In the News

["Amy Mata" <AMata@xxxxxxxx>]

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Observations from the Three Strikes Rumor Storm.
By Richard Esguerra, Electronic Frontier Foundation, March 27, 2009.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/observations-three-strikes-rumor-st
orm

"Earlier this week, reports that ISPs were going to be cooperating with
the RIAA's "three strikes" plans triggered alarm bells."
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RIAA, MPAA Copyright Warnings: Facts and Fiction.
By Ernesto, Torrent Freak, March 28, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/dnldkk

"This week several scary stories surfaced about how the MPAA and RIAA
are negotiating with ISPs on how to deal with copyright infringers. Even
though it was often presented as news, those who look deeper will
realize that this is nothing new at all, just the same old threats
dressed up in a new jacket."
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Europe Split on Music Copyright Extension.
By Nikki Tait in Brussels, Financial Times, March 28 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/cd2abe

"Music performers' and producers' hopes of getting extended royalties in
Europe in the near future have been dealt a blow because of the
inability of European Union countries to agree on lengthening the
copyright terms for music recordings."
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JK Rowling Leads Fight against Free Books Site Scribd.
By Alison Flood, The Guardian, March 30, 20009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/30/scribd-rowling-free-book-out
rage

"Harry Potter author is among writers shocked to discover their books
available as free downloads."
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Every Vote Counts: the EU Copyright Term Extension Battle Heats Up.
By Danny O'Brien, EFF, March 30, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/cvwdsa

"The recording industry has been stridently preparing for victory in
their battle to double the term of sound copyright in the EU. But their
campaign has hit an unexpected hitch -- individual governments among the
EU member states think their demands overstep the mark."
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Pirate Bay Adds Feature to Share Torrents on Facebook.
By Jeremy Kirk, PCW Business Center, March 30, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/daoe3u

"The Pirate Bay's site has been upgraded to let those users with
Facebook accounts share torrents, which are small information files that
enable the download of content via the BitTorrent P-to-P (peer-to-peer)
file-sharing network."
---------

Copyright and Libel Questions Hit The Twitterverse.
By Mike Masnick, Techdirt, March 30, 2009.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090329/2229284297.shtml

"A few weeks back, someone pointed me to a Twitter message where one
Twitter user was (jokingly) accusing another of copyright infringement
for repeating a message. While the situation was amusing, you knew it
was only a matter of time until the question became more serious."
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Swedish Anti-Piracy Law Stirs Up Political Waters.
By Erik Palm, CNET News, March 31, 2009.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10207718-93.html

"The so-called IPRED law, scheduled to go into effect Wednesday, will in
some instances require Internet service providers to reveal subscribers'
Internet Protocol addresses to copyright holders--including the film,
music, and game industries--that charge users with illegal file
sharing."
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Authors Have Lost the Plot in Kindle Battle.
By Cory Doctorow, The Guardian, March 31, 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/31/cory-doctorow-kindle

"Kindle customers were delighted to discover that Amazon had upgraded
the Kindle's feature-set so that it could use a credible text-to-speech
synthesiser to read the books aloud. This set off the Authors Guild (an
organisation that is also on record as opposing making books searchable
through Google, and making used books available through Amazon), who
claimed that Amazon was in violation of copyright, since only the
rightsholder could authorise an 'audiobook adaptation' of a book."
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Is AT&T Violating DMCA By Not Booting Repeat Infringers?
By Greg Sandoval, CNET News, April 1, 2009.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10208747-93.html

"Those broadband providers trying to walk the line between not
completely angering customers and doing just enough to appease copyright
owners may be pleasing no one."
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New Zealand: Business Still In Need of Protection against Copyright
Infringement.
Voxy.co.nz, April 2, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/c98wnd

"Managed Fibre Internet provider NATCOM, continues to promote the
virtues of businesses protecting against misuse of their Internet supply
even in light of the government's recent decision to throw out the
controversial Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment (New Technologies)
Act."
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 iPods, First Sale, President Obama, and the Queen of England.
By Fred von Lohmann, EFF, April 2, 2009.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/first-sale-president-obama-and-quee
n-england

"President Obama reportedly gave an iPod, loaded with 40 show tunes, to
England's Queen Elizabeth II as a gift. Did he violate the law when he
did so? You know your copyright laws are broken when there is no easy
answer to this question."
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Internet Traffic in Sweden Plummets on First Day of Law Banning Web
Piracy.
By Charles Arthur, The Guardian, April 2, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/c9hqfz

"Sweden previously seen as haven for filesharing but internet traffic
falls about 30% as IPRED law comes into force."
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Amy Mata
Graduate Assistant
Center for Intellectual Property
University of Maryland University College
amata@xxxxxxxx