Cablevision Lawsuit Didn’t Stop Innovation
Yesterday the Supreme Court declined to hear the television and movie producers' appeal from a Second Circuit decision which held that Cablevision's new Remote Server DVR did not violate copyright law. This case is a complex copyright case and it is easy to get lost in the weeds. However, I think there is value in looking at the big picture here. The lawsuit didn't stop innovation and the court decisions in Cablevision's favor didn't somehow open the door for innovation to [...]
Third Verse, Same as the First? Open Gov Initiative, Phase 3
Phase three of the White House's Open Government Initiative ends this Sunday, and with it a tripartite experiment on receiving public comment about how to make government more open. This is of course an important and monumental milestone. Never before have we seen the intersection of technology and public input to guide a governmental process on the front-end. Sure, we've been able to sound-off via email to our legislators when we support or oppose a bill, or file comments on [...]
World Copyright Summit: What does gridlock have to do with copyright?
Recently, CISAC hosted the World Copyright Summit in Washington,DC. Having been to my share of intellectual property conferences, I didn't expect to hear anything new or interesting. And while some panels did indeed beat the dead horse dead, a few panels and speeches presented new ideas and perspectives. Mark Heller, a Columbia Law School professor, introduced us to the term "copyright gridlock." Heller stated that too much ownership of something, even copyright, creates "gridlock". In other words, when something is divided into lots of parts, each of which is privately owned [...]
IP Education — Gettin’ ’em Young
A few weeks ago I blogged about the various events that were held around town in conjunction with World IP Day on April 26. At one of the events, there was talk about how to put an end to a culture of piracy among young people. The USPTO showcased their InventNow educational campaign, created in conjunction with the Ad Council and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, to educate kids early on the process of coming up with cool ideas [...]
When You’re Getting Software or Other Stuff on the ‘Net for Free, what are the Costs?
Come one, come all. ACT will be hosting a lunch event next Tuesday (June 23) at noon on privacy, free software, and government procurement. We’ll discuss “free” software (ie. no license fees, free as in beer). It’s a nuanced take on some of what Chris Anderson will surely be talking about in his upcoming book on Free—where does the $ come from in software that we all use for free on the web, or that we download to our computer? [...]
David and Goliath Redux: Why We Filed an Amicus in TiVo vs. Echostar
Then David said to Goliath, Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield but I come to thee with naught but a sling and stone. The story of David and Goliath is a familiar tale, but the modern retelling in the form of TiVo vs. EchoStar has an unfamiliar twist. Instead of relying on its already sizeable advantages in money, power, distribution, and legal firepower, Goliath has asked the judge over and over [...]