Category Information and Communications Technology/ Broadcasting

US Lawmakers Seek IP Enforcement Agency; Satellite Radio Royalties Set

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
A bipartisan group of US legislators is calling for tougher civil and criminal penalties for copyright and trademark infringement through new legislation introduced last week. Meanwhile, the US Library of Congress Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has set royalties for satellite radio services, as webcast radio companies lobbied for rate parity.

The "Prioritising Resources and Organisation for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 (PRO IP)," introduced 5 December, would create an IP enforcement czar, establish a new IP division in the Department of Justice, and authorise the appointment of IP officers to help foreign countries combat piracy and counterfeiting.

Verizon Executive Discusses Telecom’s Move To Open Access

By Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - Verizon Wireless, in a surprise move for a company known to fiercely protect its network from outside use, announced on 27 November that it would adopt an "open-access" policy for the use of its wireless services. This means that third-party devices, including Google's still in-development mobile-phone operating system Android, will be able to use the Verizon network, and opens the way for a global expansion for the telecommunications company.

Speaking at investment bank UBS's Annual Global Media Conference in New York on 5 December, Verizon President and Chief Operating Officer Denny Strigl explained the choice.

France’s Online Anti-Piracy Plan Comes Under Scrutiny

By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
Legal experts and consumer rights groups are questioning the feasibility of measures described in an anti-piracy pact that French media groups, government officials, and Internet service providers (ISPs) announced on 23 November.

ISPs also dispute the veracity of media reports that have since claimed that access providers will begin to actively monitor and block peer-to-peer file exchanges in France.

The anti-piracy agreement describes a number of possible measures that could prevent illegal distribution of copyright-protected digital media in France.

Film Industry Touts ISP Partners In Filtering Online Content

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
NEW YORK - Internet service providers are going to lead the monitoring of networks to ensure they are not being used for infringing purposes in the entertainment industry's seemingly endless battle to maintain control over where their content is distributed, and to whom, Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman said Tuesday.

Glickman, speaking at the 35th Annual UBS Global Media & Communications Conference on 5 December, said his organisation - which represents the motion picture, home video and television industries - is working with telephone, cable and Internet companies, most notably AT&T, to ensure their networks are not being used to illegally share or download content. The relationship is somewhat ironic given the entertainment industry's rocky history with the ISP community and its previous efforts to force telecommunications companies like Verizon to reveal the identities of customers who infringe copyrights on peer-to-peer filing systems.

France To Require Internet Service Providers To Filter Infringing Music

By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
French record labels and Internet service providers (ISPs) have agreed on a ground-breaking plan to fight online music piracy. Among other things, the 23 November memorandum of understanding requires Internet access providers to experiment with filters to block infringing files.

Making ISPs shoulder more responsibility for copyright violations on their networks while leaving intact their immunity from liability for content for which they are "mere conduits" represents a sea-change in the interpretation of the European Union E-Commerce Directive, said attorney Winston Maxwell of Hogan & Hartson.

Internet Service Providers Fear Trend Toward Liability For Content

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
The rising trend of holding Internet service provider (ISPs), host and platform operators liable for third party violations of laws relating to copyright, competition and the protection of minors is of increasing concern to industry associations like the Association of the German Internet Economy, known as Eco.

At Eco's annual meeting in Cologne last week, Malte Gosau, legal counsel for Easynet (a network and hosting operator owned by BSkyB), said: "Recent court decisions push providers to go abroad to start new business models, as they risk being taken to court over third party violations of the law if they provide a commercial platform, a forum, online games or bets."