5th Circuit rules ISP should have terminated Internet users accused of piracy; Ars Technica, October 11, 2024

 JON BRODKIN, Ars Technica; 5th Circuit rules ISP should have terminated Internet users accused of piracy

"Music publishing companies notched another court victory against a broadband provider that refused to terminate the accounts of Internet users accused of piracy. In a ruling on Wednesday, the conservative-leaning US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sided with the big three record labels against Grande Communications, a subsidiary of Astound Broadband.

The appeals court ordered a new trial on damages because it said the $46.8 million award was too high, but affirmed the lower court's finding that Grande is liable for contributory copyright infringement."

ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Accused of Misusing Personal, Copyrighted Data; The San Francisco Standard, June 30, 2023

Kevin Truong, The San Francisco Standard; ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Accused of Misusing Personal, Copyrighted Data

"The suit alleges that ChatGPT utilizes "stolen private information, including personally identifiable information, from hundreds of millions of internet users, including children of all ages, without their informed consent or knowledge."

The complaint states that by using this data, OpenAI and its related entities have enough information to replicate digital clones, encourage people's "professional obsolescence" and "obliterate privacy as we know it."

The complaint lists several plaintiffs identified by their initials, including a software engineer who claims that his online posts around technical questions could be used to eliminate his job, a 6-year-old who used a microphone to interact with ChatGPT and allegedly had his data harvested, and an actor who claims that OpenAI stole personal data from online applications to train its system."

Europe’s copyright cop-out; Politico, 9/1/16

Chris Spillane and Axex Spence, Politico; Europe’s copyright cop-out:

"Fifteen years of bitter battles between old media and disruptive digital upstarts over copyright have led the European Commission’s long-awaited reforms of the system down a blind alley.

Instead of a coherent vision that produces winners and losers, the draft proposals on the so-called copyright directive fudge crucial questions about how artists can earn money in the digital age, and whether generations of internet users can avoid committing a crime for unwittingly accessing protected intellectual property...

Streamlining and modernizing a patchwork of copyright laws is a cornerstone of the Commission’s digital single market strategy, which aims to pump €415 billion into Europe’s economy annually by breaking digital barriers across the EU. A final version of the proposal is due to be proposed by the Commission on September 21, and then goes to the European Parliament and EU states for approval, which will likely be highly contentious."

Protecting the Privacy of Internet Users; New York Times, 3/11/16

Editorial Board, New York Times; Protecting the Privacy of Internet Users:

"The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission proposed common-sense privacy rules this week that would limit what broadband companies are allowed to do with the Internet browsing history and other personal information of consumers...

Under the proposal by the chairman, Tom Wheeler, cable and phone companies would be allowed to use personal data for things like billing and pitching more expensive versions of services that customers are already using. Customers could opt out of marketing for other services provided by their broadband companies. And the companies would have to get permission from their customers before they could do more with the data, like selling it to advertisers. Another rule would require companies to protect the data and notify customers, the commission and law enforcement agencies if the information was stolen."