Attorney General Eric Holder Defends Aaron Swartz Case (CNET)
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder defended the criminal case against Aaron Swartz, denying that Justice Department prosecutors engaged in any wrongdoing, and that the penalties sought represented a “good use of prosecutorial discretion.”
Imagining a Swap Meet for E-Books and Music (The New York Times)
New Amazon and Apple patents for a digital marketplace describe what is essentially a gigantic swap meet that could shake up the already beleaguered book and music industries.
Movie Sales Increased With Shutdown of Piracy Sites (The Wall Street Journal)
A new study found that closure of cyber locker site Megaupload last year led to more digital sales and rentals for two major movie studios in 12 countries including the U.S.
Amazon’s Quest for Web Names Draws Foes (The Wall Street Journal)
Large and small companies are vying for control of an array of new Internet domain names, but Amazon’s plans are coming under particular scrutiny. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers are objecting to Amazon’s request for ownership of such addresses as “.book” and “.author.”
3D Printing Gunmaker Forms Company to Flout Copyright Law, à la The Pirate Bay (Ars Technica)
Texan gunsmith and law student Cody Wilson has formed a company called DefCAD, which he hopes to turn into “the world’s first unblockable, open-source search engine for 3D printable parts…[with] no takedowns. Ever.”
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Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.