Content Capers
It’s refreshing to see the mighty content cartels stumble headlong in their mad rush to stifle the new Napster, thereby eliciting a helpful clarification on fair use rights from U.S. Courts.
From EFF’s Deep Links:
Judge Marilyn Patel issued a ruling Wednesday that settles an important question in the ongoing Napster (yes, Napster) case — whether under the law, simply offering copyrighted material to others (say, by listing it in an index) means you’re distributing it.[..]
In other words, copyright holders have to prove that someone actually downloaded the file from you before you can be found liable for distributing. The simple act of offering isn’t enough.
If the name seems familiar, it’s because the same judge brought the hammer down on Napster’s first incarnation, five years ago. Patel was also instrumental in helping to lift the ban on U.S. exports of cryptographic technology, when she issued a ruling in 1996 stating that government restrictions on the distribution of encryption software violate First Amendment rights of free speech.
Content commisars suffered another setback earlier this month, as it seems likely that the embattled broadcast flag will never be raised. Reprisals followed soon after, of course. According to Slashdot:
The DVD Decrypter author has announced that he has been served with an order to cease his development of DVD Decrypter. The developer has been forced to hand over all source code and the domain that he was using. It is thought that it could be Sony who have served this notice, as it is rumoured that he broke their new copyright protection within 72 hours of its release.
By “some law that was changed back in October 2003″, which makes circumventing copy protection illegal, LIGHTNING UK! is probably referring to the DMCA (its’ European equivalent is the EUCD, passed on March 10, 2004 and already implemented in Greece according to the Wikipedia).
The offending software can still be found on the Internet, if one would be inclined to seek it out… and fast enough to snag a copy from one of the rapidly disappearing mirrors!
Update
(16:20): In other news, the british government plans to extend copyright protection for pop music to a round century; the reasoning behind this is that record companies will use the extra revenue to nurture new talent. If you’re buying that, or believe that like-minded governments plan on stopping anywhere short of uniformly extending copyright forever, in small increments, I have a bridge to sell you…
