EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and INDUCE Act

Supreme Court Mulls File-swap 'Pushers'

drupal — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 15:17:10 -0500

"As the Supreme Court mulls the fate of file-swapping networks, justices are studying a rarely used element of copyright law that sparked bitter controversy when raised in Congress last year."

Copyright and Digital Media in a Post-Napster World: 2005 Update

drupal — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 10:23:10 -0600

The objective of this White Paper, initially released in August 2003 and updated in January 2005, is to provide a foundation for evaluating key questions facing the different stakeholders in the contentious debate over the future of digital media. It explores issues surrounding the current digital media ecosystem, including:

* The legal and regulatory developments regarding copyright and related intellectual property issues.
* Business models upset or enabled by digital media distribution.
* Technological developments driving change across the value chain.
* Shifts in consumer attitudes and behavior.
Focusing on these topics, the Berkman Center's Digital Media Team identifies five scenarios that flow from developments in law, technology and society. The five scenarios are outlined at the end of the White Paper. They have provided an analytical structure for a series of conferences and recently published papers as well as research in progress.

Congress Fails to Act on Copyright Bills

drupal — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:48:26 -0600

Controversial bills proposed new penalties (including jail time) for copyright violations.

Students Fight Copyright Hoarders

drupal — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 12:09:34 -0600

Students at about a dozen colleges and universities have started organizations called Free Culture groups to educate other students about copyright and fight what they see as a tilting of the law to favor copyright owners. The first Free Culture group was started by Swarthmore College student Nelson Pavlosky, known for his successful legal challenge to Diebold Election Systems' use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in trying to suppress leaked company memos.Pavlosky and other Free Culture organizers want college-age people to understand how copyrights have changed in the electronic era, particularly with respect to legislation such as the proposed Induce Act. Pavlosky acknowledged that a danger of the Free Culture groups is that participants will simply be seen as "rich white kids who want free music." Jessica Litman, a law professor at Wayne State University and a speaker at a meeting of the Free Culture groups, noted that copyright law is traditionally written by lobbyists who represent copyright owners and said that consumers should be included in that process.

Ashcroft Vows Piracy Assault

drupal — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 10:24:03 -0500

"While the entertainment industry has had some recent setbacks in its fight against piracy in the courts and in Congress, it has a new ally in John Ashcroft, who recently pledged to make cracking down on copyright violators a top priority. "

Copying Programs Could be Outlawed

drupal — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 11:10:36 -0500

Legislation targets products that 'induce' copyright violations.

File-Trading Bill Stokes Fury

drupal — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 10:51:51 -0500

A new Senate bill aimed at punishing companies that encourage people to steal copyright materials met with a deluge of criticism from file-trading companies and tech industry groups that believe it could hamper development of new technologies.

Justice Dept. wants new antipiracy powers

drupal — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 12:32:34 -0500

A report released Tuesday by the U.S. Justice Department calls for significant changes to the nation's antipiracy laws and expresses the department's support of pending copyright legislation. In the report, the Justice Department endorses the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act as well as the Induce Act, both of which are strongly supported by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America. Opponents of the bills include P2P companies as well as many leading technology firms, such as EarthLink, Google, Sun Microsystems, and Red Hat. The report also calls on Congress to introduce legislation that would allow wiretaps for investigations into intellectual property crimes and would create a new crime of "importation" of pirated material. The report recommends posting FBI agents in places such as Hong Kong, Budapest, and Hungary to aid efforts to limit intellectual property crimes. Comparing the report's recommendations to Prohibition, Phil Corwin, a lobbyist for Sharman Networks, which distributes the Kazaa file-sharing software, cautioned that lawmakers should "think long and hard" before establishing laws that put individual file traders on the same footing as organized crime.

Letter to Senators Hatch and Leahy regarding S. 2560, Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004

drupal — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 11:27:17 -0500

A letter to Senators Hatch and Leahy regarding the recommended statutory language for a new form of secondary liability for copyright infringement. The letter was signed by over 30 organizations.

Resource Room for the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 (formerly known as the INDUCE Act)

drupal — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 10:10:38 -0500

A resource page on the the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004.