INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Does an Anti-Piracy Plan Quash the First Amendment? (NYT)
Scientists Drop Plan to Present Music-Copying Study (NYT)
INTERNET
Bills To Extend Net-Tax Moratorium Debut In Congress (WP)
Panel Explores Net's Impact on Sense of Self (SJM)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
DOES AN ANTI-PIRACY PLAN QUASH THE FIRST AMENDMENT?
Issue: Intellectual Property
Does the fair use doctrine of copyright law, which permits uncompensated use
of copyrighted works in some circumstances, such as in teaching, research
and news gathering, entitle the scholar, reporter or others to gain access
to the copyrighted work in the first place -- especially when the material
is guarded by a technological device designed to prevent digital piracy?
This question is at the heart of a closely-watched
copyright and First Amendment case, "Universal City Studios v. Reimerdes."
Last year, eight major studios filed suit against Eric Corley, editor and
publisher of a hacker publication, for posting software that unlocks the
information in an encrypted DVD movie
disk. Civil liberties groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in
support of Corley, claiming that the First Amendment absolutely requires
that would-be fair users have the right to use certain information -- such
as decryption software -- to gain access to copyrighted works. The
plaintiffs, however, have argued that the First Amendment does
not require that would-be fair users gain access to books and movies.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/27/technology/27CYBERLAW.html)
(requires registration)
SCIENTISTS DROP PLANS TO PRESENT MUSIC-COPYING STUDY
Issue: Intellectual Property
In the face of strong objections from the recording industry, a group of
computer scientists who had successfully defeated an industry
copy-protection system abruptly withdrew the paper detailing their research
from a scientific conference yesterday. The dispute grew out of a contest
created by a music industry standards group, the Secure Digital Music
Initiative (SDMI), to remove a digital "watermark" from a musical
recording. But SDMI has claimed that the technical details of their
achievement could not be publicly disclosed because of limits established by
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Organizers of the conference
said they were concerned about the effect of the industry's actions on
academic freedom.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Maroff ]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/27/technology/27MUSI.html)
(requires registration)
INTERNET
BILLS TO EXTEND NET-TAX MORATORIUM DEBUT IN CONGRESS
Issue: E-Commerce
Several bills to have been introduced in Congress that would extend the
Internet tax moratorium anywhere from three to six years. The moratorium,
which is set to expire this October, does not ban online sales taxes per
se. Most of the legislation that has come out this year shows some
support for its extension, but state and local government supporters
--mainly Democrats -- have come out in favor of allowing states remote
use-tax collections, if those states first simplify their tax systems.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan ]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/9345-1.html)
PANEL EXPLORES NET'S IMPACT ON SENSE OF SELF
Issue: Internet
Although the Internet revolution has allowed people to create meaningful
communities around shared interests, it paradoxically also has resulted in
isolation, panelists at the "Technology and Us -- A Vision for the Future''
conference, presented by the Santa Clara University Center for Science,
Technology and Society. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
David Halberstam, said that online communication partially responsible a
breakdown in family and community relationships. "I think more and more
people in this country feel less and less connected," he said. "We aren't
connected really to work. We haven't served in military units together.
There is less and less texture, and people feel more frustrated."
[SOURCE: Washington Post , AUTHOR: Jessie Seyfer]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/vision042701.htm)
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