SIIA Calls for More Trademark and Copyright Protections for New Domain Names
In comments filed with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) last week, SIIA called for more intellectual property (IP) safeguards before any new generic top level domain (gTLD) applications are approved. Under the new program, trademark and copyright owners will be forced to expend significant resources and time to protect their intellectual property on thousands of new domains. Specifically, SIIA continues to stress the need for registries (the gTLD applicants) that are approved by ICANN put in place greater safeguards to protect against piracy and counterfeiting — this is especially true for domain names that are targeted toward software and information products and brands. Establishment of a clear process for complaints and systems for ensuring that domain information is accurate and publically available are the minimum levels of protection that rights holders deserve under this new program. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

SIIA Continues on China’s Trade Practices at Issue at USTR
Last week, USITO filed comments with the United States Information Technology Office (USITO) in China, in the annual review of China’s compliance with its accession commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO). As a follow-up, SIIA Public Policy VP Mark MacCarthy will be testifying on behalf of SIIA and USITO at the USTR’s hearing on these issues on October 3rd, focusing on the issues of intellectual property enforcement, utility model patents, services invention remuneration and Internet regulation. His oral testimony is here.

IP News

Holder Announces Grant Winners in Effort to Prosecute Intellectual Property Theft (The Baltimore Sun)
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced $2.4 million in grants to 13 jurisdictions that are helping to fight intellectual property theft.

Japanese Music Pirates Face Jail, Big Fines (paidContent)
In contrast with the emerging approach in other countries, new laws in Japan make uploading and downloading illegal content a criminal rather than civil offense, punishable by large fines and up to two years in prison.

Google’s Motorola Drops ITC Patent Infringement Complaint Against Apple (International Business Times)
Google’s Motorola unit suddenly and unexpectedly withdrew a complaint it recently filed with the ITC against Apple, asking the ITC to ban U.S. imports of all current and recent iPhone, iPad and Mac Computer models.

MPAA Chief Says SOPA, PIPA ‘Are Dead,’ But ISP Warning Scheme Lives On (Wired)
Former Sen. Christopher Dodd, now chairman of the MPAA, said SOPA and PIPA are not going to be floated again in Congress, but the nation’s major internet service providers are cooperating to implement mitigation measures to fight piracy.

Switzerland, Italy Join Congressional Watch List on Piracy for First Time (Hollywood Reporter)
The U.S. Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus released its annual Anti-Piracy Watch List, with Italy and Switzerland making the list for the first time.

Jones, Others, Face Copyright Infringement Lawsuit from 2 Leading Publishers in N.Y. (Murray Ledger & Times)
McGraw-Hill Companies and Pearson Education filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Murray businessman Charles Jones and his business College Book Rental Company for reproducing and distributing counterfeit copies of various textbooks.

Microsoft Said to Ask China to Stop Piracy at Four Firms (Bloomberg)
Microsoft filed complaints asking China to stop the alleged use of pirated versions of its Office software at four state-owned companies, including China Post Group and China National Petroleum Corp.

Client Loses Bid to Sue Ex-Lawyer for Copyright Infringement (Thomson Reuters)
A U.S. District Judge tossed a lawsuit brought by Bernard Gelb, a man who claimed his former attorney, Norman Kaplan, committed copyright infringement by using a complaint Gelb authored five years earlier.

France Sees First Conviction Under New Anti-Piracy Law (CNET)
France assessed its first fine under Hadopi against a man found liable for failing to secure his Internet connection that was being used to illegally download copyrighted content.

Microsoft Finds New PCs in China Preinstalled with Malware (PCWorld)
An investigation by Microsoft revealed that brand-new laptop and desktop computers sold in China contained preinstalled malware embedded in counterfeit versions of Windows OS. While consumers in Western countries may not be vulnerable to that kind of tampering, they do face risks if they download counterfeit software from the Internet.

“Six Strikes” Internet Warning System Will Come to US this Year (Ars Technica)
Jill Lesser, head of the newly formed Center for Copyright Information, says the Copyright Alert System, commonly known as the “six strikes” anti-piracy program, is set to launch by the end of this year.

The 3 Myths Behind “Internet Pirates Always Win” (paidContent)
Michael Smith, an economist from Carnegie Mellon, argues that three myths are driving the popular notion that online piracy is inevitable and can’t be stopped.

Judge Suspends Google E-Book Litigation (Reuters)
An appeals court judge suspended trial court litigation involving Google and thousands of authors pending Google’s appeal of an order granting the authors class-action status in the case over Google’s plans to create the world’s largest digital books library.

Piracy May Be Commonplace, But Music’s Outlook is Improving (paidContent)
A recent report says more than three billion songs were downloaded illegally around the world via torrent in the first half of 2012, and while that is a huge number, it is likely shrinking and moving in the direction the industry wants.

SIIA Defends Publishers’ Copyright Before Supreme Court
SIIA last week filed an amicus brief in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. — a hotly contested case that could undermine U.S. publishers’ competitiveness in the global marketplace. The case involves the legality of purchasing copyrighted works that are made and sold overseas and reselling them into the U.S. without authorization from the publisher. SIIA has taken the lead in previous court filings to defend the flexibility for publishers to employ the most effective and efficient market strategies by controlling their content and price structures from country to country, and in this brief we argue that there are a variety of beneficial reasons for a publisher to prevent copies made for sale abroad from entering the United States.

Read more: SIIA Tells Supreme Court that ‘First Sale Doctrine’ Should Not Apply to Copies of Copyrighted Works Made Abroad & Resold in U.S.
SIIA Amicus Brief in Kirtsaeng v Wiley & Sons

Will 3-D Printing Lead to a New Wave of Piracy? (GigaOM)
New, cheap 3-D printers could inaugurate a technological revolution, but at the same time lead to massive new piracy problems.

Mobile Carriers and Consumers Are All Pirates in South Africa (paidContent)
A new report on digital content in South Africa highlights a significant problem regarding some of the nation’s largest online music providers’ refusal to pay licensing fees, and proposes the same kind of “three-strikes” penalty system being leveled against infringers in other countries.

Google Restricts Pirate Bay From Autocomplete, Instant Search Features (PCWorld)
Google is making it more difficult to find The Pirate Bay by reducing its appearance in the Autocomplete and Google Instant search features; users must now type out nearly the entire name of the site before seeing any Autocomplete suggestions.

Appeals Court Sides with RIAA, Jammie Thomas Owes $222,000 (CNET)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated a lower court’s decision and ruled that a Minnesota woman, found by a judge to have lied about illegally uploading music, must pay the top four record labels $222,000.

Pirate Bay Founder Accused of New Crime in Sweden (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg was arrested in a new hacking investigation as he returned home to Sweden from Cambodia to serve a prison sentence for his involvement with The Pirate Bay.

China’s Taobao E-Commerce Site Signs Deal with U.S. Film Rep to Curb Piracy (Reuters)
China’s largest e-commerce site, Taobao Marketplace, signed an agreement with the Motion Picture Association to curb the sale of counterfeit goods and goods that infringe the copyrights of the MPA’s members.