3 Count: About Face

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1: Lib Dems Call for Halt to Copyright Crackdown

First off today, in the UK, the Liberal Democrats have adopted a party platform that would repeal sections 3 through 18 of the Digital Economy Act, including the sections that deal with site blocking, disabling user accounts and ISPs being required to monitor their networks and turn over information regarding infringers. This is a sharp about face for the Liberal Democrats, who put in the site blocking measure when the bill was being debated. As the junior members of the ruling coalition, the Liberal Democrats now have to take their platform to the larger member, the Conservatives, in hopes of getting the legislation enacted.

2: How Piracy Ruins it for Paid Apps

Next up today, developers for mobile platforms are becoming increasingly concerned with piracy of their apps. According to a recent study by by Yankee Group and Skyhook, that problem is especially great on the Android platform, where anti-piracy controls are less strict than on iOS devices. That study found that 27% of developers consider piracy to be a “huge problem” with more than three quarters saying that it is easy to do. The study also reports that there has been some change in business strategy already, moving away from app sales and more toward advertising and in-app purchases.

3: BMI Sues Lady Godiva’s for Music Copyright Violations

Finally today, music licensing agency BMI has sued a Grand Rapids-area nightclub for unlawfully playing music that they are responsible for collecting fees on. The club, Lady Godiva’s, claims the matter stems from BMI’s certification that the club is an adult establishment despite the fact that it doesn’t feature nudity. The club’s owner, Mark London, says he is in good standing with other licensing agencies, including ASCAP, but that BMI refused his payments. London has said he plans to fight the lawsuit and expects it to be thrown out.

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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