Mike Masnick at Techdirt has written the latest in a series of posts which discuss the rationale and basis for what we think of as “Intellectual Property.” It’s a well written series, I’d recommend that you read it. I don’t agree with all he says, but it’s well reasoned. It’s of particular interest to me…
Category: Copyright
Will hacked iPhones become iBricks?
Jacqui Cheng’s article at Ars Technica points out the dilemma facing consumers who want to hack their iPhones so they are not tied to Apple’s exclusive service provider in the USA, AT&T. While hacks are available, they are quasi-legal at best. And, users who do it face the possibility that their $600/$400 iPhone could become…
Commentary: Google/YouTube sued by Viacom
It’s often been said that when Google, Inc. bought the YouTube service, it bought a lawsuit. There have been several, but the biggest one yet was filed on March 13, 2007. There are six counts, the first three are for infringements of the exclusive rights granted to copyright holders, and the remaining three are for…
YouTube received 100,000 takedown notices from Viacom
Here’s a link to a great discussion of the situation which has occurred recently when YouTube received 100,000 DMCA Takedown Notices from Viacom, claiming that all 100,000 videos infringed upon Viacom’s copyrights. The problem? A good number of the videos were legitimate. These users now face the burden of serving YouTube with written counter-notices asserting…
Article on DMCA Proposed Amendments
Lee Hollaar, writing at IPI.org, has written an article discussing proposed legislation that would amend the copyright act and would effectively gut the anticircumvention section, 1201. Also interesting to read is this article on Techdirt that critiques Hollaar’s article. I was curious, so I researched the bill discussed in the article. According to GovTrack, this…