Archive for June 7th, 2006
eBay’s Backroom Lobbying Operation
“As eBay has spread its innovative and influential wings across the Internet, it has also woven together a muscular and wily lobbying apparatus that spans 25 states. ‘It is a fast-moving train, and if you get in front of it you’ll get flattened,’ said one state regulatory official, who is concerned that eBay flouts regulatory oversight by persuading state legislators to take the company’s side.
“Regulators in other states also say that when they try to erect guidelines around eBay’s activities, they quickly encounter the realities of the company’s political power, raising anew the perennial questions about the proper balance among public policy, consumer protection and business interests. EBay’s lobbying tactics, meanwhile, illustrate the spoils to be won when a savvy, resourceful company combines local political persuasion and grass-roots rallying to get lucrative regulatory exemptions that allow it to safeguard its profits.
“EBay’s efforts have been remarkably successful, and the company, which has worked tirelessly to cultivate its image as a friendly neighborhood bazaar even as it engages in hard-nosed lobbying, is not shy about boasting of its victories.”
Katie Hafner. How eBay Makes Regulations Disappear. The New York Times. June 4, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
At BookExpo, Writers & Publishers Face Digital Upheaval
“When Mark Z. Danielewski’s second novel, ‘Only Revolutions,’ is published in September, it will include hundreds of margin notes listing moments in history suggested online by fans of his work. Yochai Benkler, a Yale University law professor and author of the new book ‘The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,’ has gone even farther: his entire book is available — free — as a download from his Web site.
“Not surprisingly, writers have greeted these measures with a mixture of enthusiasm and dread. The dread was perhaps most eloquently crystallized last month in Washington at BookExpo, the publishing industry’s annual convention, when the novelist John Updike forcefully decried a digital future composed of free downloads of books and the mixing and matching of ‘snippets’ of text, calling it a ‘grisly scenario.’
“Hovering above the discussion of all these technologies is the fear that the publishing industry could be subject to the same upheaval that has plagued the music industry, where digitalization has started to displace the traditional artistic and economic model of the record album with 99-cent song downloads and personalized playlists.”
Motoko Rich. Digital Publishing Is Scrambling the Industry’s Rules. The New York Times. June 5, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
At BookExpo, Writers & Publishers Face Digital Upheaval
“When Mark Z. Danielewski’s second novel, ‘Only Revolutions,’ is published in September, it will include hundreds of margin notes listing moments in history suggested online by fans of his work. Yochai Benkler, a Yale University law professor and author of the new book ‘The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,’ has gone even farther: his entire book is available — free — as a download from his Web site.
“Not surprisingly, writers have greeted these measures with a mixture of enthusiasm and dread. The dread was perhaps most eloquently crystallized last month in Washington at BookExpo, the publishing industry’s annual convention, when the novelist John Updike forcefully decried a digital future composed of free downloads of books and the mixing and matching of ‘snippets’ of text, calling it a ‘grisly scenario.’
“Hovering above the discussion of all these technologies is the fear that the publishing industry could be subject to the same upheaval that has plagued the music industry, where digitalization has started to displace the traditional artistic and economic model of the record album with 99-cent song downloads and personalized playlists.”
Motoko Rich. Digital Publishing Is Scrambling the Industry’s Rules. The New York Times. June 5, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Copyright Complicates Online Music Storage
“The digital music battle of the future may not be over where music is purchased, but where and how it is stored.
“A number of companies have created online content ‘lockers’ where users can upload their digital media files for storage that they can subsequently access from multiple devices. Examples include Oboe and MediaMax.
“While initially enticing as a media backup option, both services offer added accessibility intended to boost the value of music to users. But like anything else in the digital music industry, the concept isn’t quite as simple as those trying to sell it might like. Music wrapped in certain types of digital rights management (DRM) technology — such as Apple’s Fairplay — can’t be streamed from these lockers. Neither can tethered downloads acquired from subscription music services like Napster or Rhapsody,”
Antony Bruno. Digital Music Finds Some Locker Room. Yahoo! News. May 29, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Split Copyright Rules for Software, Songs
The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST), was set up more than 20 years ago to raise awareness of software piracy and lobby the British Parliament for changes in the law to help software companies protect their business.
“FAST thinks that the police don’t take enough notice of software piracy, and it would like more forms of copyright infringement to be treated as criminal rather than civil matters, so that the police can prosecute instead of leaving it to the lawyers to sue. This serves the interests of the film and music industries, of course, since they would like to see anyone who downloads a song without permission prosecuted in the criminal courts.
“Software is not the same as books or music or film. It expresses instructions, and is more like a machine than an expression of creativity. It would be helpful if the two sides could be separated, because then the software industry might be persuaded that it is a waste of time to lock content in ways which require companies to build media players with limited functionality that can’t do things users want.”
Bill Thompson. How To Split Software and Songs. BBC News. June 2, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Attorney General Raises Heat on ISP Data Retention
“U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller last week urged telecommunications officials to record their customers’ Internet activities.
“In a private meeting with industry representatives, Gonzales, Mueller and other senior members of the Justice Department said Internet service providers should retain subscriber information and network data for two years, according to two sources familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The closed-door meeting at the Justice Department, which Gonzales had requested, according to the sources, comes as the idea of legally mandated data retention has become popular on Capitol Hill and inside the Bush administration. Supporters of the idea say it will help prosecutions of child pornography because in many cases, logs are deleted during the routine course of business.”
Declan McCullagh. Gonzales Pressures ISPs on Data Retention. News.com. May 26, 2006.
Prior CopyCense coverage:
CopyCense. Congress Considering Online Data Collection. May 18, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
International Trade, Russia & MP3 Files
“Rising consumer popularity is turning AllofMP3.com, a music downloading service based in Moscow, into a global Internet success story, except for one important detail: The site may well be illegal.
“So great is the official level of concern about AllofMP3 that U.S. trade negotiators darkly warned that the Web site could jeopardize Russia’s long- sought entry into the World Trade Organization.
“Operating through what music industry lobbyists say is a loophole in Russia’s copyright law, AllofMP3 offers a vast catalogue of music that includes artists not normally authorized for sale online — like the Beatles and Metallica — at a small fraction the cost of services like Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store. And unlike iTunes and other commercial services, songs purchased with AllofMP3’s downloading software have no restrictions on copying.”
Thomas Crampton. Allegations of Piracy Hit Popular Music Web Site. International Herald Tribune. June 2, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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