Tag Archives: Intellectual Poverty

My Journey in the World of Copyrights

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“Back in the 1990s when I was first learning how to play the guitar and bass, there was a great online resource hosted by UNLV servers called the On-line Guitar Archive (OLGA). Essentially, it was a massive library of guitar and bass tablature for just about any song imaginable, and it worked very much like Wikipedia does, with all content being user generated. Even better, these tablatures (or tabs) were extremely accurate and of good quality, because users would consistently correct and update the tabs.  OLGA was a very popular website and was a boon for budding musicians the world over. However, beginning in 1996 the copyright complaints began to come in.”

http://joefetz.com/2013/08/26/my-journey-in-the-world-of-copyright/

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Larry Lessig Threatened With Bogus DMCA Notice; Decides To Fight Back

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techdirt1

“As we’ve discussed, unfortunately, it’s been almost impossible to win a 512(f) claim over a bogus DMCA takedown. The entertainment industry has fought hard to make sure that sending totally bogus DMCA notices that censor content are basically unpunishable, unless they can show a willful and intentional decision to ignore fair use and censor the content. Liberation doubled down even after being told that Lessig believed the video was fair use. On top of that, by filing the lawsuit himself, and seeking the declaratory judgment, instead of being sued first, it means that Liberation can’t just dismiss the lawsuit (they’re now the defendant, not the plaintiff).”

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130822/22593124287/larry-lessig-threatened-with-copyright-infringement-over-clear-fair-use-decides-to-fight-back.shtml

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GAO Study Confirms the Obvious: Bad Patents Lead to Trolls

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“The study confirms what we already knew: low-quality, vague patents have led to an increased patent troll problem. Great. This is the same thing the Federal Trade Commission already reported in 2011, and little has improved; arguably, if anything, the situation has worsened.  We now have reports from GAO, from the Congressional Research Service, and from the Federal Trade Commission highlighting the problem with software patents and patent trolls. We have unequivocal statements from the President and leading members of Congress that the AIA did not fix the problem.  The time for reform is now. We should stop talking about it already and get something done.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/gao-study-confirms-obvious-bad-patents-lead-trolls

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Copyright Lawyers vs Patent Lawyers Smackdown: And The Winner Is…

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techdirt1

“You may remember a rather wonderful court case from 2012 that pitted copyright lawyers against patent lawyers over the issue of whether submitting journal articles as part of the patenting process was fair use. Well, we now have the judge’s decision. US Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Keyes sided with the patent lawyers, ruling that the reason they made unlicensed copies of the articles was to comply with the law for submitting applications to the patent office — and not to compete within the market for scientific journals.  The USPTO had already thrown its weight behind the idea that copies of scientific articles submitted as part of the patent application were indeed fair use.”

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130809/08184724123/copyright-lawyers-vs-patent-lawyers-smackdown-winner-is.shtml

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Interview with British ‘straight pride’ group removed by copyright takedown notice

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“WordPress has removed an interview with the ‘homophobic’ campaign Straight Pride UK after the group used US copyright law to issue a takedown notice. In an interview posted on his WordPress blog, student Oliver Hotham published an interview with the group, in which they stated that they ‘admire President Vladimir Putin of Russia for his stance and support of his country’s traditional values’. Hotham did not take down the post, and WordPress then proceeded with a DMCA takedown notice on 3 August. The DMCA contains a provision mandating any company to instantly remove material if they are informed it breaches copyright.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/13/wordpress-removes-interview-with-british-straight-pride-group/

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Patent “Trolls” are Bad. Patents are Worse.

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C4SSLogo22

“As bad as patent trolls are — according to Kinsella they cost the US economy somewhere around $500 billion — legitimate patent holders, companies like Monsanto and Apple, can be — and often are — worse.  Speaking of Apple, imagine a scenario where the company going after Adam Carolla and the rest of the podcasting world wasn’t some tiny dot-com-era relic in Texas, but the multi-billion dollar corporation from Cupertino, Calif.  In this hypothetical situation, who would have the money or power to fight against Apple? How could a DIY podcast held together with string and some spit defend against Apple if it held the ‘podcasting patent’ and wanted money for its license?”

http://c4ss.org/content/17605

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Caller ID inventor struggles to collect royalties despite owning patent

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“Fifteen years after he patented caller ID technology, Brazilian inventor Nelio Jose Nicolai is no millionaire.  Quite the opposite: out of work since 1984, the co-inventor of the ubiquitous tool is still fighting to collect royalties.  In 1996, the inventor received an award from the World Intellectual Property Organization and a year later — after a five-year wait — he finally secured a patent in his homeland.  He then approached domestic mobile phone operators to claim his rights to royalties — and ran into a wall.  Over the years, BIMA was modified and named caller ID. But, despite repeated efforts, Nicolai was unable to secure the rights to the new name, causing him to lose out on millions of dollars.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/03/caller-id-inventor-struggles-to-collect-royalties/

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U.S. film and music industries roll out new anti-piracy program

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“The steps announced by the big Internet firms include pop-ups, which force users to acknowledge warnings, and mechanisms to slow a user’s access to near-dialup speeds. Some critics say that redirecting users is equivalent to a ‘browser hijack’. ‘It’s an elaborate surveillance system,’ said Corynne McSherry at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group.  ‘There will be innocent people caught up in this system, it’s inevitable.’ Internet subscribers ‘face consequences based on nothing more than an accusation,’ McSherry said.  Participating in the program are Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Cablevision and Verizon — covering some 85 per cent of US residential customers.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/01/u-s-film-and-music-industries-roll-out-new-anti-piracy-program/

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Cellphone unlocking is the first step toward post-SOPA copyright reform

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“Dear Congress, Please remove these items from your DMCA contraband list (both for developing the technology, selling and using the technology):  Technology for unlocking and jail-breaking (currently allowed for iPhone, not allowed for iPad);  Adaptability technology for the blind to have e-books aloud (currently subject to triennial review by the Librarian of Congress – it’s legal to use the technology but illegal to develop or sell);  Technology to back-up our own DVD’s and Blu-Ray discs for personal use (current law makes this illegal and injunctions have even been used to shut down websites discussing this technology).  Signed, The people.”

http://boingboing.net/2013/02/22/taking-on-real-reform-in-a-pos.html

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Deadly Contradictions: Patent Privilege vs. “Saving Lives”

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C4SSLogo22

“Entrenching patent monopolies contradicts Obama’s stated goals of ‘saving the world’s children from preventable deaths’ and ‘realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation.’ This contradiction between the TPP and the U.S. government’s stated commitment to public health has been apparent for a while. Back in 2011, Doctors Without Borders executive director Sophie DeLaunay said that the TPP would create ‘a fundamental contradiction between U.S. trade policy and U.S. commitments to global health.’  Contradictions like this are nothing new for the state.”

http://c4ss.org/content/17227

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