COPA killed again. I guess Viacom thinks they're the only ones allowed to broadcast comedy or parody.
PGA -------- Forwarded Message -------- > From: EFFector list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: EFFector list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: EFFector 20.13: Free Speech Battle Over Online Parody of > 'Colbert Report' > Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:10:18 -0500 (CDT) > > EFFector Vol. 20, No. 13 March 29, 2007 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation > ISSN 1062-9424 > > In the 419th Issue of EFFector: > > * Free Speech Battle Over Online Parody of 'Colbert > Report' > * EFF Presents Pioneer Awards at ETech > * EU Criminal Sanctions Directive Moves Forward > * Key Internet Censorship Law Struck Down Again > * Best-Selling Author Critiques Intellectual Property > * Wall Street Journal Tech Writer Pushes for Copyright > Reform > * U.S. Government Access to EU Data Raises Privacy > Concerns > * miniLinks (5): Cyberlaw Professor Takes on NFL > * Administrivia > > For more information on EFF activities & alerts: > <http://www.eff.org/> > > Make a donation and become an EFF member today! > <http://eff.org/support/> > > Tell a friend about EFF: > http://action.eff.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1061 > > effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired > change. > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * Free Speech Battle Over Online Parody of 'Colbert Report' > > MoveOn, Brave New Films Sue Viacom For Illegal Takedown of > YouTube Video > > San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) > asked a federal court last week to protect the free speech > rights of MoveOn.org Civic Action and Brave New Films after > their satirical send-up of "The Colbert Report" was removed > from YouTube following a baseless copyright complaint from > media giant Viacom. > > The video, called "Stop the Falsiness," was created by > MoveOn and Brave New Films as a tongue-in-cheek commentary > on Colbert's portrayal of the right-wing media and > parodying MoveOn's own reputation for earnest political > activism. The short film, uploaded to YouTube in August > 2006, includes clips from "The Colbert Report" as well as > humorous original interviews about show host Stephen > Colbert. In March of this year, Viacom -- the parent > company of Comedy Central -- demanded that YouTube take > "Stop the Falsiness" down, claiming the video infringed its > copyrights. > > "Our clients' video is an act of free speech and a fair use > of 'Colbert Report' clips," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne > McSherry. "Viacom knows this -- it's the same kind of fair > use that 'The Colbert Report' and 'The Daily Show' rely > upon every night as they parody other channels' news > coverage." > > Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a mere > allegation of copyright infringement on the Internet can > result in content removal, silencing a creator before any > misuse is proven. This "shoot first, ask questions later" > system can silence online artists and critics, creating > unfair hurdles to free speech. > > "Online sites like YouTube have revolutionized political > expression and can give the little guy an audience of > millions for a political point of view. An entertainment > powerhouse like Viacom must not be allowed to muzzle > independent video creators and their free speech," said Eli > Pariser, Executive Director of MoveOn.org Civic Action. > "Copyright owners need to double-check their claims and > think about free speech rights before erasing political > content from sites like YouTube and misusing the DMCA." > > The lawsuit asks for a declaratory judgment that "Stop the > Falsiness" does not infringe any Viacom copyright, as well > as damages and injunctive relief restraining Viacom from > bringing any more copyright claims in connection with the > video. EFF is working with Stanford's Center for Internet > and Society in this case. > > For more on the lawsuit: > <http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/moveon_v_viacom> > > To watch "Stop the Falsiness": > <http://falsiness.org/> > > For an update on the case: > <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005177.php> > > For this release: > <http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_03.php#005176> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * EFF Presents Pioneer Awards at ETech > > On Tuesday night, three Internet superheroes received > awards for defending freedom on the electronic frontier, > and one even got a red cape. > > EFF presented the 16th annual Pioneer Awards to Bruce > Schneier, Yochai Benkler, and Cory Doctorow. The event was > kicked off by a rousing debate between our own Fred von > Lohmann and HDNet Chairman Mark Cuban on YouTube and the > future of copyright. Thanks to our award winners, to Mark, > to our gracious hosts at O'Reilly's Emerging Technology > Conference (ETech), and to everyone who came out to the > event! > > For more on the awards: > <http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/> > > Missed out on the fun? Then check out Wired's and Ars > Technica's recaps: > <http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/03/mark_cuban_and_.html> > <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070328-cuban-eff-president-spar-over-youtube-and-the-dmca-at-eff-pioneer-awards.html > > Photos by Scott Beale and Quinn Norton: > <http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/sets/72157600032140736/> > <http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinn/sets/72157600032110344/> > > Audio from Cory's acceptance speech: > <http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/events/events_detail/2222/> > > Kevin Marks has also posted video from EFF's Birds-of- > a-Feather session: > <http://epeus.blogspot.com/2007/03/eff-bof-talk-at-etech.html> > > For more about ETech: > <http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etech/> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * EU Criminal Sanctions Directive Moves Forward > > When it was sold to politicians in Brussels, the pitch for > the directive on criminal measures aimed at enforcing IP > rights in Europe (IPRED2) was all about commercial piracy > and counterfeit goods that endanger health and safety. > > The reality has turned out quite different. The current > draft directive -- adopted last week by a key European > Parliament committee -- will criminalize a wide range of > activity that is currently lawful and has no connection to > public health or safety. This is happening despite warnings > by digital rights and consumer groups and tech industry > bodies that the existing language was overbroad. > > Our summary of the continuing problems: > <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005174.php> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * Key Internet Censorship Law Struck Down Again > > The ACLU, EFF, and a coalition of plaintiffs achieved a > victory for online free speech when U.S. District Court > Judge Lowell Reed ruled that a key Web censorship law > violated the First Amendment and issued an order > permanently blocking its enforcement. > > Passed in 1998, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) > sought to restrict minors' online access to "harmful to > minors" material -- that is, material that's sexual and > inappropriate for those under the age of 17. Congress > enacted COPA after the U.S. Supreme Court found its > predecessor, the Communications Decency Act (CDA), > unconstitutional. > > COPA was intended to be less sweeping than the CDA by > censoring only "commercial" communications on the Web, thus > ignoring email and all other forms of Internet speech, and > by providing liability "safe harbors" for websites that > restrict access by minors. > > But these limits didn't save COPA for many, many reasons. > For instance, Judge Reed found that COPA by its terms > includes free websites that make money via advertising or > through book sales of goods -- thus affecting EFF member- > plaintiff Bill Boushka, who writes about and advertises his > book about gays in the military on his website. > > COPA has two fundamental flaws. First, it's aimed at > material that's completely legal for adults -- but as the > judge found, there's no reasonable or feasible way to only > restrict online access by minors without harming adult > access. Second, it's less effective and more harmful to > speech than parents' voluntarily managing their children's > online access. That doesn't make "censorware" praiseworthy, > but it does render COPA constitutionally infirm. > > For this post and related links: > <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005178.php> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * Best-Selling Author Critiques Intellectual Property > > If you're an independent filmmaker or dramatist, you may > not have many chances to adapt the works of popular fiction > writers. Intellectual property law doesn't make it easy, > and the licensing fees alone can make approaching big name > authors prohibitively expensive. > > Jonathan Lethem, however, is one author who is eager to see > his work adapted by others. The bestselling author of > "Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn" has started > a project called "Promiscuous Materials," in which he has > made several of his short stories available for adaptation > into short films or one act plays by anyone who can afford > the reasonable price of a dollar. > > In an NPR interview, Lethem explained his reasoning: > > "What I'm doing is sort of saying, look, we give things > away sometimes. That's part of our work, and... as it > happens, I'd like to do more of it.... The reason this > seemed so important to me is that... people talk about > intellectual property as if it were an absolute concept > with very easily defined terms, and I want to suggest that > actually there's an enormous grey area. There's a really > big spectrum between charging for something and giving it > away...." > > Lethem takes his inspiration from the open source software > movement and Creative Commons (though the license he is > using is not a CC license). In a recent issue of Harper's, > Lethem argued that contemporary ideas of intellectual > property stifle creativity and prevent artists from > building on the achievements of others. To drive the point > home, he constructed the entire article from quotations by > other authors. > > Not all of Lethem's work is available on these terms, and > there are some simple conditions that artists must agree to > before using his material. > > For Lethem's website: > <http://www.jonathanlethem.com/> > > For this post and related links: > <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005172.php> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * Wall Street Journal Tech Writer Pushes for Copyright > Reform > > We don't always agree with the Wall Street Journal's Walt > Mossberg, but his latest missive hits the nail right on the > head: > > "What we need is a new law from Congress, a law written > from the perspective of the consumer and the [I]nternet, > rather than strictly from the perspective of the copyright > holders. The copyright holders deserve protection for their > intellectual property, but we deserve some clear rules that > would allow us to make more use of the digital content that > we legally purchase than we have now." > > In his latest video report (embedded at the link below), > Mossberg makes a variety of good points about fair use and > the dangers of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): > <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005179.php> > > You can also read a print version here: > <http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20070322.html> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * U.S. Government Access to EU Data Raises Privacy Concerns > > Passenger Name Records (PNR) can contain intimate personal > information and enable the construction of detailed > histories of your movements. They're generated every time > you make an airline reservation, even if you don't take the > flight. > > Last week, EFF's European Affairs Coordinator Erik > Josefsson attended a European Parliament public seminar on > the use of this data and how it can be shared with U.S. > authorities. Read on for his report, co-authored by Edward > Hasbrouck of the Identity Project and previously published > in the EDRI-Gram: > <http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.6/transatlantic-data-protected> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * miniLinks > The week's noteworthy news, compressed. > > ~ Cyberlaw Professor Takes on NFL > Former EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer pushes back against > NFL's abuse of DMCA takedowns. > http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/03/21/law-professor-wendy-seltzer-takes-on-the-nfl> > > ~ Fixing Copyright's Corporate Death Penalty > We explain how copyright's statutory damages threaten > innovators of all stripes -- and how the FAIR USE Act could > fix that. > <http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/03/27/copyright_and_innovation_can_coexist.php> > > ~ Calling All Artists: UK Inquiry on Copyright Exceptions > Get in touch with the Open Rights Group to defend creative > fair uses. > <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2007/03/20/patent-office-want-evidence-to-justify-new-copyright-exceptions-for-artists/> > > ~ What Do ISPs Know About You? > Wired probes Internet intermediaries on their data > retention and sharing policies. > <http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/03/isp_data_retent.html/> > > ~ Introducing Clown Co. > Google's inside term for the Universal/NBC YouTube clone, > which they bill excitedly as "the largest advertising > platform on earth." > <http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/03/23/what-we-know-so-far-about-newtube-isnt-good/> > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > * Administrivia > > EFFector is published by: > > The Electronic Frontier Foundation > 454 Shotwell Street > San Francisco CA 94110-1914 USA > +1 415 436 9333 (voice) > +1 415 436 9993 (fax) > <http://www.eff.org/> > > Editor: > Derek Slater, Activism Coordinator > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Membership & donation queries: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is > encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent > the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles > individually, please contact the authors for their express > permission. > Press releases and EFF announcements & articles may be > reproduced individually at will. > > Current and back issues of EFFector are available via the > Web at: > <http://www.eff.org/effector/> > > > This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons. > -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
