COPYRIGHT
Experts Say Decision Could Undermine Online Journalists (NYT)
Gov't Will Free Sklyarov In Exchange For Testimony (WP)
SPECTRUM
FCC Reallocates And Adopts Service Rules For Television Channels
52-59 (FCC)
COPYRIGHT
EXPERTS SAY DECISION COULD UNDERMINE ONLINE JOURNALISTS
Issue: Copyright
A recent federal appeals decision has free speech advocates worried that
online journalists may be prevented from using hyperlinks to direct readers
to relevant, newsworthy sites that contain illegal material. Even more
troubling, the critics say, may be an emerging double standard in the way
courts treat traditional print publishers and their online offshoots,
especially when it concerns printing a controversial address in a newspaper
vs. linking to it from a Web page. In a recent decision, a US court of
appeals ruled in favor of the Motion Picture Association of America in its
lawsuit against Eric Corley, upholding an earlier injunction barring him
from posting a software code designed to crack DVD-movie copy protection and
from knowingly linking to any other site on which the software, called
DeCSS, is posted. The decision about Corley's links to the DeCSS code
represents the first time that the federal appeals court has placed Internet
hyperlinks under a legal microscope. The court said that the functional
nature of the hyperlink distinguishes it from its non-electronic print
cousin, because a hyperlink to digital material can result in
"instantaneous worldwide distribution [of prohibited material] before any
preventative measures can be taken." Yochai Benkler, a law professor at
N.Y.U. who also submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the DeCSS case,
arguing that the D.M.C.A. is unconstitutional, said that he believed the
Second Circuit's decision on the linking issue is "vague" and does not
contain concrete guidance for reporters. "The problem is that nobody knows
what the rules are, and in the context of the First Amendment that kind of
vagueness is a real problem," he said. "It results in a tremendous chilling
effect."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/14/technology/circuits/14CYBERLAW.html)
(requires registration)
GOV'T WILL FREE SKLYAROV IN EXCHANGE FOR TESTIMONY
Issue: Copyright
Federal government attorneys today announced that they would drop a criminal
copyright infringement case against Russian software programmer Dmitry
Sklyarov in exchange for Sklyarov's testimony in the case against his
employer - Russian software firm Elcomsoft. Sklyarov had faced the threat of
a 25-year prison term had he been found guilty of violating the copyright
protection language of the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA). Government attorneys alleged that Elcomsoft's "Advanced eBook
Processor," which Sklyarov developed, violated U.S. copyright law by
allowing users to circumvent security features protecting Adobe eBooks.
Under the DMCA, people who provide information about how to violate
copyrights and those who design tools to crack copyrights can be held just
as liable as those who actually misappropriate copyrighted material. Shari
Steele, the executive director of San Francisco-based civil liberties group
the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), praised the exoneration of
Sklyarov, who wrote the program in Russia - which has no equivalent to the
DMCA, but blasted the government for clinging to its prosecution of
Elcomsoft.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David McGuire (Newsbytes.com)]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/14183-1.html)
SPECTRUM
FCC REALLOCATES AND ADOPTS SERVICE RULES FOR TELEVISION CHANNELS 52-59
Issue: Spectrum
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has adopted allocation and
service rules for 48 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum in the 698-746 MHz band
(Lower 700 MHz band) currently occupied by television channels 52-59 in many
markets. This spectrum is being reclaimed for new commercial services as
part of the transition of television broadcasting from analog to digital
transmission systems.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Miscellaneous/News_Releases/2001/nrmc0128.html)
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