In The News

["Olga Francois" <ofrancois@xxxxxxxx>]

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Study: File-Sharing No Threat to Music Sales
By David McGuire, Washington Post, 29 Mar 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34300-2004Mar29.html

"Internet music piracy has no negative effect on legitimate music sales,
according to a study released today by two university researchers that
contradicts the music industry's assertion that the illegal downloading
of music online is taking a big bite out of its bottom line."
*
The March 2004 version of the report on study cited is at
http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf
(Contributed by Stephen D. Franklin)
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American Council on Education Press Release: Colleges Addressing
Unauthorized Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Gain New Tool in Best Practices
Report
March 29, 2004
http://www.acenet.edu/hena/readArticle.cfm?articleID=582

"College and university administrators on March 26 received a new tool
to use while addressing the problem of unauthorized peer-to-peer file
sharing of copyrighted music, movies, software, and other digital
copyrighted content."
*
That report is at http://www.acenet.edu/hena/pdf/P2P2.pdf
(Contributed by Stephen D. Franklin)
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French Hound Music Pirates
By Reuters, Wired.com, Mar. 30, 2004
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62868,00.html

"PARIS -- France is poised to join a cross-border legal battle against
people who swap songs for free on the Internet, the head of France's
record industry association said on Tuesday."
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IBM Goes After SCO's Copyright Claims
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, eweek.com, March 31, 2004
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1558957,00.asp

"In a move that was long expected, IBM requested a Declaratory Judgment
of Noninfringement (PDF link) on the copyright issues in its case with
The SCO Group Inc."
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File sharers not guilty of copyright infringement - Canadian judge
By Tony Smith, theregister.com, 31/03/2004
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36709.html

"Sharing files is not an infringement of copyright under Canadian law, a
judge has ruled."
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Photocopying could bring publishers to their knees
By Monica Seeber , Business Report.82nd April
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=388046

"Most people are aware that it is illegal to copy CDs, videos, DVDs and
most software. What they may not realise is that the local publishing
industry has been brought almost to its knees by photocopy pirates. "
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IU students await fate for sharing music on web
WorldNow and WTHR, Bloomington, March 31, 2004
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1752213

" Five Indiana University students wait to hear if they are part of a
lawsuit for illegally sharing digital music files over the internet."
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Music-swop lawsuits too for Canada and Europe
By AFP, 
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story/0,4386,243405,00.html

"Nearly 250 alleged illegal file sharers are targeted in latest wave of
music industry action in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Canada"
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Ashcroft creates task force for copyright violations
By Declan McCullagh,  CNET News.com March 31, 2004
http://news.com.com/2110-1023_3-5182781.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news

"The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that it had created a task
force to evaluate prosecutions of copyright violations, including
Internet piracy, and make recommendations about how existing efforts can
be improved. "The task force will determine how best to meet the
evolving challenges that law enforcement faces in the
intellectual property arena," said David Israelite, deputy chief of
staff to Attorney General John Ashcroft and chairman of the task force."
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House panel approves copyright bill
By Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com March 31, 2004
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5182898.html

"A House of Representatives panel has approved a sweeping new copyright
bill that would boost penalties for peer-to-peer piracy and increase
federal police powers against Internet copyright infringement."
*
Lawmakers Push Prison For Online Pirates
By David McGuire, washingtonpost.com, March 31, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40145-2004Mar31.html

"People who illegally trade large amounts of copyrighted music online
could face up to three years in jail under a bill approved today by a
congressional panel."
*
Bill at
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/pdf/ne/2004/pdea2004.pdf