"Hollywood studios and record companies on Friday asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn a controversial series of recent court decisions that have kept file-swapping software legal, saying that letting the lower court rulings stand would badly undermine the value of copyrighted work.
"The decisions have been among the biggest setbacks for the entertainment industry in the past several years, as they have tried to quell the rampant exchange of copyrighted materials over peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus."
Editor's Note: Former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr and former Bill Clinton impeachment counsel David E. Kendall are representing the entertainment industry in this matter.
John Borland. Hollywood Takes P2P Case to Supreme Court. News.com. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
U.S. Supreme Court. Petiton for Certiorari: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). Oct. 8, 2004.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. MGM v. Grokster Case Archive.
John Borland. Judges Rule File-Sharing Software Legal. News.com. Aug. 19, 2004.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). Aug. 19, 2004.
John Borland. Judge: File-Swapping Tools Are Legal. News.com. April 25, 2003.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster, Ltd.. (.pdf). April 25, 2003.
"A bill that would make it easier to sue online file-trading networks like Kazaa appeared on Friday to have died a quiet death, but other copyright bills sought by the entertainment industry continued to advance.
"The Senate Judiciary Committee declined late on Thursday to take up a bill that would hold liable anyone who 'induces' others to reproduce copyrighted material, a move observers said all but assures it would not become law this year."
Reuters. Copyright Bill Dies in Senate as Others Advance. News.com. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
Brooks Boliek. Induce Act Stalls as Compromise Talks Break Down. The Hollywood Reporter. Oct. 8, 2004.
Keith Regan. Congressional Action on Induce Act Could Be in Jeopardy. TechNewsWorld. Oct. 7, 2004.
"Nintendo President Satoru Iwata revealed on Thursday that the company's dual-screen DS handheld gaming console can download game data wirelessly, then play it back.
"The Nintendo DS's greatest features are its revolutionary control schemes, such as the touch-sensitive screen and the microphone input," Iwata said during a press conference at CEATEC, a large technology conference taking place here this week. "And its other major feature is the wireless connection. With it, we're going to revolutionize the way that games are played."
Hirohiko Niizumi. Nintendo Handheld to Feature Wireless Downloading. News.com. Oct. 7, 2004.
See also:
Yuka Obayashi. Nintendo Says 12 DS Games to Debut in Japan. Reuters. Oct. 7, 2004.
David Smith. Nintendo DS American Launch Lineup. PC Magazine. Oct. 8, 2004.
"More than 12 million U.S. households could switch to Internet phone service by 2009, though younger people may be hard to sign up, according to a new market research report.
"JupiterResearch says that Internet phone service is likely to expand from just 400,000 customers now to nearly 10 percent of U.S. households within five years as prices fall, quality improves and new features are added.
"While startups like Vonage have gained early momentum, the research firm said that the established companies are likely to dominate the Internet phone market because of their brand strength, marketing clout and large customer base."
Scott Goldstein. Internet Phone Service Seen Booming. TechNewsWorld. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
JupitermediaResearch.
JupiterResearch Forecasts Voice Over IP Telephony Services to Reach 12.1 Million U.S. Households by 2009. Oct. 7, 2004.
"Wi-Fi hotspot operators must pay $1,000 a year, or face a lawsuit from a patent enforcement firm.
"Acacia Technologies Group says it is enforcing a patent it says covers the methods that wireless ISPs, WLAN aggregators and other Wi-Fi networks use to redirect users to a common login Web page. The company claims it owns the technology behind gateway page redirection.
"The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company is sending out information packets to Wi-Fi operators informing them of the patent claim and including a licensing agreement. Companies have 30 days to ask questions, sign the licensing pact, or prove to Acacia that the wireless operator is not infringing the patent."
Ed Sutherland. Hotspot Operators Face Patent Lawsuits. InternetNews.com. Oct. 8, 2004.
See also:
Nancy Gohring. Hotspot Operators Face New Patent Fee Demand. WiFi Networking News. Oct. 5, 2004.
"It's official. All iPod users are music thieves - according to Microsoft CEO Steve 'Monkey Boy' Ballmer.
"The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'," he told reporters in London today, according to a Silicon.com report.
"Ballmer conveniently ignores not only that there are many non-Apple music players out there, on which there are probably as many, if not more 'stolen' songs."
Tony Smith. Most Songs on iPods 'Stolen' - Microsoft CEO. The Register. Oct. 4, 2004.
"When R.E.M.'s 'New Adventures in Hi-Fi' was released, music buyers yawned -- it was the start of a steady decline in U.S. album sales for R.E.M. as hip-hoppers and pop divas eclipsed the band.
"The record industry itself didn't do much better, as sales overall shrank from its halcyon days of routine multi-platinum hits. Record labels are quick to blame Internet piracy; many fans point to high CD prices instead.
"In 2004, both R.E.M. and the record industry are turning to the Internet to reverse their fortunes.
"Today, the band releases its 13th major album, 'Around the Sun' -- but for hundreds of thousands of fans, there's no suspense. They've already listened to the entire album for free on the Internet over the past two weeks, and with the band's label's encouragement."
Frank Ahrens. Record Labels Aim for Net, Hope to Score. WashingtonPost.com. Oct. 5, 2004.
(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.)
"Japanese-Swedish mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said on Tuesday it expects slower growth in the global handset market next year.
"Replacement sales in rich markets, which has powered the market this year as consumers are trading in their old phones for new models with color screens and built-in cameras, may not be such a major force next year, said Miles Flint, president of the three-year-old joint venture between Sony and Ericsson.
"The phone market will be dominated by current models, although 2005 will be the first year of volume sales of handsets that can work on third generation (3G) networks, for fast multimedia services like video telephony and song downloads."
Santosh Menon. INTERVIEW: Sony Ericsson Chief Sees Slower Growth. Reuters. Oct. 5, 2004.
"As the trading of MP3 files ate into music sales, Damon Dash, the 33-year-old entrepreneur behind Roc-A-Fella Records, turned his hip-hop music company into a platform to sell other, more profitable products.
"Now Mr. Dash is taking his celebrity and music-infused marketing approach to a product line closer to the source of his troubles: MP3 files. In November, he will introduce a line of MP3 players under the name Rocbox, including one aimed squarely to compete with Apple Computer's iPod.
"Mr. Dash hopes to distinguish the Rocbox players from other players on the market by weaving images of them into videos for artists of his label, and put tags promoting them on his clothing. While details haven't been worked out yet, buyers of the player will have access to exclusive bits of Roc-A-Fella music."
Saul Hansell. Battle of Form (and Function) in MP3 Players. The New York Times. Oct. 4, 2004.
(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.)
"In the first foray by a U.S. wireless carrier into the online music market, AT&T; Wireless is launching a service that lets subscribers buy songs using their cell phones and later download them to a computer.
"Until now, mobile music sales have centered on ringtones, the song snippets used to customize ringer and other sounds on mobile phones.
"At Tuesday's launch, mMode Music Store will offer roughly 750,000 tracks priced at 99 cents each. Full albums will start at $9.99."
Alex Veiga. AT&T; Wireless Launching Music Service. MSNBC News. Oct. 5, 2004.
See also:
John Borland. AT&T; Wireless Opens Mobile Music Store. News.com. Oct. 4, 2004.
"A computer scientist at Princeton University, Edward Felten, took part in a contest sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America to test technology for guarding music against piracy. He and his students quickly found flaws in the new antipiracy software and prepared to publish their results.
"But when the RIAA learned of the plan, it threatened to sue under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Congress passed it back in 1998 to block hackers from breaking copy protection. And they wisely included a provision designed to let researchers such as Felten carry out their important work. Still, the RIAA deemed Felten's line of study too sensitive.
"The lesson many scientists drew was that copyright protection takes priority over research."
Heather Green. Commentary: Are The Copyright Wars Chilling Innovation?. BusinessWeekOnline. Oct. 11, 2004.
"The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed 762 new lawsuits against alleged file-traders using P-to-P (peer-to-peer) services, with the total number of lawsuits filed since September 2003 now reaching more than 5,500.
"The 762 lawsuits announced Thursday included 32 people at 26 U.S. universities who allegedly used their university networks to distribute music files on P-to-P networks."
Grant Gross. RIAA Files 762 New File-Trading Lawsuits. InfoWorld. Oct. 1, 2004.
See also:
Brooks Boliek. Music Industry Files More Piracy Lawsuits. Reuters. Oct. 1, 2004.
"Social networking site Friendster has struck a deal with Voice over IP provider Voiceglo in order to offer the IP telephony service to millions of the site's users.
The new 'Friendster Phone,' powered by Voiceglo's GloPhone technology, will allow the social networking site users to make free calls to other users on the VoIP system.
"The deal with Friendster follows other deals VoiceGlo has made in recent months with large online networks. In July, it partnered with P2P network eDonkey to offer VoIP services to that user base."
Sean Michael Kerner. Friendster 'AGlo' For VoIP. InternetNews.com. Oct. 1, 2004.
"BlackBerrys and Bluetooth share an embarrassing trait -- these two uses of wireless technology have remained stubbornly irrelevant to many mainstream users, despite the benefits they might offer and the hype they often get in the press.
"Many busy executives have become utterly dependent on the always-on e-mail access provided by Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry handhelds, but these devices' high costs and business-oriented features haven't constituted an attractive bundle for people who mostly use their cell phones to talk."
Rob Pegoraro. BlackBerry, Bluetooth Miss a Shot to Move Into More Hands. WashingtonPost.com. Oct. 3, 2004.
(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.)
"The Business Software Alliance, along with the Computer Systems Policy Project and the Information Technology Industry Council have informed Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in no uncertain terms what's wrong with the Induce Act and what is needed for any bill that expands copyright liability."
Electronic Frontier Foundation. BSA to Hatch -- We're with the Tech & Telecom Industries on Induce. Sept. 30, 2004.
See also:
Tom Zeller. Panel Considers Copyright Bill. The New York Times. Sept. 30, 2004.
Business Software Alliance, Computer Systems Policy Project, Information Technology Industry Council. S.2560, The "Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004". (.pdf). Sept. 29, 2004.
(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.)
"In a move that takes aim at file-swapping networks, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to boost penalties for online piracy and increase federal police powers against Net copyright infringement.
"By voice vote, politicians on Tuesday approved a sweeping copyright bill that would make it easier for the FBI and federal prosecutors to investigate and convict file swappers. Other sections criminalize unauthorized recordings made in movie theaters and encourage the Justice Department to target Internet copyright infringement.
"Opponents had mounted an unsuccessful, last-ditch campaign earlier in the day to urge House leaders to remove the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act from the floor schedule."
Declan McCullagh. House Votes To Target P2P Pirates. News.com. Sept. 28, 2004.
See also:
Ted Bridist. House Votes to Make Video Cameras in Movie Theaters a Federal Crime. Technology Review. Sept. 29, 2004.
"Just over a year after Skype's launch, the Luxembourg-based upstart is showing signs of being the real deal. But as with early predictions about peer-to-peer technology and the music business, the expectations about an overthrow of the telephone industry remain unfulfilled.
"In fact, as much as Skype presents a budding competitive challenge to the old-line companies, it's also looking for ways to cooperate with them. The start-up voices lofty goals of expanding the way people communicate, but it still faces the down-to-earth demands of broadening its own sources of revenue."
Ben Charny. Can Skype Live Up to the Net Phone Hype?. News.com. Sept. 27, 2004.
"Citing a rise in spam abuse, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN division has ended free access to its Hotmail Web-based e-mail service through the Outlook and Outlook Express clients.
MSN had offered its 187 million active Hotmail users the ability to read and send e-mail through the e-mail clients rather than a Web interface using a protocol called Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV.
"News users wanting to make use of WebDAV will have to pay for the service, said Brooke Richardson, product manager for MSN's communications services. MSN plans to transition current WebDAV users to subscription plans in the next few months as well."
Matt Hicks. MSN Ends Hotmail's Free Outlook Access. eWeek. Sept. 27, 2004.
See also:
Stefanie Olsen. Hotmail To Wean Users From Free Export Tool. News.com. Sept. 26, 2004.
"California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the State CIO to come up with a policy for the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications by state personnel.
"While the order prohibited the use of state resources to illegally download copyrighted material, it specifically allowed for legitimate uses of the controversial software -- in moderation.
"Today California is taking a stand against use of state resources for illegal downloading of this material and standing in support of the work of these talented Californians," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Schwarzenegger said he wants to make sure that state computers aren't used to contribute to what he called 'huge losses of revenue to the state's valuable entertainment industry.'"
Susan Kuchinskas. California To Set P2P Policy. InternetNews.com. Sept. 20, 2004.
The Hon. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Executive Order S-16-04 by the Governor of the State of California. Sept. 16, 2004.
"For the longest time, the recording labels viewed digital music as something that could hurt them with hurricane force but made no efforts to adjust to this new reality, let alone exploit it. Finally, they were persuaded to license their works to online music sellers. Apple's iTunes Store, which sells songs for 99 cents a shot, became a template for a mini-industry that clearly represents the future of music. Microsoft opened its own long-awaited online outlet earlier this month. And just last week Yahoo dropped $160 million to buy Musicmatch and its store.
"This summer provided a clue to further harnessing the force of digital nature. For three weeks, Real Networks tried to lure new customers by slashing prices to 49 cents a song and $4.99 per album. Since Real paid the full royalty load to the labels (almost 70 cents a tune), the company lost money on every transaction. CEO Rob Glaser says that the company did get new customers, but here's the real news: Real sold six times as much music and took in three times as much money."
Steven Levy. Music Companies Are In Denial. Newsweek. Sept. 27, 2004.
"Internet giant EBay is joining the online music parade with a service that offers a slight twist for customers -- sharing hit songs earns rewards, not lawsuits.
The service, powered by Tennessee startup PassAlong Networks , lets customers share samples of their favorite tunes with friends and neighbors.
"And for every 10 songs that those friends purchase, the sender receives a free song."
Benny Evangelista. EBay Links With PassAlong to Offer New Music Service. San Francisco Chronicle. Sept. 23, 2004.
See also
BusinessWire. PassAlong Networks Debuts Music Download Service; Launches First Digital Music Store on eBay Offering Major Label Catalogs; Consumers Rewarded for Legally Sharing Music . Forbes.com. Sept. 23, 2004.
"Long before Sir Richard Branson dreamed of becoming the latest billionaire with a reality TV show, before he started his cellphone company, his airline and his record label, he sold music from the Virgin Record Shop on Oxford Street in London. When he began in 1971, of course, music was presented as grooves pressed into a vinyl disk.
"Today, Sir Richard starts a new music store, VirginDigital.com, this time selling music as streams of bits to be downloaded from the Internet. Virgin becomes the first major music retailer to enter the download market, which has been dominated by Apple Computer and other technology companies.
"What's interesting is that Virgin is putting its biggest emphasis on its subscription service, rather than on selling songs one at time for 99 cents a track, as Apple and Microsoft do.
"It is betting that new customers will join its Virgin Music Club for a $7.99 monthly fee to listen to an unlimited amount of music from Virgin's one-million-track library on their computers."
Saul Hansell. Music Sites Ask, 'Why Buy If You Can Rent?'. The New York Times. Sept. 27, 2004.
See also:
John Borland. Virgin Launches Online Music Service. News.com. Sept. 26, 2004.
Sue Zeidler. Virgin Launches New Digital Music Service. Reuters. Sept. 27, 2004.
(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.)
"The American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest conservative group, has become the latest and most vocal critic of an anti-file-swapping bill that foes say could target products like Apple Computer's iPod.
"The ACU, which holds influential Republican activists and former senators on its board of directors, is running newspaper and magazine advertisements that take a humorous jab at the so-called Induce Act -- and slams some conservative politicians for supporting it."
Declan McCullagh. Conservative Group Savages Anti-P2P Bill. News.com. Sept. 24, 2004.
"Pop piracy should be decriminalised and the music industry should realise that efforts to stop illegal downloading are doomed, a conference has been told.
"Instead the music industry should embrace file-sharers, said technology journalist and author Andrew Orlowski in a keynote speech at the Interactive @ In The City conference being held in Manchester. One way could be the addition of a small surcharge to net subscription fees which could be shared among artists whose music is being downloaded."
Mark Ward. Call to Legalise File-Sharing With Taxes BBC. Sept. 22, 2004.
"MySpace.com, the leading social networking portal, announced today the exclusive debut of R.E.M.'s new album, Around the Sun, before its release in stores on October 5. This represents the first exclusive premiere of an album on a social networking portal.
"Using MySpace.com, R.E.M. and Warner Bros. Records are leveraging the reach of nearly 4 million users while adding a new dimension to the way music is marketed to fans by introducing a new album to a preexisting, highly interactive online community that can spread the word virally."
Chris Marlowe. MySpace Basks in R.E.M. 'Sun'. Reuters. Sept. 20, 2004.
See also
No author. MySpace Launches Exclusive Album Premiere of R.E.M.'S Around the Sun. Yahoo! Finance. Sept. 21, 2004.
"Perhaps for some, being credited with inventing the World Wide Web would be more than enough as far as life accomplishments go. But for Sir Tim Berners-Lee, it's merely the beginning of something even more fulfilling.
"The man who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 greatest minds of the 20th century is now busy channeling his energies into the work of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a standards body he founded and now directs.
"Moments after delivering a keynote address at the SpeechTek Conference in New York earlier this week, Sir Tim sat down with internetnews.com to discuss the state of the Web browser market, the growth of the Semantic Web and some of the challenges facing the W3C."
Ryan Naraine. Tim Berners-Lee, Director, W3C. internetnews.com. Sept. 17, 2004.
"Next month, songs by the Beastie Boys, David Byrne and 14 others will appear on a compilation CD whose contents are meant to be copied freely online, remixed or sampled by other artists for use in their own new recordings.
"'The Wired CD: Rip. Sample. Mash. Share.' was compiled by the editors of Wired magazine, of San Francisco, as an experimental implementation of a new kind of intellectual-property license called Creative Commons.
"In this case, all 16 participants are allowing their work to be shared on the Internet. Wired Editor in Chief Chris Anderson describes Creative Commons as a way of declaring that the recordings come with 'some rights reserved,' as opposed to the traditional 'all rights reserved.'"
Eathan Smith. This Compilation CD Is Meant To Be Copied and Shared. Wall Street Journal Online. Sept. 20, 2004.
See also:
Brian Braiker. Take My Music . . . Please. Newsweek. Oct. 5. 2004.
"Microsoft is trying to get to know its pirates a little better.
"The software maker has launched a pilot program in which some visitors to the main Windows download page are being asked to let the software maker check to see whether their copy of the operating system is licensed.
"Visitors do not have to partipate in the program to get their downloads. They'll also get their downloads if they do participate and their copy of Windows turns out to be unlicensed. But Microsoft said the program is a first step in trying to provide a better experience for customers using legitimate copies of Windows."
Ina Fried. Microsoft: Can We Check Your Software License?. News.com. Sept. 17, 2004.
"Today, EFF joined a broad coalition of public interest and industry groups in sending a strong message (.pdf) to Congress regarding the highly controversial Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (S. 2560): Slow down."
Electronic Frontier Foundation. Broad Coalition to Congress on Induce Act: Whoa There! Not So Fast. Deep Links. Sept. 17, 2004.
See also:
Public Knowledge. Public Knowledge Joins Widespread Opposition to Copyright Legislation. Sept. 17, 2004.
Public Knowledge. Public Knowledge Statement on Copyright Office Draft Legislation. Sept. 10, 2004.
Public Knowledge. Resource Room for the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004.
"A new file-sharing program hit the Net late Wednesday, posted by none other than Internet service provider EarthLink.
"The software, hosted on an out-of-the-way corner of the company's research and development site, is aimed at showing that a technology commonly used in Internet phone calls can be adapted to create a peer-to-peer network.
"On the research page, the company outlines a vision of creating voice over P2P, video services using peer-to-peer, and other applications, all based on the Net-calling standard."
John Borland. Earthlink Tests File-Sharing Program. News.com. Sept. 16 2004.
"Satellite radio operator XM Radio on Wednesday announced plans to launch an online music service.
"The Washington, D.C.-based company said the service, dubbed XM Radio Online will launch sometime in early October and operate commercial-free, just as its satellite programming does. XM will charge $7.99 per month for unlimited listening and offer a discount rate of $3.99 to subscribers of its existing radio services.
"The company's main business is a commercial-free radio service that's used with its portable satellite radio receivers, which are designed for use in homes and cars."
Matt Hines. XM Radio Tunes In Online Music Service. News.com. Sept. 15, 2004.
"In a move to expand its role in the online music business, Yahoo announced yesterday that it would buy Musicmatch, a company that sells music online, for $160 million.
"The move puts Yahoo in direct competition with Apple Computer's iTunes, Microsoft's new music store and RealNetworks in the small but growing market for online downloads of music.
"'Music is one of the most-used applications on the Web,' said Dan Rosensweig, Yahoo's chief operating officer. 'Our objective is to be the leading player in the digital music world.'"
Saul Hansell. Yahoo to Challenge iTunes With New Acquisition. The New York Times. Sept. 15, 2004.
See also:
Matt Hines. Yahoo to Buy Musicmatch for $160 million. News.com. Sept. 14, 2004.
Jefferson Graham. Yahoo Breaks into Music with Musicmatch Purchase. TechNewsWorld. Sept. 15, 2004.
Update: John Borland. Yahoo to Launch its Own Music Player. News.com. Sept. 17, 2004. (Yahoo is planning on launching its own online music service by the end of this year, using Musicmatch's customers to approach separate audiences.)
(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.)
"Welcome to the world of legal online music ambiguity. Say hello to Grouper.
"Grouper - a temporarily stealth software project - has gone up for download and instantly created a confusing divide between the old world and the new. Unlike most P2P software that shares music and other files with world+dog, Grouper focuses on sharing files between friends. Users can set up mini-P2P networks and open up their photos, music, movies and documents.
"This approach seems much more similar to old-style content swapping where friends handed each other a mixed CD or recording of the UT versus Texas A&M; football game, just with a techie twist."
Ashlee Vance. New P2P Software Could End Illegal Music Squabbles. The Register. Sept. 13, 2004.
See also Raymond Blijd. The Grouper Exception. P2Pnet.net. Sept. 16, 2004.
"Federal chief information officers received a reminder this week that peer-to-peer file sharing is an activity that, in most cases, should not be tolerated on federal networks.
"A Sept. 8 memo from Karen Evans, administrator for information technology and e-government in the Office of Management and Budget, asked CIOs to monitor and enforce federal policies on employees' use of P2P technology. The memo cites no recent incidents or statistics on P2P file sharing by federal employees."
Florence Olsen. OMB: Clamp Down on P2P. FCW.com. Sept. 14, 2004.
"IMlogic Inc. on Tuesday launched a free tool to let enterprises detect and block the use of instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing networks and voice-over-IP applications within their walls.
"Called IM Detector Pro, the software provides a first step for organizations to get a handle on the extent of such traffic flowing on their networks and to decide how to best manage it, said Dave Fowler, IMlogic's vice president of marketing and strategic alliances.
"With the use of IM and P2P increasing, corporations can face risks of sensitive information being disclosed, employees illegally sharing copyrighted files, or viruses and worms entering their networks, Fowler said. Meanwhile, they must meet corporate governance requirements to prevent security breaches."
Matt Hicks. IMlogic Launches Free IM, P2P Blocker. eWeek. Sept. 14, 2004.
See also Dan Muse. Detect and Block IM — for Free. InternetNews.com. Sept. 14, 2004.
"NDS, STMicroelectronics and Thomson said on Friday they will develop new encryption technology to foil video piracy, a $3.5 billion problem for broadcasters and movie studios.
"The anti-piracy technology, known as the secure video processor platform, is designed for media companies to protect their content from unauthorized copying and redistribution."
No author. Tech Firms Announce Video Anti-Piracy Technology. Reuters. Sept. 10, 2004.
"Downloading music from the Internet is not illegal. Plenty of music available online is not just free but also easily available, legal and — most important — worth hearing.
"That fact may come as a surprise after highly publicized lawsuits by the RIAA against fans using peer-to-peer programs like Grokster and eDonkey to collect music on the Web.
"But the fine print of those lawsuits makes clear that fans are being sued not for downloading but for unauthorized distribution: leaving music in a shared folder for other peer-to-peer users to take. As copyright holders, the labels have the exclusive legal right to distribute the music recorded for them, even if technology now makes that right nearly impossible to enforce.
"While the recording business litigates and lobbies over music being given away online, countless musicians are taking advantage of the Internet to get their music heard. They are betting that if they give away a song or two, they will build audiences, promote live shows and sell more recordings."
Jon Pareles. No Fears: Laptop D.J.'s Have a Feast. The New York Times. Sept. 10, 2004.
(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.)
"People who illegally share copyrighted music and movies over the Internet could be jailed for up to five years under a bill approved by a powerful congressional panel today.
"The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004 is one of a handful of measures gathering steam in Congress that target the practice of Internet file sharing, which record companies blame for playing a part in a $2 billion dollar decline in yearly CD sales since 2000. The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure by voice vote, clearing it for debate in the full House.
"Congress has done little thus far to address Internet file-swapping, but that could change in the next few months as lawmakers in both houses consider a clutch of measures that target either individual downloaders or the companies -- like Kazaa and eDonkey -- that distribute the file-swapping software."
David McGuire. House Panel Moves to Criminalize Spyware, Net Piracy. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 8, 2004.
Cynthia L. Webb. Congress Puts Hooks in Spyware, Copyright Crooks. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 9, 2004.
See also:
Roy Mark. House Panel Gets Tough on Spyware, P2P Piracy. Internetnews.com. Sept. 8, 2004.
Public Knowledge. HR 4077, The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004.
Public Knowledge. Public Knowledge Reacts to House Judiciary Committee Approval of Copyright Bill. Sept. 8, 2004.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing of Music File Sharing.
(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.)
"Altnet, a company that sells music and other digital goods through file-swapping services, sued the Recording Industry Association of America on Wednesday for alleged patent infringement.
"The company, a subsidiary of Brilliant Digital Entertainment, contends that the RIAA has been infringing on one of its patents in the course of copyright enforcement efforts inside peer-to-peer networks. Overpeer, a copyright company owned by Loudeye, and MediaDefender, also are named in the lawsuit.
"The patent infringement suit comes as one of the sideshows in an ongoing legal battle over peer-to-peer networks that has led to piracy charges against technology companies and antitrust claims against record companies, and that now appears to be headed ultimately to Congress for resolution."
John Borland. P2P Company Sues RIAA Over Patent. News.com. Sept. 8, 2004.
Business Wire. Brilliant Digital Entertainment and Altnet File Suit Against Infringers of Its "TrueNames'' Patent. Sept. 8, 2004.
"Skype, a made-up term that rhymes with "tripe," is the most popular and sexiest application of VoIP, which doesn't rhyme with anything. VoIP - sometimes pronounced letter by letter, like C.I.A., and at other times as a word - stands for voice over Internet protocol. Essentially, it is a way of allowing a computer with a broadband connection to serve as a telephone.
"This new form of conveying voice messages has so many advantages over traditional systems that the whole telecommunications industry is scrambling to see how fast it can shift traffic onto the Internet. AT&T;, for example, is no longer recruiting new home customers, but it is offering many new VoIP services. Dozens of other companies - new ones like Vonage and established ones like Verizon - are selling VoIP services, too."
Editor's note: As it celebrates its first birthday, Skype -- long a Windows-only application -- now has made its Web phone application available for the Mac platform. Skype for Mac is in beta testing now (version 0.8) and requires the Panther operating system (Mac OS X version 10.3 or higher). (Sorry, Jaguar users, you get no love.) Skype also runs on the Linux and PocketPC platforms.
James Fallows. In Internet Calling, Skype Is Living Up to the Hype. The New York Times. Sept. 5, 2004.
(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.)
See also:
Rob Pegoraro. It Takes Time to Judge the True Impact of New Technology. WashingtonPost.com. Sept. 5, 2004.
Roy Mark. Congress Hangs Up on VoIP for 2004. Internetnews.com. Sept. 3, 2004.
Washington Post. Make Phone Calls Online. Aug. 29, 2004.
(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.)
"A hotly contested wrangle in Congress over how to outlaw file-swapping networks just took a new twist.
"The U.S. Copyright Office has drafted a new version of the Induce Act that it believes will ban networks like Kazaa and Morpheus while not putting hardware such as portable hard drives and MP3 players on the wrong side of the law.
"The Copyright Office's four-page 'discussion draft,' appears to back away from the broad sweep of the original Induce Act by making it more difficult for companies to be found liable for copyright violations. It says anyone who 'intentionally induces' copyright violations can be found liable, with 'induce' defined as one or more 'affirmative, overt acts that are reasonably expected to cause or persuade another person or persons' to violate copyright law."
Declan McCullagh. Copyright Office Pitches Anti-P2P Bill. News.com. Sept. 2, 2004.
See also:
Mike Godwin. Sept. 3 Letter to Copyright Office Regarding S2560. Public Knowledge. Sept. 3, 2004.
"Thirty-five years after computer scientists at UCLA linked two bulky computers using a 15-foot gray cable, testing a new way to exchange data over networks, what would ultimately become the Internet remains a work in progress.
"University researchers are experimenting with ways to increase its capacity and speed. Programmers are trying to imbue Web pages with intelligence. And work is underway to re-engineer the network to reduce spam and security troubles.
"All the while threats loom: Critics warn that commercial, legal and political pressures could hinder the types of innovations that made the Internet what it is today."
Associated Press. The Internet at 35: Still Evolving. CNN.com. Aug. 29, 2004.
"Federal authorities searched computers in six locations yesterday in an attempt to disrupt a network used to trade copies of movies, software, games and music.
"The Justice Department said the searches represented the first time that so-called peer-to-peer networks had been singled out for a criminal enforcement action under copyright law.
"The department has stepped up enforcement of copyright law this year, but until now it has focused on organizations known as warez groups, which steal copies of movies and other materials to make them available to downloaders."
Saul Hansell. U.S. Searches Computers, Trying to Disrupt Piracy. The New York Times. Aug. 26, 2004.
See also
Peter Kaplan and Andy Sullivan. U.S. Raids Net Song Swappers in Copyright Crackdown. Reuters. Aug. 25, 2004.
Attorney General John Ashcroft. Digital Gridlock Announcement. Aug. 25, 2004.
(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.)
"Electronics manufacturers and some Internet providers are mounting a counterattack to a copyright bill intended to ban peer-to-peer networks and that could also imperil devices like Apple Computer's iPod.
"That measure, called the Induce Act, has been widely panned by the technology industry. Now some groups, including SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and the Consumer Electronics Association, are fighting back with their own proposal that will be sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon.
"Their proposal, dubbed the 'Don't Induce Act,' (.pdf) is designed to provide the Senate with an alternative that's less threatening to the industry. It is far narrower, saying that only someone who distributes a commercial computer program 'specifically designed' for widescale piracy on digital networks could be held liable for copyright violations."
Declan McCullagh. Industry Offers Alternative to P2P Bill. News.com. Aug. 24, 2004.
See also Katie Dean. Copyright Bill Needs Big Changes. Wired News. Aug. 25, 2004.
"Colleges and universities across the country are taking new steps to fight rampant Internet music piracy by beefing up their education efforts, offering legal music downloading options and stiffening penalties for illegal file sharing, according to a report released today.
"The report, which was prepared by a coalition of higher education institutions and the recording industry, said that schools are adopting new policies as well as technological and educational measures to ensure that students have access to online music without resorting to illegal downloads."
Jonathan Krim. Justice Dept. to Announce Cyber-Crime Crackdown. WashingtonPost.com. Aug. 25, 2004.
See also:
Katie Dean. Music Services Score an A-Plus. Wired News. Aug. 24, 2004.
Cynthia L. Webb. Online Music Goes Back to School. WashingtonPost.com. Aug. 24, 2004.
(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.)
"A top Justice Department official on Monday took a swipe at one of the recording industry's favorite ideas: a law encouraging federal prosecutors to sue copyright infringers.
"Hewitt Pate, assistant attorney general for antitrust, expressed skepticism toward a bill called the Pirate Act that the Senate overwhelmingly approved in June. It's designed to curb peer-to-peer piracy by threatening individual infringers with civil lawsuits brought by the government.
"That idea is 'something that people should take with a grain of salt,' Pate said at a conference held by the Progress & Freedom Foundation. While 'the Justice Department is there to enforce the law, there's something to be said for those who help themselves.'"
Declan McCullagh. Justice Dept. Takes P2P with 'Grain of Salt'. News.com. Aug. 23, 2004.
"I2hub, the supercharged file-swapping network that has run for months on the university Internet2 network, is aiming to solidify its hold on campuses, with new businesses targeted at students.
"The I2hub founders have acquired a small online textbook exchange and are tying it into the file-swapping service, hoping that students will start reselling books to each other instead of using local bookstores. With this, and other similar student-focused services, they're aiming to turn the file-swapping traffic into a more traditional--and potentially profitable--hub of campus activities."
John Borland. Supercharged College P2P Project Expands. News.com. Aug. 16, 2004.
"The ability to download complete tracks directly over cell-phone networks to mobile phones is becoming a reality in Europe.
"O2 Music, the music arm of U.K.-based international telecom operator mmO2, has started offering songs for download in Germany and the United Kingdom.
"The emerging trend of selling full-length songs directly to mobile phones in Europe has been triggered by better understanding and cooperation between mobile phone operators, handset manufacturers and record labels."
Reuters. Downloads on the Move in Europe. Wired News. Aug. 15, 2004.
"Peer-to-peer advocacy group Downhill Battle has made a copy of Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 available at a site called SP2torrent.com through the BitTorrent file-sharing system.
"'Now is a crucial time to demonstrate ways that peer-to-peer can be useful,' according to co-founder Nicholas Reville. 'We are facing a situation where Congress is seriously considering outlawing peer-to-peer for all intents and purposes.'
"Reville was referring to the Induce Act, a bill before Congress that says 'whoever intentionally induces any violation' of copyright law is liable for that infraction. Downhill Battle also used peer-to-peer technology to distribute video of the congressional hearings on the Induce Act."
Ina Fried. Windows Update Hits File-Sharing Networks. News.com. Aug. 10, 2004.
See also Alfred Hermida. File-Sharers Offer Windows Update. BBCNews. Aug. 10, 2004.
UPDATE: Ina Fried. Group Cites Microsoft Tthreat, Says No SP2 Over P2P. News.com. Aug. 13, 2004. (Downhill Battle has stopped distributing Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 update following a DMCA threat from the software maker.)
"Private photographs, confidential financial documents and even military secrets have joined the list of files that computer users can download as they scour the Internet.
"'One way files are being offered is by people bringing work home from the office and putting it on their home computers where they have a P2P application installed,' said Rick Wallace, who last month launched the SeeWhatYouShare.com web site.
"'At the office, their computer is behind a firewall that protects the network, but many do not have that protection at home and it can lead to great security lapses.' As more inexperienced users look for MP3 music clips, movies, television shows, pornography and computer programs, they often leave the digital door to their computers wide open."
Christopher Borowski. Computer Users Share Private Files with Their MP3s. Reuters. Aug. 9, 2004.
"A group of 46 state attorneys general sent a deeply critical letter to file-sharing companies Thursday, asking them to take stronger action on privacy and intellectual-property violations.
"Thursday's letter asked makers of file-sharing software to take 'meaningful steps' to prevent the dissemination of child pornography, invasion of privacy and copyright infringement. The group stopped short of citing specific legal action that states might take against companies but said they could target individuals using file-swapping networks for fraudulent purposes."
Kudos to News.com, which continues to chronicle the entertainment industry's moves to legislate copyright at the state level, in addition to it's increased efforts at the federal level.
Back in March, SNTReport.com cited a News.com report that outlined how the entertainment industry was assisting the states in portraying peer-to-peer networking companies as manufacturers of defective or potentially dangerous products. If classified in such a manner, file sharing products would have to bear extensive warning labels, and aggrieved copyright owners may be able to win damages from the products' manufacturers under state product liability statutes, in addition to any damages available pursuant to federal copyright infringement laws.
Additionally, Borland's article chronicles a trend amongst law enforcement officials and legislators at both the state and federal levels to portray P2P networks as harbors for adults who trade freely in child pornography. If such activity does occur on P2P networks, it is reprehensible and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But these allegations have been offered by entertainment industry lobbyists, then spoon-fed to state and federal officials -- almost always without the slightest shred of study or independently verifiable evidence. Clearly, the entertainment lobby has a vested interest in such a campaign, and any of their claims that concern copyrighted works always should be held to the strictest scrutiny.
Unfortunately, state and federal officials often fail to investigate such claims before acting.
John Borland. State AGs Warn File-Sharing Companies. News.com. Aug. 5, 2004.
See also:
Declan McCullagh, et al. P2P Faces New Legal Scrutiny from States. News.com. March 15, 2004.
"The eagerly awaited blockbuster computer game, Doom 3, has been leaked on the internet.
"Copies of the game on file-sharing networks and newsgroups are being downloaded by thousands of people. The cost to the game's makers, id Software, could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds in lost sales.
"The sci-fi horror title has been four years in the making and is due to go on sale in the US on Tuesday and next week in the UK."
Alfred Hermida. Long-Awaited Doom 3 Leaked Online. BBC News. August 2, 2004.
See also Mike Snider. Long-awaited 'Doom 3' Begins Onslaught at 12 a.m. Tuesday. USA Today. August 1, 2004.
LLRX.com, an online publication dedicated to providing information professionals with the most up-to-date information on a wide range of technology-related issues, has published an article by SNTReport.com Editor in Chief K. Matthew Dames. The article, entitled "Social Software in the Library," discusses the role and uses of several social software applications within the library space.
"Most of the published literature about social software has been more about the commercial viability of services like Orkut, LinkedIn, Feedster, and Ryze. Missing from much of the discourse is an analysis of the practical and educational value of social software. There are few published articles that explain what social software is, how social software tools may be used to build knowledge networks, or the information professional’s role in using and mediating these tools."
"The purpose of this article is to fill that void. By its end, the reader should have a solid understanding of what social software is, and hopefully will understand how these tools may be used to help people and organizations work better and more collaboratively."
K. Matthew Dames. Social Software in the Library. LLRX.com. July 26, 2004.
"A federal judge has handed a preliminary victory to the recording industry by granting its request to unmask anonymous file swappers accused of copyright infringement.
"U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled (.pdf) Monday that Cablevision, which provides broadband Internet access in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, can be required to divulge the identities of its subscribers sued over copyright violations.
"This ruling is the latest decision to clarify what legal methods copyright holders may use when hunting down people who are trading files on peer-to-peer networks."
Declan McCullagh. Judge: RIAA can unmask File Swappers. News.com. July 27, 2004.
"Two years after finding his way off the recording industry's "most wanted" list, Audiogalaxy founder Michael Merhej is back with a new peer-to-peer software venture.
"The Austin, Texas, programmer's new company, ByteTaxi, is aimed at people who work on more than one computer or at small teams of people collaborating on a project.
"His FolderShare software, which will be officially released in its completed form Tuesday, is similar to the autosynchronization features on Palm handhelds or iPods but instead keeps files on two or more Net-connected computers up-to-date with each other."
John Borland. Audiogalaxy Founder Tries New P2P Venture. News.com. July 26, 2004.
"An online group claiming to have the source code for two popular computer programs for sale opened its doors for business again. An e-mail message that claims to come from 'larry hobbles' and the Source Code Club was sent to the Full-Disclosure security discussion list.
"The message says that the group has moved operations to Usenet, where interested customers can buy the source code for the Dragon intrusion detection system (IDS) software from Enterasys Networks and peer-to-peer server and client software from Napster, now owned by Roxio.
"While Roxio owns the rights to the original Napster code being sold by the club, the current Napster online service does not use any code from the original, free music swapping service and is not affected by the alleged theft."
Paul Roberts. Stolen Code Shop Back in Business. PCWorld. July 19, 2004.
"A study (.pdf) released two weeks ago by the Business Software Alliance, which estimated the yearly losses from software piracy at $29 billion, has managed to stir real passion.
"The piracy study has become an issue because of a copyright bill, introduced in the Senate last month, that is strongly supported by the business alliance.
"In a letter last week to the Business Software Alliance, the heads of two other trade groups, who oppose the Senate bill, wrote that the results of the software piracy study were deeply troubling."
Steve Lohr. Software Group Enters Fray Over Proposed Piracy Law. The New York Times. July 19, 2004.
(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.)
"While legislators in Washington work to outlaw peer-to-peer networks, one website is turning the peer-to-peer technology back on Washington to expose its inner, secretive workings.
"But outragedmoderates.org isn't offering copyright music and videos for download. The site, launched two weeks ago, has aggregated more than 600 government and court documents to make them available for download through the Kazaa, LimeWire and Soulseek P2P networks in the interest of making government more transparent and accountable.
"Steven V. Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, says the site answers a growing demand from the public to examine original source documents."
Kim Zetter. Downloading for Democracy. Wired News. July 19, 2004.
"Napster, in its latest guise as an ambassador for legal music on campus, said Monday that six universities have signed up to offer its digital song services to their students.
"By taking a lead in approaching college administrators to offer cut-rate subscriptions to its legal digital music service, it attempts to entice students away from popular file-swapping networks like Kazaa.
"Cornell University, George Washington University, Middlebury College, University of Miami, University of Southern California and Wright State University all are working to create their own on-campus version of the service, the company said. Pennsylvania State University and the University of Rochester have already started the service."
John Borland. Napster Makes Gains in Colleges. News.com. July 19, 2004.
See also Scarlet Pruitt. Napster Lands on Another Campus. PCWorld. February 5, 2004.
"Online auctioneer eBay Inc. is offering downloadable music through selected sellers in a six-month test to decide whether to join other major companies in the marketing digital media.
"Sellers chosen for the pilot would have to ensure copyright protection for the content and meet service-level agreements. Music buyers would not be allowed to resell the files on eBay.
"The trial follows Apple Computer Inc.'s announcement this week that it has passed the 100-million mark for downloads from its iTunes Music Store."
Antone Gonsalves. EBay Tests Audience For Online Music. TechWeb. July 15, 2004.
"When it comes to transporting people and freight by rail, nothing rolls until the tracks are secure.
"Union Pacific Railroad needed to streamline the process of locating shoddy or worn ties and improve the drop-off directions—both of which ultimately would reduce inspectors' time in the field.
"To reach those goals, the railroad company about 18 months ago turned to one of its former tech suppliers, Symbol Technologies Inc. Symbol, along with one of its channel partners, LinksPoint Inc., recommended a mobile computing solution built around ruggedized Symbol handhelds and LinksPoint's GPS (Global Positioning System) technology."
Shelley Solheim. Handhelds, GPS Help Union Pacific Track Down Bad Ties. eWeek. July 19, 2004.
"A new genre of Web sites that offer an eclectic mix of free music downloads may not be strictly legit, but the sites' creators say they're doing the beleaguered record industry a favor.
"Named for the MP3 music format and the popular self-published Web sites known as blogs, they are part online mixtape, part diary, and part music magazine.
Well-known blogs include Soul Sides, which has underground hip-hop and forgotten R&B; The Tofu Hut, whose offerings range from gospel artists Blind Mamie and A.C. Forehand to rockabilly performer Carl Perkins to soul god Donnie Hathaway; and Said the Gramophone, which has indie rock, folk music and hip-hop."
Adam Pasick. Livewire: MP3 Blogs Serve Rare Songs, Dusty Grooves". Reuters. July 11, 2004.
"Dan Glickman will replace Jack Valenti as the head of the Motion Picture Association of America - Hollywood's powerful lobbying organization and the shaper of laws that critics say may stifle technology in the name of preventing piracy.
"Valenti officially stepped down after nearly 40 years on the job. He will continue as chief executive until Glickman takes over.
Glickman, a moderate Democrat who served in Congress for 18 years and then served as the Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration, will begin his tenure Sept. 1. During much of his tenure in Congress, he was both a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Copyright and Intellectual Property Subcommittee."
Katie Dean. Movie Lobby Group in New Hands. Wired News. July 1, 2004.
See also:
Brooks Boliek. Glickman Relishes Role as Hollywood Mouthpiece. Reuters, July 1, 2004.
Lisa Friedman. Ex-agriculture Secretary Succeeding Valenti. Los Angeles Daily News. July 1, 2004.
Art Brodsky. Public Knowledge Reacts to Selection of Dan Glickman as New MPAA president. Public Knowledge. July 1, 2004.
John Borland. Jack Valenti's Curtain Call. News.com. June 21, 2004.
"When a federal judge shut down Napster in 2001, Kazaa parent Sharman Networks quickly stepped in as the replacement of choice, signing up millions of users and even surpassing its predecessor in some respects. Since then, however, newcomers such as eDonkey and BitTorrent have been coming on strong amid reports that millions of people are logging off Sharman's network.
"Although it's too early to draw broad conclusions about Sharman's future, experts said many people appear to be shopping more intently than ever for file-swapping alternatives that incorporate improvements in peer-to-peer technology that have not yet made it onto Kazaa."
John Borland. Does Kazaa Matter?. News.com. June 30, 2004.
"Internet service providers cannot be held liable for the copyright infringement of their subscribers, even when a cached copy of a work is held on local servers, a Canadian court has ruled.
"The decision on Wednesday marked an important victory for the country's ISPs, which were worried about being held legally or financially responsible for subscribers' use of peer-to-peer and other music downloading services."
John Borland. Canadian ISPs Win on Copyright Ruling. News.com. June 30, 2004.
"Consumer groups jeered and recording and movie industry groups cheered the easy passage in the Senate of legislation that would allow civil suits against alleged file swappers.
"The Pirate Act of 2004 would allow the Department of Justice to provide greater legal support to content owners who feel their copyrights have been infringed upon online. Under current laws, copyright holders may onlypursue criminal suits against file swappers, which can result in jail time. If approved by the House, the new law would allow civil suits, which can result in financial penalties.
"Following its passage in the Senate, the legislation was sent to the House Judiciary Committee and it is still unclear as to when the Pirate Act will reach the floor of the House for a vote."
Mark S. Sullivan. File Swappers May Face Civil Suits. PC World. June 29, 2004.
"Veteran rocker Steve Winwood has partnered with 'Access Hollywood' in an experimental marketing alliance intended to demonstrate the commercial potential of file-sharing networks such as Kazaa, according to people involved in the project.
"The deal is one of the first to use sponsored downloads to support commercial music on the same peer-to-peer networks that the music industry has blamed for an explosion in piracy and weak CD sales in recent years.
"The major record labels are so afraid of file sharing that they're missing the opportunity,' said Bruce Forest, a principal in Jun Group, which brokered the unusual marketing alliance and helped place the free tracks on Web networks."
Reuters. Promo Uses P2P Networks To Sell Songs. News.com. June 29, 2004.
“New legislation introduced late Tuesday by a group of powerful U.S. senators would let artists and entertainment companies sue creators of products, such as peer-to-peer software and copying programs, that ‘induce’ copyright violations.
“Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, clearly targeting Peer-to-Peer vendors, claims his bill focuses on companies that profit by encouraging children and teenagers to infringe copyrights.
"Hatch stated ‘It is illegal and immoral to induce or encourage children to commit crimes and tragically, some corporations now seem to think that they can legally profit by inducing children to steal. Some think they can legally lure children into breaking the law with false promises of free music.'
"On the other hand, P-to-P United, calls the bill ‘horrible public policy.’ The measure could stifle the development of future technologies that could be used for copyright infringement but have substantial legitimate uses."
Grant Gross. Copying Programs Could Be Outlawed. PC World. June 23, 2004.
"A forthcoming bill in the U.S. Senate would, if passed, dramatically reshape copyright law by prohibiting file-trading networks and some consumer electronics devices on the grounds that they could be used for unlawful purposes.
"The proposal, called the Induce Act, says 'whoever intentionally induces any violation' of copyright law would be legally liable for those violations, a prohibition that would effectively ban file-swapping networks like Kazaa and Morpheus. In the draft bill seen by CNET News.com, inducement is defined as "aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures" and can be punished with civil fines and, in some circumstances, lengthy prison terms.
"The bill represents the latest legislative attempt by influential copyright holders to address what they view as the growing threat of peer-to-peer networks rife with pirated music, movies and software."
Declan McCullagh. Antipiracy Bill Targets Technology. News.com. June 17, 2004.
"The future playback of recorded music will not be tied to physical media (e.g., compact discs) or singular virtual players (e.g., iPods), but to many objects with shapes and sizes designed to appeal to our tactile relationships with music and, at the same time, to have the features of a virtual music device. I imagine these being called Playbacks.
"Playbacks may look like CDs. Many will cost about the same cost as a CD. But, Playbacks will be everywhere, appearing as all kinds of things. Some will look like traditional recorded media (CDs, tapes, LPs), but some will look utterly different."
The Ear Reverends. The Future of Music Playback. June 6, 2004.
"Apple Computer released a very unique network recognition system, aptly named Rendezvous as part of its OSX operating system. The basic role of Rendezvous is to allow machines, and inadvertently their operators, to locate available networks and initiate conversations, in one form or another. For the most part, these conversations are either social a la user-user chat or functional a la synchronization, streaming, and sharing of files/resources.
"In the next few weeks, the Rendezvous methodology of auto-discovery will be unlatched from Apple, and more importantly from the desktop and destined for your pocket. A bright developer, Razvan Dragomirescu of Simedia, is poised to release his newest application: Pocket Rendezvous."
Get Real. Pocket Rendezvous: Spawning Connectivity. June 3, 2004.
See also
Andrew Orlowski. Promiscuous BluePod File Swapping -- Coming to a PDA Near You. The Register. June 3, 2004.
Technobiblio. Thoughts on "Rendezvous" Services in Libraries for Our Users. June 4, 2004. ("What if library patrons had their wireless device and we had a 'book locator server' that they could link to that would help get them to the book with step-by-step directions? Do a catalog look-up wirelessly, say you want to find that book, and your wireless device tells the server where you are in relation to that book and gives you 'MapQuest' directions?")
Andrew Orlowski. Apple's ‘BluePod’ – Promiscuous Exchanges with Strangers. The Register. Dec. 6, 2002.
Apple. Rendezvous: Networking Simplified. No date.
"he copyright lobby has acquired its power because it has persuaded creative people that it defends their interests. I remember upbraiding a colleague who was using pirated software: I argued that we had a common concern to protect intellectual property. But I was mistaken. The law protects computer programs but not the ideas of a think-tank. That is why software businesses are well endowed and think-tanks are not, except for those that lend support to arguments such as those of Mr Munns.
"The claim by the music business to maintain control of every subsequent exploitation of its product has no more moral basis than the claim of a think-tank to control every subsequent expression or development of its ideas. Or the right of Trinity College, Cambridge, to approve every application of calculus, the invention of Isaac Newton, its late employee. Far from stimulating creative effort, such restrictions would paralyse it. The unreasonable nature of the assertion and its unenforceability reinforce each other. This pretty much describes the music industry's situation. So it will be the first industry to be genuinely transformed by the internet."
John Kay. The Music Industry Needs to Change the Record. FT.com. June 2, 2004.
"Record labels say CD sales have plummeted as a result of copies--and copies of copies. Now the labels are testing technology that would limit the number of times a CD, or its copy, could be burned.
"Tools under review by the major labels would limit the number of backups that could be made from ordinary compact discs and prevent copied, or 'burned,' versions from being used to create further copies, according to Macrovision and SunnComm International, rival companies that are developing competing versions of the digital rights management software."
"Such anticopying efforts have met with consumer resistance in the past, but if the labels have their way, it may be that not only CDs, but also iTunes-style digital downloads, will be restricted."
(Editor's Note: Jenny Levine, editor of The Shifted Librarian, points out that the industry seems willing to allow corporate partners to give away downloads, but will not allow the same opportunity for libraries.)
John Borland. Labels to Dampen CD Burning?. News.com. June 2, 2004.
"At first, the RIAA’s strategy to sue individual users of peer-to-peer networks generated a stir, but, since last fall, most cases have quietly disappeared in private settlement agreements for sums averaging $3000.
"A recent court hearing offered a view into what might happen if these cases did not end in settlement negotiations and instead proceeded to trial. Inside the courtroom, the attorneys for the recording industry outnumbered defendants by a two-to-one margin, and the disparity of resources and expertise between the sides only continued to widen."
Berkman Briefings. Inside the Courtroom: The Music Industry Takes on the Uploaders. May 27, 2004.
(Editor's Note: Valenti's successor is a critical appointment in the social software landscape because the Motion Picture Association, along with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), has consistently sought to curtail peer-to-peer networking and file sharing through the courts and Congress.)
"For two years Jack Valenti, the venerable, 82-year-old chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, has been trying to retire.
"After nearly four decades as Hollywood's leading lobbyist, the silver-haired former adman and White House adviser announced in March that he would be gone within a few months. But those months have passed, summer approaches and the association is nowhere close to finding Mr. Valenti's successor.
Doesn't anyone want to run the M.P.A.A.?"
Sharon Waxman. Hollywood's Casting Problem: Who Will Run the M.P.A.A.?. The New York Times. May 30, 2004.
(Editor’s Note 2: 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.)
"A proposal that the Senate may vote on as early as next week would let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers, with fines reaching tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The so-called Pirate Act (S. 2237) is raising alarms among copyright lawyers and lobbyists for peer-to-peer firms, who have been eyeing the recording industry's lawsuits against thousands of peer-to-peer users with trepidation. The Justice Department, they say, could be far more ambitious."
Declan McCullagh. Pirate Act Raises Civil Rights Concerns. News.com. May 26, 2004.
"The peer-to-peer strategy used by Skype is very similar to that of the Internet file-sharing systems, such as the original Napster, that have become the bane of the music industry. Indeed, the creators of Skype are largely the same team that unleashed Kazaa, the music-sharing program perhaps most loved by music swappers and most reviled by music corporations.
"But in reality, the key Skype team members are hardly radicals out to destroy the telephone as an instrument of profit. Despite their nonconformist markings, they’re simply ambitious businessmen intent on changing the economics of making a phone call."
Skype also has announced that it expand its service to include a paid service that will connect Skype calls to regular phones.
All of Skype's innovations could go for naught, however, if the U.S. does not resolve a potentially horrific thicket of regulatory issues.
Roxanne Khamsi. Skype Beyond the Hype. Technology Review. June 2004.
Eric Hellweg. Untangling Internet Telephony. Technology Review. May 28, 2004.
Colin McClelland. Skype Creator Promises Official VOIP Program Release. eWeek. May 19, 2004.
Mere days after our luddites and legislation posting, SNTReport.com has learned that Italy's parliament has voted in favor of imposing jail sentences of up to three years on anyone caught uploading or downloading unauthorized copyrighted material to and from the Net. The legislation makes Italy one of the first countries to enact legislation that specifically criminalizes file sharing and P2P activities.
While several credible studies have published recently have provided reliable evidence that file sharing and peer-to-peer networking are not the sole -- or even primary -- causes of the music industry's lost revenue, Leigh Phillips's brief story in Digital Media Europe suggests that today's children are simply doing other things.
"Under-25s spend much more money per year on mobile products than on music. Manifestly, this is not simply a case of youngsters downloading music instead of purchasing CDs, it is a wholesale shift in mindset and way of life from earlier generations," said Phillips. "The mobile, to many young people, maintains a place in their life that pop music did for my generation and that of my parents. There was a survey published last year that found that UK teens are also spending far less on cigarettes and chocolate than preceding generations. What are they spending the money on? Why, mobile phones, of course.
"Thus, this shows, once more, that what is affecting music sales is so much broader than the issue of downloading and piracy."
Leigh Phillips. Mobile Phones are the New Rock and Roll. Digital Media Europe. May 24, 2004.
Tony Smith. Italy Approves 'Jail for P2P Users' Law. The Register. May 20, 2004.
"A congressional hearing on Internet porn last week illustrates what happens when politicians try to ban technology they don't like or understand.
"The topic of Thursday's meeting of the House of Representatives' consumer protection subcommittee was a bill intended to require that programs like Kazaa and Grokster obtain parental consent before installation. The only problem: The bill that Stearns and his colleagues suggest as a solution is so broadly worded that it regulates far more than just peer-to-peer applications."
Declan McCullagh. Bad Laws, Bad Code, Bad Behavior. News.com. May 10, 2004.
"OurPictures plans to launch its service for letting subscribers share pictures over the Internet but without the constraints of e-mail attachments or Web sites. The idea behind the service, which is set to conclude a three-month test, is that subscribers can post pictures to a network of fellow subscribers who transfer the pictures directly from one computer to another."
Paul Festa. Point, Click and Swap -- Digital Photos Go P2P. News.com. May 17, 2004.
"Peer-to-peer systems may provide complementary solutions and meet all of the core requirements that could be asked of an extranet. In this model, users directly access files saved on each other's computers. As a result, there is no one to pay for storage and no problem with stopping payment for the service.
"An unusual alternative for smaller projects is Microsoft Instant Messenger (Win|Mac), which has the potential to develop into something highly useful if combined with Microsoft's forthcoming database-driven operating system Longhorn."
Alec Milton. End in Sight for Extranets. Computer Weekly. May 12, 2004.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project presented at a conference some early findings of an online survey it did of more than 2,700 musicians to gather their views on copyright and file-sharing issues.
Among other things, these musicians are very divided about the problems and marketing potential of online file-sharing systems and they are not sure the recording industry campaign against illegal downloading will help them. Many of these artists themselves share some of their songs for free online and find that it helps them sell more CDs, draw bigger concert audiences, and get more playing time on commercial radio.
The survey of musicians and songwriters was conducted online between March 15 and April 15. While the sample for this survey is not representative or projectable to the entire population of musicians and songwriters, it brings many more voices into the debates about copyright laws, the impact of online music swapping, and the long-term prospects for the music industry.
Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew Ineternet Project Data Memo: Preliminary Findings from a Web Survey of Musicians and Songwriters. (.pdf) May 2004.
Granted, the iTunes and iPod music distribution model is pretty decent for both consumers and artists. Let us forget, for a moment, that the downloading model turns what historically has been a music sale (which is covered by copyright law's first sale doctrine) into a music lease (which is not covered by federal copyright law, and instead is handled as a contract between buyer and seller, often with no negotiation and take-it-or-leave-it terms.)
The current downloading model reintroduces the single to American music buyers, and, at least in the case of iTunes, gives buyers relatively free reign to transfer their leased songs across different players (i.e. from computer to car to home stereo).
What the iTunes model doesn't really allow for right now, though, is capturing live performances. And many of the best artists -- Clapton, Prince, Dave Matthews Band, Parliament -- often give their best performances live. eMusicLive gives buyers the opportunity to capture these performances in an authorized fashion.
It will be interesting to see how much money the musicians make from this venture, particularly since it seems that live performances will again be the way that musicians make their money. Let's face it: radio is so tightly programmed that it is virtually impossible for new songs to get play on the airwaves, although satellite radio ventures like XM Radio and Sirius may provide some opportunities. Further, most of the music is laden with samples of pre-existing work, making it harder for many songwriters to make a living by peddling tunes.
And theft, whether it be on the Web or on the street, always hampers revenue flow.
As a result, the live performance has become even more important as a way for musicians to earn money.
Associated Press. 'Dude! This Thing Is Awesome!'. Wired News. April 29, 2004.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report Sunday that suggests that the future of music distribution is through online means.
"The number of those who say they download music online remains well below the peak levels that we tracked in the spring of 2003, but there was some growth in those who reported music downloading in our February survey. The data also shows growth since last November in usage of some of the smaller file-sharing applications, such as iMesh, BitTorrent, and eMule.
In the most recent survey, we found that 18% of Internet users said they download music files. That is a modest increase from the 14% of Internet users who reported in a survey just before last Christmas that they downloaded music files online. But it is still considerably below the 29% who said they had done this when we surveyed in the spring of 2003."
Pew Internet & American Life Project. 14% of Internet Users Say They No Longer Download Music Files. April 25, 2004.
David McGuire. Americans Head Back Online For Music. The Washington Post. April 25, 2004.
Last week, the United States Department of Justice officially began assisting the entertainment industry in its fight against file sharing and peer-to-peer networks with its implementation of Operation Fastlink.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft describes Operation Fastlink as "the largest, most far-reaching and most aggressive enforcement action ever undertaken against the criminal core of digital theft, including theft of movies, music, games, business and educational software on the Internet."
Last Thursday's sweep identified more than 100 people in the United States and nine other countries involved in the "theft" of more than $50 million worth of music, movies and software, according to an Associated Press story.
No arrests were made Thursday, but several arrests will be forthcoming, said Ashcroft.
Operation Fastlink is the first Justice Department enforcement action since Ashcroft announced the formation of an Intellectual Property Task Force inside the Department. According to Ashcroft, the DOJ sweep was made with the assistance and approval of private sector entertainment industry companies.
"These investigations benefit from the important assistance provided by various intellectual property trade associations, including the Business Software Alliance, the Entertainment Software Association, the Motion Picture Association and the Recording Industry Association of America," said the Attorney General. "We thank them for their cooperation."
Associated Press. U.S. Moves Against Online Pirates. Wired News. April 23, 2004.
Brooks Boliek. Justice Dept. Nets Pirates in 'Fastlink' Raids . The Hollywood Reporter. April 23, 2004.
Dinah Greek. Cyber-cops Arrest Trio in Piracy Crackdown. Computing. April 23, 2004.
The Hon. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Prepared Remarks: Operation Fastlink Announcement. Department of Justice. April 22, 2004.
Department of Justice. Justice Department Announces Internet Piracy Sweep. (Press release.) April 22, 2004.
Palisade Systems, a network security company, has announced that it will launch PacketHound 3.0 this week, a software package this week that is designed to identify and block copyrighted songs as they are being traded online.
PacketHound is created by Audible Magic, a California-based software company, pursuant to a strategic partnership the two firms created in September 2003. The software has triggered interest in Washington, D.C., and skepticism in the peer-to-peer world and among some students and universities, according to a News.com story.
The the song-filtering software is backed strongly by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the large record companies' main lobbying organization. The announcement of PacketHound's release comes just a day after it became widely known that the RIAA had discontinued its amnesty program (.pdf) for file sharers. The policy change came to light in court papers RIAA filed in California, according to a second News.com story.
John Borland. New Tool Designed to Block Song Swaps. News.com. April 21, 2004.
Matt Hines. RIAA Drops Amnesty Program. News.com. April 20, 2004.
[Editor's Note 1: Wired Magazine broke this story in October with a profile of BigChampagne, but it is worth reviewing now, given the music industry's continued courtroom and legislative assault on file sharing and P2P networks.]
"While the music industry publicly flays Kazaa and other file-swapping services for aiding piracy, those same services provide an excellent view of what's really popular with fans.
"Record-label executives discreetly use BigChampagne and other services to track which songs are traded online and help pick which new singles to release. They increasingly use such file-sharing data to persuade radio stations and MTV to give new songs a spin or boost airplay for those that are popular with downloaders.
"Some labels even monitor what people do with their music after they download it to better structure deals with licensed downloading services. The ultimate goal is what it always has been in the record business: Sell more music.
...
"I definitely don't like to spin it that piracy is OK because we get to look at the data. It's too bad that people are stealing so much music,'' said Jeremy Welt, Maverick [Records'] head of new media. "That said, we would be very foolish if we didn't look and pay attention to what's going on.''
[Editor's note 2: Maverick is Madonna's record company, and the company's use of P2P networks in order to boost or protect sales has a history beyond BigChampagne. Last year, Maverick posted dummy copies of songs from the Madonna's American Life album that repeatedly asked "What the f*%! do you think you're doing?"]
Dawn C. Chmielewski. Music labels use file-sharing data to boost sales. The Mercury News. March 31, 2004.
Jeff Howe. BigChampagne is Watching You. Wired. October 2003.
A federal court in Canada has ruled that people who share copyrighted works on peer-to-peer networks are not liabile for copyright infringement.
The decision (.pdf) was issued in response to a motion by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) that sought permission to identify more than 25 people who allegedly were swapping musical works across P2P networks.
The CRIA had filed the motion as a prerequisite to suing those people for copyright infringement, much like its American counterpart, the Recording Industry Association of America, has been doing for much of the past year.
The crux of CRIA's motion was about privacy, particularly the circumstances under which Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs) would be forced to divulge the identity of their subscribers in response to allegations of illegal file swapping. In a highly anticipated decision, Canada's Federal Court denied the CRIA motion and in doing so, issued a decision that went far beyond the core privacy issue and greatly influenced the country's copyright law.
"No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorized the reproduction of sound recordings. They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories which were accessible by other computer user via a P2P service," wrote Judge Konrad von Finckenstein as part of his reasoning. "Thus, downloading a song for personal use does not amount to infringement."
"I cannot see a real difference between a library that places a photocopy machine in a room full of copyrighted material and a computer user that places a personal copy on a shared directory linked to a P2P service," von Finckenstein added. "In either case the preconditions to copying and infringement are set up but the element of authorization is missing."
While the Federal Court ruling affects only the law within the country of Canada, it is sure to be studied by lawyers in other countries, including lawyers in the United States, who may seek to use some of the decision's legal theory in future court battles with the entertainment industry.
The Federal Court decision comes just days after News.com reported that the record industry had begun to take its fight against file sharing international.
This decision was the second major copyright ruling issued by a Canadian court this month. On March 4, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the Law Society of Upper Canada, the self-governing body for lawyers in Ontario, does not infringe copyright when a single copy of a reported decision, case summary, or statute is made by the Great Library in accordance with its access policy. The Court added that the Law Society did not authorize copyright infringement by maintaining a photocopier in the Great Library. (The Library had posted a notice warning that it would not be responsible for any copies made in infringement of copyright.)
When the Supreme Court decision was announced, Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, made a keen observation about the evolution of Canadian copyright law.
"Copyright is no longer viewed as being primarily about large-scale commercial infringement claims that do not resonate with the average person," wrote Geist in a Toronto Star story. "Rather, copyright is now very personal, focusing on the work, creativity, and activities of millions of individuals — including judges — who will increasingly question standards of what is right and wrong through the lens of their own actions.
"As society has shifted in its view of copyright, so, too, have Canadian courts," continued Geist. "The result is a genuine revolution in the state of Canadian copyright law that will manifest itself long after the current battle over peer-to-peer file sharing has been resolved."
UPDATE: Faultline. Music Biz Appeals Canada File Sharing-is-Legal Ruling. The Register. April 19, 2004.
Janet McFarland. Ruling Deals Blow to Music Industry. The Globe & Mail. April 1, 2004.
John Borland. Judge: File Sharing Legal in Canada. News.com. March 31, 2004.
Matt Hines. File-Sharing Lawsuits Go Abroad. News.com. March 30, 2004.
Canadian Federal Court. BMG Canada, Inc. v. John Doe. 2004 FC 488. March 31, 2004.
Michael Geist. Low-Tech Case Has High-Tech Impact. Toronto Star. March 22, 2004.
Canadian Supreme Court. The Law Society of Upper Canada v. CCH Canadian Limited. 2004 SCC 13. March 4, 2004.
"The Justice Department said Wednesday it has formed an intellectual-property task force to analyze how the department addresses issues like piracy of software, music and movies.
"Led by David Israelite, deputy chief of staff and counselor to the attorney general, the task force will also recommend what the Justice Department should do in the future to combat unauthorized use of copyright material."
Xeni Jardin. Feds Crank Up Heat on P2P. Wired News. March 31, 2004.
Update: Department of Justice. Atorney General Ashcroft Announces Creation of Intellectual Property Task Force. (Press release.) March 31, 2004.
Members of Congress may be leading a bipartisan effort that would give federal prosecutors the authority to prosecute people that use peer-to-peer networks, and collect fines and other monetary damages from those users.
Wired News reported last week that members of the House Judiciary Committee have been circulating a draft bill that "would make it much easier for the Justice Department to pursue criminal prosecutions against file sharers by lowering the burden of proof."
The bill also would seek penalties of fines and prison time of up to ten years for file sharing, according to the story.
Additionally, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) have drafted and introduced a separate bill, named the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004 (or "Pirate Act"), that would give federal prosecutors the ability to collect monetary damages from persons who are liable for copyright infringement. Currently, copyright law allows only the copyright owner to recover monetary damages.
"Peer-to-peer file sharing software has created a dilemma for law-enforcement agencies. Millions of otherwise law-abiding American citizens are using this software to create and redistribute infringing copies of popular music, movies, computer games and software," said Hatch. "It is critical that we bring the moral force of the government to bear against those who knowingly violate the federal copyrights enshrined in our Constitution. The bill I join Senator Leahy in sponsoring today will allow the Department of Justice to supplement its existing criminal-enforcement powers through the new civil-enforcement mechanism. As a result, the [Department of Justice] will be able to impose stiff penalties for violating copyrights, but can avoid criminal action when warranted."
Hatch and Leahy have been longtime members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee that has jurisdiction over intellectual property matters. The House Judiciary Committee also has jurisdiction over intellectual property legislation passed in the junior house of Congress.
This legislative initiative is another in a string of several recent efforts to criminalize the use of peer-to-peer networks. On March 19, we analyzed a separate news item that reported an initiative by states' attorneys general to portray the makers of peer-to-peer software as manufacturers of defective products. Under such a legal theory, the manufacturers could be held liable under state product liability laws.
Additionally, the Wired News story points out that the entertainment industries "are pushing to portray P2P networks as dens of terrorists, child pornographers and criminals -- a strategy that would make it more palatable for politicians to pass laws against products that are very popular with their constituents."
Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004
Xeni Jardin. Congress Moves to Criminalize P2P. Wired News. March 26, 2004.
Declan McCullagh, et al. P2P Faces New Legal Scrutiny from States News.com. March 15, 2004.
United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. Protecting Creative Works in a Digital Age.
Once the exclusive domain of federal prosecutors, strategies aimed at shutting down peer-to-peer networks are now being studied by state attorneys general, according to a March 15 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer was discovered. The letter, which was leaked to peer-to-peer networking companies, "demands that peer-to-peer companies do a better job of protecting customers from numerous 'known risks' of their products and warns them against developing features that would hinder police from pursuing criminals such as copyright infringers," according to the News.com report.
By using such language, the states may be trying to portray peer-to-peer networking companies as manufacturers of defective or potentially dangerous products. If classified in such a manner, file sharing products would have to bear extensive warning labels, and aggrieved copyright owners may be able to win damages from the products' manufacturers under state product liability statutes and federal copyright infringement laws.
In addition to being home to a vast number of entertainment companies whose intellectual property may be illegally traded on peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa, California also has some of the most stringent product liability laws in the country.
Officials from the Motion Picture Association appear to been involved in drafting a portion of the letter, the News.com report continues. "[It] should 'come as no surprise to anybody that we talked to attorneys general, particularly the chief law enforcement officer in California, because of the impact that illegal file copying and stealing has on motion pictures and sound-recording industries, the lifeblood of California,'" MPAA Vice President for state legislative affairs Van Stevenson said to News.com.
If the states were to get involved in copyright issues by investigating and bringing legal action against file sharing companies, it would mark the second time over the past decade that the entertainment industries sought to use or affect state law in order to enforce or influence copyright law, an area governed by federal statute. Previously, a coalition led in part by the entertainment industries sought to pass the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) in all 50 states.
If passed as a uniform law, UCITA would have created new rules for software licensing, online access and other transactions in computer information that would have been detrimental to consumers' rights. In the end, most states' attorneys general opposed UCITA, as did a coalition that included library associations, law professors, and consumer advocacy groups.
To date, UCITA has been implemented as law only in Maryland and Virginia.
Declan McCullagh, et al. P2P Faces New Legal Scrutiny from States. News.com. March 15, 2004.
A recent News.com story outlines how one peer-to-peer network has reconfigured its business model into a content distribution business.
"Red Swoosh and rival Kontiki, along with a handful of other companies, say peer-to-peer technology allows content distributors to pass off much of their distribution costs--largely in the form of Net bandwidth charges--to their customers," according to the article. "For companies distributing large files to many people, such as gaming or video publishers, that can be a huge benefit, they say."
John Borland. Legal P2P Networks Gaining Ground. News.com. March 11, 2004.
The Grey Lady writes about innovative applications for the cellular telephone. Zipdash lets cell phones with global positioning systems (GPS) get traffic information instantly.
"The Zipdash application displays a map of traffic speeds as green, yellow and red arrows, graphically representing traffic jams and bottlenecks. The company plans to add features, including route planning and accident alerts. The service will be free to cellphone users and Zipdash is planning to create a business by selling accurate traffic information to Web sites and other publishers," writes the Times.
"The system is available in the Bay Area and is expected to be extended nationally in the coming months."
These sorts of appications are common for cell phones in Europe and Japan. Such innovations, however, have yet to become commonplace in the States. When that time comes, though, bibliographic information may be the sort of data that people want available through their phones or other handheld device.
John Markoff. "That's the Weather, and Now, Let's Go to the Cellphone for the Traffic". The New York Times. (Registration required.) March 1, 2004.
LLRX.com has just posted a story on Internet telephony that reviews the Skype application.
Skype is a piece of software that uses KaZaa's peer-to-peer technology to send telephone calls over the Internet, bypassing Ma Bell and her progeny. Author Chris Hayes says one benefit of this approach is that the network's power increases as more users come online. (With the alternative -- a centralized server -- the network's power decreases as more users come online because the server's resources are drained.)
An interesting opportunity for librarians may be to discover how to manage and classify the information in these messages in order to support an organization's knowledge management efforts. I wouldn't even know how to start doing such work; perhaps there are some vanguard librarians already doing this work who would like to share their ideas or experiences.
Chris Hayes. "Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Opportunity Arises With New Skype Application." LLRX.com. Feb. 23, 2004.
"In this article, you will learn about the differences between Gnutella and Napster that allow Gnutella to survive today despite a hostile legal environment."
Do you know of any library that is using P2P networking or file sharing to serve patrons? Let us know.
Marshall Brain. "How File Sharing Works." Howstuffworks.com. No Date.