SIIA Digital Discourse» Copyright

Congressman Lipinski releases report on Patent Trolls

Denys Emmert — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 18:14:23 +0000

Patent Assertion Entities (PAE’s), more commonly known as Patent Trolls, have been a problem for the tech community for a number of years. Recently, they have started to branch out into suing retail companies, government agencies and other end users. On June 25^th Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-Ill) sent a letter to the FTC and released a report titled Trolling for a Public Trough: How Patent Assertion Entities Cost Tax Payers detailing how PAE’s are attacking the U.S. Post Office, city governments, utilities, and transit agencies including Metra in his district.

According to Dan Lipinski’s article, transit agencies are being sued by two notorious off-shore patent trolls — ArrivalStar S.A. and Melvino Technologies — over their use of GPS software that allows them to monitor the location of their trains/buses and to notify commuters when they will be arriving at specific stops. These companies have filed over 250 lawsuits against companies and agencies in the transportation industry. According to Lipinski’s report, because of the millions of dollars it could cost to defend a patent suit, these companies and agencies prefer not to litigate the case in court and instead “opt to quickly settle, agreeing to purchase licenses for fees reportedly ranging from $30,000 to $100,000”. Patent Trolls have brought suits against transit agencies in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

“The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has drastically narrowed the patent owned by ArrivalStar after Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a formal request to reexamine the patent’s legitimacy” was announced on Thursday in a ruling that will help to hopefully curb patent troll abuse in the future.

Denys Emmert is the Public Policy intern at SIIA. He has a degree in marketing and political science from Florida State University.

Summary of Publishing in an Open Access World Webcast

Nadia Hassairi — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:56:30 +0000

Open Access publishing is a dominant topic in the world of scientific research.

During the webinar, held on May 9th and hosted by both the SIIA Copyright & Licensing Working Group and Copyright Clearance Center, the presenters discussed how to develop or refine your Open Access plan and explained what publishers are doing to facilitate the demand for free access to publicly funded content. The speakers also discussed the challenges and ultimate benefits of enabling public access to scientific research from the publishers point of view.

View Online Now

Presenters:

Peter Binfield, co-Founder and Publisher of Peer J
Peter Binfield, Ph.D. Co-founder & Publisher Physicist. Gigapixel photographer. Pete has worked in the academic publishing world for almost 20 years. Since gaining a PhD in Optical Physics, he has held positions at Institute of Physics, Kluwer Academic, Springer, SAGE and most recently the Public Library of Science (PLoS). At PLoS he ran PLoS ONE, and developed it into the largest and most innovative journal in the world.

Heather Joseph, Executive Director, SPARC
Heather Joseph serves the Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an international coalition of academic and research libraries that promotes the expanded sharing of scholarship. As SPARC’s Director since 2005, Heather has focused on supporting emerging publishing models, enabling digital archives, and establishing open access policies on the national and international levels.

Brian D. Scanlan, President, Thieme Publishers
Brian Scanlan, President of the International Division of Thieme who joined the team in 1995. Thieme, which was founded in 1886, is a privately held, global force that publishes international medical and scientific information that serves physicians, health professionals and students.

The power point slides of the presentation are available here.
The full recording of the webcast is available here.

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Learn more about Copyright and licensing through the following upcoming event:

Content Division: Copyright & Licensing Working Group - June 6

Digital Policy Roundup: Copyright Office Declares Priorities, Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing Still a Focus for the Hill

David LeDuc — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:48:35 +0000

Today, Maria Pallante, the U.S. Register of Copyrights, released a report outlining the Priorities and Special Projects of the U.S. Copyright Office through 2013. The Report articulates 17 priorities in the areas of copyright policy and administrative practice, as well as 10 new projects designed to improve the quality and efficiency of the U.S. Copyright Office’s services in the 21st century. This is the first time in recent history that the Office has published such a document. It provides an excellent roadmap for the most significant legislative, international and administrative copyright issues facing copyright holders and the Office now and into the immediate future.

In other IP news, indications from House leaders are still that the rogue websites legislation is expected to be introduced this week, as early as today. There has been a recent push by opponents of the legislation to stall it’s introduction, including a meeting last week with Cmte. staff where concerns about the potential implications of the bill were discussed.

On the cybersecurity front, the White House held a classified briefing with key Senate leaders last week. The meeting, including representatives from the FBI, DHS, NSA and bipartisan leadership of the Senate committees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity, was part of a continued effort by the White House to advance comprehensive cybersecurity legislation this year. While the meeting participants broadly agreed about the urgent need to address growing cybersecurity threats, there are several key issues that remain unresolved. To state the obvious, the clock is beginning to run out on 2011.

The FTC staff report on privacy is scheduled for release before the end of the year, but it is possible, and even likely, that issuance will go to the beginning of next year. The final report is likely to be very similar to the draft report. It will not be a major overhaul and will not contain any earth-shattering departures from the structure set out earlier. The major issues in play appear to be the definition and role of commonly accepted business, the role of data minimization, the application of privacy framework to both the online and off-line contexts and the distinction between first party and third party providers of online advertising. The report is likely to touch on the multi-stakeholder process that the Commerce Department is looking to establish and be consistent with it, but will focus more on principles and implementation rather than the process of developing self-regulatory codes of conduct. It is not yet clear whether the report will recommend legislation.

And as of last week, “cloud computing” is officially defined. That is, after a long time of working and reviewing, NIST last week released a FINAL version of their official definition of cloud computing, also known as SP 800-145. SIIA has worked with NIST throughout this process, and concur that this is a very solid definition, one that is widely referenced around the world. Of course, it’s breadth underscores why “cloud computing” is so challenging to define for policymaking purposes.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

DOC/DHS Push for Notice on Botnets and Malware, Supreme Court Hearing Major Copyright Protection Case

David LeDuc — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:13:28 +0000

At an event hosted by CSIS last week, Cam Kerry, General Counsel of the Commerce Department and Howard Schmidt, Cybersecurity Coordinator for the Obama Administration, emphasized the importance of their recently launched initiative to develop models to advance voluntary corporate notification to consumers regarding the illicit use of computer equipment by botnets and related malware. DHS and DOC/NIST recently issued a notice on the issue, seeking comment on a range of issues relating to how various actors could participate in a multi-stakeholder process designed to reduce these security threats. SIIA is looking to file comments in this proceeding and is seeking input from members. Comments are due on November 4.

Also on the cybersecurity front on Wednesday, the House Republican Cybersecurity Task Force released their formal recommendations. The Task Force was created by House Republican Leadership on June 24th, and asked to provide recommendations to Leadership. As expected, the Recommendations favor many SIIA priorities, such as a narrow definition of “critical infrastructure,” incentive-based approach, rather than regulations, as international collaboration, heavy engagement with the private sector, and providing public awareness regarding threats and existing solutions and best practices. SIIA put out a statement supporting the recommendations and highlighting some of our key priorities.

Importantly, the Recommendations also reiterated the House Republican’s belief that a large, “comprehensive” bill is practical, rather stressing the need for relevant committees to consider legislation separately through regular order. Consistent with this approach, Rep. Goodlatte indicated this week that he will soon introduce a proposal to enhance enforcement of cybercrime.

Also last week, the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Golan v Holder. Before the court was the issue of whether Congress can restore copyright protection to a work whose copyright protection had previously expired and was therefore in the public domain. The court will decided whether the Copyright Clause and/or the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibit Congress from taking works out of the public domain. SIIA included a detailed summary of the oral arguments in our IP Policy Update.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

SIIA kept busy with Privacy Issues and Cloud Computing; Back from Recess, Congress tackles Patent Reform

David LeDuc — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:27:41 +0000

Congress is back and patent reform is at the top of the Senate’s agenda this week. The House-passed legislation (H.R. 1249) will be before the Senate for a procedural vote this evening, with votes on amendments and ultimately a final vote later this week. The key issue still looks to be the funding provision, where amendments are expected to be offered to maximize PTO funding and prevent any fee diversion. If the bill passes without amendment, it will be expedited to the President for enactment. However, any amendments would send the legislation back to the House.

Last week, SIIA joined the Future of Privacy Forum’s (FPF) Application Privacy Working Group and became a sponsor of the FPF project, ApplicationPrivacy.org, an effort to help develop voluntary privacy principles and best practices for mobile software applications. SIIA joined the project out of the conviction that the industry does not need government regulation, but rather to help focus the industry’s voluntary adoption of transparent practices regarding collection, use and protection of consumer data. SIIA strongly believes that a trusted environment for users is critical to ensure continued growth and innovation in the mobile marketplace.

Also last week, SIIA submitted comments to the European Commission’s (EC) cloud computing consultation, a public inquiry to develop a European cloud computing strategy that the Commission will present in 2012. While this is a laudable objective to stimulate a European cloud industry, SIIA’s comments highlighted the challenges associated with trans-border data flows and urged caution regarding the development of harmful approaches like cloud-specific policies and localization requirements.

For SIIA policy updates including upcoming events, news and analysis, subscribe to SIIA’s weekly policy email newsletter, Digital Policy Roundup.

Copyright protected through ISPs, media, and law this week

SIIA — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:53:16 +0000

Internet Providers to Help Thwart Online Piracy (New York Times)
Internet providers have reached a deal with major entertainment media companies that creates a uniform procedure for notifying customers about repeated instances of digital copyright infringement on their accounts. The system provides for a graduated response of six warnings that start at simple emails and escalate to slowed connections or a block from web surfing.

Judge Rules “Locker” Site is Not Direct Copyright Infringer (Ars Technica)
A federal judge in Miami has dismissed direct copyright infringement charges against online locker service Hotfile, but is allowing the case to proceed over the secondary liability charge to determine whether Hotfile is guilty of inducing its users to infringe copyrights.

Entertainment Companies Create New Website to Promote Anti-Piracy Effort (Los Angeles Times)
A coalition of major media companies and entertainment labor unions has launched a new website called Creative America to educate the public about content theft and promote anti-piracy legislation.

SAP to Argue for New Trial in Oracle Lawsuit (Computerworld)
SAP is seeking a new trial and a reduction of the $1.3 billion jury award it was ordered to pay.

Top IP Headlines

SIIA — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:29:24 +0000

1.) U.S. Anti-Piracy Body Targets Foreign Website Owners for Extradition (The Guardian)
The U.S.’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says foreign website owners may face extradition to the U.S. on piracy charges, even if the operation has no direct connection to the U.S. A site may be the target of prosecution as long as it ends in .com or .net, or is implicated in the spread of U.S. copyrighted material.

2.) Another Judge Threatens to Dismiss Righthaven Copyright Suits (Vegas Inc)
U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks in Reno is the fifth judge dismissing or threatening to dismiss Righthaven copyright suits, giving Righthaven ten days to show cause why ten lawsuits he is handling should not be dismissed for lack of standing.

3.) New Attacks Launched on Righthaven Litigation Campaign (Vegas Inc)
Three more defendants are fighting back against Righthaven’s litigation campaign, each filing new or updated motions to dismiss.

4.) Alki David Drops CNET Lawsuit; Vows to Bring ‘Expanded’ Action (paidcontent.org)
FilmOn founder Alki David dropped his copyright infringement lawsuit against CBS and its CNET division after it could only produce six works it says was infringed by CNET, but David says other artists and copyright owners will be joining him in an expanded lawsuit.

5.) Apple Receives Mised Ruling on S3 Patent Violation (San Francisco Chronicle)
U.S. International Trade Commission Judge James Gildea said Apple violates two S3 patents, and was found to not have violated two others. The judge’s ruling is subject to review by the ITC, which will decide within 60 days whether or not to review the decision.

This Week’s Top 5 IP Headlines are…

SIIA — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:24:00 +0000

1.) Hollywood in Court to Force Piracy Blocking on UK’s Largest ISP (paidContent:UK)
Hollywood film studios are taking their piracy battle to London’s high court in an attempt to get British ISP BT to block access to Newzbin2, a website that allegedly distributes pirated material.

2.) Top ISPs Poised to Adopt Graduated Response to Piracy (CNET)
Top ISPs, including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, are close to striking a deal with media and entertainment companies that would require the ISPs to take a tougher stance against customers who refuse to stop using the network to infringe on others’ intellectual property.

3.) Academic Publisher Steps Up Efforts to Stop Piracy of Its Online Products (The Chronicle)
After finding cheap, illegal access being sold to its online databases, academic publisher SciFinder is focusing its anti-piracy efforts on higher education, given a majority of the stolen or leaked SciFinder passwords are from accounts of college students and professors.

4.) Viacom Files Another iPad Streaming Lawsuit, This Time Against Cablevision (paidContent.org)
Similar to the dispute Viacom is having with TimeWarner, Viacom is now pursuing a claim against Cablevision over iPad streaming.

5.) Clark County Man Sentenced for Counterfeit Software Scheme (The Seattle Times)
Wayne Chih-Wei Shu of Clark County was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $687,633 in restitution for selling counterfeit Microsoft software and failing to file income tax returns.

Patent Reform makes tracks, Cybersecurity and Privacy

David LeDuc — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:24:57 +0000

The patent reform train continued moving down the tracks last week, as the House passed the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) by a vote of 304-117. As passed, the bill differs in several respects from the Senate version that passed several months ago, including how it deals with fee diversion, tax strategy patents, prior user rights, prior art, and some other issues. Despite the differences and a heavy debate about the fee diversion issue, discussions are ongoing about a strategy to reconcile the two versions or perhaps seek Senate passage of the House bill. Regardless, the strong bipartisan support for the legislation in both chambers make for good odds on enactment of patent reform.

On the cybersecurity front, last week House Speaker John Boehner appointed a 12-member Republican task force to assess the state of cybersecurity, including the Administration’s proposal, and provide recommendations by October. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), who was appointed to lead on this issue earlier this year, will lead the task force, joined by Reps. Aderholt (R-AL), Chaffetz (R-UT), Coffman (R-CO), Goodlatte (R-VA), Hurt (R-VA), Latta (R-OH), Lungren (R-CA), McCaul (R-TX), Murphy (R-PA), Stivers (R-OH) and Terry (R-NE).

Also last week, the Supreme Court decided a case that looks to be a major victory for data publishers. In the case Sorrell vs. IMS Health the Court confirmed an appeals court decision that a Vermont law prohibiting the use of physician prescribing data for marketing purposes. While Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion expressed concerns about the “serious and unresolved” issues with respect to personal privacy, the ruling confirmed that the law unfairly imposed a first Amendment burden “based on the content of speech and the identity” of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. In short, the ruling holds that such commercial speech is equally entitled to the protections of the First Amendment.

For SIIA policy updates including upcoming events, news and analysis, subscribe to SIIA’s weekly policy email newsletter, Digital Policy Roundup.

ICANN and Top IP Headlines

SIIA — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:33:26 +0000

As expected, Monday the Board of Directors of ICANN approved a proposal to add hundreds and possibly thousands of new generic top level domains (gTLDs) to the Internet. The proposal has been years in the making, and the 400-page Draft Applicant Guidebook that describes it has undergone seven major revisions. SIIA believes that the decision to approve the Guidebook represents a significant threat to copyright owners. Intellectual property owners will need to familiarize themselves quickly with the Rights Protection Mechanisms in the gTLD Applicant Guidebook, and expend even more resources and time in enforcing their rights against cybersquatters and infringers.

Top Headlines:

1.) Video Head-to-Head: Newspapers vs. PRs & Meltwater (paidContent.org)
In November, a UK High Court held that operators and customers of paid digital news monitor services should pay newspapers for crawling their stories. Months later, the parties gathered at a debate to discuss the future of content.

2.) John Steinbeck Heirs Lose Bid for Supreme Court to Hear Copyright Dispute (Fox News)
The Supreme Court denied further review of a legal dispute over publication rights to many of Steinbeck’s legendary works in a case brought by Steinbeck’s only surviving son and sole grandchild.

3.) Barclay, BofA Can’t Block Flyonthewall.com Reports on Stocks, Court Rules (Bloomberg)
A federal appeals court in a ruling Monday clarified the law governing the publication of hot news, overturning a lower court ruling that blocked Theflyonthewall.com from reporting the upgrades or downgrades of stocks for two hours or until half an hour after the opening of the NYSE.

4.) Oracle Seeking Billions in Damages From Google in Android Patent Infringement Suit (paidContent.org)
Oracle announced it is seeking billions in damages from Google in a suit over whether the Android operating system infringes patents Oracle bought from Sun Microsystems.

5.) Bloggers Mull Legal Action Against Righthaven (Wired)
Former Righthaven defendants who settled with them are now mulling their legal options after a judge ruled that Righthaven did not have legal standing to bring such lawsuits.