In The News

["Jack Boeve" <JBoeve@xxxxxxxx>]

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Internet regulation protects search engines; by Xinhua, ChinaDaily.com;
07/05/2006.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/05/content_634075.htm

China's first regulation on on-line copyright, implemented on July 1,
will protect search engine operators from copyright infringement
accusations and give them a legal status, say experts.

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Google Says Net Neutrality Bill Could Spark Antitrust Fight; by Reuters,
Cnet News.com; 07/04/2006.
http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6090490.html

Google warned yesterday that it will not hesitate to file antitrust
complaints in the US if high-speed Internet providers abuse the market
power they could receive from US legislators. The US Senate Commerce
Committee last week approved sweeping communications reform legislation
that would make it easier for telephone companies like AT&T to offer
subscription television to consumers.

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US Attorney reports Valley Man in Copyright Infringement - Illegally
sold copies of sound effects; LawFuel.com; 07/03/2006.
http://lawfuel.com/show-release.asp?ID=6239

A Burbank resident who illegally copied and sold sound effects libraries
was charged today with felony criminal copyright infringement.

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Illegal file sharing showing no letup; by John Boudreau, San Jose
Mercury News; 07/03/2006.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003101281_btfi
lesharing03.html

A year after the Supreme Court's landmark Grokster decision - which set
out to curb online theft of music and movies - illegal file sharing is
as popular as ever even as Silicon Valley technologists and Hollywood
moguls continue their awkward embrace.

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French law affects copyright, DRM, Apple; By Peter Sayer, MacWorld UK;
07/03/2006.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=15122&Page=1&pagePos=1

With a show of hands, French lawmakers approved a new copyright law on
Friday, in a move that could have profound consequences for online music
stores, open-source programmers, desktop Linux users and P-to-P
(peer-to-peer) file sharers.

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British Companies to Sue Russian MP3 Site Over Copyright Piracy;
MosNews.com; 07/03/2006.
http://www.mosnews.com/money/2006/07/03/britishsuemusic.shtml

The British Phonographic Institute, the industry body which represents
Britain's leading music companies, has won the right to sue the owners
of controversial Russian website allofmp3.com in the High Court. The
site allows users to download albums for as little as 1 pound ($1.85),
and had been dubbed "the new Napster" by the music industry.

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German Publisher Drops Google Protest; Jason Lee Miller, WebProNews.com;
06/30/2006
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20060630GermanPublisher
DropsGoogleProtest.html

German publisher WGB dropped its petition for preliminary injunction
against Google Books Library Project this week. Google says the
Copyright Chamber of the Regional Court of Hamburg advised the company
the petition would not succeed.

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File-Sharing Still Thrives After Ruling; by Alex Veiga, Associated
Press, Forbes.com; 06/30/2006
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/06/30/ap2852783.html

File-swapping software seemed in peril a year ago when the U.S. Supreme
Court gave the entertainment industry a legal bullet: Its ruling
reopened the door for lawsuits over programs used to share music, movies
and other copyright files.

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Agreement to Sell MLK's Papers Fails to Quell Copyright Debate; by Andy
Peters, Fulton County Daily Report;
06/28/2006.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1151399127954

An agreement reached last week by the children of Martin Luther King Jr.
to sell some of their father's papers has cheered many Atlantans that
the civil rights leader's documents will remain in his hometown. But
several local historians expressed concern that the agreement doesn't
include many important King papers and leaves open the possibility that
scholars and others will still have to get the King children's
permission to quote from the sold material.

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Spain Adds 'Copyright Tax' to Blank Media; posted by dubstylee in
culture, zeropaid.com; 06/27/2006.
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/6672/Spain+Adds+'Copyright+Tax'+to+Blank+Me
dia

On Thursday, June 22, 2006 the Spanish Congress voted to implement a tax
on all blank media, including flash memory sticks, blank cd and dvd-rs,
even mobile phones and printers. There is no word on how much this new
tax will be, only that the revenues will be collected by the government,
and will then be given to the "copyright holder."

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