Managing Rights Management

A Digital Rights Management Protection Act?

Commenting on the proposed settlement in one of the Sony DRM-related lawsuits, Canadian law professor and blogger Michael Geist suggests that the terms of the settlement might be the basis for a Digital Rights Management Protection Act: While many of these obligations should be standard operating procedure and not require... Read more →

Proposed Settlement in Sony Suit

According to a blog posting by Alex Eckelberry on the Sunbelt Software blogsite, a preliminary settlement in a lawsuit against Sony has been filed in court. The proposed settlement is outlined in the blogicle. The 42 page court document is also available on the Sunbelt site here. As of the... Read more →

Recently Published Patent Applications

Every Thursday, the US Patent and Trademark Office publishes pending patent applications. Publication has no bearing on whether a patent will eventually be issued based on the application. Still, issued patents and published applications are often indicators of what people have been thinking about and the kinds of things that... Read more →

Recently Issued Patents

The US Patent Office issues new patents on Tuesdays. Issued patents and published applications may be early indicators of the kinds of issues being addressed by inventors and/or the companies for whom they work. Assigned to the first patent addresses ways of obfuscating data. Assigned to Microsoft, the second patent... Read more →

The Year In Canadian Tech Law

Law professor Michael Geist is an astute observer of the legal scene who comments on rights and their management from time to time, including this A to Z list of 2005 happenings up North. Read more →

2005 Winners and Losers - P2P

Thomas Mennecke's end of the year review of P2P winners and losers is worth a look. Winners: BitTorrent, Apple Computer, LimeWire, Open Source P2P, and thePirateBay. Losers: RIAA, SonyBMG, Sharman Networks, Grokster, and pay P2P. Mennecke also opines that the SonyBMG rootkit fiasco may be the death knell of DRM.... Read more →

2006: The Year of MP3s and Stealth P2P

The BBC Website article by Jane Wakefield quotes music industry watchers as predicting that in 2006 at least one major music label will release music in MP3 format (presumably on CDs). The article also contains a prediction that new P2P networks will appear in 2006 whose users cannot be logged... Read more →

Cell Phones: Music, Sure, But Video?

The Boston Globe has a brief interview with Sprint Nextel's COO, Len Lauer regarding their investment in next generation wireless. A couple of interesting points. First, will consumers pay $2.50 per tune rather than the iPod 99 cents simply for the privilege of copying, burning, etc.? The music industry seems... Read more →

Mom Fights Downloading Suit on Her Own

Jim Fitzgerald's piece for the AP regarding the battle of Patricia Santangelo against the RIAA is worth a read. Check out the Recording Industry vs The People blog site as well. Lots of useful information there. Snippets from the Fitzgerald article: Jon Newton, founder of an Internet site critical of... Read more →

Recently Published Patent Applications

Every Thursday, the US Patent and Trademark Office publishes pending patent applications. Publication has no bearing on whether a patent will eventually be issued based on the application. Still, issued patents and published applications are often indicators of what people have been thinking about and the kinds of things that... Read more →