Posts from — February 2006

The Copyright Board of Canada last week released its proposed tariff for 2007 for the private copying levy. The numbers remain unchanged. Geist argues for either ensuring the levy covers all private copying or the levy should be dropped.

Source: Michael Geist

Categories: Copyright, Lobbying, Media Levy, Policy Analysis

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Beginning on March 15, the FCC says it will require all new products with digital television receivers – including TVs, video recorders and set-top boxes – to incorporate parental control capabilities by way of a new “open” version of the V-chip that can be reprogrammed to adapt to changing standards.

Sources: PC Magazine  |  ABC News  |  Engadget

Categories: Digital TV, FCC

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Yahoo Music chief Dave Goldberg raised eyebrows Thursday at the Music 2.0 conference in Los Angeles with a proposal rarely heard from executives at large digital music services: Record labels should try selling music online without copy protection.

[Update: February 13, 2007] Techcrunch and Valleywag have confirmed that as of February 13, 2007 Dave Goldberg, and Bob Roback have resigned from Yahoo! Music.

Sources: CNet | PC Pro | webpronews | Michael Geist | eHomeUpgrade | MP3.com | ars technica | technewsworld | CD Freaks

Dale's Comment: Here Here!

Related Posts:

• Steve Jobs Calls for the End of DRM for Online Music Sales (February 7, 2007)
• Wired Article: Signs Music Industry May be Abandoning DRM (January 8, 2007)
• EMusic Sells 100 Millionth Song without DRM (December 15, 2006)
• EMI's Blue Note & Yahoo! Music Sell a Few More Songs DRM Free (December 6, 2006)
• ifpi Board Member Quoted as Saying Major Labels About to Abandon DRM (November 27, 2006)
• First a Song, Now a DRM-Free Album - Yahoo! (September 19, 2006)
• Weird Al Yankovic's New Single: Don't Download this Song (August 23, 2006)
• Yahoo! Offers DRM-Free Jessica Simpson Song (July 20, 2006)
• Yahoo! Exec Says Labels Should Sell Music Without DRM (February 24, 2006)

Categories: DRM Analysis, New Business Models

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Swiss and Belgian police have shut down a major component of the eDonkey file-sharing network, used mainly to trade copies of copyrighted movies and music.

Sources: ZDNet | MSNBC | The Register | Reuters | Inquirer | MP3.com | CD Freaks | TG Daily | PC Pro | ITWorld | afterdawn.com

Categories: BigMedia v P2P Providers, Cases, Police Actions

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The appeal follows the September 5, 2005 judgment, which was dubbed a “landmark” decision by both sides. The judgment guaranteed the continued operation of Kazaa, while the record companies saw the decision as striking at the heart of internet piracy. At the time, the record companies reportedly said they would not be appealing the decision.

Sources: The Register | Slyck | Smarthouse | MP3.com | P2PNet

Related Posts:

• RIAA P2P Defendant Brings Class Action Suit Against Kazaa Creator Sharman Networks (December 12, 2006)
• P2P Download Defendant Argues Kazaa Settlement Covers Him (Greubel) (November 20, 2006)
• Kazaa Settles for $100M+ and Goes 'Legit' (July 27, 2006)
• Kazaa, Record Company Lawyers Ready for Australian Appeal (February 20, 2006)
• Australian High Court Rules Against Kazaa (September 5, 2005)

Categories: BigMedia v P2P Providers, Cases

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An agreement has been reached on an interim license for the AACS copy-protection system both formats will use, removing one of the final obstacles that had been standing in the way of a launch.

Sources: PC Magazine | ars technica | engadget

Categories: DRM Restricting Use, HD-DVD/Blu-ray

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So says the content-related industry in its joint reply as part of the triennial review of the effectiveness of the DMCA.

Source: ars technica

Commentary: Cathy Kirkman | MIT Tech Review

Categories: Copy Restrictions, Copyright, DMCA-like Laws, DRM Restricting Use, Fair Use/Dealing

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Legal options in digital entertainment are growing. But they come with restrictions that can hobble your ability to enjoy the content you’ve paid for–and even threaten your control over your system.

Source: PC World

Categories: DRM Analysis, DRM Restricting Use, Digital TV, Intrusive TPMs - Rootkits

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Microsoft lifted caps on the amount of legal fees it would reimburse to makers of embedded devices that are sued for intellectual property infringement as a result of licensing Mircrosoft software. Microsoft also said it would indemnify device makers against trade-secrets lawsuits, in addition to patent, copyright, and trademark suits.

Sources: Information Week  |  Linux Devices  |  Internet News

Categories: Agreements

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Open source isn’t just for Linux anymore. Now even Microsoft is getting into the act. But there are differences between these “open” licenses and the IP rights protection they provide.

Source: eWeek

Categories: Open Source

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Text of GPLv3 Draft
Linus Torvalds could see using the proposed GPL 3 license for Linux, but he thinks it would be very hard to do in practice and he still has concerns about the Complete Corresponding Source Code section.

Source: PC Magazine

Categories: DRM & TPMs, Open Source

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Bush signed into law legislation setting February 17, 2009, as the date U.S. broadcasters must end transmission of analog television signals and move to all-digital broadcasts. The move from the upper-700-MHz spectrum band will free 60 MHz of wave space for auction to mobile wireless carriers and 24 MHz for emergency response agencies.

Sources: PC World | joystiq | HDTV Magazine | Multi-Channel News | RCR News | Network World | DTV Design Line | Digital Connect | Telecomweb

Related Posts:

• Bush Signs Digital TV Transition Bill - Setting February 17, 2009 Deadline (February 8, 2006)
  
• Broadcasters to Move to Digital Television by February 17, 2009 Under Senate Bill (December 21, 2005)
  
• U.S. Digital Switchover on Feb 17, 2009? (December 19, 2005)
  
• FCC modifies Digital Tuner requirements to advance DTV transition (November 3, 2005)
• House Approves All-Digital OTA Deadline by 2008 (October 27, 2005)
  

Categories: Digital TV, Laws, Milestones

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A French court has dismissed a lawsuit against an alleged file sharer for both downloading and uploading.

Source: Michael Geist | ars technica

Categories: BigMedia v. P2P Users, Cases

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Ars Technica provides this CableCARD primer describing the current state of cableCARD 1.0, the future of cableCARD 2.0 and the Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS), which may do away with CableCARDs altogether.

Source: ars technica

Related Posts:

• FCC Chairman Declares No More Blanket CableCARD Waivers (January 12, 2007)
• TiVo Continues to Fight the Good CableCARD/Integration Ban Fight (October 19, 2006)
• CableCARD Primer (February 6, 2006)
• Microsoft and Cablelabs Agree on CableCARD Integration into Windows Media Center (November 16, 2006)
• FCC Releases 12th Annual Report on the Status of Competition in the Video Programming Market (March 3, 2006)

Categories: Digital TV

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Text of GPLv3 Draft
Provisions against digital rights management in a draft update to the General Public License could undermine computer security, Linus Torvalds said this week in e-mails reflecting the Linux leader’s pragmatic philosophy.

Sources: CNet | Linux-Watch | eWeek | Information Week | The Register | Silicon.com | PC World

Categories: DRM & TPMs, Open Source

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