3 Count: Three Strikes

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

1: Internet Service Providers to Fight Piracy by Warning Illegal Downloaders

First off today, Dominic White at The Sydney Morning Herald reports that, in Australia, the Communications Alliance, a group that represents ISPs, has published the draft of a new agreement with copyright holders that could see the beginnings of a “three strikes” regime within the country.

The proposal would apply to all consumers of fixed Internet access. If piracy were detected, they would received a series of warnings about the activity that would escalate in severity. The law does not provide any direct punitive measures for those who keep pirating content, but does create an expedited discovery platform that would make it easier for content creators to file a lawsuit.

The proposal comes after the Australian government ordered the two sides to come to an agreement on copyright enforcement by April 8. Given that the proposal requires a 30 day comment period, the deadline was rapidly approaching. But even with that, the deal does not cover questions where the sides remain far apart, including who should pay for the system.

2: Playboy Told to Provide Kate Moss Photographs

Next up today, The Irish Times reports that a court in Ireland is asking Playboy Enterprises for more information in its lawsuit with local news site Entertainment.ie over links to photos of Kate Moss that were for the magazine’s 60th anniversary edition.

According to the lawsuit, Entertainment.ie linked to images of Kate Moss which were exclusively for the anniversary edition. Playboy sued, claiming that the linking caused them monetary and repetitional damage.

However, in a pre-trial ruling, the judge is asking Playboy to answer some of the questions raised by Entertainment.ie in response to the lawsuit and also provide the photos that it says are at issue.

3: With the MPAA Watching, ITC Says Case About Teeth Won’t Bring Down the Internet

Finally today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that the International Trade Commission has filed a massive brief in response to a case that seeks to expand its authority to restrict the importing of goods over the Internet.

The case actually deals with patent law and teeth. The company ClearCorrect uses unlicensed patented technology to generate braces for patients. However, the production of the actual item is done outside of the U.S., where no patent protection applies, and then sent via the web to the company so it can 3D print the device. ITC has the authority to block the importing of articles that infringe copyrights and patents and it wishes to expand the definition of articles to include products transmitted digitally, such as ClearCorrect’s devices.

This could have a major implication for copyright as the ITC also has authority to block copyright infringing imports. Theoretically, the ITC could order blockades of pirated films or songs the same way. The ITC argues that the definition of article includes such digital goods but others argue that it is limited solely to physical items being imported, not their digital counterparts.

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.

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

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