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Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog

Authors Guild Sues Google

As many have reported, the Authors Guild has filed a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit [PDF] against Google in the Southern District of New York. The dispute, as we've mentioned before, involves Google Print.I believe Google has a strong fair use defense here. Because a fair use defense turns...

TiVo Owners: Got Macrovision?

Have you noticed that when you "update" a product these days, you have to be on your guard lest the vendor slip in a "downgrade"? Like when Apple "updated" iTunes to reduce the number of burns you could make from the music you bought from the iTunes Music Store?
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WIPO Development Agenda: Where Does Your Government Stand?

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the UN agency responsible for treaties involving copyright, patent, and trademark laws. Although WIPO, like other UN agencies, is charged with furthering humanitarian aims, historically it has created treaties that ratchet up intellectual property rights no matter the consequences to the developing world.
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RIAA Trying to Copy-Protect Radio

For some time, the RIAA has been pushing the FCC to impose a copy-protection mandate on the makers of next-generation digital radio receiver/recorders (think TiVo-for-radio).
Now, as reported by Public Knowledge's Mike Godwin, the entire music industry has taken up the cause and is beating the drum...

A Copyright Analysis of Google Print

Last month we posted a bit about the copyright debates surrounding the Google Print library project. Noted Washington DC copyright lawyer Jonathan Band has just published an article entitled "The Google Print Library Project: A Copyright Analysis" in the August issue of E-Commerce Law & Policy (a copy is...

ACLU TV Debuts "Beyond the Patriot Act"

Join grassroots groups and households around the country who, during the first two weeks of September, will be hosting premieres of the ACLU's "Beyond the Patriot Act" -- a 30-minute program from producers of "Outfoxed" and "Unconstitutional." The program, the first in a series called "The ACLU Freedom Files,"...

Privacy issue banner, a colorful graphical representation of a padlock

Stop Big Brother in EU Telcos and ISPs

Spying on telephone and Internet traffic should be law enforcement's last resort -- carefully limited to protect the privacy of innocent people, conducted only during critical investigations. Unfortunately, the European Union is contemplating passing laws that would treat all of its citizens like criminal suspects.
Next week, the Justice...

The Shrinkwrapification of Patented Goods

Lexmark, one of the largest makers of laser printers, is a believer in the "give away the razors, but charge them for the blades" tactic, counting on the fact that consumers routinely underestimate "life cyle costs" for products like printers. In other words, if you low-ball your customers on the...

Federal Court Slams Door on Add-On Innovation

Shuts Down Open Source Videogame Server Project St. Louis, MO - In a decision with dangerous implications for competition, consumer choice, reverse engineering, and innovation, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled against three software programmers who created a free, open-source program to allow gamers to play games...

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