Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Wyden Questions Legality Of ACTA

First off today, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon and the chair of the Senate Finance Committee’s International Trade Subcommittee, is questioning the legality of ACTA treaty. Specifically of interest to Wyden is that the treaty was signed as a “sole executive agreement”, meaning that it doesn’t change U.S. law and does not need Congressional approval. However, according to Wyden, even if the treaty does not change U.S. law, copyright is under the purview of Congress in the constitution, meaning that the treaty can’t be entered into without Congressional approval. The treaty is an attempt to harmonize anti-piracy efforts between many countries including U.S., Japan, Australia and the EU, the latter of which has not signed the treaty as of yet but was involved in the negotiations.

2: Massive Fine in Denmark’s First Ever ‘Sampling’ Copyright Case

Next up today, the elctro band Djuma Soundsystem is in some legal hot water as a court in their native Denmark ruled the group owes 747,182.82 kroner (approx $130,000) for their sampling of a ten second loop. The lawsuit stems from the group’s 2003 song “Les Djinns” which looped a ten second clip from a song entitled “Turkish Showbiz’ by Atilla Engin. The group lied to their label and said there were no samples in the song, which was released and sold 150 copies. However, when the band wanted to re-release the track after switching labels, they tried to clear the sample but, after attempts to work out an agreement failed, the band was sued, prompting this recent judgment. Djuma Soundsystem has said they plan to appeal the verdict, admitting they owe money to the rightsholders but believe the verdict is much too high.

3: Undercover Cops and Politicians Escape BitTorrent Lawsuits

Finally today, a filing by an attorney seeking to push through a massive bittorrent lawsuit on behalf of an adult content provider has filed a pleading that sheds light on how IP addresses are converted into settlements or individual lawsuits. The filing, which aims to show why it’s legal and necessary to bundle so many “John Doe” lawsuits into one suit. According to the filing, many of the individuals are dropped from the suit including undercover police, those who have died, prominent figures and those operating public hotspots where finding an individual defendant is almost impossible. However, it remains unlikely that these arguments will have much sway in the case, as they aren’t necessarily legal arguments for joining together so many lawsuits.

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.

Want the Full Story?

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.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: US Dubs Baidu a ‘Pirate’ Operation

First off today, the U.S. Trade Representative has released a report detailing 33 online “markets” that facilitate the trading of unauthorized copies or counterfeit goods. On the list was a typical spate of p2p sites, such as The Pirate Bay and Demonoid, but also listed was the popular Chinese search engine Baidu, with the USTR accuses of deep linking to copyright infringing material. The goal of the report is to draw attention to these sites and motivate local governments to take action against them, which may be a challenge regarding Baidu as Chinese courts have routinely found the site to be legal.

2: 70% of the Public Finds Piracy Socially Acceptable

Next up today, according to a ethics study from from the Danish organization the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit, some 70% of respondents felt that piracy was acceptable, at least to some degree. Though only 20% said it was completely acceptable, only 30% also said it was completely unacceptable, leaving most somewhere in the middle with it being somewhat acceptable. However, 75% did say that it was unethical to turn around and sell pirated goods. The numbers also closely mirror a similar study done in 1997, showing little change in the past fourteen years in public views on this topic.

3: Righthaven Sues Las Vegas-Based Citadel Broadcasting Over Caption Contest

Finally today, Righthaven, the company that has sued various websites and bloggers for using content from the Las Vegas Review-Journal as well as the Denver Post, has taken on its biggest target to date, Las Vegas based Citadel Broadcasting Co. According to Righthaven, 630WPRO host Matt Allen, who operates out of Providence, R.I., posted a Denver Post photo on his site and held a caption contest for it. As is normal for Righthaven cases, the company is seeking $150,000 in statutory damages and seizure of 630WPRO’s domain. However, most cases settle for far less and don’t require the transfer of the domain.

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.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 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.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Got any suggestions for the 3 Count. Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: The ACTA Internet Chapter: Putting the Pieces Together

First off today, details about the controversial and secretive anti-counterfeiting treaty ACTA have been leaked and and advocates of copyright reform are not pleased. According to the leaks, the treaty, which is being discussed today in South Korea, would require ISPs to take action against those who are accused of copyright infringements, including disconnecting them from the Web. It would also enforce a U.S. and EU-style notice and takedown system for those who host Web content as well as add DMCA-style anti circumvention clauses.

Canadians, who have neither an anti-circumvention clause nor a notice and takedown system are especially upset at the possibility of a “Made in the U.S.” copyright reform being signed in secrecy. However, there is also almost universal outrage about the expanding role of ISPs in copyright enforcement that the treaty as only a small handful of nations have such provisions now and they are relatively new.

The treaty is being discussed today in South Korea and the leaked version, if accurate, is just a draft and it is unclear what the final treaty will look like, though it does seem that there is broad support for the current version.

2: DRM Breaker Reports Himself To Anti-Piracy Group

Denmark man Henrik Andersen has “turned himself in” to the Danish antipiracy outfit Antipiratgruppen, admitting to having violated copyright law on over 100 movies and 10 seasons of various TV shows. However, Andersen is not a file sharer and, in fact, purchased all of the movies legally. What he is admitting to is having broken the DRM on the DVDs to get them into his media center.

Andersen said he filed the confession because he doesn’t want to be a criminal and wants to draw attention to the catch-22 in Danish law that makes personal copying legal but makes breaking DRM, such as the copy protection on DVDs, illegal in all cases. He has given Antipiratgruppen until December 1 to respond though it seems unlikely that they will as they have, in the past, acknowledged the issue and expressed hopes that it will work out shortly.

3: Radiohead Suggests Bandwidth Throttling To Solve Music Pirating

Finally today, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien has stirred some controversy by agreeing with other artists and many members of the British government that file sharers should have their bandwidth throttled. Though he agreed that disconnecting file sharers would simply drive the activity underground, he didn’t seem to think throttling would have the same effect and joined Lily Allen, among others, who think that this compromise is the best way to go.

Radiohead became a popular band with copyright reformers after they used a “Pay What You Want” business model for their latest release, “In Rainbows”, and have been seen as one of the more forward-thinking bands in the industry. This is seen by many as a huge about face, though O’Brien does say that this is not about the “fat cats” like them, but about smaller, up and coming artists who are struggling to find a footing on the Web.

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.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

It was another wild week for copyright news with some major updates to ongoing dramas and a strange college theme for some reason. We also have news from all over the world, including Sweden and Denmark, as well as some interesting copyright viewpoints.

All in all, there were fifteen stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

• Search Engine Cache Ruled Legal
• Psystar Case Takes a Detour
• Sweden Introduces New Copyright Legislation
• Colleges Spend Big Bucks to Fight Piracy
• Musician Has Own Work Taken Down
• And Many more…

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

This week it is a solo affair for me as I take responsibility not just for all of the witty banter but also the editing and other technical voodoo. It was a bad week for Chris to miss as there were major developments in not one but two RIAA cases, news about both Comcast and Cox regarding Bittorrent throttling and much, much more.

We also have news from Denmark and their battle with Internet censorship, updates about software piracy rates and a Vista DRM Debacle that will make TV lovers cringe.

All in all, there were thirteen stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our usual “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

• RIAA Suffers Two Setbacks
• Comcast Gets Caught Lying
• Cox Joins Comcast in Throttling
• The Pirate Bay Breaks the Top 100
• IFPI Encourages Students to Use Limewire
• And Many more…

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/plagiarismtoday/copyright20eps59.mp3]