The Ninth Circuit's ruling in MGM v. Grokster today clarified four points of incredible importance to innovators of all stripes, including peer-to-peer developers: The Court made clear that, for purposes of the "Betamax defense" announced by the Supreme Court in 1984, the important question is whether a technology...
Breaking news: the Ninth Circuit today affirmed the district court's ruling last year in favor of StreamCast and Grokster in the MGM v. Grokster case. EFF represents StreamCast (makers of the Morpheus software) in the case.
More when we've had a chance to read it.
In the latest development in the ongoing spat between RealNetworks and Apple over the iPod, RealNetworks has launched its Freedom of Music Choice campaign. "Consumers are getting a raw deal with the status quo in digital music, which limits healthy, open competition that drives down prices and encourages...
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it's seeking comment on how to define spam. Currently, the CAN-SPAM Act (PDF) describes a "commercial electronic mail message" as one whose "primary purpose...is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service." The FTC wants people to comment...
In news at once frightening and reassuring, a Sequoia electronic voting machine suffered a very public failure last week during a live demo. The machine worked fine with an English-language ballot, but failed to record votes with the Spanish-language ballot. The mistake was detected because the machine produced a...
OK, so I still don't have my jet pack. But at least I may soon have a TiVo for my radio. You'll remember that the RIAA is complaining bitterly to the FCC about the possibility that, someday, consumers might have the ability to record digital radio (aka DAB or...
On August 5, 2004, 40 State Attorneys General wrote an open letter to P2P United, an industry group that represents many of the major peer-to-peer software vendors, such as Grokster, Morpheus, and eDonkey. In the letter, the AGs accuse the companies and their technology of illegal and unethical...
The FCC is considering whether to impose a "broadcast flag" content protection scheme on digital broadcast radio (a.k.a. DAB or HD Radio). The RIAA is pushing for the flag, which would impose FCC technology mandates on all future digital radio receivers. Apparently, the MPAA's success in getting preemptive...
Following up on our earlier report, looks like the FCC sided with TiVo over Hollywood. With respect to this news, Ernie Miller said it best, aided by the magic of sarcasm: As has been widely noted, yesterday, the FCC blessed 13 technologies as compliant with the broadcast flag...
Everybody wants Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), but nobody is really sure what the hell it is. Specifically, law enforcement groups and policymakers are engaged in a tug-of-war over whether the new communication service -- which routes phone calls over the Internet in a variety of ways -- is...
That's a question we've started to hear lot since we started the Digital Television Liberation Project. The short answer: it's the technology mandate. Rob Pegoraro writes in a recent Washington Post article about TiVo's bid to improve its product's functionality that "[If] a programmer or an engineer with...
As has been widelyreported, EFF has filed suit on behalf of JibJab to defend the "This Land" animated short. As we reported last week, music publisher Ludlow Music Inc., owner of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," had threatened copyright litigation against JibJab. In...
Last week, "Internet marketer" Scott Richter got off with a slap on the wrist in one of the most high-profile spam cases in recent months. New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer sued Richter, president of OptInRealBig.com, back in December for sending deceptive junk email, and promised to...
Turns out Woody Guthrie lifted the melody of "This Land Is Your Land" essentially note-for-note from "When the World's on Fire," a song recorded by country/bluegrass legends, The Carter Family, ten years before Guthrie wrote his classic song. Here's a short snippet (380k mp3) of the song (the song...
As mentioned earlier this week, Ludlow Music Inc., owner of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," is invoking copyright in an effort to silence JibJab's very funny "This Land" animated short (here is Ludlow's latest threat letter).
EFF has taken JibJab on as a client. We've...
