Preventing an e-book Napster
General IP Issues
8/10/2000; 9:54:10 AM 'If there’s one thing the book publishers want to avoid as they move into the digital realm, it’s a repeat of the Napster controversy that has plagued their e-music counterparts.'

Hey, they can learn!

Chinese govt. seeks control of Web Country Watch: China8/9/2000; 7:07:07 PM 'Chinese leaders are keen to promote the Web's economic benefits and use it, as they do the entirely state-run traditional media, to rally public opinion. But they are nervous that the Web gives Chinese access to uncensored news and information, and are trying to block its use in spreading opposition to communist rule.'It's worth watching the Chinese... I expect them to pioneer techniques of controlling the usage of the Internet, as Communism can't tolerate truth, or for that matter, lies other then its own.'Many state media are already online, but sites that provide access to less heavily controlled or uncensored information are among China's most popular.'

RIAA's documents Music & MP38/9/2000; 6:41:56 PM I explicitly looked for these when this issue was more topical but could not find them. Perhaps they've moved or become more prominent, or perhaps the RIAA was just slow putting them up? At any rate, see the RIAA's Napster Lawsuit Documents, most notably their reply (in PDF form) to Napsters request to stay the injunction shutting the service down.There are some good points... lawyers paid that much should make at least a few . They catch Napster's brief in a few places that I think are indeed weak. However, I see two places where I think they really screwed up. One is not really "their fault", which is the assertion that a computer is not a digital recording device. This is incorrect. Any computer with a sound-card is a digital recording device. This is how I created my MP3 file... it was recorded on my computer. If my computer is not a digital recording device, then this recording apparently sprang forth from the ether.It depends on what a "recording device" is. The obvious definition, "A device capable of recording audio digitally", means my computer is one. Admittedly, this is obviously not what was meant by the law, as when one uses Napster one is not using the computer as a digital recording device; a computer is many things, not necessarily simultaneously. This probably means this law needs tweaking.Secondly, when it comes time for the RIAA to establish that this infringement would not have happened without Napster, they fall flat on their face. Either they're blind and truly believe Napster is the only way to aquire MP3's, or they are lying about Napster being the only way. There just isn't much in-between.And it's worth one final note: The court to which this brief was submitted did indeed stay the injunction, despite this document.

AOL MP3 Search Service
Music & MP3
8/9/2000; 6:32:51 PM Yesterday, Scripting News broke the story that WinAmp, owned by AOL, had a hosting service that allowed you to upload your own MP3s and allow others to download them, which in fact was far worse then Napster is. This is especially interesting in light of the fact AOL is aiming to aquire Time-Warner, one of the big members of the RIAA, Napster's mortal foe.

Well, for one reason or another AOL/WinAmp is pulling the service, due to their inability to keep copyrighted material off of the server. One could speculate the reporters nosing around the story scared them, but it would just be speculation.

Licensing Legislation Said to Imperil Academic Freedom UCITA8/9/2000; 6:16:21 PM 'Imagine that an architecture professor distributes to his distance-education students digitized photographs of the palace at Versailles, warns the students about the images' poor quality -- and then gets hit with a lawsuit from the software company that provided the pictures. 'The company accuses the professor of violating the terms of the license agreement, which prohibits customers from publicly criticizing the product. A judge rules in favor of the company, citing UCITA, a new law that makes ubiquitous software-licensing agreements readily enforceable.'A great comment from a UCITA supporter:'UCITA advocates counter that the criticisms are inaccurate or based on improbable consumer nightmares. "There's a lot of mythology out there," says Mark Plotkin, a Washington lawyer who tells his corporate clients to support the law's passage. 'He says UCITA also benefits consumers because it makes clear what their rights are when they purchase electronic information.'Yeah, sure... you have the right to depend on us for protection is about all the consumer gets. Perhaps there are benefits to UCITA, but in light of the immense powers granted to the vendors, who cares if we were tossed a few carrots?

UCITA group backs off provision -- somewhat UCITA8/9/2000; 6:09:24 PM 'The group that drafted the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) has backed off slightly from one of the more controversial measures in the proposed software-licensing law -- a so-called self-help provision that allows vendors to remotely disable the software they sell to users. But that may not be much solace to corporate users. 'At its annual meeting, which ended last Friday, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) agreed to end the self-help provision for mass-market software sold via retail channels. However, the provision remains in effect for other types of software such as customizable applications that are purchased by companies.'Well, it's a start, I suppose, but I find these so-called "self-help" mechanisms to be morally reprehensible in light of the fact that the vendor incurs no liability for using it. In fact, I doubt that protection would stand up in a court of law in a sufficiently importent case, with enough people getting hurt.

Pollster loses restraining-order request in spamming case
Spam & E-Mail
8/9/2000; 6:02:06 PM 'A U.S. District Court judge in Rochester, N.Y., yesterday denied a request from market-research firm Harris Interactive Inc. for a temporary restraining order that would have forced an antispam organization to take the company off a list of e-mail spammers while a lawsuit filed last month by Harris is heard.'

Polling firm drops AOL from spam suit
Spam & E-Mail
8/9/2000; 12:04:32 PM 'Harris Interactive Inc. has withdrawn a federal lawsuit accusing America Online Inc. of blocking correspondence with many of the Internet-based polling company's 6.6 million online panelists.'

UpsideToday Newsroom: Privacy from Companies8/9/2000; 9:31:26 AM 'As of last week, the International Olympic Committee had ruled out streaming video over the Internet, saying its free availability would create conflicts with exclusive broadcast deals the IOC has made with individual media companies on a country-by-country basis.'But the deal to make video available on the NBCOlympics.com website makes a neat end-run around the IOC limits, via Axient's OctaneSM network. 'Partnership with ISPs The Octane network, in a nutshell, consists of Axient's partnership with more than 100 Internet service providers (ISPs) across the country. These ISPs have agreed to verify that all their customers are within the United States, where NBC holds exclusive broadcast rights, thus circumventing the IOC's problem.'Notice that this principle could be extended further. While I doubt the ability to correctly pinpoint the location of an IP address along will ever really exist (especially in the age of roaming access) just by scanning address blocks and trying to basically guess what IP block is where, by joining forces with ISP's, tracking technology becomes not just feasible, but very powerful. It could potentially tie your IP address to you... your address, phone number, all the other stuff the ISP has to know about you because they have to remit a bill.The Octane network is harmless if it only functions as described in the article, but it lays down the technical foundation necessary for IP address-based monitoring.