3 Count: Key of Black

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1: “Six Strikes” Anti-Piracy Scheme Affects Some Businesses, Public WiFi Forbidden

First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that the Center for Copyright Information, the organization overseeing the “six strikes” system launching in the US shortly, has confirmed that the copyright warning system, while targeted at residential customers, will also be applied to business customers, including those who provide public WiFi.

This means that business customers that offer public WiFi will receive copyright warnings and, in some cases, they could see their bandwidth throttled greatly if they accumulate too many of them. Though the system does not provide for disconnecting repeated file sharers, many are worried that it could result in businesses being forced to abandon public WiFi to have decent Internet access.

Most ISPs already have language in their terms of service forbidding the creation of WiFi hotspots but, to date, those limitations have been rarely enforced.

2: Black Keys File Third Lawsuit Against ‘Soundalikes’ in TV Commercials

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at Billboard reports that The Black Keys have filed another lawsuit over commercials that feature songs that sound similar to works they created.

The band recently settled two similar lawsuits, one against Pizza Hut and one against Home Depot, but the new case involves the casino company Pinnacle Entertainment, which used a track that the band felt was too close to their song “Howlin’ For You” and misled listeners into thinking it was an official track from them.

According to the complaint, Pinnacle bought the “fully licensed” track from Manhattan Production Music and used the music was in two separate commercials for different casinos. In addition to the copyright claims, the band is also suing for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

3: Finnish Campaigners Seek Crowdsourced Change to Copyright Legislation

Finally today, Ian Steadman at Wired UK reports that copyright activists in Finland are taking a different route to try and bring about reform in the country, by launching a petition to force the government to vote on their proposed changes.

In Finland, any petition that reaches 50,000 signatures must be voted on by the country’s Parliament. Activists are circulating such a petition now to reform copyright including broadening fair use and lowering damages for infringement.

The move comes after a controversial 2005 act introduced more severe punishments for copyright infringement and a case involving a nine-year-old girl who was given a €600 ($800) judgment for downloading a copy of an album sparked national outrage. The petition currently has over 5,000 signatures and has nearly six months to reach the full 50,000.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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Tune in every Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

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