Internet Service Providers to begin filtering out copyright-infringing peer-to-peer content on their networks

The Guardian reports that Internet Service Providers might soon start filtering their networks for illicit music.  This comes “after a ruling in Belgium, where the local ISP, Scarlet (which was once part of Tiscali) has been given six months to begin filtering out infringing peer-to-peer content on its network. The court recommended that the ISP investigate Audible Magic, an audio fingerprinting application which dips into files as they are being transferred and tries to determine whether they are in fact copyrighted music; it can then block their transfer.  The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry welcomed the decision, saying it ‘sets an important precedent in the fight against piracy internationally’ because it implements EU legislation.”

Intel general counsel Bruce Sewell expresses his support for the Patent Reform Act of 2007 in an article in the Wall Street Journal today, saying that, if passed, the bill “would improve the process for granting patents, and rebalance court rules and procedures to ensure fair treatment when patents wind up in litigation.” According to Sewell, “Congress needs to pass this bill, during this session, as the need for reform is clear.”

The Register reports that after Viacom slapped Google with a $1bn lawsuit in March over copyrighted videos posted to YouTube, “the National Legal and Policy Center [NLPC] is asking whether the search engine cum world power is facilitating copyright infringement on its home-grown video-sharing site, Google Video.  Today, the NLPC posted a list of 50 copyrighted movies and TV shows that it says have been hosted by Google Video, including everything from Columbia’s recent Spiderman 3 flick, Disney’s Meet the Robinsons, and Warner Brothers’ Blood Diamond to a French dub of ‘Miami Vice.’”

According to Reuters, “Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Atlanta-based AT&T Inc.’s wireless unit will work together to build a high-speed mobile network throughout Hawaii, catering to Japanese tourists.”

In an interesting LA Times article entitled “Is Google’s data grinder dangerous?”, Silicon Valley insider Andy Keen writes that what Google really wants is “to dominate. Its proposed $3.1-billion acquisition of DoubleClick threatens to make the company utterly dominant in the online advertising business. The $1.65-billion acquisition of YouTube last year made it by far the dominant player in the online video market. And, with a personalized service like iGoogle, the company is seeking to become the algorithmic monopolist of our online behavior.   So when Eric Schmidt says Google wants to know us better than we know ourselves, he is talking to his shareholders rather than us. As a Silicon Valley old-timer, trust me on this one. I know Google better than it knows itself.”