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SBC Fights Back over RIAA Subpoenas
(Jay Lyman, TechNewsWorld, July 31, 2003)
After receiving nearly 200 subpoenas to turn over information about users of its Internet service, communications giant SBC has filed suit against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), calling the subpoenas a misapplication of copyright law. . . . Yankee Group senior analyst Mike Goodman told TechNewsWorld that while larger Internet carriers, such as Verizon and now SBC, are the only ones to have challenged the RIAA subpoenas, none of the Internet providers involved wants to provide the names and information of its customers. . . . The bottom line is that no ISP wants to be in the policing position they've been put into," Goodman said. . . . In an effort to discover the identities of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing users, the RIAA has sent out an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 subpoenas to ISPs across the country. . . . SBC spokesperson Joe Izbrand told TechNewsWorld that the company has received about 200 subpoenas from the RIAA in the past two weeks. . . . "We're making the argument that the DMCA subpoena power is being misapplied," Izbrand said. "Anyone can request private information of someone over the Internet [using the subpoenas]. We believe it's a threat to the privacy rights of our customers." . . . Von Lohmann expressed concern that Internet users, who might not be notified that their ISP has been subpoenaed, are "essentially presumed guilty until proven innocent." . . . He also said the RIAA apparently is issuing more subpoenas than it actually needs for potential legal cases against Internet users. . . . "The dragnet is being cast much more widely than the actual lawsuit is going to be," he noted. . . . He noted that resistance to the subpoenas from ISPs likely will be limited to carriers such as Verizon and SBC -� companies with the "deep pockets" to go the legal distance with the RIAA.

posted by Lorenzo 10:39 AM

 

Reclaim the Public Domain
Petition to the US Congress urging them to return the public domain to We the People ... part of which reads:

Such burdens on access to work that has no continuing commercial value serves no legitimate copyright purpose. It certainly does not "promote the Progress of Science" as the Constitution requires. We therefore ask Congress to consider changes to the current regime that would free unused content from continued regulation, while respecting the rights of existing copyright owners.

One solution in particular that we ask Congress to consider is the Public Domain Enhancement Act. See http://eldred.cc This statute would require American copyright owners to pay a very low fee (for example, $1) fifty years after a copyrighted work was published. If the owner pays the fee, the copyright will continue for whatever duration Congress sets. But if the copyright is not worth even $1 to the owner, then we believe the work should pass into the public domain.

[PLEASE click on the link above and add your signature to this petition. ... Lorenzo Hagerty]

posted by Lorenzo 5:08 PM

 

ZNet Toons
Click the link above to view over 1,000 political cartoons. ... great resource for bloggers.

posted by Lorenzo 4:22 PM