Digital Discourse / Archives for IP

Intellectual Property Roundup

May 29, 2013 By

Enforcement News
Crowdsourcing the News: Do We Need a Public License For Citizen Journalism? (paidContent)
Social platforms like YouTube have become a rich source of “citizen journalism” about breaking news events, but media outlets don’t always provide credit. Mark Little of Storyful wants to try and change that with a public license for video news.

Kim Dotcom Claims Patent on Security Feature (The Verge)
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom accused Google, Facebook and Twitter of infringing his intellectual property rights and violating his two-step security patent, pointing to a patent dating back to 1997 as proof for his claim.

TV Broadcasters Launch Aereokiller Lawsuit in Washington (The Hollywood Reporter)
Major television broadcasters filed a new copyright infringement lawsuit last week against Aereokiller and FilmOn.TV as part of an ongoing effort to shut down services like Aereo that stream over-the-air TV to computer and mobile devices.

Man Arrested for Defrauding Walmart of $624K (Daily Mail)
A South Carolina man has been arrested for allegedly defrauding Walmart of $624,000 through an elaborate scheme that involved returning pirated software and DVDs.

Is Protecting Intellectual Property from Cyberthieves Futile? (CNET)
Experts gathering to discuss intellectual property theft say that a fix to the global problem will require the application of economic sanctions, not just more technology.

IP Policy News

Dennis Blair and Jon Huntsman: Protect U.S. Intellectual Property Rights (The Washington Post)
Adm. Dennis Blair and former Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. argue that the ongoing theft of U.S. intellectual property is “the greatest transfer of wealth in history,” and call for stronger measures to make IP theft both risky and costly for thieves.

Sen. Cornyn Targets Patent Trolls With New Bill (The Hill)
Sen. John Cornyn introduced the Patent Abuse Reduction Act, a new bill aimed at cracking down on abusive patent litigation. The bill would give defendants more information about the firms suing them and would limit the types of documents the firms would have to produce in discovery.

Putin Calls for Stronger Intellectual Property Protection (UPI.com)
Russian President Vladimir Putin says filmmakers will leave the country if the country does not come up with a more effective system to protect intellectual property rights on the Internet.

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

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

Intellectual Property Roundup

March 7, 2013 By

Russia Establishes Specialized Court for Intellectual Property Rights (Intellectual Property Watch)
A specialized court for intellectual property rights has been instituted within the commercial court system of the Russian Federation.  The judiciary is currently being formed and will consist of at least 30 judges.

Google Defeats Publishers Over Web Copyright in German Vote (Bloomberg)
German lawmakers decided in a parliamentary vote that Google and other news aggregators may continue to show short news items on their Internet sites without being required to pay.

France’s Anti-Piracy Watchdog Ponders Evolution, Faces Extinction (ZDNet)
French anti-piracy authority Hadopi recently published a report examining possible models the organization might adopt going forward, and how best to fight the growth of illegal streaming and downloading of copyrighted material.

As Pirates Run Rampant, TV Studios Dial Up Pursuit (The Wall Street Journal)
Piracy of TV shows and movies is increasing because of improved Web technology, and TV studios like NBCUniversal are ramping up efforts and increasing staff to combat the piracy.

 Newspapers Go All-In for Copyright Fight Against Clipping Service (Ars Technica)
The nation’s largest newspapers, including The New York Times, filed an amicus brief in support of The Associated Press in its copyright battle with online news-clipping service Meltwater Group.  AP sued Meltwater last year, arguing that Meltwater is not a search engine but a competitor engaging in copyright infringement of AP’s content.

For regular IP updates subscribe to SIIA’s weekly Intellectual Property Roundup email newsletter.

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

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

In Testimony before ITC, SIIA Urges Unfettered Flow of Data & Enhanced Intellectual Property Protection

March 7, 2013 By

I will be testifying today before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in a hearing on digital trade, and I plan to urge the ITC to cultivate the digital economy by lowering barriers to trade in digital services and prioritizing intellectual property protection and enforcement.

For years the software and information industries have been key drivers of the global knowledge economy, growing and producing high-wage jobs at a much greater rate than most other industries. And with the advancement of cloud computing and data driven analytics, digital-based industries such as these will only play a larger role in American economic growth and global economic opportunity. With so much at stake, SIIA is committed to working with the ITC and others to ensure that our trade and economic policies recognize the enormous value and unique needs surrounding digital trade.

The global nature of the digital economy makes it essential that we continually work to lower or eliminate barriers standing in the way of the unfettered flow of data. Of course, even without barriers, digital trade will never reach its potential if we don’t have strong intellectual property laws and enforcement that allow companies to profit from what they create. And importantly, trade agreements should recognize the specific needs of digital industries, following the lead of the U.S. Korea FTA, which ‘ensures non-discriminatory and duty-free treatment of all digital products.

We applaud the ITC for holding this hearing, and for recognizing the increasing importance and complexity of digital trade. As part of their work, we encourage the ITC to closely study the trends in software and information-based services.  More information in this area will help us better understand both the opportunities and the roadblocks that may need to be addressed.

Full text of my testimony is available here.

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. Follow the SIIA public policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPubPolicy.

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

Reps. Schiff & Goodlatte: Thanks for the IP Protection Shout Out

February 25, 2013 By

SIIA thanks Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) for urging Congress to help protect IP. Last week, they sent a letter to fellow representatives that highlighted the economic impact of copyright theft, and asked for participation in the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus. Schiff said in a statement to POLITICO that the caucus will continue working to cut the cash flow for pirating websites.

SIIA looks forward to working with administration and congressional leaders to fight intellectual property theft and protect American businesses, exports, and jobs.

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

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

SIIA Calls for Increased IP Protections from ICANN as New gTLD Applications are Announced

June 13, 2012 By

SIIA is reviewing 1,930 new generic top level domain (gTLD) applications—unveiled today by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN )—in order to identify potential intellectual property threats as part of the public comment and objection process. SIIA believes that ICANN must do more to ensure that proper safeguards are in place to protect intellectual property rights before any new gTLDs are approved and go live on the Internet.

SIIA supports, respects and has participated in the ICANN multi-stakeholder process, and a number of our members are new gTLD applicants themselves. Now that the scope and content of applications are known, ICANN will have another opportunity to address intellectual property concerns, and must do so. The rights protection mechanisms that ICANN has required gTLD applicants to implement are inadequate. While some gTLD applicants are voluntarily providing more protection than ICANN requires, this is not the case with all applicants.

SIIA and other concerned groups have promulgated “Enhanced Safeguards for New gTLDS Targeting Creative Sectors”—or gTLDs that pose a particular threat to become havens for infringement and related criminal and illegal activity. SIIA will evaluate and publicly comment on how applications stack up against these standards—especially whether the registry (the gTLD applicant) has committed to offer publicly accessible, authenticated, verified Whois data for all second-level domain names within the registry, and to implement standards that ensure prompt investigation and resolution of rights holder complaints.

The ICANN gTLD program, as currently formulated, represents a significant challenge to trademark and copyright owners,” continued Bain. “ICANN’s program may open up new opportunities, but it also presents a whole new frontier of potential—and likely—abuse by those seeking to profit from the name, reputation, and content of others. 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 to protect themselves against cybersquatters and infringers.

Scott BainScott Bain is Chief Litigation Counsel & Director, Internet Anti-piracy at SIIA.

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

ICANN Guidebook Vote a Challenge to Trademark and Copyright Owners

June 20, 2011 By

The Board of Directors of ICANN today 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.

The new gTLD program, as currently formulated, represents a significant challenge to trademark and copyright owners. While SIIA favored a targeted approach to address specific gTLD needs, such as non-latin script gTLDs, ICANN’s approved program is extremely broad. 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.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Content, Copyright, Policy, Software Tagged With: , ,

Movement on privacy, IP, cybersecurity in Washington

May 17, 2011 By

ECPA/Privacy
Today Sen. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced legislation to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). In response, SIIA issued a statement applauding the Chairman’s leadership and characterizing this as a big step toward making sure that the information Americans store virtually in the cloud receives the same level of protection as the information stored in their homes. Given the broad coalition of supporters and interest expressed by House Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX), this issue is expected to receive considerable attention in both the House and Senate in the months ahead.

Cybersecurity
Last Thursday the White House released its long-awaited cybersecurity legislative proposal to address cybersecurity threats to the Nation’s critical infrastructure. In response to the proposal, SIIA released a statement commending the commitment to the strong public-private partnership and pledging to continue working with Administration officials and Congressional leaders on this critical issue. As if this wasn’t enough to increase the attention on cybersecurity policy, the Administration followed-up on Monday by announcing the U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace that provides the President’s “vision for the future of the Internet” and sets an “agenda for partnering with other nations and peoples to achieve that vision.” Importantly, the plan emphasizes adhering to commitments to freedom, privacy and the free flow of information.

Intellectual Property
Also last Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy, ranking member Grassley, and Senator Hatch introduced “The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act” (The PROTECT IP Act, s. 968), a legislation to provide the government and rights holders with improved tools to help stop the use websites to profit from piracy and counterfeiting of software, content and other intellectual property. SIIA issued a statement in support of the legislation, and urged Congress to make this issue a priority. The bill is included on the agenda to be mark up at the Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting this Thursday. On Sunday, the comment period for ICANN’s Draft Applicant Guidebook (6th version) closed. SIIA submitted comments urging ICANN to delay its vote on the DAG and address remaining concerns with the rights protection mechanisms and whois provisions. The ICANN Board will be meeting June 20 in Singapore to consider whether to approve the Guidebook at that time and open the process for new gTLD applications.

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

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Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup, Government, Policy, Software Tagged With: , , , ,
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