The subject of copyright terms kept popping up last week, so I’ll take the message and dive in. I should be clear that I don’t have a strong opinion as to exactly what terms would be optimal at this point. Or to be more accurate, I don’t have the legal experience to account for all the implications of moving the ...
Last night, CBS news magazine 60 Minutes aired a segment featuring the flamboyant internet pirate Kim Dotcom (Kim Schmitz), whose Megaupload cyberlocker site was taken down in early 2012 after a dramatic raid on his luxury compound in New Zealand. Charged with contributing to, inciting, and profiting from mass copyright infringement as well as related charges of racketeering and money laundering, ...
As the debate will no doubt rage (or stomp its feet) on the subject of copyright review in the coming year, one subject that will assuredly be on the table will be the terms of copyright (i.e. how long ownership can last). There is a persistent assumption that these terms are somehow the exclusive privilege of large corporations. As Robert ...
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my Internet service cut out from time to time, and I’m strongly considering suing my ISP for periodically violating my right to free expression. Sound absurd? Good. Then, I draw your attention to Terry Hart’s recent update in the case known as Lenz v UMG. What happened was Mrs. Lenz, a grandmother, ...
Think back to January 18, 2012, the day Internet companies led a blackout (it was more gray really) of their websites in protest against the dreaded SOPA & PIPA bills. On that day, Google backed a petition with a slogan that sounded so reasonable. It said, End Piracy, Not Liberty. It was classically effective because they could count on anyone who ...
