Why I Oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)/E-PARASITES Act

Eric Goldman has a great summary of the bill and its problems. Well recommended reading.

At Web Censorship Hearing, Congress Guns for “Pro-Pirate” Google

Nate Anderson at Ars Technica had a good summary of the SOPA testimony before Congress.

In other news:

RIAA Wants ReDigi Out Of The Business of Selling “Used” iTunes Tracks

This was the most interesting new application of the First Sale doctrine in copyright this week. As I understand the business sells a copy and not the actually sold iTunes track, this one may not turn out in ReDigi’s favor. This dispute will be worth watching.

Vint Cerf: The Government Is Going Overboard in Internet Copyright Control

On November 14th, Vint Cerf spoke to the Atmosphere conference:

“He told the audience, “Remember, governance is a big word that includes human rights, freedom of speech, economic transactions on a worldwide basis — it touches everything. It’s everywhere, and that’s why Internet governance is topic A in many corners.”

PhoneDog v. Kravitz

This lawsuit over corporate Twitter followers as “property” is quite interesting. Kravitz left PhoneDog with 17,000 followers, and instead of turning over the account he changed the name from “Phonedog_Noah” to his personal name. On a Motion to Dismiss, the Court (Northern District of California) decided to deny Kravitz’s motion. Well worth reading.

Judge Rules Feds Can Have WikiLeaks Associates’ Twitter Data

On November 10th, Judge O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virgina ruled that government prosecutors can have access to information about three Wikileaks supporters’ Twitter accounts – not the content, but the metadata. This decision has been criticized by the EFF.

Finally, I’d like to note that if people are interested in my firm’s IP Webinar series, the next webinar I’m presenting will be on December 7, 2011 on “Online Works: Copyright Registration and Enforcement.” For more information, follow this link.

SOPA and other @Cyberlaw Links is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

Also, for those who may be interested, here is the link to the recent webinar I did for my firm on “Common Trademark Application Problems.”

And now, on to this week’s @cyberlaw links -

RIAA Lawyer Says DMCA May Need Overhaul

Greg Sandoval of CNET had an interesting article, focusing on a statement during a panel discussion by Jennifer Pariser that the DMCA needed an overhaul.  She said:

“We might need to go to Congress at some point for a fix,” Pariser added. “Not because the statute was badly drafted but because the interpretation has been so hamstrung by court decisions.”

 

In a World of Cybertheft, U.S. Names China, Russia as Main Culprits

A report from the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive named China and Russia as the main bad actors in the world of cyber-espionage.

“Chinese actors are the world’s most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage,” said the report, “Foreign Spies Stealing U.S. Economic Secrets in Cyberspace,” which was based on the work of 14 U.S. intelligence agencies. The report also notes that “Russia’s intelligence services are conducting a range of activities to collect economic information and technology from U.S. targets.”

The Digital Death of Copyright’s First Sale Doctrine

Annemarie Bridy’s article is on the First Sale Doctrine and the effect that the Supreme Court’s denial of cert in the Vernor v. Autodesk case had on the doctrine. I heartily encourage you to read it.

Did Chevy Steal This Commercial Idea From a Popular Blog?

It was nice to be quoted by Matt Silverman in this Mashable article discussing the extent of copyright protection in the underlying concept of a blog.

Why Parents Help Children Violate Facebook’s 13+ Rule

This study by Danah Boyd, Eszter Hargittai, Jason Schultz and John Palfrey looked at the real-life application of COPPA and parents who help their children skirt its requirements. It’s well worth reading.

S. 978 – What Justin Bieber Has To Do With Online Streaming Bill

I was quoted in this article from the Christian Science Monitor discussing Senate Bill 978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act.

TWiL 136 and @cyberlaw Links is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

The bare minimum the judge could award for violation of the DMCA’s trafficking provision, §1201(a)(2), was $200 per infringement, and the plaintiffs were able to prove that there were 1,074,093 infringements. Accordingly, the court awarded $214,898,600. Further, the plaintiff can seek its attorneys fees as well.

For more on the case, and to download a copy of the decision, visit Satscams.com.

Court awards $214 Million for DMCA Circumvention is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

For the service provider hypothetical, I mentioned that while the notice and takedown provisions under the DMCA may be difficult to comply with when there are numerous infringements, it is the system we have.

Declan McCullagh’s article on CNet entitled “RIAA: U.S. Copyright law “isn’t working” speaks to this point as well. Essentially, the RIAA complains that it is too difficult to police YouTube and other sites, and they would prefer to forge deals with intermediaries in other parts of the chain, such as broadband providers, to help keep their works from being infringed online.

The quote from YouTube’s counsel in response is as follows:

“Lance Kavanaugh, product counsel for YouTube, disagreed that copyright law is broken. “It’s our view that the DMCA is functioning exactly the way Congress intended it to,” he said.”

I’d agree with that point – this is the law as enacted, and the natural consequences of the growth of the Internet and the web since the law was enacted in 1998. It is a compromise designed to allow the sites like YouTube to function while still balancing the needs of the copyright holders. It’s not a perfect system, but it is a compromise. Whether it remains a fair compromise is the RIAA’s point.

The alternatives I’ve seen so far go too far to hurt the rights of another stakeholder in this debate – the users. For example, a “three strikes” policy for users at the ISP level has been proposed before, and shot down, because there are few procedural safeguards to protect users at that level. Who determines what is a “strike” and what are the consequences for having three? A permanent ban on broadband access? That seems harsh and has much potential for abuse.

So, while the DMCA takedown provisions are not ideal for the RIAA and the other content providers, they strike a fair compromise. Until someone can propose another fair compromise, and get it legislated, Section 512 of the DMCA is the law we have.

Is Copyright law not working for the RIAA? is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

The webcast will be from 12:00 to 1:00 CST, and is accredited for one hour of CLE in Illinois. Many thanks to IICLE for asking me to speak.

From the webcast announcement:
The case of Viacom v. Google made international headlines when it was filed for the size of the damages requested and the interest in parsing the technological and copyright issues. The case is making headlines again as the district court recently ruled that Google is protected under the safe harbor provisions of §512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and granted summary judgment in its favor.

Kevin Thompson of Davis McGrath LLC, and author of the legal blog Cyberlaw Central, discusses
* how the judge came to this decision
* the legislative history of the relevant DMCA section as well as the precedential cases
* the future ramifications of this decision and the potentially appealable issues

Register for IICLE webcast – 8/23/2010 – Viacom v. Google is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

I’d also like to thank those who submitted pictures for the recent Blawg Review, those who “sherpa-ed” behind the scenes (Colin Samuels, Diane Levin, Victoria Pynchon) and to Ed. for giving me the opportunity to host on Towel Day. And thanks to all who commented, sent links, or otherwise helped spread the word. You all are hoopy froods who know where your towels are.

Slides from DMCA presentation – and Thanks! is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

Wired has put together a nice retrospective, available here. They call it a misunderstood law that created the Internet commerce as we know it today.

Public Knowledge’s take on the act is here.

David Robinson at Freedom To Tinker has Part I of a retrospective here.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation covers “Unintended Consequences: 10 years under the DMCA” here.

10 years of the DMCA is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

To their credit, YouTube’s response acknowledges the urgency of the McCain campaign’s situation, but reminds them that there are alternative solutions. The company will not favor any one political candidate, which I believe is the right solution. The law is clear regarding the available options, and making an end run around the counter-notification provisions is not one of them.

Here’s a link to a good article written by Declan McCullagh if you would like to read more about this situation.

McCain campaign finding unsympathetic ear from YouTube is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

Please feel free to leave comments on the podcast here.

Here is a link to the show page, where you can download the show or listen online. You can also use the links on the left side of the page to subscribe to the show in Itunes.

Guest on Lawyer 2 Lawyer Podcast: “Privacy and Piracy: Viacom v. YouTube” is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend

Fascinating.

YouTomb: A Study of Copyright Infringement on YouTube is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

Share on Facebook |  Twitter |  Stumbleupon |  Digg |  Reddit |  Email to friend