Canada Tackles Copyright Laws For Digital Age
The Canadian government today signaled the start of what could lead to dramatic reform of copyright law, releasing "consultation papers" that ask how those laws might be rewritten to work in the digital era. The call for wide-ranging modernization of Canadian copyright law could clarify the legal status of iCraveTV-like Internet radio and television retransmitters, and determine what hardware and software consumers can use to play copy-protected DVD movies. Also up for debate are the legal responsibilities of Internet service providers for the copyright-law infractions of their customers.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167203.html
Study Predicts Black Skies Ahead For Newspapers
Compared to other media, newspapers have not lost too much of their audience to the Internet - yet. According to a study that will be released next week, the Internet poses a long-term threat to newspapers because of the way people use the Web to obtain information. The study by the Content Intelligence Group, a division of Lyra Research Inc., found that nearly 60 percent of people expect their Web usage to increase either "somewhat" or "substantially." Fewer than half of respondents expect their usage of newspaper Web sites to increase.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167200.html
Civil Liberties Group Defends Online Scientology Critic
Fearing that fugitive Scientology protester Keith Henson is being unjustly "slimed" by the Church of Scientology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Friday publicly proclaimed its support for the convicted Internet critic, who has taken refuge in Canada from California authorities. "Online civil liberties groups are concerned about what happened to Mr. Henson," EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said today. "We felt the need to counter some of the sliming that is going on by Scientology." Cohn said that during the period surrounding Henson's trial, the Church of Scientology "bombarded" the media with scathing attacks against Henson, who in April was convicted by a California criminal court of threatening to interfere with the church's freedom to practice religion.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167198.html
Microsoft's XP Trashed As Grounds For New Antitrust Suit
The combination of Microsft's Passport, HailStorm and Instant Messaging initiatives in its new Windows XP are grounds enough for another antitrust case against the software giant, according to a white paper released by the some of the company's biggest competitors. "Passport, Hailstorm and Instant Messenger are the last pieces of the architectural puzzle necessary for Microsoft to control commerce and communications on the Internet," said Mike Pettit, president of ProComp, a trade group that includes AOL Time Warner, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle Corp.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167196.html
Hacked EU Site Back Online, But Attack Continues
SaferInternet.org, the European Union-sponsored Web site that was yanked off the Web last week after being hacked twice, is now back online. But it is still being targeted for attack. “The minute the site went back online (Thursday), the log files (were) showing attempts at attack," said Tara Morris, project manager for the site. "We are under sustained attack." Furthermore, the Web site, which is managed for the EU by Ecotec Research and Consulting Ltd. of Birmingham, England (
http://www.ecotec.co.uk), still is not running at 100 percent.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167187.html
Roxio Strikes Back In Tussle With Gracenote
CD-writing software company Roxio [NASDAQ:ROXI] has struck back in a legal battle with song-title collector Gracenote Inc., claiming that Gracenote's patent for technology that automatically can identify a CD's contents was obtained "fraudulently." Roxio's allegations are part of the company's countersuit reply to a controversial lawsuit Gracenote filed in May against Roxio. In that suit, launched after Roxio dropped Gracenote as the online source of song titles for its CD-burning software, Gracenote complained about patent and trademark infringement, in addition to breach of contract. Gracenote's move signaled that the Berkeley, Calif., company formerly known as CDDB might be aggressive in staking a claim to the massive CDDB database and the technology that allows users of Internet-connected CD players to identify millions of song titles.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167175.html
The Intricate Plot Behind 'A.I.' Web Mystery
They called it "The Beast," and the CIA might have envied the secrecy in which it was shrouded. About 50 people worked on the elaborate Web project promoting Steven Spielberg's upcoming movie, A.I. But fewer than 10 — including Spielberg, of course — understood its magnitude. On March 8 a team of Web designers, led by Microsoft, covertly launched a complex of interconnected sites that became the basis for an elaborate Internet game. Clues to a murder are sprinkled across the Net; solving one puzzle leads to the next, in an evolving, interactive mystery.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167179.html
No Bombs Here: Pearl Harbor Books Take Off Like Rockets
This week's shakeup at Disney may be partly due to the not-so-great showing of Pearl Harbor, but when books remember that infamous day, sales soar. Among the scores of Pearl Harbor books released and re-released this spring to coincide with the movie, one has emerged as the standout: a novel from Hyperion based on the soap-opera love triangle that dominates the film. Pearl Harbor, by Randall Wallace, is the only Pearl Harbor-related title on the current New York Times list of bestsellers. Through the week ending June 10, it sold 24,232 copies at Barnes & Noble and B. Dalton stores, outlets whose sales are thought to account for around 20 percent of all U.S. book sales.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?arti...33203&pod_id=8
The AIDS-drug warrior
Every day a new headline emerges touting a victory in the global fight against the AIDS epidemic. One day, a pharmaceutical company announces it will deeply discount its drugs for the African market. The next, Yale University and Bristol-Myers Squibb announce they will no longer enforce their patent on an AIDS drug used in HIV-ravaged South Africa. Then 39 companies abruptly withdraw their lawsuit against the South African government over a 1997 law that would make it easier for the country to produce generic versions of patented drugs or import brand-name drugs from other countries to sell at cheaper prices. All good news, right? Wrong, says Jamie Love. It's just slick humanitarian-flavored spin.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...ove/index.html
End of an affair?
On June 7, four hackers released a software program that threatens to do for TV shows what Napster did for music and DivX may do for movies. The code, called ExtractStream, allows users of TiVo digital video recorders to move compressed copies of television shows from their beloved TiVo boxes into their computers, and beyond. Like many hackers, the programmers saw their unauthorized exploit as a boon to society. "Even though TiVo, understandably, can't admit it," says one member of the group who asked to remain anonymous, "this code's good for everybody." Their optimism is understandable. But ExtractStream's release provoked an unexpectedly vituperative outpouring of criticism from precisely those people who once might have been counted on for hotblooded support.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20...ack/index.html