COPYRIGHT ANALYSIS

A fascinating article by Mike Godwin, attorney and fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology. His argument is that the real war is not between the copyright holders and the copyright “pirates” (you and me) who distribute unlicensed copies of...

KAZAA FILE SHARING IN JEOPARDY

Kazaa is currently the most popular software for file sharing. In addition to being available under the Kazaa name, its software is licensed to MusicCity and Grokster. It is much more decentralized than Napster; in theory, users are put in touch with each other...

MICROSOFT RESERVES RIGHT TO TURN OFF YOUR MP3s

The recording industry has cozied up to Microsoft’s WMA technology, which can contain all of the “digital rights management” tools that will limit your right to listen to music on your computer without continuous payments. Microsoft is chasing their...

MICROSOFT ANTITRUST SETTLEMENT

The settlement talks are creeping along, perhaps heading towards a conclusion. Lots of potholes on that road. But let me suggest something that’s occurred to me about the proposed settlement. One settlement demand is that Windows be offered in a stripped-down...

MORE COPYRIGHT HIJINKS

Those daffy jokesters at the RIAA are in high gear these days. Last week the recording industry attempted to insert provisions in anti-terrorism legislation that would have exempted them from any liability for hacking into the computers of people sharing music files....

COPYRIGHT POLICE WANT TOUGHER LAWS

UPDATE 10/10: The proposals are quite real – but the meeting last week apparently didn’t happen. The Register sends its apologies. POSTED 10/7: The music and entertainment industries plan to step up their war against mp3 file sharing. As reported by The...