February 2nd 2008
For good or bad, the United States has become zealous about IP rights. A new cabinet position is being considered to support IP law enforcement – the WHIPER. The federal government attached funding requirements to force colleges to allow rights holders to monitor students‘ Internet use. AT&T wants to watch their own customers to root […]
January 29th 2008
There’s a lot to be happy about in recent moves by the recording industry to experimentally make music available on an ad-supported “free” basis. Here are three examples of emerging models meeting with dramatically different levels of success.
January 28th 2008
Antigua and Barbuda are best known for their pristine beaches and tourism. However, their second-largest industry is online gambling, and it is the subject of perhaps the most bizarre trade ruling in years. In a rare ruling, the World Trade Organization (WTO) awarded the nations the right to violate U.S. copyright protections of software, films, and […]
January 23rd 2008
Are you ready for the online equivalent of vigilantes? It seems that AT&T and other ISPs want to filter net traffic to “stop the transfer of copyrighted material.” That’s what the New York Times’s Bits blog says an AT&T vice president suggested during a panel discussion about digital piracy at the recent Consumer Electronics Show […]
January 18th 2008
Sometimes someone says something in conversation that ripples out to more discussions. Catherine Douglas did that this fall, at a forum with around 80 trademark professionals. She reflected on her work for Rogers Communications and, before that, for Kelloggs, which has allowed her to see the factors that have changed IP law practice, as well as the […]
January 15th 2008
In a court brief filed by RIAA counsel Ira Schwartz in a case involving Jeffrey Howell of Scottsdale, AZ, the RIAA claims that any copying of CDs is “unauthorized.” According to an article in the Washington Post: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection […]
January 13th 2008
Japan’s communications ministry is suggesting that the government prevent libelous flaming and the use of pornography by the young, through the introducing broad-based regulation of the Internet by 2010. Of note is the recommendation that all web content be “watermarked” to identify its coyright holder — and that it would be illegal to post public […]
January 5th 2008
The Chinese government operates the Golden Shield Project, a massive firewall and content monitoring initiative. The project reportedly employs 30,000 staff with a funding in excess of 800 million dollars. A broad range of sites are censored, and this provides a platform for surveillance of network traffic in China. So, how can you find out […]
December 31st 2007
The government of Egypt plans to pass a law that would require royalty payments on reproductions of museum pieces or national monuments such as the pyramids and the Sphinx. According to Zahi Hawass, chairman of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, this law would apply to all countries, and is needed to cover the costs of […]
December 25th 2007
The RIAA sank to a new all-time low by producing a two-minute video press release intended for local TV stations to broadcast about copyright infringement during the holiday season. A copy of the poorly made video may be found here. It matches a press release by the RIAA released on December 13, 2007. Among the […]
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