Digital Rights + Internet Governance + Innovation Policy

Google Comments to USTR on Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

Comments Submitted by Google Inc. Regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Response to USTR Public Notice of September 5, 2008 (73 FR 51860) September 17, 2008 Google Inc. appreciates the opportunity to comment on the pending negotiations for the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). We have three areas of concern: (1) the scope of the [...]

Landmark Ruling: DVD-Unlocking Code Ruled Lawful in Europe

A Finnish Court has ruled that the Content Scrabling System (CSS) computer code, which unlocks DVD movies, is lawful in Europe. The decision was a first to interpret the legality of DVD decoding software under the 2001 European Copyright Directive. .... This ruling is good news for consumers and innovators who want to build interoperable tools that will permit consumers to engage in a full range of lawful activities with their digital media collections, like making digital movie archives and video "mash-ups". Besides applying across the EU, European experts believe this ruling will apply across media platforms and not restricted only to DVDs.

DVD-Jon Liberates the iPod – Digital Music Wars Take New Direction – Unlocking the Devices

Jon Johansen has done it again! He has has figured out how to improve existing technology by reverse engineering it and building innovative new software that expands consumer choice -- this time for digital music. You may remember in 1999, when 15-year-old Jon Johansen posted DeCSS, a tool created to build a DVD player for the Linux operating system, and started a fire-storm of movie studio lawsuits under the brand new 1998 US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California trade secrets law. (Jon was also acquitted twice in Norway by the Norwegian Supreme Court). The DeCSS case was my first case as an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and we were all treading on unchartered territory in those days. Since then, the DMCA and other anti-circumvention laws have created a legal quagmire for reverse engineers that has kept us all too busy. ....

Circumvention Prohibitions Reconsidered: Why America’s Mistake is Europe’s Future

Circumvention Prohibitions Reconsidered: Why America's Mistake is Europe's Future By Robin D. Gross, IP Justice I.  US and EU Pressured to Outlaw Consumer Circumvention Today lawmakers all over the world are both dreaming of the opportunities and grappling with the challenges that digital technology creates for authors and distributors of intellectual property.  At the same [...]

DeCSS Litigation Timeline (Hollywood’s war on DVD software and consumers)

DeCSS Litigation Timeline Below is a table that outlines Hollywood's various legal battles to outlaw DeCSS software. v. Mathew Pavlovich Filed by DVD-CCAIn California State Courts under trade secret misappropriation claim.(Jurisdictional question). v. Andrew Bunner Filed by DVD-CCAIn California State Courts under trade secret misappropriation claim.(First Amendment issue). v. 2600 Magazine Filed by Eight Hollywood [...]

IP Justice Santo Domingo Statement: ‘Why the Americas Should Resist Pressure to Adopt the FTAA’s Intellectual Property Rights Chapter’

IP Justice Santo Domingo Statement: Why the Americas Should Resist Pressure to Adopt the FTAA's Intellectual Property Rights Chapter View statement as PDF document with footnotes View statement as Word document with footnote   28 January 2004   IP Justice Santo Domingo Statement: Why the Americas Should Resist Pressure to Adopt the FTAA's Intellectual Property [...]

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