In The News

["Olga Francois" <ofrancois@xxxxxxxx>]

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* EFF Submits Comments on "German DMCA"
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/german_comments.php

"As part of its ongoing effort to avoid the worldwide export of
overbroad DMCA-type legislation, EFF submitted comments this week to the
German judicial commission, which is considering draft DMCA-type
legislation. The German judicial commission is currently holding
hearings on draft German legislation to implement the 2001 European
Union Copyright Directive (EUCD).  Article 6 of the EUCD requires
European member countries to pass national legislation to provide
"adequate legal protection" for "technological measures." Member
countries were required to pass national legislation by December 21,
2002, but so far only two European countries have decided to do so."
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EC allows music downloading in antipiracy proposal
By Joris Evers, IDG News Service, Amsterdam Bureau ITworld.com 1/31/03
"The European Commission on Thursday presented a draft directive that
punishes copyright infringement for commercial purposes, but leaves the
home music downloader untouched, infuriating the entertainment
industry."
(Contributed by Stephen Davies, Yann Forget)
*
Proposed Directive on enforcement of intellectual property rights: FAQ
DN: MEMO/03/20     Date: 30/01/2003
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=MEMO/03/20%7C0%7CRAPID&lg=EN
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EFFI: Finland kills EUCD - for now: Press release
By Electronic Frontier Finland - EFFI ry, 31 January 2003
http://www.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/pressrelease-2003-01-31.html

"The Finnish parliament returns the national copyright law proposal back
to the ministry, which originally drafted it. The proposal was based on
the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD), the European counterpart
to United States DMCA. While the deadline for directive implementation
was December 22nd 2002, it has so far been implemented in only two
states, Denmark and Greece."
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>From Tech Law Journal- http://www.techlawjournal.com/welcome.htm
Bill Would Require the Government to Create a National Electronic File
Format

1/29. Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) and others introduced HR 490, the
Instructional Materials Accessibility Act of 2003, a bill relating to
educational materials that would create a standard electronic file
format, incent its use by publishers, and provide increased protection
from copyright infringement liability."
*
HR490
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00490:
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>From Tech Law Journal- http://www.techlawjournal.com/welcome.htm
Law Professor Submits Apocalyptic Declaration in RIAA v. Verizon

1/31. Peter Swire, who was Chief Counselor for Privacy in the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) late in the Clinton administration,
submitted a sworn declaration in RIAA v. Verizon in support of Verizon.
He is now a law professor at Ohio State University."
*
Declaration
http://www.peterswire.net/swiredeclaration.doc