1. Senate Consideration of H.R. 4077
3. Library Associations Endorse Geneva Declaration on WIPO
10. Australian Music Industry Continues its Fight with Kazaa
Senate Consideration of H.R. 4077
SLA, AALL, ARL, and ALA, wrote to the Honorable John McCain, Chairman on the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, regarding H.R. 4077 (the "Piracy Deterrence and Education Act"). The associations requested his assistance in deferring Senate consideration of what is a highly controversial piece of legislation, much of which has been the subject of no hearings in either the House or the Senate. Letter.
Consumer, Civil Liberties and Library Groups Tell Appeals Court FCC Overstepped Bounds in Broadcast Flag Case
Nine public interest organizations, including SLA, told the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. Circuit, that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exceeded its authority by imposing a "broadcast flag" regime for over-the-air digital television. The "flag" is a small amount of data added to a digital TV signal that gives instructions on how the programming may be used by devices other than the TV set. The FCC rules require that all TV sets, computers and other devices capable of directly receiving digital TV signals be required to follow the instructions, which will limit distribution of digital programs. Press Release. Summary. Petition.
Library Associations Endorse
SLA, AALL, ARL, and
PLoS Medicine Open Access Journal Launched
PLoS Medicine is a new open access general medical journal for peer-reviewed biomedical research. PLoS Medicine is available free of charge and accessible to everyone through the Internet, at plosmedicine.org.
Open Access: Implications and Cost Models
On December 1, 2004,
U.S. Justice Department Auditors have concluded that the $210,000 educational campaign on the merits of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act conducted by Attorney General John Ashcroft did not violate federal anti-lobbying laws. Read more.
Refilled Toner Cartridges and the DMCA
A federal court has ruled that a company can continue to sell a chip that makes it possible to use refilled toner cartridges in Lexmark printers. The suit claims the company’s chip violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Under section 1201 of the DMCA, it is generally unlawful to circumvent technology that restricts access to a copyrighted work or sell a device that can do so. Read more.
Temporary Injunction Against Alleged Spammer
A federal judge has ordered Sanford Wallace (aka Spam King) and his companies to remove from their sites any software that exploits security vulnerabilities in some versions of the Internet Explorer Web browser. Read more.
Software Patent Awareness Campaign in United Kingdom
The Protect Innovation project is being run by the U.K. arm of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), which hopes to gather testimony showing that software patents threaten innovation and would harm the U.K. economy. Read more.
Australian Music Industry Continues its Fight with Kazaa
The Australian music industry is continuing its fight with Kazaa in a
U.S. Justice Department Requests Antipiracy Powers
The U.S. Justice Department recommended a sweeping transformation of the nation's intellectual-property laws, saying peer-to-peer piracy is a "widespread" problem that can be addressed only through more spending, more FBI agents, and more power for prosecutors. Read more.
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