iMedia Law Blog » BigMedia v NewTech

Steve Gibson’s Intertwined History of Copyright and Media-related Technologies

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:14:40 +0000

Podcast Episode 73 Transcript
Episode 73 of Steve Gibson's Security Now podcast with Leo LaPorte has a terrific primer on the intertwined history of advancements in technology making it easier for consumers to copy content, fair use, the lobbying efforts by the content industry that resulted in U.S. copyright law amendments up to and including the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty, the DMCA implementing the treaty, and the detrimental effects these new laws have on consumer fair use rights.

Click here to listen to Episode 73 of the Security Now podcast. (This will download an 8.0 MB MP3 file that your default media player should load and play). For a higher quality version of this podcast click here (32 MB).

Morgan Freeman and Intel Team Up for New Internet-based Movie Download Service – Clickstar

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:08:27 +0000

Morgan Freeman's production company is in a new venture with Intel called ClickStar to launch independent films on the Internet within weeks of their theatrical debut. The first such movie to be distributed through ClickStar is Freeman's newest film, 10 Items or Less. It will be available online on December 15 – two weeks after its cinematic debut. Clickstar's next first-run digital release will be the upcoming John Travolta/James Gandolfini film, Lonely Hearts, next spring. The service will also make older feature films available for download.

Freeman and company would have launched 10 Items or Less on the Internet on the same day and date as in the cinema but this would have disqualified them for Oscar consideration. Apparently a two week delay gets them over this Oscar hurdle. Prices will range from US$1.99 for renting an older movie to around US$24.99 for buying a DVD-quality download of a first-run film.

Dale's Comment: As a movie fan, I look forward to this new form of movie distribution becoming ubiquitous. Distribution through the net, on the same day, or close to the same day, as cinematic releases, and easily viewable on the consumer's living-room TV – this is a winning formula!

Despite protests from the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) and the ever-present "we've always done it another way" Big Media opposition, this form of distribution is, in my opinion, a fait-accompli. It's just a matter of time.

How it Works: This USA Today article has the best description I've found online of how the system will work. Given that this is a partnership with Intel, my fear was that this would be some kind of proprietary set-top device like Disney's ill-fated MovieBeam. Happily, it will be a Media Center PC-based service. Anyone with a Media Center PC should be able to download the service's content. Media Center will be built into the higher-end versions of Microsoft's Vista operating system due out next January. All such Media Center content can be viewed in the living room on the consumer's TV through an Xbox or Xbox 360 connected to the PC via an inhome network.

Hopefully this service will not remain proprietary to the Microsoft Media Center platform. Ideally ClickStar will also partner with TiVo, Apple and Sony for distribution through TiVos, Apple's forthcoming iTV device and/or the PS3 as well. And hopefully this will not be yet another U.S.-only service so that those of us in the movie-loving diaspora can be part of the fun too!

UPDATE: Since I've been asked this question more than once I'd like to clarify. You won't need to own a Media Center PC to use this service after January 2007. The higher-end versions of Vista (specifically the Home Premium and the Ultimate editions) will have the Media Center functionality built in. So, any PC that can run the higher-end Vista Operating Systems should be able to drive this system – assuming you upgrade your PC to one of the higher-end Vista O/S versions.

Morgan Freeman on Charlie Rose speaks about ClickStar – see time index 4:50-9.50

Related Posts:

Morgan Freeman and Intel Team Up for New Internet-based Movie Download Service – Clickstar (December 5, 2006)
Mark Cuban Response to Simultaneous Theatrical, DVD, Broadcast Film Release Criticism (January 18, 2006)
First Simultaneous Theatrical, DVD, Broadcast Film Release … a New Era Begins? (January 13, 2006)

Internet-TV Aggregators are Popping Up like Dandelions

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:55:16 +0000

I don't know what is in the air these days, but Internet-TV aggregators seem to be popping up all over the Internet. I recently blogged about Tioti and the TVUPlayer, each of which have received substantial press coverage owing to their controversial nature.

Over the last few days, I have become aware of dozens of online TV, movie and other aggregators running the gamut from sites streaming literally hundreds of live TV channels over the Internet to others indexing and hosting thousands of TV shows and movies for instant viewing over the Internet.

Many of the live broadcast feeds are likely accessed from Internet feeds supplied by the content owners themselves. But, I'm guessing, others are likely redirected Slingbox or similar streams. As you can read in my TVUPlayer post, the company's CEO, Paul Shen, believes he can escape U.S. copyright infringement liability using the DMCA's ISP safe harbor. He argues that the streams are made available from the service's users and not hosted directly by his company.

peekvid and QuickSilverScreen in particular, seem to be the most blatantly infringing services of the lot. They directly index over a thousand TV shows, movies, cartoons etc. for instant viewing. Users can select a particular TV series from a list and then directly view selected episodes – on demand. Movies can similarly be selected and viewed on demand. If peekvid is located in the U.S., I suspect it won't be long before the link fails to work owing to NAB and MPAA legal actions. QuickSilverScreen was located in the U.S. until Fox sent it a cease and desist letter. The proprietor has sold it to someone offshore and it continues to operate unabated from an offshore location.

In no particular order, here are only a few of the dozens of live TV aggregation sites that have popped up recently.

All of these have the following features in common:

They all actually worked when I tried them
Of the dozens of other aggregators available, these sites required no prior signups or passwords.
Unlike Tioti and the TVUPlayer, no plugins or downloads were required for these sites to work – simply show up, click and watch.
My browser, Firefox 2.0, is set to disable popups and redirects – all worked without popups or redirects
Many of the video streams were resizable – even to full screen in many contexts

This is clearly a new trend, or at least a new trend to me. In light of the fact that iCrave TV was so quickly shut down in 2003 for doing essentially the same thing, it is surprising to see so many seemingly thriving. I gather that most, if not all, are hosted in far-off countries outside the reach of NAB and the MPAA – for now. As AllofMP3.com has recently discovered, locating offshore will not, alone, keep you outside the reach of the U.S. copyright lobby.

See also the Digg.com comments to an original story about Streamick.com that provided the spark to get me blogging about this.

Related Posts:

Internet-TV Aggregators are Popping Up like Dandelions (November 28, 2006)
TIOTI – Another Web-based TV Service Combining Legitimate TV with BitTorrent Feeds (November 15, 2006)
TVUPlayer – Watch Most Any TV Station Anywhere (October 19, 2006)
Judge Shuts Down UK-based Streaming Football Site (June 14, 2006)
Canada Blocks Free Net TV – iCrave TV (January 17, 2003)

Universal Music Group Sues MySpace over Video Transcoding Service

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:24:24 +0000

Universal Music Group has sued Myspace for providing a transcoding service. Myspace users upload videos to their MySpace account and Myspace transcodes them into formats playable by its users. Alleging that MySpace "encourages, facilitates and participates in the unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public performance,", UMG is seeking an injunction and unspecified damages, including up to $150,000 for each unauthorized music video or song posted on the Web site. Until last week the two were in licensing discussions. To paraphrase Clausewitz, lawsuits such as this are just business negotiations by another means.

Dale's Comment: This is an interesting claim. It may very well turn on the facts. As I understand them, MySpace is agnostic as to what the content is. It has taken some steps to limit infringing uploads. In this case its servers accept user video uploads, examine the format, if not a supported format they then transcodes it into a playable format. This seems to be similar to what YouTube and other video hosting sites do. But YouTube signed a licensing agreement with Universal (and others) after being threatened with a lawsuit. If Myspace fights this, it will likely argue that it is an ISP, and all they are providing is a tool that can be used by their users for legitimate or illegitimate purposes. Assuming that MySpace is otherwise responding to Universal's DMCA take-down notices, this transcoding service may very well fall within the DMCA's safe harbour.

Paramount Sues Loan ‘N Go For Loading Purchased Movies Onto Customer iPods

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 19:44:56 +0000

Text of Complaint (Nov 3, 2006)

This one doesn't surprise me. It is more of the same – big media bites off its nose to spite its face by bringing lawsuits against any new business model that they don't sanction. In this case, Boston's Load 'N Go offers a service to their DVD-purchasing customers, by copying their purchased movie onto an iPod. You would think Paramount would appreciate vendors adding value for customers buying Paramount's products. But no, they choose to sue, presumably to force honest purchasers to purchase the movie twice, once on DVD and again as a download. The DMCA makes such copying, even for what otherwise would be fair use, illegal. So, thanks to the DMCA, Paramount seems to have a case. Chalk another one up for Paramount and another loss for honest consumers. This is precisely the thing that drives honest consumers to BitTorrent.

[Nov 29 Update: No doubt Paramount wishes to do what Warner Bros is now doing with videos sold at Walmart. According to CNN, Techcrunch and others, if you buy Warner's “Superman Returns” at Wal-Mart, you can pay an additional $1.97 to play it on portable devices, $2.97 more to play it on PCs or laptops, or $3.97 to play it on either portable devices or PCs/laptops. Ah, the old Big Media nickel and diming profit strategy. Don't you love it!]

[Nov 30 Update: Ha! It appears the EFF has come to the same conclusion - I wonder if they read my blog before writing this.]

YouTube Faces Heightened Copyright Scrutiny Since Google Buyout Announcement

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 01:42:22 +0000

As you can see from the "Related Posts" links, below I have blogged about YouTube's copyright liability in the past. It seems like the deep-pockets behind YouTube's new parent, Google, have brought out the copyright infringement vultures, and those that wish to speculate on the future (or demise) of YouTube specifically and copyright infringement on the Internet generally. The stories linked-to below are only a few of the avalanche of stories and blog posts on this topic over the last week.

Faced with an increased level of DMCA take-down notices, YouTube is busily working on taking down 10's of thousands of copyrighted works as requested by media owners. It's a difficult chore. Some 60,000 new videos are posted on YouTube every day. Offending materials are often put back up as soon as they are taken down.

YouTube says it will take a tough action to avoid such problems in the future and has committed to developing and deploying technology that can sniff out copyrighted video clips and bits of music. YouTube will also provide "copyright owners with user identification information" of users that post infringing content – after receiving a valid subpoena (See this CNet article).

While there may be some bumps and no doubt many legal hurdles and lawsuits along the way, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that YouTube will survive all legal challenges in-tact. This is a new and emerging area of the law. The DMCA provides the s. 512(c) safe harbour for this (the take-down scheme). YouTube is complying with its take-down obligations under the DMCA and similar laws around the globe.

More interestingly, YouTube's 10 minute video clip limit can dovetail with the self-interest of Big Media – those most likely to sue, and have the resources need to sue, Google. After initially fighting with YouTube over the posting of this Natalie Portman skit on Saturday Night Live, in the face of a furor from Internet bloggers, NBC backed-off, and allowed the post to remain on YouTube for awhile. NBC discovered that YouTube was a terrific way to promote its show as new and hip to a coveted younger demographic. Ahhhhhhhhh —- self interest (with strong lobbyists) … wins every time!

Cranky Geeks Videocast on Topic (Episode 31) John C. Dvorak, Sebastian Rupley, West Coast Editor, PC Magazine, Matt Mullenweg, Founder, WordPress.org, Gary Messiana, CEO, Netli, Inc.

Related Posts:

Why Google & YouTube are Not Getting Sued Out of the Water (December 11, 2006)
YouTube Faces Heightened Copyright Scrutiny Since Google Buyout Announcement (October 30, 2006)
YouTube Sued by L.A. News Service (July 17, 2006)
How YouTube Avoids the Internet Copyright Police (July 17, 2006)
RIAA Sends Cease and Desist Letters to YouTube/Google Video Users (June 15, 2006)
YouTube's Looming Fair Use Battle (May 5, 2006)

TiVo Continues to Fight the Good Cablecard/Ingegration Ban Fight

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:31:48 +0000

More than ten years ago, Congress passed an act requiring cable companies to adopt the CableCard technology. The FCC has promulgated C.F.R. 76.1204(a)(1), requiring cable operators to implement CableCard technology into their set-top boxes. After failing in their court challenges to invalidate the law/rules, the cable industry has repeatedly asked for, and been given, extensions to deadline. Last year, the FCC mandated a final deadline of July 1, 2007 once and for all. In keeping with their stalling tactics, Charter, Verizon, Comcast and the NCTA have, again, requested varying waivers from this mandate. Since TiVo's Series 3 product relies on the cablecard standard, TiVo opposes these waiver petitions and is lobbying hard to thwart these requests so as to to firmly establish the Cablecard standard. I, for one, support TiVo whole-heartedly. Enough is enough.

Sources: Engadget | ZatzNotFunny.com | TiVo's Oct. 13 Letter to the FCC | Gizmodo

Discussed here: TiVoCommunity

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)

NYTimes: New File Sharing Techniques Are Likely to Test Court Decision

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:29:47 +0000

See this NY Times Article on the emergence of so-called Darknets.

Implications of Microsoft’s Zune Buy-out of iTunes Music

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 23:35:43 +0000

The current rumour has it that to compete with iTunes, Microsoft’s pending Zune service will scan the users’ computer for a list of all songs purchased from iTunes and then repurchase the songs in Zune’s proprietary format for new Zune customers – effectively buying-out iTunes. In this “Rethinking DRM Dystopia” piece, David Robinson is optimistic about the free market’s ability to overcome the lock-in affect of iTunes “Fairplay” DRM system. I am not!

Dale’s Comment: I am decidedly less excited about this prospect than Mr. Robinson. If copyright law does require a competitor to “buy-out” users from a competitive service, that only does a disservice to consumers. Once a consumer purchases a song, copyright law should protect that consumer’s right to play that song on any device. A system of copyright laws where ONLY the behemoths of an industry can compete hardly leads to innovation and competition. The very fact that, owing to the DMCA, Microsoft may have to resort to such extreme measures in order to compete with iTunes is one of the reasons I created this iMedia law website. This is bad policy, bad for consumers and ultimately bad for the music industry.

Source: David Robinson – Freedom to Tinker

YouTube Sued by L.A. News Services

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 23:17:39 +0000

Motion for Summary Adjudication (Nov 2006)

This is amusing. Minutes after posting the Von Lohmann story below about how the DMCA is shielding YouTube from law suits, I come across this new story that YouTube is being sued by an L.A. news service over its users' posting videos containing its copyrighted coverage of the 1992 L.A. riots on the YouTube service.

Other YouTube-Related Posts

Related Posts:

Why Google & YouTube are Not Getting Sued Out of the Water (December 11, 2006)
YouTube Faces Heightened Copyright Scrutiny Since Google Buyout Announcement (October 30, 2006)
YouTube Sued by L.A. News Service (July 17, 2006)
How YouTube Avoids the Internet Copyright Police (July 17, 2006)
RIAA Sends Cease and Desist Letters to YouTube/Google Video Users (June 15, 2006)
YouTube's Looming Fair Use Battle (May 5, 2006)

How YouTube Avoids the Internet Copyright Police

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 23:11:04 +0000

In this interesting set of articles, the EFF and ars technica explain why YouTube, for now, seems safe from the Internet police in that it takes advantage of the safe-harbour provisions of the much hated, fair-use inhibiting, DMCA.

Sources: EFF's Fred von Lohmann's Article in Hollywood Reporter Esq | EFF Deep Links | ars technica

Other YouTube-Related Posts

Related Posts:

Why Google & YouTube are Not Getting Sued Out of the Water (December 11, 2006)
YouTube Faces Heightened Copyright Scrutiny Since Google Buyout Announcement (October 30, 2006)
YouTube Sued by L.A. News Service (July 17, 2006)
How YouTube Avoids the Internet Copyright Police (July 17, 2006)
RIAA Sends Cease and Desist Letters to YouTube/Google Video Users (June 15, 2006)
YouTube's Looming Fair Use Battle (May 5, 2006)

CEA’s New Ad: You’ve Heard This Song Before

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:10:54 +0000

The CEA has taken out another advertisement criticizing the content industry of fear-mongering once again in the context of its current law-suit against XM radio. The ad quotes the content industry’s dire warnings as far back as 1906 about how new technologies are going to spell the end of their industry.

Sources: CEA Ad [pdf] | ars technica | EFF Deep Links | Boing Boing

Related CEA Stories:

Consumer Electronic Association Runs Pro-Consumer Ads on Capital Hill (April 26, 2006)

See related stories about the content industry opposing satellite-radio-based time-shifting posted on May 17, 2006, April 26, 2006, January 16, 2006 and December 2, 2005 (the Sirius Deal).

Related Satellite Radio Posts:

Music Labels Sue XM Over its Inno/Helix Recording Capabilities (May 17, 2006)
Proposed “Perform Act” to Restrict Satellite & Web Streaming Recording (April 26, 2006)
RIAA Negotiates DRM with XM and Other Digital Radio Operators (January 16, 2006)
Sirius S50 has been (siriusly) crippled by the RIAA (December 2, 2005)

RIAA Sends Cease and Desist Letters to Youtube/Google Video Users

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:07:04 +0000

Post a few seconds of you or your friends dancing to an RIAA-member song on YouTube or Google Video? Expect a cease and desist letter from the RIAA.

Sources: ars technica | techdirt

Dale's Comment: I wonder how the RIAA is going to justify how a video of my sister contorting to the Chicken Dance is going to hurt their members' bottom lines.

Related Posts:

Why Google & YouTube are Not Getting Sued Out of the Water (December 11, 2006)
YouTube Faces Heightened Copyright Scrutiny Since Google Buyout Announcement (October 30, 2006)
YouTube Sued by L.A. News Service (July 17, 2006)
How YouTube Avoids the Internet Copyright Police (July 17, 2006)
RIAA Sends Cease and Desist Letters to YouTube/Google Video Users (June 15, 2006)
YouTube's Looming Fair Use Battle (May 5, 2006)

Hollywood Sues Cablevision over Planned Network DVR

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 25 May 2006 19:27:07 +0000

Hollywood studios and TV networks are asking a U.S. District Court in New York to stop a network-based video recording service that Cablevision Systems Corp. planned to start offering next month alleging the service violates their copyrights. Cablevision’s network DVR allows users to record and pause TV, just like normal DVRs, but instead of storing shows on a local machine, they’re stored on Cablevision’s servers and streamed over the network.

Sources: CNet Business Week | LA Times (AP) | Reuters | Washington Post (Reuters) | ars technica | Newsday | Broadcasting & Cable

Dale’s Comment: The only thing surprising about this lawsuit is that it took this long for Hollywood to file suit!

Movie Industry May Drop HDCP/ICT Until 2010/2012?

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 23 May 2006 19:04:23 +0000

The leading German newspaper Der Spiegel claims to have information on an unofficial agreement struck between the movie studios, Sony, Microsoft and others which will see HDCP, and the Image Constraint Token (ICT), being consigned to the scrap heap for at least four years. This move would mean that all movie content produced until 2010 at the earliest, and possibly as far as 2012, will not carry the ICT – a security feature which restricts/down-rez’s high-definition playback only to equipment with HDMI ports and HDCP encryption.

Sources: ars technica | GameIndustry.biz | Daily Tech | Next Generation | IGN | Gamasutra | Xbit | Joystiq | Engadget | Der Spiegel (Google’s English Translation)

Dale’s Comment: This is a remarkable development if true. I have been participating in online forums for years where this has been a major subject of contention for early HDTV adopters. With the constant delays of HD-DVD and Blu-ray and the many competing HD standards appearing on the horizon, this may spell the demise of HD down-rezzing and the ICT. Recently, Professor Ed Felton suggested that HDCP is Eminently Crackable. All this said, since main-stream press has not yet picked this up, I question its veracity. But, its fun speculation in the meantime.

Update: October 15 2006: Save for one or two titles, the first couple hundred Blu-Ray and HD-DVD releases have been released without HDCP/ICT activated.

Related Posts:

HDCP is Eminently Crackable Says Professor Ed Felton (April 17, 2006)
Windows Vista Proofed against Video Piracy (August 31, 2005)

Music Labels Sue XM Over its Inno/Helix Recording Capabilities

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:40:50 +0000

Text of Music Industry Complaint
The RIAA, in a law suit filed this week in federal court in New York, seeks a $150,000 in damages for every song that may have been copied by XM listeners, claiming that devices such as XM’s new Pioneer Inno and the Samsung Helix violate copyrights. Despite the fact that recording from the radio has always been considered fair use in the U.S., and the fact that music cannot be extracted from XM’s recording devices, the music industry believes that the quality of satellite radio makes it a “free iTunes” of sorts. Michael Petricone, vice president of government affairs at the Consumer Electronics Association, said that the RIAA is trying to block an activity that “has always been considered legal” and expressly recognized by Congress as “protected from lawsuit.” The music industry fails to mention in its complaint that home recording of music is permitted under the Audio Home Recording Act (1992). That legislation allows consumers to digitally record music from CDs and broadcast transmissions for personal use, but prevents making digital copies from copies. “Sirius radio is not named in the suit because it had previously negotiated a deal with the RIAA for devices like the Inno and the Helix.

Sources: ars technica | EFF | L.A. Timers | Red Herring | HRRC.org | PC Magazine (Reuters) | Billboard | The Register | MTV | Forbes | PC World (IDG) | Washington Post | MP3.com | BBC | Engadget | Tech News World | TechWeb | Digital Life | Sci-Tech Today | Digital Music News

Related Posts:

Music Labels Sue XM Over its Inno/Helix Recording Capabilities (May 17, 2006)
Proposed “Perform Act” to Restrict Satellite & Web Streaming Recording (April 26, 2006)
RIAA Negotiates DRM with XM and Other Digital Radio Operators (January 16, 2006)
Sirius S50 has been (siriusly) crippled by the RIAA (December 2, 2005)

Is Hollywood Mulling-Over Possible Slingbox Litigation?

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 01:49:28 +0000

Slingbox is an Internet TV streaming device from Sling Media that enables consumers to remotely view their cable, satellite, or personal video recorder (PVR) programming from an Internet-enabled computer with a broadband Internet connection. This is commonly referred to as “space shifting”. HBO’s CTO, Bob Zitter, has said that content owners believe Slingbox violates their copyrights. Whether or not Slingbox violates copyrights, content owners perceive it as a competitive threat because: (i) they themselves are interested in monetizing the delivery of their programs via broadband connections; and (ii) Slingbox threatens their retransmission-consent arrangements by enabling out-of-market viewing of network and syndicated content. So, the question is, will Hollywood sue Sling Media for competitive reasons, arguing that the Slingbox, which does not copy or store content and only allows consumers that purchase content to access their content remotely, infringes its IP rights?

Sources: LightReading.com | ars technica | Broadcasting & Cable | Information Week | CEA Press Release Praising Slingbox | Wikipedia Entry on Slingbox

Proposed “Perform Act” to Restrict Satellite & Web Streaming Recording

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:11:14 +0000

Text of Proposed Perform Act
The PERFORM Act (“Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006“) was introduced into Congress yesterday. The bill prohibits satellite radio from offering its subscribers devices capable of recording off the air unless royalties are paid and content is locked with DRM. The catalyst for the bill was new devices XM Radio is bringing to the market that allow customers to save songs on the receivers. Sirius had already made deals with the major record companies that compensate them for downloads on its S-50 receiver.

Also in the bill is a provision that would effectively require music webcasters to use DRM-laden streaming formats, rather than the MP3 streaming.

Sources: EFF Deep Links | ars technica | BBC | TMCNet | Reuters | Billboard | CNet | Tech News – HRCC’s response | Red Herring | Hollywood Reporter | Washintgon Times | Techdirt | PublicKnowledge | Cathy Kirkman

Dale’s Comment: Aspects of this bill have merit. I agree that anyone wishing a permanent, transferable copy of a song broadcast through XM or Sirius should pay for it. If, however, the device does not permit the user to copy the song to an external device, then the concept is more akin to a PVR such as TiVo and fair use rights should allow the user to enjoy the song within the specific device for a reasonable period of time without an additional royalty payment – remember, XM and Sirius subscribers already pay compulsory royalties via their subscriptions to these services. To the extent an additional royalty payment is made to purchase a song, the user should have the right to copy/transmit the song off the XM/Sirius device to any other device owned by the user and, of course, all the other incidents of fair use for purchased music that I advocate for on this site should apply – the right to of the owner to transcode it to any other format, the right to play it on any device owned by the consumer, the right to sell/give-away/alienate the purchased copy (without retaining a copy) etc. If, however, this bill results in an obligation to pay for music that can’t be removed from the device or otherwise fairly used by the user, it should not be adopted.

Related Posts:

Music Labels Sue XM Over its Inno/Helix Recording Capabilities (May 17, 2006)
RIAA Negotiates DRM with XM and Other Digital Radio Operators (January 16, 2006)
Sirius S50 has been (siriusly) crippled by the RIAA (December 2, 2005)

MovieBeam Down-Res’s Hi-Def Content When Subscriber Does Not Use HDMI

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 23:47:09 +0000

We’ve all known this was coming but this Disney-backed, MovieBeam service is the first account of a service down-res’ing HD content when the subscriber’s TV does not have an HDMI input. Lesson to be learned: Do NOT buy an HDTV without an HDMI connection or you won’t be watching the HD content you pay for.

Sources: Washington Post (2nd page) | Technology Liberation Front | Freedom to Tinker

Who Owns Culture?

Dale Dietrich — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 23:42:57 +0000

Lawrence Lessig presents a terrific speech/slide show explaining how promoters/users of each of the player piano, records, broadcast TV, cable TV, the Sony betamax etc. were, in their time, considered pirates and how, ultimately, the law evolved to favored the “pirate”. Laws adapted to changing technology. He points out some of the absurdities taken by the content industry then and now and argues against locking down content in a way that limits people’s creativity and fair uses of content. He argues against laws (such as the DMCA) that limit fair use rights to the 20′th century paradigm (as the RIAA and MPAA argue) and that limit the ability of content purchasers to fairly use content with future technologies. He argues against the rhetoric of the “war on piracy” and advocates that artists start speaking up to bring their thoughts ideas to the debate.

Source: Google Video

TiVo Against the Giants

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:27:09 +0000

Law.com interviews TiVo’s general Counsel, Matt Zinn, on the forthcoming TiVo v. EchoStar Trial, defending other patent suits and generally how he rolls with TiVo’s legal punches.

Source: Law.com

Related Posts:

Federal Circuit CA Blocks TiVo Injunction Against Echostar Pending Appeal (October 4, 2006)
TiVo Wins Injunction Against Echostar – Appeals Court Grants a Temporary Stay (August 18, 2006)
Echostar Follows RIM/NTP Playbook and Urges Judge to Stay TiVo Judgment (April 27, 2006)
TiVo Wins Patent Infringement Case Against Echostar (April 13, 2006)
TiVo Case Against EchoStar Headed to Jury (April 13, 2006)
See Day-by-Day Trial Update Posts in March and April of 2006
TiVo, EchoStar Head to Court (March 29, 2006)
TiVo Against the Giants (March 15, 2006)

EFF Goes After Macrovision

Dale Dietrich — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:06:25 +0000

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is continuing its crusade against CD copy protection. After having participated in legal actions against the two vendors of the technology used by Sony/BMG Music, it is now going after the third major supplier in this market: Macrovision, whose CD copy protection technology is used by EMI.

Sources: DRM Watch | EFF

Mark Cuban Response to Simultaneous Theatrical, DVD, Broadcast Film Release Criticism

Dale Dietrich — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 17:54:19 +0000

Going to a restaurant. Going to a sporting event. Going shopping. Cabin Fever is alive and well. Wanting to get away from your parents, your kids, your job, your apartment, your house, your problems will never, ever go out of style. For the next thousand years the question will be asked. What do you want to do tonight ? For the next thousand years, people will want to get the heck out of the house. The question is where to and why.

Source: Mark Cuban’s Blog

RIAA Negotiates DRM with XM and Other Digital Radio Operators

Dale Dietrich — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 17:33:41 +0000

Last year, the RIAA began proposing a broadcast flag type system and now they are in negotiations with satellite radio companies, such as XM about controlling what their listeners can do. According to the music industry, if consumers are given the opportunity to record music from digital radio, they will likely start recording songs
instead of purchasing them.

Sources: CD Freaks | ZDNet | CNet

Related Post:

Sirius S50 has been (siriusly) crippled by the RIAA (December 2, 2005)

First Simultaneous Theatrical, DVD, Broadcast Film Release … a New Era Begins ?

Dale Dietrich — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:31:41 +0000

The movie is Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh's "Bubble." But the persistent buzz around its release has less to do with the film's artistic merits than with the fact that it will be broadcast on the high-definition network HDNet the night of its full theatrical release, Jan. 27, and also made available on DVD just four days later.

Note: This is not unprecedented. Mark Cuban-produced "Good Night and Good Luck" was also released on Cuban's HDNet simultaneously with it theatrical release.