   May 2004 ArchiveMay 31, 2004Ireland Considers Emergency Copyright Bill
To fend off the litigious grandson of James Joyce. To complicate matters, the fight is over work that was snatched from the public domain by retroactive copyright-term extension.
Counties Decide to Wait Out E-Voting Storm
Questions continue to erupt about the reliability and security of electronic voting, so some counties are keeping their wallets shut until the situation improves.
Thinking Through the National ID
Pressure for a U.S. national ID is increasing, but so are questions about the efficacy of the systems that are supposed to enable the card to provide enhanced security.
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Posted at 11:42 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Biometrics
| Data Mining
| Surveillance
Who Tests E-Voting Machines?
The New York Times on the disturbing answer.
Florida Secretary of State Claims E-voting Machines Aren't Computers
She went on to explain that they are magical boxes with microprocessors and hard drives. That run Windows.
Pushing the Definition of "Aid and Comfort" in Idaho
A Muslim graduate student at the University of Idaho is on trial after being prosecuted under PATRIOT for serving as a webmaster for several Islamic fundamentalist sites.
Sony Signs Audible Magic for Anti-Piracy Post
The Japanese giant will use Audible Magic in a range of enforcement efforts.
P2P Traffic Shifts Lanes
A new study claims that filesharers are fleeing KaZaA for programs like eDonkey, but the overall level of file sharing remains stable.
Print Fiction: When Biometrics and Bureaucracy Go Wrong
The New York Times with a cautionary tale about a man whose fingerprint records were mistakenly switched with someone else's, and how it took six years to and two months in jail to clear it up.
May 26, 2004Clear Channel Finds Another Way to Abuse Artists: Patents
The company recently bought a patent for recording a CD of a concert immediately after the show. A profitable, artist-empowering industry currently uses the technology, but Clear Channel plans to enforce its patents across and beyond its 130 U.S. venues.
Record Companies Use Pirate Act to Pillage by Proxy
The Pirate Act is another piece of legislation that asks the government to fight the recording industry's misguided war on file sharing while forcing you to foot the bill.
Diebold. We're From the Private Sector and We're Here to Help
Diebold Variations is a collection of clever "faux-sters" criticizing the embattled election-software company.
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Posted at 10:19 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
E-Voting
| Free Speech
| Trademarks
RIAA Suits Keep Rolling (Over People)
USA Today has a sad snapshot of Tammy Lafky, a single mother whose 14 year-old downloaded music and who now faces up to $540,000 in damages from a music industry lawsuit. An RIAA flak points out that the suits are supposed to teach people that file sharing is "wrong." Not that there's anything wrong with bankrupting a single mother...right?
May 25, 2004Broadcast Flagging Digital Radio?
Taking a page from Hollywood's playbook, the RIAA is pushing the FCC to mandate a broadcast flag for digital radio.
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Posted at 01:16 AM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Broadcast Flag
| Spectrum Policy
Open-Sourcing the Law
Grokline is a collaborative "living history" of UNIX ownership aimed at drop-kicking future copyright/patent claims.
Northern Flights: Alaskans Fight CAPPS II
Four Alaskans are challenging the controversial data-mining program in federal court.
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Posted at 01:04 AM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Bad Laws
| Privacy
| Surveillance
When "Free" Turns a Profit
USA Today on making money the new-fashioned way: giving stuff away.
May 22, 2004Italy Jacks Up Criminal Penalties for P2P
The new law could slap a 3-year jail term on individuals who either upload or download copyrighted material.
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Posted at 12:22 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Bad Laws
| International IP
| P2P
"True Names" Bill Rolls Through CA Senate
The bill requires the attachment of valid email addresses to copyrighted works distributed online.
Copyright Travel Advisory: Japan
We were shocked when the author of a Japanese file-sharing application was jailed two weeks ago, but this takes the cake. The operator of a popular gaming site has been jailed for posting unauthorized screenshots.
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Posted at 12:10 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Free Culture
| International IP
U.S. Lubes Passports with RFID Snake Oil
That's the priceless headline of this Register article on the (many) problems with using RFID tags in passports.
May 20, 2004Common Sense Spotted in UK Discussion of National IDs
Forgery, biometrics and the problems with both in this article from the Register.
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Posted at 09:45 AM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Bad Laws
| Patents
| Surveillance
May 18, 2004Good Idea Alert: Warrants for Data Mining
A panel convened by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is recommending a sweeping policy overhaul to protect people from privacy abuses.
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Posted at 05:34 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Privacy
| Surveillance
| USA PATRIOT
L.L. Bean Gets Pop-Uppity
The purveyor of fine khaki sued four companies for buying pop-ads that appear when people visit its site.
House Orders E-Voting Probe
Thirteen members of the House of Representatives want an investigation into the security risks of e-voting.
Blind Voters Pan E-Voting
Electronic voting terminals are supposed to be a panacea for disabled voters, but this article shows that some of the technology has a long way to go before it delivers on its promise.
Opinion: What NY Needs in Voting Machines
The New York Times with a top-notch editorial on how New York should approach voting machine upgrades.
Anti-Patent Vibe in the EU
Groklaw with several news snippets demonstrating the anti-software patent vibe in Europe.
May 14, 2004Gag Removed from Anti-Spam Company
The restraining order against SpamCop was removed because the judge hadn't actually read some of the papers. Perhaps they got caught in her spam filter?
ACLU Forced to Redact Press Release in National Security Letter Case
The redacted portions included a description of the law in question and a briefing schedule.
ICANN/VeriSign Kerfuffle Heads to Hearing
We're still hoping for a deus ex machina so neither party wins.
Raw Deals Writ Small
Ed Foster has a round-up of the nastiest end-user license agreements out there.
Record Companies Cook Books to Show Losses?
Another piece arguing that the recording industry's piracy claims don't add up.
May 13, 2004Congress Calls for DMCA Reform
Yesterday's hearings on HR 107 went better than any of us expected - read more about it here.
Napster Tries to Gag University
Ohio U. posted a survey asking whether $3/student/month is a raw deal for Napster's service, but the company ordered the university to take down the survey and clam up about the price.
May 12, 2004Verizon Warns Australia of DMCA Down Under
Sarah Deutsch told policymakers about the thousands of notice-and-takedown letters that Australian ISPs can expect if DMCA-like laws are adopted there.
Apple Squelches PlayFair (Again)
PlayFair allows iTunes-customers to strip the DRM from lawfully purchased songs, but leaves the unique IDs intact. The results are unfit for P2P trading, unless you like the taste of subpoenas. Sounds good to us.
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Posted at 10:46 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Copyright
| DRM
| International IP
(Alleged) Spammer Gets Restraining Order Against SpamCop
Scott Richter has obtained a temporary restraining order against SpamCop that bars them from making slanderous or libelous statements about his company. [PDF link to decision].
The Patent Busting Gene
The USPTO recently granted the Public Patent Foundation's request for reexamination of a DNA-insertion patent held by Columbia University. This is how it's done, and we'll soon follow suit in EFF's new patent-pusting campaign.
Iraqi Prisoner Photos in a Connected World
"We owe their circulation and perhaps their existence to the popular technology of our day, to digital cameras and JPEG files and email. Photographs can now be disseminated as quickly and widely as rumors." Food for thought.
The BBC on EFF
The Beeb is running a story on EFF's IP work and our man-about-London, Cory Doctorow.
May 10, 2004P2P Spoofing Patent Awarded to Two Academics
Of course, the record labels have been doing this for years, and legal fights may well ensue. May those battles be long and expensive.
Ohio Passes Paper Trail Requirement
Governor Bob Taft made Ohio the seventh state in the country to require a voter-verified paper trail for electronic voting terminals. The requirement will not go into effect until 2006.
Japanese Professor Arrested for Writing P2P Application
Isamu Kaneko, an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, has been arrested under suspicion of "conspiracy to commit copyright violation" for authoring a file-sharing program called "Winny."
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Posted at 07:47 AM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
Copyright
| International IP
| P2P
May 06, 2004Panel Hears Testimony on E-Voting
The Electoral Assistance Commission (EAC) yesterday heard from a range of experts on electronic voting.
CA County to Sue Secretary of State Over Voting Machines
Sadly, Riverside County chose to sue the state rather than comply with extra security requirements for the 2004 election.
Used Video Game Shops Collecting Fingerprints
Laws designed to regulate pawn shops are now being used to keep tabs on people who sell DVDs and video games.
What the Music Industry (Still) Doesn't Get
Steven Levy on lawsuits, the iTunes Music Store, and how people want their music.
Camcorder Obscura
Jon Routson makes movies about film screenings, but copyright law will soon swallow his little corner of the art world. This beautifully written article explains.
Open Source Book-Writing
JD Lasica is writing a history of the P2P wars called "Darknet" -- and he's putting the whole thing online for others to review, edit and make additions.
May 04, 2004The Public Domain Needs You
A new WIPO treaty would give broadcasters broad new rights - including the ability to restrict the broadcast of material in the public domain. Help protect the public domain by asking your country's WIPO representatives to take this survey and then report their answers to the Union for the Public Domain.
Japan Rethinks Webcams in Class
Officials are nervous because parents are using the images to back up complaints against schools.
Tennessee Won't Pay RIAA Protection Money
A plan proposed by Napster 2 would have charged the state's 180,000 students $9.99/month for access to music - a yearly bill of $21 million.
Ireland to Sink Net-Voting Program
A controversial Internet-voting initiative will likely be cancelled in the wake of an independent investigation revealing its flaws and security vulnerabilities.
European Commission Supports Competition for Collecting Societies
The Commission "believes that there should be competition between collecting societies to the benefit of companies that offer music on the Internet and to consumers that listen to it." Music to our ears.
Congress To Review Bumper Crop of IP Laws
A bunch of IP bills just passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, including one that lets the DoJ bring civil actions against copyright infringers.
Looking to Rent Some Music?
Of course not, and that's why Microsoft's "Janus" DRM initiative is yet another solution looking for a problem.
Breaking the Band
Fascinating story on how new technology and alternative distribution channels are helping musicians get noticed.
Dutch Authority Claims Piracy Data Sharing Illegal
BREIN - the Dutch entertainment industry's anti-piracy association - was recently reprimanded for sharing names, addresses, bank account numbers and IP addresses with the RIAA.
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Posted at 12:05 AM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links:
International IP
| P2P
| Privacy
May 03, 2004Secret Warrants Topped Criminal Warrants in 2003
Warrants authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act exceeded conventional warrants for the first time last year. Nobody knows how they're being used or if they're being abused.
CA Senate Passes RFID Privacy Bill
This is the first law we know of that explicitly addresses the privacy implications of RFID technology.
More Travel Data Fed to Feds
The Washington Post with an article on yet another late disclosure from airlines about giving up passenger information.
New Study: Musicians Don't Think RIAA Suits Help
And that's not all - 72% think P2P has either a neutral or beneficial effect on their careers.
EFF Pioneer Avi Rubin Profiled in NY Times
Sure, Avi's saving democracy and all, but we're excited to see that the Pioneer Award is "one of the highest honors among the geekerati."
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