Industry Insider
May 11 -- Russel Brand to host MTV Awards; Senators clash over Internet privacy
Industry Spotlight
Russell Brand to host MTV Movie Awards
May 10, 2012 – New York Daily News
Slacker Radio Launches Beastie Boys-Themed Station
May 8, 2012 - Artistdirect.com
Amazon says Kindle owners can lend Harry Potter e-books
May 10, 2012 - Reuters
Apple tech goes ape crazy with the iPad
May 9, 2012 – ZDNet (blog)
Sony Selects AU for New Digital Media Academy
May 7, 2012 - Newswise
Bonnaroo gets a YouTube channel
May 10, 2012 – USA TODAY
Microsoft announces $99 Xbox 360 with two-year contract
May 7, 2012 – ZDNet (blog)
Politics & Policy
I. Data Caps & Competition
Sen. Al Franken Questions Comcast's Handling of NBC Acquisition
Authored by Alex Ben Block on May 7, 2012 – Hollywood Reporter
In a letter to the FCC and Dept. of Justice, Minnesota U.S. Senator and former comedian Al Franken suggests Comcast is not dealing fairly with competitors as promised.
Franken’s letter comes in the wake of a decision last week by the FCC to force Comcast to give better placement to the Bloomberg news channel on its cable systems. “I am pleased that the Commission finally acted on this complaint last week,” wrote Franken, “but I remain disappointed that this dispute languished before the Commission for more than ten months.”
Noting Comcast has already said it plans to appeal the ruling concerning Bloomberg, and in light of other complaints from smaller companies and independent distributors, especially those who offer content over the internet, Franken said the failure to take prompt action becomes a tool for Comcast to use its size and power to control the distribution of content, which violates the agreement made at the time of the NBC deal.
“I am concerned that these sorts of delays always inure to the benefit of Comcast and give Comcast further incentive to challenge any aspect of its compliance with the merger order,” wrote Franken.
II. IP Enforcement: Website Seizures
Hip-Hop Copyright Case Had Little Explanation
Authored by Ben Sisario on May 6, 2012 – New York Times
Over Thanksgiving weekend 2010, a popular hip-hop blog, Dajaz1.com, was shut down as part of a sweep by federal authorities of dozens of Web sites suspected of copyright infringement and selling counterfeit goods. A year later, the government dropped its case against Dajaz1 and returned the site to its owner. But why?
Little explanation was given at the time, and the answer is still unclear. But court documents released last week offer a window into the investigation, and reveal some of the finger-pointing between the government and the industry groups that push for copyright enforcement.
The papers, unsealed after a request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the California First Amendment Coalition and Wired magazine, show that prosecutors in the case made three secret requests for more time to file paperwork on the seizure of the site. As part of those requests, the government’s investigator said he was awaiting information about the content on Dajaz1 from “rights holders” and the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group that had pointed the authorities to the sites in the first place.
III. Digital Brief: Termination of Rights
Village People Songwriter Wins Case Over Termination of Rights
Authored by Eriq Gardner on May 8, 2012 - Hollywood Reporter
A California federal judge has given original Village People singer Victor Willis a big victory in a case that has been closely followed in the music industry.
Last year, Willis terminated rights to his share of 33 of the group's songs, including the monster hit "Y.M.C.A."Scorpio Music and Can’t Stop Productions, the two companies that administer publishing rights to the group's songs, reacted by going to court for a judgment that Willis couldn't regain control over his work.
On Monday, California judge Barry Ted Moskowitz rejected the publishers' claims, granting Willis' motion to dismiss.
The dispute was more than 35 years in the making, after Congress lengthened the copyright term but decided that artists who had created works at the early stage of their careers but handed their rights over without much bargaining power should be the beneficiaries of the latter portions of the newly extended term.
IV. Online Privacy
Senators clash over Internet privacy
Authored by Andrew Feinberg on May 9, 2012 – The Hill (blog)
Senate Democrats called for implementation of the Obama administration's privacy framework at a hearing Wednesday afternoon, during which Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) clashed with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on the need for privacy protections of any kind.
While Rockefeller admitted there remains no consensus on what privacy legislation should look like, he pledged to work with colleagues to develop a bill to "push the industry to develop strong consumer privacy protections."
"Consumers need strong protections and simple to understand rules, and easy to understand privacy policies rather than incomprehensible legalese," he said.
Toomey said he remains skeptical about the need to pass legislation.
More Articles...
- YouTube promotes channels, pledges $200 mil in ads; FTC chief weighs in on online privacy report
- April 27 -- Microsoft preps Spotify-like Music Service
- April 20 -- Netflix CEO Accuses Comcast of Violating Net Neutrality
- April 13 -- Music Industry Strikes Historic Deal on Mechanical Royalty Rates
- Aug 12 -- Data Caps Could Cut Artists off from the Cloud
- Jul 29 - Sundance announces streaming deals with Apple’s iTunes, Amazon, YouTube
- Jul 22 -- Microsoft drops into social gaming from the cloud; Internet bill could help hackers,experts warn
- July 8 -- RealNetworks’ Unifi cloud service goes live; Law professors say PROTECT IP Act unconstitutional
- American Idol iTunes sales to benefit Japan; Obama "IP czar" wants felony charges for illegal Web streaming
- Mar 11 - Microsoft Kinect Sells Record 10 Million Units; Proposed Bill Would Put Curbs on Data Gathering
- Mar 4 - Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft Make Top 10 List; Downloads Might Save Music Industry
- Feb 25 - MTV Launches Digital Music Awards; U.S. Anti-Child Pornography Op Accidentally Shuts Down 84,000 Sites
- Jan 7 - Microsoft 'Windows TV' at CES; 'Do Not Track' Rules Could Dramatically Change Internet Experience
- YouTube Stars Host Charity Telethon; Performance Rights Act Gains Co-sponsors
- Nov 19 - Beatles Dominate iTunes Top 200 Lists; Senate Anti-Piracy Bill Provokes Battle
- Nov 12 - One-third of Top Grossing iPhone Apps Free; GOP-led House May Take Different Slant on Music Issues
