"The latest P2P flap comes from within the tech world. Altnet, which provides DRM-encoded files for distribution on Kazaa, has issued cease-and-desist notices to eight P2P companies, including MediaDefender and Overpeer."

"A Texas grocery chain has decided to stop selling disposable DVDs, a product that outraged environmentalists and apparently didn't sell too well, either."

"A couple days ago I noted with regret that our front runner, despite everything wonderful that there is to say about him, sounds tone deaf, or only “special interest” tutored, about copyright issues."

"As the Net gets more powerful, other powers will feel increasingly threatened by it and try to take it under control. But to do so, they'll need the complicity of those who build the hardware and software. If the Consumer Electronics Show is any clue, the gadget makers have figured out that if the powers that be get their digital imprimatur and their secure Internet, the real money will be in darknets."

"Far from protecting the public domain, the fair use doctrine has played a central role in the triumph of a natural law vision of copyright that privileges the inherent property interests of authors in the fruits of their labor over the utilitarian goal of progress in the arts. Thus, the fair use doctrine has actually enabled the expansion of the copyright monopoly well beyond its original bounds and has undermined the goals of the copyright system as envisioned by the Framers."

"Recent patent applications filed by Microsoft are routine moves and don't reflect a change in the company's position on Extensible Markup Language, according to a spokesman for the software maker."

"We're surrounded by free factual information, but there's a bill in Congress that would lock it all up. The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act (DCIMA, H.R. 3261) extends extremely broad copyright-like protections to collections of factual data - data like the price of a TV, the temperature in Arizona or information collected during scientific research."

EFF press release: "The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded a $600,000 grant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to represent the public interest at meetings of the Digital Video Broadcasting Project in Europe where global standards on digital television and other digital data services will be set."

"As a doctrine in transition - we are still in the midst of the digital revolution-copyright may be criticized for various fits and starts in its application to new areas, but the transition itself does not change copyright's status as a property entitlement."

"In the face of new technologies and competition, the US is toughening patent and copyright protections. It's leaning on other countries - and its own citizens - to play by ever tighter rules. But if it's not careful, the US will drive its intellectual property offshore into a shadow world that, like shipping, is replete with piracy and rogue states."

"Finally, we present data that counters a common claim that copyright extension so far out in the future can have little effect on creativity. The small fraction of books that have the majority of commercial value when they are new appear to remain valuable for periods of time that are consistent with the expanded term of copyright under CTEA."

"Responding to sharp criticism from legislators, a group of file-swapping companies told Congress that they have no ability to block copyrighted files or child pornography from their networks."

"Though they could have been construed as illegal in the original draft, devices such as routers (Internet service splitters to be used inside a home or office) and firewalls (software designed to prevent unauthorized access into a computer) would be acceptable with the new legislation."

"Copyright law changes all the time to reflect the new tools that companies like Microsoft invent. If Microsoft wants to deliver a compelling service to its customers, let it make general-purpose tools that have the side-effect of breaking Sony and Apple's DRM, giving its customers more choice in the players they use."

"Jon Lech Johansen, who spent four years fending off computer piracy charges, now wants some compensation. He's demanding nearly NOK 150,000 from the white collar crime unit that prosecuted him."

"A high-technology group associated with Hollywood has dropped a long-running lawsuit against a California programmer it accused of putting DVD-cracking code online, attorneys for both sides said Thursday."

"The open source theorists know perfectly well that the model might translate to academia, but not beyond that. In fact, they have another model in mind, which is to make content free, tax the hardware industry, and then distribute the revenues to the creative community according to some complicated government-run formula."

"Far from his anarchic Napster days, file-swapping pioneer Shawn Fanning and several of his old colleagues are quietly working on a new venture called Snocap that is aimed at turning peer-to-peer networks into dollars for record companies."

"Facing their first annual sales decline in recent memory, officials from the world's fourth largest music market told Reuters Sunday they would fight back with lawsuits."

"Macrovision released a new generation of its antipiracy technology on Thursday that it hopes will make copy-protected music CDs more attractive to consumers and record labels."

"Despite the travails of the music industry, with CD sales still slumping and record executives still suing suspected Internet pirates, one part of the business is thriving. Royalties paid to songwriters and music publishers from radio and television broadcasts of their songs, and from live performances, are at record highs."

FurdLog notes this quote: "RipDigital marks each song with a digital watermark, which can be used to uniquely identify each client. Adams said the watermark is insurance should customers start loading songs onto file-sharing networks."

"Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) today criticized renewed efforts by the RIAA Wednesday to continue to use the courts to sue individuals that the industry group believes are illegally sharing files on the Internet."

"As other technology companies scramble to match the success of Apple's online music store, iTunes, which sells songs for 99 cents each, a different online-music economy is emerging around the sale of recordings of live performances - often with no restrictions on how they can be played or shared."

"In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if the real innovation that needs to be protected is the ability to innovate new ways of making money/conducting business. This is the kind of meta-innovation that emerges out of technological advance, and increasingly it appears that our construction of copyright is limiting that creativity in favor of other kinds of creativity."

"Instead, TiVo would have to produce a box that can either tune/record satellite broadcasted content or tune/record QAM (cable) content. Neither of those is trivial because of proprietariness and/or controls enforced by the carriers (TWC, Comcast, DiSH, etc.). Plus, with new initiatives like OpenCable on the way, introducing an expensive new product based on today's cable standards might be a strategic mistake."

"Microsoft has applied for patents that could prevent competing applications from processing documents created with the latest version of the software giant's Office program."

"Some 20 teens sued by the Recording Industry Association of America, which accuses them of unauthorized downloads, will appear in a Pepsi-Cola ad that kicks off a two-month offer of up to 100 million free — and legal — downloads from Apple's iTunes, the leading online music seller."

"We're looking at a future where only the very largest companies will be able to implement software, and it will technically be illegal for other people to do so. That's a very, very bad situation developing. We must do something so that there is reason for people to innovate, there is reason for people to invent, but that companies can execute without this constant fear that we will be sued into the ground regarding software patenting."

"A U.S. federal court has cleared the way for Kazaa file-sharing software owner Sharman Networks to sue the entertainment industry for copyright infringement, Sharman said on Friday."

"Rock legends Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno plan to launch on Monday a musicians' union to help artists stand their ground in the digital age."

"The movie and music industries have succeeded in lobbying lawmakers to allow them to tighten their grips on their creations by lengthening copyright terms. The law has also extended the scope of copyright protection, creating what critics have called a 'paracopyright,' which prohibits not only duplicating protected material but in some cases even gaining access to it in the first place."

"Their impact on copybehavior is disputed, but the issue of their impact on copynorms is hardly addressed. Based on the students in his law classes, Solum sums up one developing copynorm thus: 'It is socially unacceptable to take the position that unlawful P2P filesharing is morally wrong.'"

"A music industry trade organization said Thursday that new online download services are winning over customers and warned that a globe-spanning legal crackdown on file sharers is imminent."

"A congressional panel on Wednesday approved a proposal to curb database copying, ignoring the objections of technology companies that launched a last-minute lobbying campaign to kill the proposal."

"The Recording Industry Association of America launched its largest wave of file-swapping lawsuits Wednesday, filing new copyright infringement suits against 532 currently unnamed individuals."

"America Online plans to launch a promotion Thursday that will let its members download full-feature films through Movielink for 99 cents a title, company representatives said Tuesday."

"In the next few years, an even bigger distraction is coming in the guise of the digital video recorder (DVR) -- the time-shifting, ad-zapping machine that will allow folks to retrieve programs from last night, last month, or just about anywhere in the TV universe. Satellite and cable companies, in a fierce battle to win subscribers, will soon be all but giving DVRs away."

"CD Wow!, one of the few successful dotcom companies, yesterday reached an agreement with the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) to avoid months of legal battles."

"A music industry trade organization said on Thursday new online download services are winning over customers, and warned a globe-spanning legal crackdown on file sharers is imminent."

"The nation's record companies Wednesday sued another 532 people for illegally distributing copyrighted music over the Internet, stepping up their attack against online music piracy."

"After an appeals court ruled that Internet service providers (ISPs) do not have to hand over names of suspected music pirates to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), ISPs are showing no interest in the RIAA's latest effort to enlist them in its fight against music piracy."

"The music industry has won permission to include the agency's logo in CD packaging as a warning against unauthorized copying, sources said."

"Some [pirates] are so fast that pirated versions of new programs often hit the P2P networks before they are officially released, a problem that also plagues Hollywood."

"HP this week took the unusual move of using a consumer electronics conference as the venue for an unprecedented attack on consumers and their ability to enjoy American technology and culture."

"Surveys showing that lawsuits have greatly reduced file-sharing may be seriously flawed. By some measures, swaps are actually escalating."

"Recent developments suggest that fears of excessive control of digital content are overblown. Without enhancing compulsory licensing, the digital landscape is diverse, as the case of music demonstrates."

"Europeans purchased more than three million song downloads in 2003 from the continent's primary online music store, On Demand Distribution, or OD2, raising faint hopes that the lackluster music industry is on the road to recovery."

"As new players emerge, the price of downloads may stabilize, but until then there's probably a buck or two to be made muleing music downloads across international borders."

"Despite the lack of real evidence that file-sharing is the problem, and ignoring data from Jupiter Media Metrix that file sharers actually buy more CDs than other people, the record industry is taking legal action against those who swap files."

"The high court affirmed a decision of the California Supreme Court, which had ruled that the entertainment industry could not force a Texas resident who had published DVD descrambling software on the Internet to stand trial in California. This means that the defendant, Matthew Pavlovich, who posted the software called DeCSS, is able to distribute the program online. DeCSS, which is distributed for free, enables people to play DVDs without technological restrictions, such as forced watching of commercials imposed by movie studios."

"Today copyright holders have a right of access, a right to use, because of the DMCA. Not only does that set aside the fair uses we have, but it also eliminates many of the free uses."

"New file-swapping applications are bridging formerly separate networks, promising to improve the efficiency of peer-to-peer searches and sharpen competition among rival software developers."

"DRM technology progressed through 2003 primarily by finding new niche markets and building solutions for those markets that expand on established DRM technology architectures with appropriate features. Efforts to launch DRM into the mainstream have started to appear, through a couple of vendor efforts and fledgling standards initiatives, but have yet to gain any significant momentum."

"Illegal music downloading could be making a comeback, according to market researchers who note a surge in the use of peer-to-peer services."

"Napster, the now-legal music service, has hired its first Europe-based executive as part of a drive to expand into the lucrative European market."

"CinemaNow, an online movie rental company, is testing new waters by launching a service that lets people buy permanent downloads of Hollywood films for a PC."

"The creator is dead, but the copyright has not expired. Luckily, in this case, the owner of the copyright could be found. But, without that discovery, in a world of watermark-recognizing digital devices, the recovery of the information in the contact sheets would be vastly more expensive, due to the need for customized (and potentially illegal) equipment & software and the liability insurance that almost any publisher would want for undertaking the project at all."

"The business model is based on charging subscriptions for the client programs to have access to the server. The issue of rouge servers arises when hackers reverse-engineer or obtain by other means the server software and begin running their own servers. From a free speech and copyright overreach point of view there are serious legal and policy issues in any attempt to thwart many of these 'rogue servers.'"

"Studios said two additional movies sent to Oscar voters have surfaced on the Internet, with a screener copy of "House of Sand and Fog" briefly up for sale on an auction site and "Cold Mountain" available for downloading."

"The British music industry will sue Internet song swappers unless they stop putting their music collection online for others to download, a top UK music official said on Tuesday."

"A Chicago federal judge on Wednesday upheld a $512 million patent verdict against Microsoft that could ultimately force major changes in many of the most common Internet software products."

"Someone at HP should inform Fiorina that DRM and Linux don't work too well together."

"U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman plans to convene a peer-to-peer (P2P) summit within the next two months in hopes of avoiding a federally mandated response to online piracy. The Minnesota Republican said the answers to protecting copyrighted material are more likely to be found through technological innovation rather than passage of more laws."

"Zagel wrote that the reexamination was not reason enough to delay his decision or the appeals process and that such a delay would more significantly hurt Eolas if the patent ultimately remains valid."

EFF press release: "Defending the right to own and experiment with general-purpose technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today filed a friend-of-the court brief in an Eleventh Circuit appeals case that will determine whether satellite giant DirecTV can sue "smart card" technology owner Mike Treworgy for simply possessing hardware that enables him to program electronic smart cards."

Their recommended letter: "I am writing to request that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) support any decision by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to schedule a meeting on open and collaborative development models at the WIPO Budget Committee meeting [...]."

"'Peer to peer' networks such as Kazaa could prevent people from downloading music, movies and other copyrighted material if they had the desire to do so, media and technology experts said Tuesday."

"The American Stock Exchange notified Altnet parent company Brilliant Digital Entertainment last week that its shares will be delisted, after failing to meet the stock market's minimum financial requirements."

"Much as early makers of videocassette recorders learned to stop building machines with two slots for the easy copying of tapes, hardware manufacturers should ask themselves, as they design a product, whether it will facilitate theft. But it's up to the content providers to set the ball rolling. Their films and other programming are what make video services desirable in the first place, and by suggesting deals to broadband providers, they could lead all three industries involved to a mutual gain."

"Actor Morgan Freeman's production company says that next year, it will release a movie on the Net at the same time it film debuts in theaters, a move that could challenge others to follow suit."

"Copy-protection company Macrovision said Wednesday that it sued DVD-copying software producer 321 Studios, joining the movie industry in a legal fight against the small software maker."

"Napster is teaming up with Imation, a maker of optical media products, to market and distribute Napster-branded blank CDs and DVDs in North America."

"MP3.com's former chief technology officer and another entrepreneur are trying to keep the company's royalty-licensing program, known as TruSonic, alive as an independent business."

"A second movie sent to Oscar voters has turned up on the Internet."

"The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal of a lower court's order that pulled the plug on Aimster, a file-swapping service similar to Napster in design."

"A dispute over royalty rights on copy-protected CDs and other types of music discs is helping to stall the release of some new music technology, and could result in record labels owing tens of millions of dollars in back payments to music publishers."

"A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that five ReplayTV owners filed against Hollywood studios that sought to secure the right to use the product's features to skip commercials and share recordings."

"The launch of Napster's online music service for Penn State students generated about 100,000 downloads or streaming-audio requests Monday, three days after its debut, school officials said."

"An Italian court has rejected the seizure of Sony Playstation game consoles that use modchips to permit unauthorized uses of the game systems. This case is one of the first to be brought in Italy under the new European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD)."

"A federal court today ruled to end a case brought by five ReplayTV digital video recorder (DVR) owners after 28 entertainment companies promised not to sue them for copyright infringement for using the 'commercial advance' or 'send show' features of their DVRs."

"A copy of the romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give" that was sent to an Oscar voter has surfaced on the Internet, prompting a probe by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."

"Getting everybody’s home machine out from being a NAT box should make possible a lot of interesting applications that are either very difficult or downright impossible today. And in all likelihood, some of those applications will not be popular with the Recording Industry Association of America or the Motion Picture Association of America, both of which have taken the lead against peer-to-peer networks. As soon as they understand what a threat IPv6 is to their police actions, they are likely to start fighting against."

"In Hewlett-Packard's forthcoming digital hub, the Digital Entertainment Center, and in "some" other devices, HP will enforce the "broadcast flag" provision of digital content, preventing its customers from recording content that has been protected by copyright holders such as movie studios. In a keynote address Thursday evening, HP CEO Carly Fiorina said she was proud to take an aggressive stance against piracy, part of the company's strategy of extending customer content throughout the home and beyond."

Sen. John Sununu: "The fundamental problem with the approach of the RIAA took is that it was based on legislation that created special property rights. Suddenly, you had a private entity that's able to issue subpoenas, which is unprecedented. That's not what the DMCA was intended to do. We can't be writing legislation that gives holders of certain types of intellectual property special rights...We can't carve out special legislation to give special powers to certain types of content."

"Hip-hop musician Sir Mix-A-Lot has made his new CD Daddy's Home available for download using Weed technology. Weed is a relatively new file sharing system based principles of shareware and referrals."

Interesting discussion after the article: "Stealing is wrong. But downloading isn’t stealing. If I shoplift an album from my local record store, no one else can buy it. But when I download a song, no one loses it and another person gets it. There’s no ethical problem."

"Unfortunately, the system uses a proprietary DRM system that tethers the video to your machine and your home, meaning that you can't move the video to your hard-drive as an MPG file that you can edit at will, send to a friend, include in a school report, grab stills out of to make a highlight reel, etc."

"Though no guns were brandished, the bust from a distance looked like classic LAPD, DEA or FBI work, right down to the black "raid" vests the unit members wore. The fact that their yellow stenciled lettering read "RIAA" instead of something from an official law-enforcement agency was lost on 55-year-old parking-lot attendant Ceasar Borrayo."

"The images on US currency are among the most ubiquitous in our society. They are freighted with heavy symbolism, and have constituted part of the artistic vocabulary of visual artists for generations. Thanks to Adobe's decision to exercise prior restraint over its customers -- to punish the innocent to get at the guilty -- currency images have been ripped out of the photoshopper's artistic phrasebook."

"Net multimedia company RealNetworks announced a sweeping overhaul of its digital audio and video software Wednesday, along with a digital song store aimed to compete with Apple Computer's leading iTunes service."

"Insiders and piracy experts say the groups are motivated mainly by ego. Instead of cash, the online underground is powered by bartering — admission to these elite circles is granted only to those with something valuable to offer, such as computer parts or a pre-release copy of a DVD."

"To bypass the problem they have decided to hit the information resource web sites that North American fans use to share and learn news about Asian cinema. These sites, which actually promote Asian films in advance of North American releases, do not sell imports and in Kung Fu Cinema’s case, have ceased to earn commissions from overseas affiliates once it was made clear that this was a violation of Miramax’s copyrights. Yet Miramax doesn’t want these sites to post any links to select product pages on overseas sites. This is really going too far; this is clearly an abuse of the legal system by Miramax."

"You're at risk of alienating your customers like the music industry did. The do-not-record "broadcast flag" that the TV industry just pushed through the FCC will introduce new restrictions on programming, none of which benefit consumers. Proposed legislation that throws anyone caught with a prerelease movie on their hard drive into prison for three years is the sort of disproportionate response that gives the RIAA a bad name. The notorious Digital Millennium Copyright Act is Hollywood's fault. And extending copyright protection year after year so that the film and television archives stay shut isn't just bad law, it's depriving Americans of their cultural history."

Michael Moore: "I don't agree with copyright laws and I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it...as long as they're not trying to make a profit off my labor..."

"TiVo, the San Jose company that pioneered digital video recording for television, Monday sued EchoStar, the parent company of satellite TV provider Dish Network, alleging patent infringement of specific DVR features."

Sanford Bernstein & Co. media analyst Tom Wolzien on regulating DVRs: "The protection of commercial-financed television is both a logical, and an essential place for near-term government legislation."

"Many fans have taken to bootlegging the lost installments, making copies from foreign-market broadcasts and sharing tapes through the mail. And for once, piracy has the support of a producer. 'Since there aren't aggressive efforts to make a profit from the show, the loss is pretty minor,' Hatem said. 'I'm never going to see another dime off 'Miracles,' but if people are watching and enjoying it, I'm more than happy.'"

"Ticket sales at the North American box office last year fell for the first time since 1991, despite higher ticket prices and aggressive marketing that ensured strong opening weekends for Hollywood movies."

"Copyright infringement is a criminal offense. Meet the new generation of geek outlaws and heroes."

"What Tennant and others found when they subscribed to Easy Download Music was not a song-selling service at all, but merely information on how to download file-sharing services like Kazaa, which provide access to the unrestricted swapping that Tennant was hoping to avoid."

"The music industry's controversial lawsuits against online song swappers appear to have forced U.S. computer users to severely curb their free music downloading habit, according to new research released Sunday."

"Norwegian police said Monday they would not appeal a landmark DVD piracy case for a second time, marking a final victory for a 20-year-old hacker and a defeat for Hollywood."

"A European consumer watchdog is suing the world's largest music companies for selling copy-protected compact discs that won't play in car stereos and on computers, the Belgium-based organization said on Monday."

"Thus, it seems like the tension that will continue to arise re: remixing will be in the context of whether or not remixing is the kind of 'derivative work' that copyright prohibits. Or to ask it another way, is there any breathing room for artists between the original work and an illegal derivative?"

UK: "In addition to protecting the performance rights of artists, the Licensing Bill will also help to protect their intellectual property rights - by including copyright offences. The unauthorised broadcasting of film, music or television could lead to the removal or suspension of a licence. Equally, those who have committed such offences may not be granted a personal licence."

"Belgian consumer watchdog Test-Achats (Test Aankoop), known for its crusade against Nokia's "unsafe batteries", starts the new year with a fresh assault on the music industry. It is taking the music giants EMI, Sony, BMG Music and Universal Music to court for installing anti-piracy systems on their audio CDs."

"It looks like young Norwegian computer whiz Jon Lech Johansen can finally rest easy after years of legal challenges. State prosecutors announced Monday that they won't appeal a recent court ruling in his favour."

"At a recent showing of 'Big Fish,' several moviegoers at a local theater held up camera-equipped cell phones and took snapshots of the screen. Doing the same with a video camera will soon be a crime."

"The percentage of online Americans downloading music files on the Internet has dropped by half and the numbers who are downloading files on any given day have plunged since the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began filing suits in September against those suspected of copyright infringement. Furthermore, a fifth of those who say they continue to download or share files online say they are doing so less often because of the suits."

"So don't feel too guilty. The homemade CD appears to have brought us the best of both worlds - doubling the number of new CDs in circulation, without much harming sales in stores."

"The acquittal of a Norwegian programmer charged with breaking Hollywood's DVD encryption scheme could lend new urgency to the entertainment industry's efforts to enact tougher global copyright laws."

"But with consumers fast getting used to the idea of buying songs online, scores of companies are readying launches of digital music initiatives."

"Long before we have any useful litigation about the fair use rights associated with music, the licenses will define that you have only the right to play the music, and only the right to burn it 10 times. Anything more — for any reuse, mixing, transforming, even for noncommercial use — is not your 'right.'"

"The dirty little secret, however, is that we don't respect the free trade rules that we impose on others. While the US sings the virtues of free trade to defend maximalist intellectual property regulation, we poison the free trade that developing nations care about most - agriculture - by subsidizing farming in the industrialized world to the tune of $300 billion annually."

"The D.C. Circuit has accepted Verizon's statutory interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and has reversed (PDF) a lower court's ruling enforcing subpoenas by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for subscribers' identities."

"This is good news, but it is not as big a deal as some people think. The subpoena provision in question was hardly the greatest injustice in the world. Yes, it was open to abuse by various bad actors; and yes, not everybody identified to the RIAA turned out to be an infringer."

"Like the several years before it, 2003 saw the history of digital media written largely in the courts. But the release of groundbreaking new services also poured energy into the business that had been unseen since the height of the dot-com days."