Displaying items by tag: Copyright

The system of Copyright, Patents and Trademarks has a long history in the US and around the world. Originally the system was developed to protect the individual inventor or artists. It allows them to benefit from their work or inventions for a limited period of time as a form of compensation for bringing a new technology or art to the world. This system worked very well when it was individuals who were seeking the protection. Patent laws at the time also required that the inventor be able to demonstrate their inventions before the patents were granted.

Late last night there was an interesting tweet from the flamboyant owner of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom. The tweet announced in excited tones: “BREAKING NEWS: The High Court just ruled the release of restrained assets to cover our legal fees in New Zealand.” This is a major victor for the besieged Dotcom and Megaupload. It means that the High Courts in New Zealand are seeing the same thing that many legal experts are seeing; the US with the backing of Hollywood has been trying to prevent Dotcom and Megaupload from offering a proper defense.

Last week a flurry of articles popped up showing that Microsoft had sent improper DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take down notices claiming infringing material on sites that criticized their new Metro (or not Metro) UI. The move appeared to be done in order to directly harm these sites search rating. Some of the sites affected were Betanews.com, ngohq.com, gHacks.com, Hardware Canuck.com Technize.com and more. It was a very unusual move, but one that we predicted after Google changed their search algorithm to reduce site’s search rankings after “valid” DMCA takedown notices were received.

The latest IRS tax filling for 2010 shows that the MPAA's revenue has been falling for a few years and it continues to do so. Over the last 3 years their anti-piracy budget has been reduced from $92.8 million to $49.6 million. This is a result of major Hollywood studios lowering MPAA funding. Membership dues precipitated from $84.7 million to $41.5 million, making it more than 50% decline in the same period.

Last night the verdict was handed down from the jury in the Samsung V Apple and in a staggering leap of logic the 9 person jury found for that Samsung was guilty of willful infringement on the majority of patents that Apple presented, but that Apple had not infringed at all on the Samsung patents. Then they found that Samsung was not-guilty of Anti-Trust behavior for those attempting to enforce those same patents.  Although our initial reaction was shock, after reading the details of the verdict and taking into account how the trial was handled by Judge Lucy Koh we were actually not surprised.

Two days ago, (8-20-2012) we highlighted a new push by the copyright industry to stomp out piracy. It was something that we noticed with recent filings from the MPAA, RIAA and other companies that are interested in maintaining their copyright monopolies around the globe. This was the habit of adding in the words fraud, conspiracy, and anything that can make the case a larger issue and allow for asset seizure and harsher penalties against sites that the entertainment industry has targeted for removal. All of this started with the Megaupload case, which was the apparent test bed for this new push.

Apple unsurprisingly has launched another attempt at banning a product they see as a threat and so are trying to use the same tired old line that claims Phone X is a “copycat” This time they are going after the Galaxy Nexus. Now this is a phone that looks nothing like any of the iPhones in size, shape or anything else for that matter. Even the icons are different. Still Apple uses the claim that it is a copycat of the iPhone. We are not even sure how this is still being allowed in US courts. The simple fact of the matter here is that Apple has become an overzealous patent troll. What makes this even worse is that their patents in most cases are predated by significant prior art and patents owned by other people.

Although we have covered many aspects of the ridiculous charges and case against Megaupload and its founder we have only talked about how it could happen in minor detail. However, bolstered on the back of the success at using these tactics the entertainment industry has shifted its focus and is pushing these out across the globe to bring down as many sites as they can. It does not appear to matter if the sites in question are actually guilty of copyright infringement or even if they host any content. All that matters is that they want to prove conspiracy and when possible fraud and/or money laundering.

It seems that there is the potential for peace after all between Samsung and Apple. As we have told you over the past few weeks, the patent trial between Samsung and Apple has been a much more tactical event than the show we expected. Both sides have presented many witnesses to support their claims, but were hampered by a time limit imposed by Judge Lucy Koh. The time limit is not unheard of in cases like this as it prevents either side from trying to monopolize time and can help keep things to the facts. We would have to say that Judge Koh’s decision was at least partially successful.

With the introduction of the Internet as a consumer product the world was changed forever. I am not just talking about new levels of communication and new revenue streams for companies that burst onto the scene, but the way that files were moved back and forth between systems. Although the sharing of applications, music and files was happening long before the internet existed this new medium made things easier to pass these files between users. The first of the sharing sites started to show up and the rest was history.