News Roundup - September 2009

Tucker Max: Live Outside The US? Please Pirate My Movie
(LINK)
Lawsuit: Copyright Filtering Technology Infringes
(LINK)
Pirate Bay Buyer Faces Bankruptcy
(LINK)
Brazilian Court Bans P2P Software
(LINK)
New Pirate Bay Host Got Hollywood Threats In 20 Minutes
(LINK)
EU Commission sets up piracy monitor but rejects copyright reform
(LINK)
Swedish ISP to appeal Pirate Bay cut-off verdict
(LINK)
Pirated Teaching Materials Threaten Health of China’s Youth
(LINK)
Music business presents united front on filesharing
(LINK)
Russian prez launches YouTube channel
(LINK)
Software lobby joins calls for filesharer disconneciton (sic)
(LINK)

Thinking Outside the Goggle Box

A recurring theme of this blog is that with the rise of the internet, the increasing availability of high speed connections and the lower cost of digital technology new business models are required to ensure that traditional entertainment companies survive.

To date the approach has been to rely on strengthening and widening the scope of copyright laws. This approach is ineffective and inefficient.

One example of a new business model is the iTunes model. Details of which can be found in the second link below.

Source

TV Everywhere: (Almost) everyone is at least trying it
(LINK)
Analyst: Apple to offer iPhone on U.S. carriers within a year; replace cable with iTunes subscriptions
(LINK)

Moving Forward

Just a brief note to let you know that I will be guest blawging on ourforwardmovement.blogspot.com for the next few weeks so updates to this blog will be sporadic at best.

Thanks to Stephanie Soondar at Forward Movement for the opportunity!

Read my first post HERE

The iPhone Meets File Sharing

It was inevitable that the iPhone would eventually come into contact with the sticky world of file sharing. This instance involved a torrent tracking app which has been rejected by Apple. A similar app will, if it isn't already, be available on the jail-broken iPhone's alternative to the App store, Cydia.

Source

uTorrent iPhone App Rejected by Apple, Goes Underground
(LINK)

Online Video Killed the Movie Star

Unless large rights holders change their business models then they are not going to like where they end up. One such possible end point is discussed below.

Source

Online Video Will Kill the Movies - grainy youtube videos for 38 people
(LINK)

However, some rights holders are waking up and facing the music, changing their business models to adapt to the changing face of technology today.

Source

Hollywood studios offer 'download to own' DivX movies online; Film Fresh the new iTunes?
(LINK)

The Google Books Debate Rages On

As promised here are a few of the latest developments in the ongoing Google Books debate.

1. Librarians are lining up against the project. They are citing problems with conducting research.

Librarians apply scrutiny to Google Books at Berkeley con
(LINK)
Google Book Search - Is it The Last Library?
(LINK)

2. The European Commission discussed how best to digitise works. The biggest difference between their proposal and Google's is that there will be no scanning of in-copyright works.

EU consults on problems of digitising libraries
(LINK)
EU likes Google's book registry idea
(LINK)

3. Meanwhile Germany weighs in with its opinion.

Germany says Google Books violates international law
(LINK)

4. The Anti versus Pro arguments are succinctly laid out in the following articles.

(ANTI) Internet Archive stares down Google book mine
(LINK)
(PRO) A spirited defense of the Google Book Search settlement
(LINK)

[for those who want a truly ANTI view read Amazon's condemnation of the project HERE]

5. Sony has something to add.

Sony lines up with Google over Books deal
(LINK)

6. Google has the last word...for now, reminding us that the "social justice and social utility impact" of its project is being lost in the debate.

Google tries to sidestep criticism of $125m book project
(LINK)

The Internet Television Law Blog Gets a Mention

Exciting news for the blog as it is featured in the current issue of Blawg Review #288, Law is Cool.

The reviewed post in question can be found HERE.

Also, the Internet Television Law Blog is now listed at Blogged, Technorati, and Justia Blawg Search.

What's New With Youtube

Here's an update on all the latest headlines involving Youtube.

1. Youtube has struck a deal with right's holders and music videos return to the UK version of the site. Meanwhile, protests occur in response the the British government's plans to disconnect persistent file sharers.

YouTube UK welcomes back the music
(LINK)
YouTube and PRS make peace as musicians protest about plans to punish file sharers
(LINK)

2. Yet another new business model is in the works, which is a good sign that rights holders might be closer to realising the benefits of embracing new distribution methods.

WSJ: YouTube and movie studios in talks over streaming rentals
(LINK)

Lawrence Lessig on the Remix Culture

Lawrence Lessig is a renowned author and proponent of "copyleft" who has a number of interesting thoughts in the field of copyright law. I highly recommend that you read some of his works, especially as many of his full books are available free online under a creative commons license.

Below is an interview on the popular Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report", where he discusses his latest book, "Remix".

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Lawrence Lessig
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

Irish ISP Blocks Pirate Bay

Bad news for Irish file sharers as Eircom, the country's largest ISP, has made good on the terms of its deal with rights holders and blocked access to the Pirate Bay.

This is of concern for two reasons: a) copyright holders clearly have an inordinately large amount of lobbying power that enables them to force an ISP to change its entire way of doing business, and b) ISP content filtering is creeping into Europe.

Source

Eircom Pirate Bay Blockade Takes Effect
(LINK)

Meanwhile, in Australia their ISP filtering regime may be coming to an end.

Source

Aussie firewall nears death
(LINK)

The Television Industry CAN be Saved

According to Ashley Highfield, Microsoft UK's Managing Director of Consumer and Online, the television industry can be rescued if it embraces a few ideas from the internet, most especially "the democratisation of programming".

As a representative of a software company it is of course no surprise that monetisation and copyright protection will have to be central elements to this rescue.

The full report, from the Guardian UK, also says that Highfield is dismissive of Hulu's likelihood of success if they were to attempt to enter the UK market. In a related report, MSN's video player service has proved quite popular in its first days.

Source

Microsoft's Ashley Highfield: 'We must face piracy head on'
(LINK)
Microsoft's MSN Video Player nears 170,000 show views in first 11 days
(LINK)