Digital Discourse / Archives for Laura Greenback

CNSX Markets Named Outstanding Data Provider by FISD

December 21, 2012 By

FISD presented the 2012 Outstanding Data Provider Award to CNSX  Markets Inc.,  operator of the Canadian National Stock Exchange and Pure Trading. The award was presented at the FISD General Meeting in New York on December 18.

This award was created by the FISD Service Level and Communications Working Group to recognize the exchange or data provider that most closely adheres to the Working Group’s Best Practice Recommendations. These recommendations are guidelines for communication and notification sent by exchanges and information providers to their customers and downstream distribution partners for events such as system upgrades, administrative and policy changes, new product introductions, and unplanned interruptions.

Other nominees for this year’s award were BATS Chi – X Europe, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Oslo Bors.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: FISD Blog Tagged With: ,

NYT Says: Don’t Let Importers Undercut U.S. Publishers’ Sales

November 6, 2012 By

The New York Times published an excellent editorial yesterday that explains how a landmark Supreme Court copyright case could undercut the U.S. information industry. The Times breaks down Kirtsaeng v. Wiley as follows:

At stake in this important and knotty case is whether copyright holders — publishers, filmmakers, musicians and creative artists of all sorts — can sell their copyrighted works abroad at prices different from what they charge in the American market and rely on copyright law to help maintain the separate pricing without having importers profit from the difference.

The case establishes whether the U.S. Copyright Act can be interpreted to allow copyright holders to use sensible market segmentation strategies. SIIA hopes the justices agree that publishers should be able to set lower prices in less-developed countries, without importers snatching their products up and using them to undercut American sales.

This isn’t a new notion–it’s already codified in the Copyright Act. The Times explains:

… the Copyright Act prohibits anyone from importing into the United States copyrighted works without the copyright holder’s approval. That provision would be seriously limited if copies of a work made abroad could be resold by importers in this country without constraint.

When importers exploit discounts that are meant for poor students in undeveloped nations, they aren’t just denying those students an education–they are threatening American publishers’ ability to do business abroad.

For more information, read SIIA’s amicus brief in the case, which defends the view that these purchases violate U.S. copyright law, since the first sale doctrine does not apply to a work made and sold abroad.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property Tagged With: , ,

SIIA’s Keith Kupferschmid Weighs in on Kirtsaeng v. Wiley on HuffPo Live

October 30, 2012 By

SCOTUS was undeterred by Hurricane Sandy yesterday, holding arguments in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley while most of Washington hunkered down for the storm. The landmark case involves the legality of purchasing copyrighted works overseas and selling them here in the U.S. without authorization from the publisher. SIIA’s Keith Kupferschmid joined HuffPo Live to explain how the case threatens the U.S. information industry–wrapping up his segment just minutes before losing power.

Watch the full segment:

The justices seemed fairly split on the case during the argument. Wiley’s counsel, Ted Olson, reiterated a critical point made in SIIA’s amicus brief – that there are many of exceptions in the Copyright Act, including the Fair Use Defense, which can be used to prevent the concerns raised by the appellant.

We believe that the First Sale Doctrine should not apply to materials made and sold overseas. It threatens to severely undermine U.S. companies’ ability to compete in foreign markets. Ultimately, we hope that the Court will be convinced by the very real argument that both publishers and consumers will face direct harm if our markets are allowed to be flooded with copyrighted material that was intended for purchase overseas. American consumers will be defrauded into buying products that may be inferior or otherwise very different from those intended for U.S. markets, while confronting higher prices in the long run. Meanwhile, consumers and students abroad will lose access to valuable U.S. resources that were created for them.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Government, Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property, Software Tagged With: , ,

Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) to Merge with SIIA

September 25, 2012 By

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) today announced that they are merging. SIPA was founded as the Newsletter Publishers Association but its members now publish in many media and formats.

SIPA will become a division of SIIA and will continue to offer its membership programs, without change. SIIA will continue to offer all of the same programs and services that are currently available to its members, along with new programs now available through SIPA.

SIPA has represented the international specialized publishing industry for 35 years. It advances the interests of commercial information providers serving niche communities by providing education, training and peer-to-peer learning through online and in-person meetings and events. SIPA’s 295 members range from small one-person newsletters to large publishers such as BLR; Kiplinger; and Congressional Quarterly, an Economist Group Business.

SIPA will become SIIA’s sixth market-focused division, joining Education Technology, Software, Content, the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG), and the Financial Information Services Division (FISD). SIIA also has public policy and anti-piracy arms.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Content Tagged With: , ,

SIIA and The McGraw Hill Companies Voice Support for Strong IP Protection in Latest Round of Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks

September 11, 2012 By
Dan Duncan

Dan Duncan, The McGraw Hill Companies

The latest round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks are happening in SIIA’s backyard in Leesburg, VA until Friday, and SIIA and several member companies have attended to voice support for the protection and effective enforcement of intellectual property rights.

SIIA member The McGraw Hill Companies spoke to the value of copyright and knowledge expansion in a presentation before delegates on Sunday. Dan Duncan, Senior Director for Government Affairs at The McGraw Hill Companies, explained that strong IP protections are an essential element in fostering the growth of new content services that will continue to spur innovative technologies and information products.

As online theft of content and software becomes more sophisticated and widespread throughout the world these innovative new products and services are increasingly at risk and the companies that create them are finding it more difficult to continue investing in existing products and funding new ones. Because online piracy has become a global epidemic that is not limited to just one or two countries, it is important for nations across the globe to join together to create a strong, common foundation of adequate and effective copyright protection and enforcement.

The adoption of strong IP protections by all countries in the TPP will more widely promote economic and social benefits for all nine countries partnering in the TPP.

View Dan’s slides:

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Content, Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property Tagged With: ,

SIIA Joins Call of Support for Maintaining Global Internet Freedom

August 15, 2012 By

SIIA and seven other trade groups today urged the Democratic and Republican parties to protect the Internet from unnecessary governmental control. SIIA signed two letters asking the Democratic and Republican National Committees to adopt language that embraces a free and open Internet in their party platforms.

The letters echo a House resolution–supported by SIIA and passed unanimously in early August—that pledges to uphold a global Internet free from unnecessary intergovernmental control.

Bipartisan commitment these ideals is critical, because several countries have offered misguided, potentially harmful Internet governance proposals to be considered at the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications in December. Both parties must work together to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet today, to maintain Internet freedom for the United States and for countries around the world.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Policy

5 Key Data Points from IBM’s Big Data Policy Event

June 27, 2012 By

IBM briefed policymakers today on how they can leverage big data to save money and address societal challenges. And the timing couldn’t have been better. Congress and federal agencies are trying to do more with less, and many are looking to a directive Obama announced in March, which allocates more than $200,000 a year to big data research and development projects.

Among other speakers, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), and VP For IBM Research Dr. David McQueeney took the stage to explain the power of big data. Here are five of the most compelling data points from the event:

  1. We create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day–and this number will continue to grow at an exponential rate. About 90 percent of world’s data was created in the last two years alone.
  2. The amount of data generated per hospital will increase from 167 terabytes to 665 terabytes by 2015, due to the incredible growth of medical images and electronic medical records. Big data will help doctors make better predictions by leveraging huge amounts of clinical information.
  3. The GSA stands to save an estimated $15 million a year by reducing power usage at 50 of the agencies highest energy-consuming buildings, with help from IBM software and sensors.
  4. Over 70% of members of the National Center for Manufacturing Services (NCMS) believe increased adoption of advanced computing would lead to competitive advantages. Yet only 6% of small to medium manufacturers in the US are taking full advantage of high performance computing.
  5. The retail industry misses out on $165 billion in sales each year because stores don’t have the right products in stock. Big data could help them analyze sales trends and better predict their needs.

So what should policymakers do with this knowledge? They should push for public-private partnerships and research to better optimize industries. IBM announced one such partnership at today’s event. With the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, IBM will use high performance computing to help solve problems like improving our electric grid, advancing manufacturing, and discovering new materials. The data behind it is clear: big data can help the US compete.

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team at @SIIAPolicy.

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