Intellectual property issues such as copyrights, patents, trademarks,
peer to peer networks, sampling and digital rights technology have a
profound impact on many aspects of society. Interbeing provides links
to emerging IP stories with a focus on law, technology and culture.
peer to peer networks, sampling and digital rights technology have a
profound impact on many aspects of society. Interbeing provides links
to emerging IP stories with a focus on law, technology and culture.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Internet Explorer losing market share
CNET reports that Firefox and Mozilla use jumped from 8 percent to 18 percent between January and September. The new release of Firefox 1.0 is close to 1 million downloads in its first 10 days. This shows that Open Source products can be compete on the desktop, as well as on the server.
PERMALINK: 1:20 PM 1 comments
CNET reports that Firefox and Mozilla use jumped from 8 percent to 18 percent between January and September. The new release of Firefox 1.0 is close to 1 million downloads in its first 10 days. This shows that Open Source products can be compete on the desktop, as well as on the server.
PERMALINK: 1:20 PM 1 comments
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Amazon and Netflix hit by patent suit
There seems to be no end to the patents coming out of the woodwork that cover common internet functionality. From Microsoft patenting "tabbed browsing" to this latest suit by BTG over tracking site visitors, it's hard for me to understand how anyone can believe that such patents are for the greater good. PERMALINK: 10:46 AM 1 comments
There seems to be no end to the patents coming out of the woodwork that cover common internet functionality. From Microsoft patenting "tabbed browsing" to this latest suit by BTG over tracking site visitors, it's hard for me to understand how anyone can believe that such patents are for the greater good. PERMALINK: 10:46 AM 1 comments
Monday, September 13, 2004
Don't ask for whom the patent tolls, it tolls for RFID
The RFID consortium's attempt to create license-free standards hit a bump in the road today. Intermec Technologies announced it would seek royalties for a patent they hold related to the Electronic Product Code Generation 2 standard, an important new protocol that takes care of some compatibility problems and other technical glitches. Up until now, participating companies had been donating intellectual property in order to create open standards from which all could profit. It seems that Intermec decided it was in their own best interests to make a different move.
PERMALINK: 7:41 PM 0 comments
The RFID consortium's attempt to create license-free standards hit a bump in the road today. Intermec Technologies announced it would seek royalties for a patent they hold related to the Electronic Product Code Generation 2 standard, an important new protocol that takes care of some compatibility problems and other technical glitches. Up until now, participating companies had been donating intellectual property in order to create open standards from which all could profit. It seems that Intermec decided it was in their own best interests to make a different move.
PERMALINK: 7:41 PM 0 comments
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Cap Gemini report on Microsoft vs. Open Source not exacly independent
Microsoft recently hired Cap Gemini to evaluate the relative cost vs. benefits between a Microsoft and an Open Source solution for Newham, a London burough. Not surprisingly, the "independent" report recommended a 100% Microsoft solution. The Newham council ended up signing a ten year, £5 million deal with Microsoft.
Guess what. It has now been reported that Cap Gemini used unverified data supplied by Microsoft to calculate its findings. Hmm. Do you think it's possible that the data wasn't completely objective?
PERMALINK: 8:23 PM 0 comments
Microsoft recently hired Cap Gemini to evaluate the relative cost vs. benefits between a Microsoft and an Open Source solution for Newham, a London burough. Not surprisingly, the "independent" report recommended a 100% Microsoft solution. The Newham council ended up signing a ten year, £5 million deal with Microsoft.
Guess what. It has now been reported that Cap Gemini used unverified data supplied by Microsoft to calculate its findings. Hmm. Do you think it's possible that the data wasn't completely objective?
PERMALINK: 8:23 PM 0 comments
Saturday, September 11, 2004
RIAA Sued. Turnabout is fair play.
The litigious Recording Engineering Association of America is one of the targets of a suit by Altnet, a P2P technology company. The lawsuit revolves around the RIAA's use of Altnet's patented technology which allows bogus files to be matched with files requested by users of P2P networks.
PERMALINK: 8:12 AM 0 comments
The litigious Recording Engineering Association of America is one of the targets of a suit by Altnet, a P2P technology company. The lawsuit revolves around the RIAA's use of Altnet's patented technology which allows bogus files to be matched with files requested by users of P2P networks.
PERMALINK: 8:12 AM 0 comments
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Ruling equates sampling with theft
Straight from Music City, USA, comes a court ruling so restrictive that even a 2 second sample from a reording is considered to be protected under copyright law. This is lunacy!
Play just about any song from the Top 40 pop or country charts, and you can find beats, melodies, chord progressions and rhythms that have been lifted from prior works. Just about every artist collaborates to some degree with those who have come before them. The public benefits by a liberal policy that allows for the maximum level of creative freedom. I don't believe that a case could be made that allowing sampling will hurt the original artist in any way. If anything, a new audience might be attracted to the original content from which the sample was captured.
PERMALINK: 3:02 PM 0 comments
Straight from Music City, USA, comes a court ruling so restrictive that even a 2 second sample from a reording is considered to be protected under copyright law. This is lunacy!
Play just about any song from the Top 40 pop or country charts, and you can find beats, melodies, chord progressions and rhythms that have been lifted from prior works. Just about every artist collaborates to some degree with those who have come before them. The public benefits by a liberal policy that allows for the maximum level of creative freedom. I don't believe that a case could be made that allowing sampling will hurt the original artist in any way. If anything, a new audience might be attracted to the original content from which the sample was captured.
PERMALINK: 3:02 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Top Censored Stories of 2004
Liberal Media? I don't think so. This year's list of the most censored stories was just released. Major media continues to focus its limited attention span on sound bites and ratings instead of substantive issues. PERMALINK: 11:32 AM 0 comments
Liberal Media? I don't think so. This year's list of the most censored stories was just released. Major media continues to focus its limited attention span on sound bites and ratings instead of substantive issues. PERMALINK: 11:32 AM 0 comments
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Microsoft reports Open Source is a threat
Despite yesterday's post about the slow adaptation of Open Source software by governments, Microsoft's newest 10-k filing describes Open Source as a real competitive threat. Whether this is just positioning against anti-trust activity or their authentic analysis, time will only tell.
PERMALINK: 9:11 PM 0 comments
Despite yesterday's post about the slow adaptation of Open Source software by governments, Microsoft's newest 10-k filing describes Open Source as a real competitive threat. Whether this is just positioning against anti-trust activity or their authentic analysis, time will only tell.
PERMALINK: 9:11 PM 0 comments
Open Source slow to roll out around the world
A new study shows that Open Source initiatives by governments around the world have failed to roll out in force. The Center for Strategic & International Studies released a preliminary report indicating that such initiatives neither ban proprietary software nor endorse Open Source solutions.
In related news, Software Freedom Day was just celebrated on August 28th. The international event had events scheduled in countries all over the world, including Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and New Zealand. The event was also promoted by The United Nations' International Open Source Network, a center for excellence for Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the Asia-Pacific Region.
PERMALINK: 10:14 AM 0 comments
A new study shows that Open Source initiatives by governments around the world have failed to roll out in force. The Center for Strategic & International Studies released a preliminary report indicating that such initiatives neither ban proprietary software nor endorse Open Source solutions.
In related news, Software Freedom Day was just celebrated on August 28th. The international event had events scheduled in countries all over the world, including Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and New Zealand. The event was also promoted by The United Nations' International Open Source Network, a center for excellence for Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the Asia-Pacific Region.
PERMALINK: 10:14 AM 0 comments
Saturday, September 04, 2004
BMI posts record growth
BMI, one of the top performing rights organizations, reported a $43 million increase in royalties this year. That's a 6.2% increase over the prior year. BMI President and CEO Frances W. Preston said both the revenues and royalty distributions were the largest in the company's history. How can this be true if music downloaders are having a severe impact on music sales?
Historical property laws were based on real scarcity. The creation of physical objects has a cost, whether it is a chair from a factory or a potato from a farm. When I take one from you, there is a cost for you to replace it. If I take a CD from a store without paying for it, the store is out both the cost of the CD and the profit they might have made from its sale. When I take a CD they can not sell it. Obviously, the theft of physical objects has a definite negative impact on the property's owner.
When people download a song or a CD from a P2P network, there is no injured party, unless the sum total of lost sales is greater than the total of sales gained. Lost sales would be from downloaders who would have purchased the music if they couldn't download it. Sales gained would be from downloaders who would not have later purchased the music unless they had been first introduced to it through their download. In my own limited experience, it seems that there is a net gain to the copyright holders.
The problem is that many people treat this as a moral issue without considering the underlying ethical questions. The reason that distributing music on P2P networks is against U.S. law is not because of the eighth commandment. How can I have stolen something from you if you still possess it?
Copyright and intellectual property law is a modern invention. We should slow down from this rapid move towards legislation and open real dialogue.
PERMALINK: 1:04 AM 0 comments
BMI, one of the top performing rights organizations, reported a $43 million increase in royalties this year. That's a 6.2% increase over the prior year. BMI President and CEO Frances W. Preston said both the revenues and royalty distributions were the largest in the company's history. How can this be true if music downloaders are having a severe impact on music sales?
Historical property laws were based on real scarcity. The creation of physical objects has a cost, whether it is a chair from a factory or a potato from a farm. When I take one from you, there is a cost for you to replace it. If I take a CD from a store without paying for it, the store is out both the cost of the CD and the profit they might have made from its sale. When I take a CD they can not sell it. Obviously, the theft of physical objects has a definite negative impact on the property's owner.
When people download a song or a CD from a P2P network, there is no injured party, unless the sum total of lost sales is greater than the total of sales gained. Lost sales would be from downloaders who would have purchased the music if they couldn't download it. Sales gained would be from downloaders who would not have later purchased the music unless they had been first introduced to it through their download. In my own limited experience, it seems that there is a net gain to the copyright holders.
The problem is that many people treat this as a moral issue without considering the underlying ethical questions. The reason that distributing music on P2P networks is against U.S. law is not because of the eighth commandment. How can I have stolen something from you if you still possess it?
Copyright and intellectual property law is a modern invention. We should slow down from this rapid move towards legislation and open real dialogue.
PERMALINK: 1:04 AM 0 comments
Friday, September 03, 2004
Pentagon Freedom of Information Act Video Censored
This is from the Associated Press, notThe Onion:
The Pentagon produced a video called "The People's Right to Know" as part of employee training on responding to public requests for information. When the Associated Press requested the video under the Freedom of Information Act, they received a version with sections blacked out and labeled"copyrighted material removed for public viewing." The excised portions included historical footage from copyright holders who would not give permission for their release.
The video did not list copyright issues as one of seven categories it described as valid reasons for withholding information. Experts say that use of the censored segments should have been allowed under the "fair use" provisions of the copyright code.
PERMALINK: 8:07 AM 0 comments
This is from the Associated Press, not
The Pentagon produced a video called "The People's Right to Know" as part of employee training on responding to public requests for information. When the Associated Press requested the video under the Freedom of Information Act, they received a version with sections blacked out and labeled"copyrighted material removed for public viewing." The excised portions included historical footage from copyright holders who would not give permission for their release.
The video did not list copyright issues as one of seven categories it described as valid reasons for withholding information. Experts say that use of the censored segments should have been allowed under the "fair use" provisions of the copyright code.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Sanity rules as garage door DMCA claim is denied
Garage door maker Chamberlin tried to use the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to prevent Skylink from marketing a universal garage door operner that had reverse engineered Chamberlin's proprietary software code. The Federal Circuit Court ruled against Chamberlin, stating that the DMCA did not grant new property rights for copyright holders, nor circumvent the public's fair use rights.
What seems strange to me is that by adding a computer chip to a product that contains computer code, companies can attempt to shut out competition through use of copyright protection that was never intented to protect things like garage door openers, computer printers automobiles. For instance, Lexmark is using the DMCA in an attempt to keep third parties from selling toner cartridges that fit their printers.
Anyone for a game of Monopoly? PERMALINK: 6:22 AM 0 comments
Garage door maker Chamberlin tried to use the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to prevent Skylink from marketing a universal garage door operner that had reverse engineered Chamberlin's proprietary software code. The Federal Circuit Court ruled against Chamberlin, stating that the DMCA did not grant new property rights for copyright holders, nor circumvent the public's fair use rights.
What seems strange to me is that by adding a computer chip to a product that contains computer code, companies can attempt to shut out competition through use of copyright protection that was never intented to protect things like garage door openers, computer printers automobiles. For instance, Lexmark is using the DMCA in an attempt to keep third parties from selling toner cartridges that fit their printers.
Anyone for a game of Monopoly? PERMALINK: 6:22 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
P2P War Moves to Japan
Isamu Kaneko is on trial in Japan for creating P2P software that allows users' IP addresses to be hidden. There are many legitimate reasons that someone might want to use a P2P service and maintain anonymity. If you follow the logic that it is a crime to create a product that has the potential to be used illegally, the makers of guns, knives, cars and forks might do well to start worrying.
PERMALINK: 9:49 PM 0 comments
Isamu Kaneko is on trial in Japan for creating P2P software that allows users' IP addresses to be hidden. There are many legitimate reasons that someone might want to use a P2P service and maintain anonymity. If you follow the logic that it is a crime to create a product that has the potential to be used illegally, the makers of guns, knives, cars and forks might do well to start worrying.
PERMALINK: 9:49 PM 0 comments
