Is this thing on? It’s been a month since the last show and longer since Patrick was on the show but not we are back and we have the regular crew working. Both me and Patrick are here and we do our best to recap the big stories while we were gone but, most importantly, recap the past week of news and get back into the flow.

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

This week’s stories include:

• Skype is Saved!
• Viacom May Have Dirt on YouTube
• Fairey Admits to Lying
• Pirate Bay Admins Banned From Running Site
• “Psycho-Acoustic Simulation”
• 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

About the Hosts

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey (@plagiarismtoday) is the Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today (Hint: You’re there now) and works as a copyright and plagiarism consultant. Though not an attorney, he has resolved over 700 cases of plagiarism involving his own work and has helped countless others protect their work and develop strategies for making their content work as hard as possible toward their goals.

Patrick O’Keefe

Patrick O’Keefe (@iFroggy) is the owner of the iFroggy Network, a network of websites covering various interests. He’s the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online communities and social spaces. He maintains a blog about online community management at ManagingCommunities.com and a personal blog at patrickokeefe.com.

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

1: Skype Founders Set to Get 10 Percent, Option to Buy Three Percent More and Two Board Seats

First off today, Skype users can rejoice as it appears the Skype lawsuit has been settled. The case, which saw the two original founders of the company sue their buyer, eBay, alleging that the company did not have a license to manipulate or alter the code to the Skype software itself. That software, according to the founders, is owned by Joltid, a company they own. Though it seemed odd that eBay would buy the company but not the rights to its core product, the suit hit at a time when eBay was looking to resell Skype to other investors and the lawsuit threatened the future of the company.

Well, today we have word that a settlement has been reached. The former founders of Skype will be given a 10% stake in the company and an option to buy an additional 3% for $84 million. They will also be given two seats on the company’s 23-person board.

This puts to bed one of tech’s ugliest and most vindictive copyright lawsuits in recent years and clears eBay, Skype and its new owners to move forward with the company’s future.

2: E.U. Leaders Bolster Internet Access Protections

Next up today, the EU has reached an agreement that it hopes will serve as a compromise between various nations and companies that wish to disconnect file sharers from the Web and activists who view the Web as an inalienable right. The EU has agreed that any action resulting in the disconnection of a file sharer must be subject to some form or legal review and can not be done simply on the say so of copyright holders.

This follows closely a similar deal in France, where an initial bill to disconnect repeat file sharers was shot down after it failed to provide judicial oversight to the process. A revised bill, one with such oversight, is making its way through the legislature now.

With this agreement comes an end to over 6 months of negotiation on the issue that will finally allow for the passage of the related telecommunications act, which will overhaul many aspects of the EU communications systems.

3: Judge Halts Online Sale of Beatles Songs

Finally today, I think we all saw this one coming. A judge has ordered BlueBeat to stop selling Beatles tracks on its site, rejecting its famous “psycho-acoustic simulation” argument. The company had been selling Beatles tracks for just 25 cents, even though Beatles music is not available for legal download anywhere on the Web. They had claimed that their tracks were not copies, but rather, were legal covers created using their “psycho-acoustic simulation” technology.

The judge, however, found that argument less than compelling and, despite a registration certificate for the works, has issued a temporary retraining order barring BlueBeat from selling the tracks while the lawsuit against them, filed by EMI, moves forward.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

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.

1: Skype founders go to court to seek damages

First off today, the founders of Skype, which was purchased by the online auction company eBay in 2005 is now suing its parent company in court for copyright infringement.

According to the suit, when eBay purchased Skype, they purchased the company but not the core copyrighted works that make up the service. Instead, they obtained a license to use it from the owners. However, after the founders left the company, eBay began to alter those core technologies in violation of that license.

The case, which was filed in London, estimates that the copyright is being violated every time someone downloads a copy of Skype, up to 100,000 times per day, making the total damages per day up to $75 million, an amount eBay would have to pay half of according to their contract with Skype. All of this comes as eBay is hoping to sell Skype by the end of the fourth quarter this year.

2: Near-instant book printer adds Google Books titles

Next up today, multiple sources are reporting that today Google and On Demand Books, maker of the Espresso Book Machine will be announcing a partnership to print on demand public domain works through Google Book Search.

The Espresso Book Machine is a printer capable of turning out a paperback novel in a matter of minutes, it is commonly used by print-on-demand houses and has been considered for use by Barnes & Noble and other bookstores for similar ventures. However, Google will be using it to print out on-demand copies of various public domain works that it has digitized and included in their library.

This service should not cause any controversy and is unrelated to the ongoing Google Book Search settlement dispute, where Google, along with many publishers and the Author’s Guild, seeks to scan and display in-copyright but of print works in Google Book Search.

3: Second Life Sued For Allowing Sale Of Impostor Virtual Goods

Finally today. Kevin Alderman, a maker of erotic goods for the online virtual world Second Life, has sued the game’s creators, Linden Lab, for allowing his goods to be pirated within the world.

Alderman, who allegedly has brought in some $1 million off the sale of virtual sex beds, claims that Linden has allowed others users to upload and sell his virtual goods and profits from the venture since they earn money off of money transferred into and out of the world. According to his theory, this means Linden sacrifices its DMCA safe harbor protection and is at least partially liable for the infringements.

The suit is seeking class action status though it is unclear if others are planning on joining it.

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.