dmca

The Spider-Man of the sci-fi writing world

I was a big Spider-Man fan when I was a kid. I could never understand why poor Spidey was persecuted by J. Jonah Jameson, editor of the Daily Bugle. I was especially mystified by how easily Jameson could get the police to pursue Spider-Man despite all the obvious good he was doing.

I'd like to think that anyone familiar with the Spider-Man stories--and who isn't, considering that the three recent movies brought in $2.5 billion at the box office plus untold additional revenue from the DVD releases--would appreciate the irony of Peter Parker's position. He does … Read more

Ticketmaster wins injunction against broker-software firm

A quick follow-up to last week's post about ticket brokers. Tuesday, a federal judge issued an injunction against RMG Technologies, barring the company from "creating, trafficking in, facilitating the use of or using computer programs or other automatic devices to circumvent" the system that Ticketmaster uses to control online ticket purchases.

According to testimony from former broker Chris Kovach, he had used RMG's software to buy hundreds of tickets at a time through Ticketmaster's site before human fans had a chance to do so, then turned around and sold these tickets through brokerages like StubHub. … Read more

Video game czar: More countries need a DMCA

WASHINGTON--The controversial U.S. law that generally bars people from tampering with copy-protection features drew accolades on Wednesday from the video game industry's chief executive.

Mike Gallagher, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, applauded the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act as "vitally important" for video game and console makers seeking to stomp out unauthorized copies of their wares.

Thanks to digital-rights management mechanisms, Gallagher claimed unauthorized copies of popular video games like Halo 3 that users download from file-sharing networks won't play on XBox 360, ensuring "the full value of the product is received throughout … Read more

A game of cat and mouse: The iPhone, Steve Jobs and an army of blind hackers

With Steve Jobs' recent announcement of his intention to fight off the independent iPhone developers, the question that must be asked is how will Apple try to defeat the hackers: Frequent and disruptive software updates, or lawsuits? Will Apple risk losing its most frequently (ab)used legal tool, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to try to punish the developers of the iPhone unlocking tools?

The wait is over. After being teased over the past few weeks with rumors that Apple would turn a blind eye to iPhone hacking or *gasp* even encourage it, the news is in and it ain'… Read more

Copyright Office chief: I'm a DMCA supporter

WASHINGTON--There's still a lot of hatred out there for a controversial law known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but don't count the U.S. Copyright Office chief in that camp.

"I'm a supporter; I think it did what it was supposed to do," Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters said of the 1998 law at an appearance at the Future of Music Policy Summit here. "No law is ever perfect, but I remain a supporter."

The DMCA, among other things, dictates that "No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, … Read more

Unlocked iPhones as a profit center? Bye-bye warranty, hello profits!

My friend Pat and some of my other friends have been asking me whether or not unlocking an iPhone is legal.

As a lawyer, I'd prefer the question to be stated in another way: Is it unlawful to unlock an iPhone? (Perhaps I'm channeling Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City, but the way the question is phrased in the law can make all the difference).

While the question can be asked more precisely, the answer, as you may have guessed, is anything but precise. But if an iPhone is unlocked, I'm pretty sure you've voided … Read more

'Facebook Secrets' blog gets DMCA takedown treatment

Facebook Secrets is no more.

The blog, which had been set up specifically to share the leaked source code that Facebook's front page accidentally displayed to a number of users over the weekend, has been taken down by host Blogger's parent company Google.

The company cited violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, evoking the similar takedown notices that plagued Digg when its users 'dugg' HD DVD crack code earlier this year.

Since the Facebook source code inevitably made its way into plenty of hands while it was public, the action probably won't do much--it'… Read more

YouTube founders: Video ads coming

At the D5 conference, YouTube founders (and now Google employees) Chad Hurley and Steve Chen were just interviewed by Walt Mossberg. In a wide-ranging interview, Hurley and Chen discussed today's EMI deal, copyright issues, and advertising. Some highlights:

The EMI deal Regarding the deal with EMI, Hurley said it will open up opportunities for YouTube users, although in a somewhat backward fashion: "It's about creating new marketing opportunities," he said. Music rights holders will be able to "identify when their music is being used, and earn revenues against that." Presumably the revenues will be from advertising, since this will "give users a free and legal way to use" this media.

In practice, it will work with YouTube's audio swap tool, which Hurley said is being expanded and improved.

Copyrights

Walt tried to nail the founders on their apparent laissez-faire attitude regarding copyrighted material. Hurley said, "In early 2006, we were the first to release content management tools, a way for people to identify their content with metadata." Also, he says, "We've done a good job of educating people on copyright law."

Walt: "Wait. Wait. Wait."

Hurley relents a bit: "We see this as a search algorithm [issue]. We're running trial with audio and visual fingerprinting." In the Fall, he said, "everyone will have access to these advanced tools." … Read more

N.J. Turnpike Authority hops ride on 'Let's sue YouTube!' bandwagon

YouTube just can't seem to keep those lawsuits off its back. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has sued the massive video-sharing portal for copyright infringement concerning a widely-circulated video of car crash footage that was taped with an NJTA camera.

The crash in question took place on the N.J. Turnpike on May 10 and resulted in one fatality. The NJTA's complaint, a copy of which was obtained by CNET News.com, says that "the video serves no worthwhile purpose and shows a tremendous lack of common human decency towards the family of the victim." It'… Read more

'Electric Slide' creator backs down from DMCA claim

The man who claims to have created the famed Electric Slide has backed down from a legal claim against an engineer who posted a YouTube video of people doing the dance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced.

The EFF had represented the engineer, Kyle Machulia, in a lawsuit against the dance's creator, Richard Silver. But on Tuesday, the EFF said Silver had backed down from his claim and his general "online video takedown campaign" and agreed to allow anyone noncommercial use of the dance.

In February, Silver filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice with YouTube demanding … Read more