In the continuing saga of Napster, this news that venture capital firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners was sued in U.S. District Court (LA) by Universal Music Group and The EMI Group for contributing to global copyright violations by the bankrupt file sharing service.
See also my previous posting on the new book about Napster. And on the broader topic of music piracy, see this recent report, commissioned by the Business Software Association (BSA), Expanding Global Economies: The benefits of reducing software piracy (pdf).
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Daily Archives: April 23, 2003
OCLC Research Announcements Available Via RSS
OCLC Research announcements are now available via RSS 2.0. Continue Reading
The Losing Battle Against Spam
The New York Times published an extensive article on the challenges posed by the adroit and aggressive junk e-mail industry that has to date overcome all challenges preventing the delivery of their unwelcome messages to our home and work e-mail accounts. Continue Reading
One Nation, Under Surveillance
Dan Farmer, a software engineer and computer security expert, and Charles C. Mann, an editor and author, have a two part article in the Technology Review titled Surveillance Nation. Part One appears to be available in full-text as premium content (subscription req’d). However, Part Two has no restrictions, and provides a perspective on the evolution… Continue Reading
CDT Seeks Info On Sites Blocked by PA Law
As I posted previously, the Pennsylvania Attorney General has refused to release information about hundreds of websites, innocuous and otherwise, blocked by the states’ recently enacted law, 18 Pennsylvania Statutes Sec. 7330. Yesterday the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) appealed the Attorney General’s refusal to grant access to this information, citing the Pennsylvania Right… Continue Reading
Library Patriot Act Resolutions
The American Library Association (ALA) has a useful resource available on their site: USA Patriot Act Resolutions of State Library Associations. It offers an alphabetical list of states, along with either direct, or sometimes circuitous links, to their respective resolutions endorsing the ALA USA Patriot Act Resolution. Continue Reading
Legal Hurdles to New Technologies
An interesting article from News.com addresses the legal obstacles (DMCA, patent claims) at the disposal of established companies who seek to block emerging technology competitors. Continue Reading
Summit on Web Credibility
Building Trust on the Web, Consumer WebWatch’s First National Summit on Web Credibility, April 24, 2003. Presentation topics include: Health Web Sites, Search Engines, Guidelines & Best Practices on the Web, Scams & Schemes: Why Don’t Consumers Trust the Web?, and Toward a More Credible Web. See this link for Jim Guest’s opening remarks. Continue Reading
FCC Adopts New Rules For E-Rate Program
Today’s news release from the Federal Communications Commission states that the agency “adopted new rules to simplify and streamline the operation of the schools and libraries program of the universal service fund (USF). The measures adopted today seek to improve program administration, create a more efficient application process for program participants, and improve program oversight… Continue Reading
