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JackSpratts · 22-11-02, 02:41 PM

Volume 1, Number 1.

First Issue

P2P Escapes Hatchet. Congress Adjourns – No Change.
By Roy Mark

Despite a lot of sound and fury, not to mention a raft of competing and
conflicting legislation, the 107th Congress ultimately passed no laws to resolve the long-running and bitter digital copyright feud between the entertainment industry and peer-to-peer file swapping services.

Events outside Capitol Hill, however, are pushing the issue to an acrimonious brink with lawsuits stacking up like cordwood in the courts and lobbyists for both sides already preparing battle plans for the 108th Congress which convenes on Jan. 7.

Despite the giga dollars spent by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and their allies to shut down sites like Napster, piracy is still endemic on the Internet with Kazaa, Morpheus, Madster and other file swapping sites still operating.

In the 107th Congress, which quietly closed its doors on business Friday, outgoing Senate Commerce Chairman Fritz Hollings (D.-S.C.) introduced unsuccessful legislation that would require computer makers to install copy-protection technology in personal computers and other consumer electronic devices. Incoming Chairman John McCain (R.-Ariz.), though, is said to oppose such a plan.
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/1546891

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P2P Judge Considers Jurisdiction

By Scarlet Pruitt

In a case that tests global jurisdiction issues, a U.S. federal judge is set to consider Monday whether entertainment companies can sue in U.S. courts the off-shore distributor of the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing software.

The company behind the popular peer-to-peer software, Sharman Networks Ltd., is incorporated in the island nation of Vanuatu, operates out of Australia, and distributes the software from servers located outside of the U.S.

Los Angeles District Court Judge Stephen Wilson is slated to decide if the entertainment companies may sue Sharman Networks for allowing the illegal trading of their copyright works over the company's peer-to-peer network in U.S. courts.

Sharman Networks is arguing that it has no substantial contacts in the U.S. and therefore the companies lack jurisdiction to take it to court here.
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/1122kazaa.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stanford Ponders Bandwidth, P2P

By Helen Kim

Not many students seem to know what their rights are when it comes to computer and Internet usage on campus; some even believe that they will get shut down if they download certain files in exorbitant amounts. While these rumors exaggerate the extent of the University’s control over the network, the administration’s controversial policy of “traffic shaping” has drawn criticism from Stanford’s own employees.

According to Newsweek, Yale University prohibits people from using online file- sharing services such as Kazaa on the university network. Administrators from Stanford, on the other hand, said that the University conducts subtler regulation and enforces content-monitoring policies that restrict computer usage for the overall benefit of the network’s effectiveness.

Ethan Rikleen, network and systems administrator at Residential Computing, said that Stanford does not have a specific policy restricting students from downloading files.

“I would imagine that the Networking office has the right to look into an area of traffic if there is a problem,” Rikleen said. “Other than that, there is no monitoring that I know of. It’s not easy to tell what people are getting. Even if you can tell that people are using Kazaa, you can’t tell if the content is legal or not.”
http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page...=0001_article#

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tech, Entertainment Take On Copyrights
By Declan McCullagh

WASHINGTON--Technology and entertainment lobbyists will sit down at the negotiating table Friday to seek a resolution to the long-running political spat over digital copyright.

About 20 lobbyists are expected to meet at the Eye Street offices of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), just two blocks from the White House, to try and find common ground before the new Congress starts in January 2003.

The companies and trade associations represented at the closed-door meeting include Microsoft, Verizon Communications, the Business Software Alliance, AOL Time Warner, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Fox Entertainment Group.

"We're pleased that so many people who are important players in this debate are willing to sit down with us to discuss the consumer perspective on digital copyright," said Alan Davidson, CDT's deputy director.

Political tension between the tech industry and the media industry has rarely been more acute. Faced with mass piracy on peer-to-peer networks and increasingly efficient technologies under development, the MPAA and its allies in the recording industry have asked Congress for sweeping new laws.

Senate Commerce Chairman Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., has introduced legislation to forcibly implant copy- protection technology in PCs and consumer electronic devices. Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C. hope to allow copyright holders to disrupt peer-to-peer networks where infringing activity is taking place.
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-966833.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Branson’s Virgin Streams Tunes Using P2P

By Erick Schonfeld

You just can't keep a good technology down. Napster may be long gone and its successors, Kazaa and Morpheus, may be under fire, but their underlying peer- to-peer technology keeps popping up in new and interesting places.

On Monday, Richard Branson's Internet radio subsidiary Radio Free Virgin will launch an upgraded version of its subscription service -- called Royal -- that will allow people to listen to more than 50 commercial-free radio stations with CD-quality sound for $5 a month. Included are stations dedicated to the work of individual bands, such as Beck, Sonic Youth, and U2, as well as channels with a more varied roster of rock, lounge, blues, and classical tunes. What is notable about the service is that its distribution mechanism relies on peer-to-peer technology.

Radio Free Virgin does not operate a file-swapping site. Rather, it is a music streaming site that functions much like the radio -- except it delivers music over the Internet instead of over the airwaves and you listen to it on your computer. Since the music is streamed and not downloaded, it disappears after each note is heard, so Virgin avoids the legal bear trap associated with shared files. In fact, Radio Free Virgin pays a royalty for each song it streams, just like a regular radio station.

But it distributes those songs using software -- from a company called Blue Falcon Networks -- that is based on the same peer-to-peer principles as Kazaa and Morpheus. "We're taking the technology often associated with file-trading and applying it to a legitimate business," says Josh Goldman, CEO of Blue Falcon (and the founder of comparison-shopping website MySimon, now owned by CNET (CNET)). Other companies, such as Kontiki and Uprizer, offer similar software, but Blue Falcon is making the most strides with Internet radio. (Boston's National Public Radio station is also using Blue Falcon's software, and a major cable channel is planning to launch a new digital music and video service based on it.)
http://www.business2.co.uk/articles/...,45509,FF.html

- js.

22-11-02, 02:41 PM	#1
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	Peer-To-Peer News - Week Ending Nov. 23 Volume 1, Number 1. *First Issue* P2P Escapes Hatchet. Congress Adjourns – No Change. By Roy Mark Despite a lot of sound and fury, not to mention a raft of competing and conflicting legislation, the 107th Congress ultimately passed no laws to resolve the long-running and bitter digital copyright feud between the entertainment industry and peer-to-peer file swapping services. Events outside Capitol Hill, however, are pushing the issue to an acrimonious brink with lawsuits stacking up like cordwood in the courts and lobbyists for both sides already preparing battle plans for the 108th Congress which convenes on Jan. 7. Despite the giga dollars spent by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and their allies to shut down sites like Napster, piracy is still endemic on the Internet with Kazaa, Morpheus, Madster and other file swapping sites still operating. In the 107th Congress, which quietly closed its doors on business Friday, outgoing Senate Commerce Chairman Fritz Hollings (D.-S.C.) introduced unsuccessful legislation that would require computer makers to install copy-protection technology in personal computers and other consumer electronic devices. Incoming Chairman John McCain (R.-Ariz.), though, is said to oppose such a plan. http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/1546891 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P2P Judge Considers Jurisdiction By Scarlet Pruitt In a case that tests global jurisdiction issues, a U.S. federal judge is set to consider Monday whether entertainment companies can sue in U.S. courts the off-shore distributor of the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing software. The company behind the popular peer-to-peer software, Sharman Networks Ltd., is incorporated in the island nation of Vanuatu, operates out of Australia, and distributes the software from servers located outside of the U.S. Los Angeles District Court Judge Stephen Wilson is slated to decide if the entertainment companies may sue Sharman Networks for allowing the illegal trading of their copyright works over the company's peer-to-peer network in U.S. courts. Sharman Networks is arguing that it has no substantial contacts in the U.S. and therefore the companies lack jurisdiction to take it to court here. http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2002/1122kazaa.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stanford Ponders Bandwidth, P2P By Helen Kim Not many students seem to know what their rights are when it comes to computer and Internet usage on campus; some even believe that they will get shut down if they download certain files in exorbitant amounts. While these rumors exaggerate the extent of the University’s control over the network, the administration’s controversial policy of “traffic shaping” has drawn criticism from Stanford’s own employees. According to Newsweek, Yale University prohibits people from using online file- sharing services such as Kazaa on the university network. Administrators from Stanford, on the other hand, said that the University conducts subtler regulation and enforces content-monitoring policies that restrict computer usage for the overall benefit of the network’s effectiveness. Ethan Rikleen, network and systems administrator at Residential Computing, said that Stanford does not have a specific policy restricting students from downloading files. “I would imagine that the Networking office has the right to look into an area of traffic if there is a problem,” Rikleen said. “Other than that, there is no monitoring that I know of. It’s not easy to tell what people are getting. Even if you can tell that people are using Kazaa, you can’t tell if the content is legal or not.” http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page...=0001_article# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tech, Entertainment Take On Copyrights By Declan McCullagh WASHINGTON--Technology and entertainment lobbyists will sit down at the negotiating table Friday to seek a resolution to the long-running political spat over digital copyright. About 20 lobbyists are expected to meet at the Eye Street offices of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), just two blocks from the White House, to try and find common ground before the new Congress starts in January 2003. The companies and trade associations represented at the closed-door meeting include Microsoft, Verizon Communications, the Business Software Alliance, AOL Time Warner, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Fox Entertainment Group. "We're pleased that so many people who are important players in this debate are willing to sit down with us to discuss the consumer perspective on digital copyright," said Alan Davidson, CDT's deputy director. Political tension between the tech industry and the media industry has rarely been more acute. Faced with mass piracy on peer-to-peer networks and increasingly efficient technologies under development, the MPAA and its allies in the recording industry have asked Congress for sweeping new laws. Senate Commerce Chairman Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., has introduced legislation to forcibly implant copy- protection technology in PCs and consumer electronic devices. Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C. hope to allow copyright holders to disrupt peer-to-peer networks where infringing activity is taking place. URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-966833.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Branson’s Virgin Streams Tunes Using P2P By Erick Schonfeld You just can't keep a good technology down. Napster may be long gone and its successors, Kazaa and Morpheus, may be under fire, but their underlying peer- to-peer technology keeps popping up in new and interesting places. On Monday, Richard Branson's Internet radio subsidiary Radio Free Virgin will launch an upgraded version of its subscription service -- called Royal -- that will allow people to listen to more than 50 commercial-free radio stations with CD-quality sound for $5 a month. Included are stations dedicated to the work of individual bands, such as Beck, Sonic Youth, and U2, as well as channels with a more varied roster of rock, lounge, blues, and classical tunes. What is notable about the service is that its distribution mechanism relies on peer-to-peer technology. Radio Free Virgin does not operate a file-swapping site. Rather, it is a music streaming site that functions much like the radio -- except it delivers music over the Internet instead of over the airwaves and you listen to it on your computer. Since the music is streamed and not downloaded, it disappears after each note is heard, so Virgin avoids the legal bear trap associated with shared files. In fact, Radio Free Virgin pays a royalty for each song it streams, just like a regular radio station. But it distributes those songs using software -- from a company called Blue Falcon Networks -- that is based on the same peer-to-peer principles as Kazaa and Morpheus. "We're taking the technology often associated with file-trading and applying it to a legitimate business," says Josh Goldman, CEO of Blue Falcon (and the founder of comparison-shopping website MySimon, now owned by CNET (CNET)). Other companies, such as Kontiki and Uprizer, offer similar software, but Blue Falcon is making the most strides with Internet radio. (Boston's National Public Radio station is also using Blue Falcon's software, and a major cable channel is planning to launch a new digital music and video service based on it.) http://www.business2.co.uk/articles/...,45509,FF.html - js.