Pirate-slaying censorship bill gets unanimous support; ArsTechnica.com, 11/19/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Pirate-slaying censorship bill gets unanimous support:

"This morning, COICA unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"We are disappointed that the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning chose to disregard the concerns of public-interest groups, Internet engineers, Internet companies, human-rights groups and law professors in approving a bill that could do great harm to the public and to the Internet," said Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn, who pledged to craft a "more narrowly tailored bill" next year to deal with "rogue websites.""

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/pirate-slaying-censorship-bill-gets-unanimous-support.ars

No ISP Filtering Under New RIAA Copyright Strategy, Via Wired.com, 12/19/08

Via Wired.com: No ISP Filtering Under New RIAA Copyright Strategy:

"The Recording Industry Association of America on Friday announced a new strategy in its quest to curtail online copyright infringement — a plan that for now requires no filtering from internet service providers...

Under the new proposal, instead of filing lawsuits against individuals its investigators detect sharing music online, the RIAA will send notices to ISPs pointing out the offending parties' IP addresses. The ISPs, in turn, will notify (.pdf) the alleged offender in the United States by snail-mail or e-mail of the alleged violations. Violators could lose internet access after three or more alleged violations, said Cara Duckworth, an RIAA spokeswoman. (The details are still being hashed out, but Duckworth said a procedure would be put in place to administratively challenge violations.)"

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/no-isp-filterin.html

NewYorkMusicCopyrght.org: A Copyright Resource for New York Musicians

NewYorkMusicCopyrght.org: A Copyright Resource for New York Musicians:

http://nymusiccopyright.org/

Press Release from Public Knowledge, 10/27/08:

Public Knowledge today opened a new Web site dedicated to copyright issues as they affect musicians. The site, NYMusicCopyright.Org, is funded by a grant from the New York State Music Fund.

“This new site is dedicated to helping musicians understand a very complicated copyright landscape,” said Gigi B. Sohn, Public Knowledge president and co-founder.

On the site, users will find an introduction to copyright.

There are also sections on:

Music licensing
Sampling
Alternative methods of distribution
Remedies for copyright infringement
Device makers and infringement
Internet service providers and infringement
Peer-to-peer technologies
Digital rights management
Orphan works

“We hope musicians and those interested in the music industry will take advantage of this exciting new resource,” Sohn said."

http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1810

Bush Enacts PRO-IP Anti-piracy Law - PC World, 10/14/08

Bush Enacts PRO-IP Anti-piracy Law:

"U.S. President George W. Bush Monday signed into law a bill designed to increase protection of intellectual property (IP) such as software, films and music by raising penalties for infringement and creating a national "IP czar."

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, or PRO-IP Act, creates a high-ranking IP protection overseer, appointed by the Senate and reporting directly to the president. The position's first appointee will likely come from the next U.S. administration...

"The bill only adds more imbalance to a copyright law that favors large media companies. At a time when the entire digital world is going to less restrictive distribution models, and when the courts are aghast at the outlandish damages being inflicted on consumers in copyright cases, this bill goes entirely in the wrong direction," said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C.-based digital rights group, after the passage of the Senate version of PRO-IP in late September."
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/152214/bush_enacts_proip_antipiracy_law.html

Public Knowledge Statement on Senate Passage of Intellectual Property Legislation - 9/26/08

Public Knowledge Statement on Senate Passage of Intellectual Property Legislation:

Background: The Senate today passed S. 3325, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008. The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“It is unfortunate that the Senate felt it necessary to pass this legislation. The bill only adds more imbalance to a copyright law that favors large media companies. At a time when the entire digital world is going to less restrictive distribution models, and when the courts are aghast at the outlandish damages being inflicted on consumers in copyright cases, this bill goes entirely in the wrong direction.
“Instead of being focused on giving large media companies what they want, Congress instead should take a comprehensive look at the current state of the law, and of technology and write legislation that recognizes the reality of the situation and the reality that consumers have rights also.
“At a minimum, we are pleased that the Senate bill as passed does not include the egregious provision allowing the Justice Department to file civil suits against alleged copyright violators on behalf of copyright holders. This provision was a total waste of the taxpayers’ money. We are grateful to Senator Wyden for his leadership in getting that provision removed. We still would have preferred that the bill not pass.”

Note: We understand the House may pass the bill tomorrow under suspension of the rules.

A copy of the bill, as passed by the Senate, is available here:http://www.publicknowledge.org/pdf/110-s3325-20080926.pdf"
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1766