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[News] New Examples of Intellectual Monopolies Harming Society

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Wal-Mart Abusing Trademark Law To Try To Shut Down Union Website

,----[ Quote ]
| Over the years, we've seen a ton of lawsuits against so-called "gripes" 
| sites: people who set up a site because they feel wronged by a company. 
| Company lawyers will often try to bully such sites, and claim that they're a 
| trademark violations, especially when they use a name like 
| BigCompanySucks.com. The big companies almost always lose such lawsuits. 
| That's because those sites are obviously not from the company itself and 
| don't cause any sort of consumer "confusion" over who runs the sites. Earlier 
| this year, we heard that lawyers were finally starting to recognize that 
| suing gripes sites was not a good idea. First, you would almost certainly 
| lose.         
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090809/1048395817.shtml

Copyright Length And The Life Of Mickey Mouse

,----[ Quote ]
| But, really, the bigger point was made by Boyle, via Twitter, where he noted 
| that we are "the first generation to deny our own culture to ourselves and to 
| drive the point home, he notes that no work created during your lifetime 
| will, without conscious action by its creator, become available for you to 
| build upon. For people who don't recognize the importance of the public 
| domain and the nature of creativity, perhaps this seems like no big deal. But 
| if you look back through history, you realize what an incredibly big deal it 
| is -- and how immensely stifling this is on our culture.        
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090807/0312375803.shtml

Moby Explains RIAA Mindset: Please Make The Future Die

,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bit of an odd pairing, but musician Moby was recently interviewed by 
| Walt Mossberg, and among other things they discussed issues like file sharing 
| and the RIAA's strategy. Moby, of course, has complained about the RIAA's 
| strategy in the past, calling for it to be disbanded following the Jammie 
| Thomas verdict.     
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090811/1717415849.shtml

The latest craze: Free e-books offerings 

,----[ Quote ]
| James Patterson's latest best seller, "The Angel Experiment," is a little 
| different from his usual hits. The novel isn't new; it came out four years 
| ago. Readers aren't picking it up at bookstores, but mostly on the Kindle 
| site at Amazon.com.   
| 
| And the price is low even for an old release: $0.00.
| 
| "I like the notion of introducing people to one book, while promoting the 
| sales of another," says the prolific and mega-selling author (and co-author) 
| of numerous thrillers." His Kindle download is the first book of 
| Patterson's "Maximum Ride" young adult series.   
`----

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090807/ap_on_hi_te/us_free_e_books_3

But Who Will Do Investigative Reporting Without Newspapers?

,----[ Quote ]
| Apparently police and the FBI had been trying to track down members of this 
| group for a while, but some good old investigative reporting -- from a 
| website -- beat them to it.  
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090810/1742115829.shtml

As Expected, Judge Still Bans Real From Selling RealDVD

,----[ Quote ]
| Unfortunately, it appears that judge Marilyn Patel (who was also the judge 
| who killed the original Napster) disagrees. She's issued yet another  
| injunction blocking Real from selling RealDVD, saying that it violates 
| copyright law.  
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090811/2330285852.shtml

Hurricanes Sue Hip Hop Artist For Promoting Team; Artist Sues 'Canes For Not
Paying Him To Promote The Team

,----[ Quote ]
| The use in commercials... however... may be a different story. That would 
| require his authorization, and it's surprising the team would use the song 
| without any official agreement in place beforehand, but it still seems like 
| quite a leap to then sue for copyright infringement.   
| 
| Either way, the competing lawsuits seem pretty silly. It's yet another case 
| of entitlement society. Both sides benefited nicely from the original 
| arrangement: Banks got a lot of free publicity for his song, and the 
| Hurricanes got a song that promoted the team. Win-win.   
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090812/0351225856.shtml

Canadian Copyright Organization: This Is War Against Consumers

,----[ Quote ]
| Copyright isn't a war. It's not us vs. them. It's about creating a system 
| where society is best off and key incentives are in place to create more 
| content. Our own complaints against those who push for stronger copyrights 
| aren't about an "us vs. them" attitude. We've been quite happy to cheer on 
| smart moves by those who have made mistakes before. Our only concerns are 
| that the end result should be the best for everyone. Not a small group of 
| folks trying to protect an old business model.      
| 
| Apparently, Access Copyright thinks the laws are just for them.
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090812/0323245854.shtml

EU Gov't Study: People Won't Pay For Content; New Business Models Needed

,----[ Quote ]
| It goes on to point out that the answers to these questions aren't going to 
| come from lawsuits, but by recognizing how people (especially younger 
| generations) view such things and putting in place business models that work. 
| Still, the report does hedge in places, talking about the need for 
| a "favorable regulatory environment," though it's not at all clear what's 
| meant by that. But it's good to see a gov't report recognizing this is really 
| a business model (and technology) issue, rather than a legal problem as many 
| in the legacy entertainment industry would have you believe.       
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090805/0219445776.shtml

Ending music piracy: the best plan hasn't even been tried

,----[ Quote ]
| A survey of UK youngsters finds that the only paid music service to interest 
| them is a subscription for unlimited permanent downloadsâstreaming just isn't 
| good enough, and buying individual songs is too expensive to appeal.   
`----

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/08/uks-youth-would-pay-for-all-you-can-eat-music-downloads.ars
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