Copyright Bill to Kill Tech?

[dave () farber net]

___

Dave Farber  +1 412 726 9889



...... Forwarded Message .......
From: Jock Gill <jg45 () mac com>
To: dave () farber net
Cc: EEkid () aol com
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 12:51:50 -0400
Subj: Re: [IP] Copyright Bill to Kill Tech?

Dave,

For IP if you wish.

I suggest the real issue here is the abuse of copyright by the large 
corporations.  After all, in spite of the best efforts of the founding 
Fathers to insure a fair and reasonable balance between the 
requirements of the inventor and the requirements a nation of 
innovative "mechanics", nothing has been added to the public domain 
since, I understand, the 1960s.  This is a scandal that attacks the 
core of our future: innovation.  Dare I suggest it weakens our national 
security and is down right un-American -- at least as defined by the 
"original intent" of the Founders.

The P-2-P situation can perhaps be described as a revolt of we the 
people against corporate abuse of copyright -- the Tea Tax issue of the 
21st century?

Further, I am amazed that the media giants have not figures out, ala 
Michael Moore, that the P-2-P process can be leveraged in many ways 
that will in fact help the producers of content to recover costs and 
profits while at the same time allowing new models of financing for 
content production.

It may be the case that a proper use of cooperative P-2-P concepts will 
allow the production of content that does NOT have to conform to the 
lowest common denominator in a rush to the bottom for mass market 
profits.  What a concept, the P-2-P community wilingly helping to 
finance content production that they anticipate valuing!

Can anyone say Howard Dean and $50,000 an hour from the P-2-P community?

The fact is that P-2-P offers as yet undiscovered new ways to support 
the entertainment and content producers -- if they would only look 
forward and take their eyes off the rear view mirror.

Best,

Jock


Jock Gill
Media Intelligence
jock () jockgill com
(781) 577-2888

On Jul 26, 2004, at 11:04 AM, David Farber wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: EEkid () aol com
> Date: July 26, 2004 7:37:47 AM PDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Copyright Bill to Kill Tech?
>
> Copyright Bill to Kill Tech?
>
> By Katie Dean
>
> 02:00 AM Jul. 22, 2004 PT
>
>
> The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill Thursday that 
> would hold technology companies liable for any product they make that 
> encourages people to steal copyright materials.
>
>  Today's the Day. Critics say the bill would effectively outlaw 
> peer-to-peer networks and prohibit the development of new 
> technologies, including devices like the iPod. The Inducing 
> Infringement of Copyrights Act (S. 2560) was introduced last month by 
> Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The 
> legislation would hold a company liable that "intentionally induces" a 
> person to infringe copyright.
>
> "We think this is a recipe for disaster for the Internet," said 
> Markham Erickson, general counsel for NetCoalition, a public policy 
> group that represents Internet companies like Google, Yahoo and 
> Internet service providers. "The bill as it is currently drafted is 
> extremely broad and not entirely clear. It would, at a minimum, 
> undermine the Sony Betamax decision."
>
> In the Betamax decision, the Supreme Court ruled that any technology 
> that people use for legal purposes would be legal -- even if the 
> device could be used for illegal purposes, like content piracy. 
> Because of the ruling, the consumer electronics industry and Hollywood 
> went on to develop a thriving market in home video and DVDs.
>
> "This takes an objective standard and replaces it with a subjective 
> one that allows a copyright holder to try and determine the intent of 
> a company when producing a product," Erickson said. "It's not outside 
> the realm of possibility that you would be placing the entertainment 
> industry in charge of technological innovation if this law were 
> passed."
>
> It's the biggest threat to technology in 20 years, said Jeff Joseph, a 
> spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. The organization's 
> president will testify before the committee.
>
> The judiciary committee will also hear testimony from Register of 
> Copyrights Marybeth Peters and the heads of the Business Software 
> Alliance and the Recording Industry Association of America. A 
> representative from the IEEE-USA's intellectual-property committee and 
> the director of NetCoalition will also testify.
>
> One supporter of the bill, RIAA chief Mitch Bainwol, is expected to 
> include information about the music trade group's recent settlement 
> with iMesh, a company that makes file-trading software, in his 
> testimony. On Tuesday, the RIAA announced that iMesh agreed to pay 
> record companies $4.1 million for copyright infringement. The company 
> also said it will modify its business to prevent consumers from 
> illegally sharing or downloading songs.
>
> Critics said the bill is the wrong fix for the piracy problem.
>
> "This bill really creates a huge risk that people won't bring new 
> products to market because they will be afraid to be sued out of 
> existence," said Mike Godwin, legal director of Public Knowledge, 
> which is opposed to the bill and is submitting written testimony to 
> the committee. "We keep asking, 'What's the rush?' It's not clear that 
> everything has to be wrapped up in the summer of 2004."
>
> Godwin said Senate judiciary staff are eager to get the legislation 
> moving because they are worried that a federal appeals court in 
> California will uphold an April 2003 court decision that did not hold 
> peer-to-peer companies liable for their users' copyright infringement. 
> The so-called Grokster case was argued before the 9th U.S. Circuit 
> Court of Appeals in February, and a decision is expected soon.
>
> http://wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64297,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
>
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