From lawrenceliang at vsnl.net Wed Apr 16 15:17:48 2003 From: lawrenceliang at vsnl.net (lawrenceliang at vsnl.net) Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 15:17:48 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Commons-Law] of 4 stories of the today of the global Message-ID: <20030416094748.53F64114A54@webmail.vsnl.com> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20030416/0d6a8cb8/attachment.pl From lawrenceliang at vsnl.net Thu Apr 24 13:26:42 2003 From: lawrenceliang at vsnl.net (lawrenceliang at vsnl.net) Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 13:26:42 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Commons-Law] Report on NIPO Conference-Courtsey Tripta Message-ID: <20030424075642.2CFC211495D@webmail.vsnl.com> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/attachments/20030424/20a2d69d/attachment.pl From sudhir75 at hotmail.com Sat Apr 26 10:21:59 2003 From: sudhir75 at hotmail.com (Sudhir Krishnaswamy) Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 05:51:59 +0100 Subject: [Commons-Law] Report on NIPO Conference-Courtsey Tripta References: <20030424075642.2CFC211495D@webmail.vsnl.com> Message-ID: hi all for a change - there's some good legal news from the US on digital music! sudhir US court rejects suit against Internet song-swappers http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=44 540265 REUTERS[ SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2003 09:30:41 AM ] WASHINGTON: A federal court denied a request to shut down Internet song-swapping services Grokster and Morpheus on Friday, handing a stunning setback to the record labels and movie studios that have sought to curb unauthorised downloading of their works. US District Court Judge Stephen Wilson said the two services should not be shut down because they cannot control what is traded over their systems. Like a videocassette recorder, the software in question could be used for legitimate purposes as well as illicit ones, he said. "It is undisputed that there are substantial noninfringing uses for (the) defendants' software," wrote Wilson, who serves in the Central District of California, in Los Angeles. Trade groups for movie studios and record labels said they would appeal. Wilson's decision marks the first significant legal setback for the entertainment industry in its battle against the wildly popular "peer-to-peer" services that allow users to download movies, music and other files for free. Federal courts have ordered earlier peer-to-peer services such as Napster to shut down, and courts have so far supported the industry's efforts to track down individual peer-to-peer users as well. But Wilson's ruling gives Grokster, Morpheus and other Napster successors some legal basis on which to operate. Just as the Supreme Court in 1984 said videocassette recorders should not be outlawed because they can be used for legitimate purposes, peer- to-peer services should not be shut down even though users are certainly trading copyrighted movies and music, he said. The 1984 Sony case is viewed as a landmark decision by peer-to- peer supporters, who often point out that a technology likened by top movie-industry lobbyist Jack Valenti to the Boston Strangler now provides a profitable revenue stream to movie studios. In a conference call after the decision, Valenti said the two technologies are different because peer-to-peer software enables users to make an infinite number of perfect copies and distribute them around the globe. "The difference between analog and digital is the difference between lightning and the lighting bug," Valenti said. Grokster President Wayne Rosso said he was surprised by the decision because it showed that the judge understood the technology. Peer-to-peer services could be used to enable the Pentagon to better share information, among other uses, he said, and the recording industry should try to work with such services rather than driving them out of business. "Grokster doesn't and hasn't ever condoned copyright infringement," Rosso said. "We hope this sends a clear signal to the rights owners in this case to come to the table and sit down with us." Valenti said that wouldn't happen anytime soon. "I don't know how you compromise theft, so I see no reason to sit down and say, 'Let's make it a little bit of thievery and not a lot of thievery'," he said. Valenti and Hilary Rosen, head of the Recording Industry Association of America, highlighted two portions of the decision they did agree with: That individuals are accountable for copyright violations, and Wilson's statement that Grokster and Morpheus "may have intentionally structured their businesses to avoid secondary liability for copyright infringement, while benefiting financially from the illicit draw of their wares." But both said they would urge the appeals court to find Grokster, which is incorporated in the Carribean island of Nevis, and Morpheus, owned by privately held Streamcast Networks Inc. in Tennesee, ultimately responsible for the actions of their users. "Businesses that intentionally facilitate massive piracy should not be able to evade responsibility for their actions," RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen said in a statement. The decision could also provide a shot in the arm to Kazaa, another popular peer-to-peer service involved in a separate legal battle with the entertainment industry. A Kazaa spokeswoman said the company's lawyers were still evaluating the decision. A Morpheus investor, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Silicon Valley, said the decision would give his product a boost just as the company plans to roll out a new version. "The timing of this couldn't be better," said Bill Kallman, a managing partner at Timberline Venture Partners, which has invested about $4 million in Morpheus since 1999. RIAA members include AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music; Vivendi Universal's Universal Music; Sony Corp.'s Sony Music; Bertelsmann AG's BMG Music Group; and EMI Group Plc. MPAA members include Walt Disney Co.; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corp.; News Corp Ltd.'s Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.; Vivendi Universal's Universal Studios Inc.; and AOL Time Warner's Warner Bros.on From mukund at nls.ac.in Tue Apr 29 04:06:13 2003 From: mukund at nls.ac.in (Mukund Dhar | NLSIU) Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 04:06:13 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Commons-Law] MGM v. Grockster et al | P2P File Sharing | Court Judgment Message-ID: <3653.202.54.87.179.1051569373.squirrel@mail.nls.ac.in> Dear all, Hi. For those of your who are interested, you can d/l Judge Wilson's 34 page order DENYING summary relief sought by RIAA, Motion Picture Chappies and others. http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/mgm/mgmgrokster42503ord.pdf Its quite interesting. Especially the entire discussion he has on the issue of whether Grockster is actively facilitating infringement or whether they COULD have done anything to prevent the same. Its going up in appeal, and I feel its on this point the the appeal court will disagree with Judge Wilson. He concludes that there was no direct contribution to the infringement and nothing that could have been done to prevent the same. He's relied on, in part, the SONY - VCR decision. Its on this part the the appeal judge will differ. He will say that much more could have been done to curtail infringing use of the software. Me thinks. I guess ! Mukund