RIM Calls for Patent Reform In Newspaper Ad. News.com. March 14, 2006.
See also:
Research In Motion. A Message To All BlackBerry Supporters. No date.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Addressing attendees at the Voice on the Net conference at the San Jose Convention Center on Wednesday, Richard Notebaert, CEO of Qwest Communications, also said that he opposes blocking traffic on his company’s network. But for the first time publicly he said he believes that network operators should have the option to charge content providers, such as Google or Amazon, higher rates for providing premium service over the Qwest network.
Speculation over phone companies developing a tiered Internet system that would require content companies to pay more for their access has become a hot-button issue in the tech industry, pitting companies such as Google, Yahoo and Amazon against the big phone companies and equipment makers.
Marguerite Reardon. Qwest CEO Supports Tiered Internet. News.com. March 15, 2006.
See also:
Marguerite Reardon. Debate Heats Up Over Net Neutrality. News.com. March 15, 2006.
Declan McCullagh & Anne Broache. Senator: Net Neutrality May Not Happen. News.com. March 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
