shouting loudly

Internet users in France who use their connections to violate copyright law may lose their connections under a new policy announced this week. In a three-way deal between internet service providers, the French government, and copyright holders, those accused of infringement will receive warnings from their ISPs. If they are identified as continuing to download [...]

In a speech to the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, Warner Music chief Edgar Bronfman warned the mobile industry not to make the music industry’s mistakes in failing to satisfy consumer wishes: “We used to fool ourselves,’ he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected [...]

On Thursday, the US House passed a FISA reform bill without granting immunity to telecommunications companies accused of assisting illegal eavesdropping on US citizens. As we noted last month, the White House and telecoms pressed for retroactive immunity. This pressure has not worked–at least not yet–despite Bush’s threat of a veto.

As we reported earlier, Section 494 of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (pdf) would turn colleges into copyright cops. Now, the bill is in front of the full House thanks to a unanimous committee vote in its favor. The section (on pp. 411-413 of the draft above) requires schools to buy some [...]

As reported by CNet, telecommunication companies may still get retroactive immunity (for helping the NSA’s illegal spying) as part of the FISA reform working its way through the Senate.

Do you or somebody you know have deep interest in new media policy and a summer to burn? Are you interested in a summer in San Francisco or DC with one of several groups, including EFF, CDT, or Public Knowledge? Would $7000 accelerate your decision-making? If so, you should apply for a Google Policy Fellowship. [...]

Two Democratic chairs of key House committees introduced a bill yesterday that would require colleges to police copyright and pay off the entertainment industry. Buried on pages 411 and 412 of the 747-page bill, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (pdf), is the following: Each eligible institution participating in any program under this [...]

Earlier this month, the Oregon State Attorney General, on behalf of the University of Orgegon, filed to quash an RIAA subpoena seeking the names of 17 users accused of copyright infringement. Oregon argues the subpoena represents an undue burden on the school. The RIAA only knows IP addresses, and making the school connect those to [...]

The Canadian government commissioned a study of the effects of peer-to-peer MP3 trading on music sales, and it found downloading to be slightly correlated with buying more music. From my very limited reading, the effect size was small and did not hold for those aged 15 and older. This study is news, though, because it [...]