Legal news stories and other items of interest

[p2p-sharing-rules]

French DRM activists surrender to police
Bruno sez, "Under the newly adopted, very controversial DADVSI French law, it became illegal to bypass, help bypass, or suggest one bypasses DRM protections. Offenders are liable of up to a € 30,000 fine ($38,000) and six months in prison. Three DRM activists went, accompanied by a cheerful crowd of supporters, to their local police station and admitted the following:"

* Stéphane used DVDdecrypter to transfer a legally purchased DVD onto his portable DVD player, and risks a € 3,750 fine;

* Tangui read a DVD on an open-source Linux software; and

* Jérôme bypassed DRMs on music legally purchased on iTunes and another French online provider, explained how to bypass DRMs on a webpage, and translated a software that gets rid of protections on digital content; for all that, he risks a € 30,000 fine and up to six months in prison."
boingboing

A lawsuit is wanted: report of the operation of the “interopérabilisateursâ€

[p2p-sharing-rules]

CIPPIC SLIGHTLY SWEETENS SOUR SONY SETTLEMENT

My esteemed client, CIPPIC, fearlessly represented by my esteemed former Queen’s student Jason Young, appeared at the settlement hearing in Toronto yesterday and got the Court to somewhat sweeten the sour settlement reached between SONY and the class action counsel.

There will now be an undertaking by SONY to the Court in Canada, which will hopefully function in effect as an injunction. Points made by CIPPIC concerning Christine J. Prudham’s affidavit are noted by Justice Winkler on the record:

I note the objectors point relating to certain of the technical content of the affidavit of Christine Prudham, although I make no findings in this regard.

This is probably not the end of this story.

My quick take is this. CIPPIC cannot save the world from every ill every time - though it has done so surprisingly often to date in its short history. Anyone who says that the Canadian system is working and that we DON'T need protection FROM DRM is simply WRONG, as this still somewhat sour tasting settlement serves to show.

And SONY has no basis to claim any victory here. Quite the opposite. Only CIPPIC can stand proud after this settlement.
excesscopyright

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Preclusion Motion Filed in UMG v. Lindor; Lindor Says RIAA Cannot Introduce Songs into Lawsuit if it Has Not Produced Song Files

In UMG v. Lindor, the defendant Marie Lindor has made a motion to preclude the RIAA from introducing into the case songs as to which it has failed to produce the song files. Ms. Lindor's lawyers submitted to the Court the RIAA's interrogatory responses where the record companies had stated under oath that their case was based upon (a) Media Sentry's detection of song files being 'distributed' and (b) Media Sentry's allegedly making "perfect digital copies" of those files. Ms. Lindor's attorneys argued that the RIAA cannot prove that it made perfect digital copies of the songs if it doesn't have the song files.
Recording Industry vs The People

Check out the above link to read these documents:
Notice of Motion
Affidavit of Morlan Ty Rogers
Opposition Affidavit of Richard L. Gabriel
Memorandum of Law in Opposition
Reply Affidavit of Morlan Ty Rogers
Reply Memorandum of Law
Exhibit A (Plaintiffs' Response to Defendant's First Interrogatories)
Exhibt B (Plaintiffs' Response to Defendant's Followup Interrogatories)

[p2p-sharing-rules]

gpl-violations.org project prevails in court case on GPL violation by D-Link

The gpl-violations.org project prevails in court litigation against D-Link Germany GmbH regarding D-Link's alleged inappropriate and copyright infringing use of parts of the Linux Operating System Kernel.
gpl-violations.org

[p2p-sharing-rules]

LONDON (Reuters) - Global publishers, fearing that Web search engines such as Google Inc. are encroaching on their ability to generate revenue, plan to launch an automated system for granting permission on how to use their content.

Buoyed by a Belgian court ruling this week that Google was infringing on the copyright of French and German language newspapers by reproducing article snippets in search results, the publishers said on Friday they plan to start testing the service before the end of the year.
Reuters

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Lime Wire Sues RIAA for Antitrust Violations

In Arista v. Lime Wire, in Manhattan federal court, Lime Wire has filed its answer and interposed counterclaims against the RIAA for antitrust violations, consumer fraud, and other misconduct. Lime Wire alleged that the RIAA's

goal was simple: to destroy any online music distribution service they did not own or control, or force such services to do business with them on exclusive and/or other anticompetitive terms so as to limit and ultimately control the distribution and pricing of digital music, all to the detriment of consumers. (Counterclaim, paragraph 26, page 18 ).

....

This case is but one part of a much larger modern conspiracy to destroy all innovation that content owners cannot control and that disrupts their historical business models.(Counterclaim, paragraph 28, page 18 ).



Lime Wire has demanded a trial by jury.

PDF document - Answer and Counterclaim of Lime Wire defendants

recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot


Slyck.com - LimeWire Counter Sues the RIAA

[p2p-sharing-rules]

The RIAA, Marie Lindor saga

2pnet.net News:- Marie Lindor, the Brooklyn mother and home health aide who admits she doesn't know one end of a computer from the other, is wondering how the Big Four Organized Music family's RIAA thinks it can cite as evidence in a court case something it hasn't actually produced.
P2PNet

[p2p-sharing-rules]

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Copyright the most lobbied area of federal policymaking

As the government prepares to introduce a new copyright bill this fall, a new book examines the influence of the lobbying of the Canadian recording industry

The following is excerpted from the introductory chapter of a new book on the Canadian copyright lobby, called Prey to Thievery: The Canadian Recording Industry Association and the Canadian Copyright Lobby, 1997 to 2005. The book was adapted from a master's thesis and is available at www.lulu.com.
The Hill Times

[p2p-sharing-rules]

British Library shouts out against unfair DRM

The British Library is continuing its campaign against the threat of digital rights management (DRM) technology to the management of UK cultural data.

The organisation used the opening of the Labour Party Conference to launch an Intellectual Property (IP) Manifesto, highlighting the threat posed to the current copyright rules enjoyed by libraries. The British Library is tackling the undefined nature of IP rights in the digital age, as embodied in UK law, with DRM implementations being increasingly unforgiving for libraries and public bodies.
PC Pro

[p2p-sharing-rules]

URGENT: Congress Rushing NSA Spying Bills This Week -- Call your Senator Now!

In the last week before the pre-election recess, the White House and several Congressional leaders are trying to sneak these bills through and effect the single greatest expansion of government surveillance ever. Take action now to stop the illegal surveillance, before it's too late.
EFF

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Digital Music Profile: The EFF's Gwen Hinze

Over recent months the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been waging a campaign against the proposed new WIPO Broadcast Treaty, which would introduce a new 50 year 'broadcasting right' in addition to existing copyright and intellectual property laws.
The Digital Music Weblo

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Europe Makes Progress in iTunes Negotiations

European negotiators said they made “surprising progressâ€

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Judge: StreamCast Induces Piracy

A federal judge ruled Wednesday against the distributor of the Morpheus online file-sharing software, finding the firm encouraged computer users to share music, movies and other copyright works without permission.
Wired

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Morpheus Mulls Appeal
StreamCast is liable: court ruling

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Apple itunes deal with Norway
NOT THE BEATLES' record company, Apple is closer to getting an agreement with Norway over its iTunes digital jukebox.

Norwegian consumer regulators were unhappy about the anti-trust issues involved with iTunes which does not allow players other than those blessed by Steve Jobs.

Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon said he will be meeting with Apple representatives from the United States, Britain and Belgium to discuss ways to resolve the dispute other than legal action.

The Nordic regulators are opposed some of iTunes' Internet contract terms, such as its contention that British law applies to the sale and the fact that iTunes the right to change terms of purchase without notice, even after a sale.

Apple has apparently moved on some of the objections and after the meeting the regulators will review the meeting results and plan to send a formal letter to iTunes in October.

A spokesApple said that the outfit was working to address the concerns it had heard about from several agencies in Europe
The Inquirer
Nordic regulators meet Apple officials on iTunes challenge