This Week in IP Enforcement

December 5, 2012 By

Publishers Brace for Authors to Reclaim Book Rights in 2013 (paidContent)

A copyright law that lets authors break contracts after 35 years will start taking effect in January. These so-called “termination rights” could provide yet another disruption for traditional publishers who may face the loss of their back lists as authors begin using the Copyright Act to reclaim works they assigned years ago.

BPI Requests UK Pirate Party Shut Down Pirate Bay Proxy (Ars Technica)

The British Phonographic Industry sent a letter demanding the UK Pirate Party shut down their Pirate Bay proxy service that was launched earlier in the year when ISPs began blocking access to the original Pirate Bay site.

“Six Strikes” Copyright Enforcement Postponed Until 2013 (Ars Technica)

The Center for Copyright Information announced that the rollout of the “six strikes” warning system will be delayed until early 2013 due to damage from Hurricane Sandy, which affected their testing schedules.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property

SIIA Welcomes Signing of U.S. Safe Web Act

December 5, 2012 By

Yesterday President Obama signed into law a bill that would reauthorize the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to clamp down on cross-border fraud, providing greater assurances for US customers and business who want to shop, transact and earn a living on the Internet. The measure was spearheaded by Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), who is retiring. The bill, the U.S. Safe Web Act, allows the FTC to share information about cross-border online fraud with foreign law enforcement authorities and cooperate with them in tracking down and eliminating Internet scam artists.

At a time when many lament that partisan gridlock seems to prevent the enactment of good public policy, this bi-partisan reaffirmation of the FTC’s authority to go after cross-border crooks is a welcome sign that our policymaking institutions can still produce sensible policies that protect the public.

This law was first adopted in 2006 and has been an effective tool to combat cross-border spam, spyware and fraud. Fraudsters do not recognize national borders, and law enforcement efforts must be similarly global. Effective international cooperation on law enforcement investigations is crucial for providing consumers and businesses with the trust and confidence with each other online.
Hugh Stevenson, Deputy Director for International Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, has been leading FTC efforts to use the authority in this law to combat Internet scams, fraudulent telemarketing, spam, spyware, and other cross-border misconduct that harms US consumers. In his testimony in front of the Energy and Commerce Committee in July, he made it clear that reauthorization was needed to allow the FTC “to continue its current cross-border enforcement efforts and deal with new threats to U.S. consumers emanating from a growing number of jurisdictions.”

The Congress agreed and the legislation received bi-partisan support all the way through the process. The House approved the measure by voice vote on September 11 and the Senate followed suit and passed the measure on November 14. The President signed it on December 4.

Mark MacCarthy, Vice President, Public Policy at SIIA, directs SIIA’s public policy initiatives in the areas of intellectual property enforcement, information privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing and the promotion of educational technology.

 

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property

Digital Policy Roundup: Senate Cmte. Passes Communications Privacy, Looks to Mobile Privacy, Trade Talks Continue on TPP

December 4, 2012 By

Senate Cmte. Passes Communications Privacy, Looks to Mobile Privacy This Week

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Chairman Leahy’s (D-VT) ECPA reform legislation (Electronic Communications Privacy Act) with strong bipartisan support. The revised proposal passed with minimal amendments, in what was a huge victory for SIIA members and a wide range of supporters, as it was the first official strong bipartisan showing of support for legislation to level the playing field for access to remotely-stored email and electronic communications. While the next step for the legislation is uncertain in the waning days of the 112th Congress, at minimum it provides an excellent starting point for enacting legislation next year.

Continuing to move forward with targeted privacy proposals, Chairman Leahy has scheduled a markup of the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011 (S.1223), legislation that would require app providers to seek affirmative “opt-in” consent from consumers before using their location information. This is another proposal that is unlikely to advance this year, but it is likely to draw broad support and put additional pressure on the NTIA-led multistakeholder discussions that have been ongoing since July.

Major Trade Talks Continue with Little Fanfare, Overshadowed by World Telecom Conference

While much of the world is focused on the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) taking place in Dubai this week, the 15th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks launched yesterday, where officials from the 11 countries participating in the negotiations will try to move toward the goal set by some TPP leaders last month of completing the deal by the end of next year. Intellectual property rights are one of the key issues of interest to the technology community during the ongoing trade talks.

Additionally, in the multilateral arena, World Trade Organization members this week will engage on a wide range of topics, including government procurement, the status of the Doha round and the race to select a new WTO chief. Current Director-General Pascal Lamy will step down next September, and Dec. 1 marked the date WTO members could begin formally submitting names for candidates to succeed him.

SIIA Internet Governance Event This Week

Just a reminder, this Thursday, Dec. 6, SIIA is cosponsoring an event with GW University and several other groups to examine how countries use trade policy to advance cross border information flows, and how these trade discussions could impact Internet freedom. SIIA’s Mark MacCarthy will moderate a panel on the challenges associated with IPR, Privacy and Internet Freedom.

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.

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Filed Under: Cloud/Gov, Digital Policy Roundup, Government, Policy, Software

Don’t Tear Down the ITU

December 3, 2012 By

The idea of tearing down the International Telecommunications Union is a bad idea.  It is not the position of the US government or international civil society or the global businesses community.  And it isn’t going to happen.

At a recent New America Foundation forum on Internet governance and the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), Andrew McLaughlin, the former U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer, said that the U.S. should aim to “dismantle” the International Telecommunications Union. “In the case of the ITU,” he said, “I think it’s very much the case that its day is gone.”

This is not the view of the global software and information companies in SIIA.  These companies emphatically do not have an agenda of dismantling the ITU. The ITU has been in the telecommunications standard setting business for 150 years and has well-developed and well understood policymaking processes in which all countries have an equal voice. It continues to play an important standard setting, spectrum allocation, and telecommunications coordination role.  Without it, the task of making telecommunications and satellite systems interoperate throughout the world would be vastly more complicated than it is today.  So much so, that if the ITU were dismantled, it would be necessary to recreate it.

Moreover, the ITU has a crucial development role. If we are to take seriously the task of making the Internet affordable to the billions of people who do not have access to it today, the ITU is an indispensable organization.

Fortunately, civil society immediately rejected the idea of dismantling the ITU. At the same New America Foundation forum, Ellery Biddle, a policy analyst with the Center for Democracy and Technology said, “I’m not sold,” she said. “I worry that governments will be even more angry at the U.S. than they already are if something like that happened, and that ultimately leads to worse results for the people.”

Terry Kramer, the head of the US delegation to WCIT, and articulating US policy in the area, also rejected the idea.  “I don’t think, per se, the ITU is the problem,” he said. “The ITU does some very important work on best practice sharing, on some development activities in developing markets.”

The US government is pretty adept at influencing outcomes in the ITU, but the US does not control the ITU, and so cannot control whether or not it is dismantled.  In effect, this idea is really advocating isolation from the rest of the world, a sure recipe for futility and an abandonment of our responsibility for leadership in the global technology and telecommunications policymaking space.  A US pull-back from the ITU would only hurt the global companies that SIIA represents.

SIIA has been critical of some of the ideas set for consideration at the upcoming WCIT meeting in Dubai.  In particular, proposals for bringing cybersecurity mandates and information technology generally within its regulatory jurisdiction seem to us to be mistaken and harmful.

But these disagreements do not suggest that we seek to undermine the institution. The software and information industries that bring their products and services to billions of people around the world support the good work of the ITU and look forward to it continuing this work into the indefinite future.  We urge the US government, civil society and all members of the Internet policymaking community to do the same.

Mark MacCarthy, Vice President, Public Policy at SIIA, directs SIIA’s public policy initiatives in the areas of intellectual property enforcement, information privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing and the promotion of educational technology. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy

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Filed Under: Policy Tagged With: ,

Meet IIS Breakthrough Conference Chair Simon Beale

December 3, 2012 By
Simon Beale

Simon Beale, IIS Co-Chair

I sat down with IIS Conference co-chair Simon Beale, Senior Vice President Global Sales and Training of ProQuest to discuss IIS, what sessions he’s most looking forward to, and what he has learned as a result of co-chairing the industry’s premier conference for information executives.

Kathy: Why did you decide to co-chair IIS this year?

Simon: This is my second term on the SIIA Content Board and, given that the IIS is our most important annual event, agreeing to co-chair the conference with Clare Hart has proved to be an excellent way of providing guidance and input into its shape and development. With the dramatically accelerating pace of integration of technology into the content business, the SIIA IIS has the opportunity to become the cornerstone for thought leadership for the key leaders in our industry in debate and discussion.

Kathy: What are your goals for the conference this year?

Simon: The goal for January’s conference has been somewhat different this year. For the 2013 IIS Conference we wanted to ensure that C-suite executives from across the media, publishing and information landscape would be able to spend a couple of days at IIS in New York watching, listening and participating in a discussion between the industry leaders as to where we see this industry heading. IIS will be raising the bar for the debate amongst our most senior execs.

Kathy: What is unique about IIS?

Simon: We’ve always been lucky in that the range and diversity of the membership of SIIA gives us the ability to tap into an incredibly rich seam of knowledge and experience from across the information industry. The combination of existing SIIA member companies and start up and emerging companies, all sharing ideas and contrasting views is what makes IIS a unique event. You will not get a room with this level of focused industry firepower at any other conference.

Kathy: What should people expect this year and why is that different from previous years?

Simon: The 2013 IIS will be more focused towards C-suite executives than previous conferences. We are narrowing our focus. We have put together the premier line up of speakers and panels. We have assembled an agenda that will provide thought provoking sessions for the leaders in our industry. The schedule has been tailored to provide the maximum value for time spent for these execs. The key executives from across the software and information industry will not want to miss these two days.

Kathy: Any favorite sessions you are looking forward to?

Simon: I think the George Colony keynote will provide a great exposition of the impact of some of the key technology trends, while several of the panel discussions have got stellar industry lineups. I also think the leadership dinner, hosted by Nicholas Thompson of the New Yorker will be a wonderful evening!

Kathy: Anything you learned or were surprised by in your work planning IIS 2013?

Simon: I learned few things. I was stunned by how much work the IIS steering committee has put into this event. I have no doubt that it will be the most successful and though provoking IIS for many a year and this will be down to the hard work that the committee has put in (all in their spare time, I hasten to add). I learned how great an impact a creative and decisive co-chair like Clare Hart can have on shaping an event of this type. Her influence has been profound. I also learned how much of a juggling act putting all the moving pieces together can be and, for that, we have you Kathy to thank, ably assisted by Jenny.

IIS Breakthrough 2013

 

 

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Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit Tagged With: , , ,

This Week in Public Sector Innovation

November 29, 2012 By

NARA to move email to Google Apps for Government: This week, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) announced that it had awarded a $7.2 million contract to Unisys to transition more than 4,500 users to Google Apps for Government for email and collaboration. NARA said the move to cloud will help the agency perform its record management duties of safeguarding and preserving government records while giving its employees secure and efficient access to email and data as well as cut operational costs and improve the system’s uptime and availability. NARA is the latest in a string of agencies to implement cloud based email solutions. Other agencies that recently made a similar move to cloud email include: DOE, EPA, NOAA, and GSA as cloud based email is quickly becoming the norm in the federal space. Federal News Radio has the full report.

House Small Business Committee Questions GSA Move on Schedules: House Small Business Committee Chairman, Sam Graves of Missouri sent a letter earlier this week to GSA expressing his concern that the recent move by the agency to restructure the multiple award schedule to a Demand Based Model (DBM) would have a negative impact on small business viability in the federal marketplace and would not help the agency operate more efficiently or effectively. According to GSA the DBM strategy would allow it to shift resources to the areas of highest customer demand or pull resources away from areas where demand has declined. A lot of questions remain. FCW has a story on the debate.

OMB Data Shows DOD Making Progress on Data Center Consolidation: A recent OMB report shows that the Department of Defense is making significant progress in shuttering underused data centers, keeping them in line with OMB guidance under the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI). To date, DOD has shut down 114 of its approximately 1500 data centers, with more closures expected over the next few years. Predictions on savings to be achieved from the overall FDCCI effort, which aims to close more than 1200 federal data centers, range from $2.4 billion to upwards of $5 billion. Data.gov has the latest numbers

House of Representatives Settles on New Committee Chairs: The House leadership appointed committee chairs for the 113th Congress this week and there are a number of changes affecting the technology industry. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will lead the House Judiciary Committee next Congress, while current Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) will move over and Chair the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. On the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) will take over the gavel of the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee, a key subcommittee for the tech industry. The Hill has the wrap up.

Michael Hettinger is VP for the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) at SIIA. Follow his PSIG tweets at @SIIAPSIG.

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Filed Under: PSIG

This Week in IP Enforcement

November 28, 2012 By

Google Mobilizes Users in Fight for Robots’ Core Values (paidContent)
Facing challenges to its core values that it is not a publisher and only excerpts parts of articles, Google is asking users in Germany to oppose government-proposed copyright reforms and complain to elected representatives on its behalf.

Facebook Privacy Chain Letter Resurfaces (The Washington Post)
The latest Facebook hoax claims users can change their copyright rights by simply posting a status message. The post illustrates how much users want clear control over content they post to Facebook.

Cable Companies Say They Won’t Disconnect Accused Pirates (CNET)
Verizon and Time Warner Cable said that after they repeatedly inform customers through the forthcoming “six strikes” program that their activities appear to violate copyright law, the companies’ obligation is fulfilled, and no account termination will take place.

UK Student Escapes U.S. Extradition in Copyright Case (Reuters)
Richard O’Dwyer, a British university student who launched a website linking to free films and TV shows, reached an agreement to avoid extradition to the U.S. and possible jail over copyright infringement allegations.

ICANN Issues Early Warnings Over Controversial Top Level Domains (Techworld)
The Government Advisory Committee, a panel representing about 50 of the world’s national governments that provides advice to ICANN on public policy issues, has filed 242 “Early Warnings” on applications that are thought to be controversial or sensitive.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property
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