INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Legal Expert Sees Light Focused on Napster Users (NYT)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
New Report Finds Flaws in Internet Filters (EPIC)
M.I.T. Media Lab Will Expand to India (NYT)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
LEGAL EXPERT SEES LIGHT FOCUSED ON NAPSTER USERS
Issue: Intellectual Property
This week, a federal appeals court found it likely that the Napster, the
popular online music-swapping service, illegally aided others in violating
copyright law. Boiled down, the federal appeals court found it likely that
the popular online music-swapping service illegally aided others in
violating copyright law. Ian C. Ballon, an expert in Internet law and a
partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a California law firm, likens the
decision to the lights coming back on after a prolonged blackout. "Sometimes
when there's a power failure in a city, and the lights go out, someone might
throw a rock through a window and people may begin taking things out of
stores," Mr. Ballon said. "The fact that hundreds of people carry off
televisions and stereos and do it for free doesn't mean it's legal," he
added. One result of the appeals court's decision, which ultimately modified
a broad injunction issued by a lower court, is that Napster and the music
industry have more time to create a legitimate system for distributing MP3
music files.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/16/technology/16CYBERLAW.html))
MEDIA & SOCIETY
NEW REPORT FINDS FLAWS IN INTERNET FILTERS
Issue: Internet
A study by Consumer Reports finds that filtering products have significant
flaws. The report
(http://www.consumerreports.org/Special/ConsumerInterest/Reports/0103fil0.ht
ml) notes that "filters block harmless sites merely because their software
does not consider the context in which a word or phrase is used. Far more
troubling is where filter appears to block legitimate sites based on moral
or political value judgments." EPIC's 1997 report, Faulty Filters, was one
of the first to document the negative impact of content blocking systems.
EPIC will join the American Civil Liberties Union in a legal challenge to
the recently enacted federal filtering mandate.
[SOURCE: Electronic Privacy Information Center]
(http://www.epic.org/)
M.I.T. MEDIA LAB WILL EXPAND TO INDIA
Issue: International
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, a well-known incubator
for futuristic technologies, has announced plans to expand to India. Largely
funded by corporate sponsors, the original U.S. Media Lab was founded in
1985 by technology expert Nicholas Negroponte and works in a variety of new
media and other technology fields. Current projects include everything from
interactive cinema to wearable computers. In India, the lab would
concentrate on development and education issues. "It's not how can we bring
the latest multimedia workstation to people," said executive director Walter
Bender. "(It's) how can we bring technology that's going to empower them,
and we think we have some ideas about how to make this happen."
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-MIT-Lab-India.html)
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