The Department of Justice is pushing for legislation that would expand the scope of, and stiffen the penalties for, criminal copyright infringement. The legislation has not yet been introduced, but the relevant subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee has quietly circulated a draft bill based on the DoJ wish...

Did EMI and Universal Music Group lie to the Department of Justice in order to throw federal investigators off the scent during the antitrust investigation involving the major labels, MusicNet, and pressplay? According to a ruling issued last week, the evidence suggests they did. This is the latest chapter...

According to DesignTechnica, Philips has patented a "technology ... [that] would prevent users from changing channels to avoid watching television commercials as well as prevent viewers from fast-forwarding through recorded advertisements." Why would Philips invent such an absurd restriction when it will never be voluntarily licensed? After all...

This week, the first HD-DVD releases entered the US market. The standards battle with Blu-Ray is the talk of the town, but that's not the only element of this format roll-out that will inevitably frustrate consumers. These discs come ready to restrict legitimate uses far beyond what you've faced with...

As we mentioned in a prior post, the Smithsonian and Showtime Networks have entered into a deal with troubling implications for the public domain (especially in light of the proposed WIPO Broadcasting Treaty). A FOIA request has been sent to the Smithsonian seeking public disclosure of the...

Your online speech may be perfectly legal under our laws, but when can a US court be made to enforce a foreign law against you? Can the First Amendment be undermined by court decisions from nations that are less protective of free speech? That's the issue addressed in an...