Issue: ISP Protection
February 29th, 2008 by adminIssue: ISP Protection
Articles:
David Needham
http://www.davidneedham.net/mm450/week3
‘Net giants, ISPs fear Canadian DMCA, seek copyright balance
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080213-google-
yahoo-rogers-wants-balanced-copyright-in-canada.html
Ome Cano
http://www.omezmedia.com/MM450/
P2P Downloads Crush iTunes/Digital Sales 20:1
http://www.slyck.com/story1642_P2P_Downloads_Crush_
Trevor Thompson
http://tct1985.wordpress.com/category/week-1/
Europe rules on pirates’ privacy
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2208436/eu-rules-pirate-privacy
Government has wrestled with the idea of making ISPs accountable for their actions or not for some times now. As it stands now ISP have been give “safe harbor” making it so they are not liable for the content transferred over their tubes. This point has been discussed in class through examples like YouTube where the ISP is called upon to remove a specific piece of infringing only if the prosecutor follows the necessary procedures. The view from other countries, as seen in the articles, is that they lean more towards lessening to constraints on the ISPs because they favor a balance between the private life and intellectual property rights. The governments of Canada and the EU are not neglecting the intellectual property rights but rather they view more “draconian” laws on the ISP would not foster creativity. The iTunes articles shows a different attitude that would remove the “safe harbor” protection that the ISPs have been living in for so long. If the U.S lessened the rules on ISPs then cases like Perfect10 v. CCBill would not have come about. Also in class we have discussed how in the U.S the ISPs have come under heavier fire because the U.S views privacy and the copying of matter much more negatively than countries seen the in the video “Good Copy, Bad Copy”. The two different views of this issue show how the different governments view intellectual property as they relate to fundamental rights and have to hammer out the balance. The ISP is basically the middle man that has come under fire.
The Net Meter Is Running
February 22nd, 2008 by adminThis is an experiment being started in Beaumont Texas. The new idea being implemented is that the user or consumer will be charged for the gigabytes that they download. If the consumer goes over their allotted amount though they would be hit with a huge overcharge similar to how cell phone chargers are charged. The reason this article is connected to class is that it raises issues with “net neutrality”. The new idea with pricing is that the consumer will only be charged for the amount they download verses where it comes from which is why the experiment is not being protested.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/105557
Qtrax Aims to Offer IPod-Friendly Tracks
February 22nd, 2008 by adminThis article shows two concepts from class one the step people have to go through to get permission to down load music especially from a file-sharing site. Qtrax aims at being a legal downloading site that will allow music downloads. The article points out that not all major companies are completely behind this because of the possibility of pirating. It sounds like Qtrax will still have to jump through some licensing hoops to get the permissions it needs. Furthermore it intends to allow the files to be copied on to another format like the iPod. It is stated that Qtrax will be fought on this point two because (second concept) companies want to make users pay for each copy to each different format. So that a CD can not be copied over to iTunes and then onto an iPod.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/
custom/newsroom/sns-ap-downloading-music,0,5167541.story
Bits Debate: Mixing It Up Over Remixes and Fair Use
February 22nd, 2008 by adminThis article illustrates two different views on fair use. Rick Cotton takes the stance that fair use in the digital realm should be the same in the non-digital realm. If the work does not follow the laws that are already setup then its not fair use, like in his observation about the downloading of movies and how that clearly is not fair use. While Tim Wu takes the stance that the technology has outgrown the law and states fair use is not a “right” and should be judged case by case. This goes directly back to class with the point that indeed the technology and the growth of technology has out grown the law. Cotton’s point is to take the law and generalize how it is applied but with some much new stuff heading down the tubes that would make things hard to rule on. Tim Wu’s idea that each case should be looked individually would be better for fostering creativity because it would allow a better interpretation of the law as it applies to digital technology.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/
01/16/830/?scp=1-b&sq=fair+use&st=nyt
A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity
February 15th, 2008 by adminJ.K. Rowling (author of Harry Potter) is suing a little book company called RDR Books for trying to publish a companion book based off a website Harry Potter Lexicon. She didn’t mind the site when it was non-profit but now that it wants to publish a book she is against it whole-heartedly. She has allowed companion books in the past but only if the books “fell into line” with what she wanted. The reason this case is so important and why it relates to class is that fair use allows companion books to be published as long as it does not mirror the original too much. This is another instance of copyright stifling creativity. Another interesting correlation is that the Internet is where this all started. The website in question created content based off someone else’s work which if that is a copyright violation then most of us are guilty.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/business/09nocera.html?
pagewanted=1&sq=fair%20use&st=nyt&scp=3
On eBay, Some Profit by Selling What’s Free
February 15th, 2008 by adminGallagher found a movie he wanted on eBay about his home town that he wanted to give to give to his dad. He later found that same movie from free in a nonprofit Internet Archive. The seller named Jeffrey was taking works that were in the public domain and selling them to people. He says he is doing people a service because he does the research for the people and converts it to an easy format like a DVD or CD so that buyers don’t have to download a huge file. This ties back to class by showing how works that lack a specific author can be profitable to others. The current copyright holders of “Happy Birthday” didn’t write the song but have made considerable profit off the same way this eBay seller Jeffery is off of material he didn’t write.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/on-ebay-some-profit-by-selling-whats-free
/?st=cse&sq=public+domain&scp=2
File-Sharing Students Fight Copyright Constraints
February 15th, 2008 by adminThis article illustrates the shift in thinking between generations and how the kids/young adults of today view copyright. McCune, a student at Brown, received a letter stated that he had been caught downloading illegal music and was to pay a fine somewhere in the range of $750 to $150,000 per song. McCune thought this was “grossly out of proportion” and co-founded the Students for Free Culture that aims at lessening the burden of copyright laws and the restrictions they place on creativity. McCune makes the astute observation that “the technology has outpaced the law”. This related directly back to class and how we’ve mentioned several times that the law are not written fast enough to keep up with the changing technology. Every time the laws seem to undergo a change either someone isn’t represented at the table or by the time the law is finished it isn’t relative to the technology any more.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/education/10students.html?
pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=file%20sharing&st=nyt&scp=5
eBay on RMT: World of Warcraft, No… Second Life, Yes
February 8th, 2008 by admineBay has announced that is will be taking off RMT listings from its site because of the complexity of the issue and namely the violation of intellectual property of the publisher. RMT or “real money transfers” are very lucrative in games such as World of Warcraft and generate a lot of revenue for some people. People even have made livings off the buying and selling of online items. Since this decision other online worlds like Second Life have been looked at though Second Life isn’t really a “game” it does off some of the same things games like WoW can. The main difference now is that items in Second Life belong to the person that created them. This new policy of eBay’s will take some time to implement because of the vase scope of eBay itself.
http://gigagamez.com/2007/01/29/ebay-on-rmt-world-of-warcraft-no-second-life-yes/
Macs, PCs and Music Downloads
February 8th, 2008 by adminTechnology dictating actions showing that what you buy could determine what you intend to do. In a panel of people designed to represent the U.S population 50% of Mac Users and only 16% of PC users paid to download music in the third quarter of 2007. I found this article interesting for two reasons one that it depicts the Mac as the entertainment machine, which could lend itself more towards peer-to-peer file sharing and violation of copyrights. I also took the stats in a different manner as well when I first read the article that only half the people that use a Mac actually pay for the music they listen to and the numbers of PC could be looked in that light too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/business/31drill.html?_r=
1&scp=10&sq=peer-to-peer+file+sharing&st=nyt&oref=slogin
F.C.C. to Look at Complaints Comcast Interferes With Net
February 8th, 2008 by adminThe F.C.C will be doing an investigation of Comcast because the company was found to be slowing down or hindering the files of certain users. Those users targeted were using BitTorrent, the popular file sharing software. Comcast of course denies these rumors but does say they “delay” some of the traffic users that share files. The peer-to-peer files sharing of copyrighted material is illegal. This decision will be key to preserving “net neutrality”.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/business/media/09fcc.html?scp=8&sq=peer-to-peer+file+sharing&st=nyt