Category Archives: Law

RIAA Says FAIR USE Act Threatens Innovation. Bull.

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Mark

In a free market, a company is free to innovate, even if that innovation is disruptive to the existing business model of the dominant players. The iPod, for example, has been successful because people can import (copy) their CD collection … Continue reading →

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Support the FAIR USE Act!

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Mark

Support the FAIR USE Act!: “FAIR USE Act would remove some of the entertainment industry’s most draconian anti-innovation weapons and chip away at the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s broad restrictions on fair use. Take action to help restore balance in … Continue reading →

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UK iPod Owners are Crooks

Posted on October 29, 2006 by Mark

However, I worry that opening the door to changing the law is going to give the record industry and opportunity to bend copyright law even more in their favor…. I’m going to enjoy calling John Prescott a crook though.Call for legal copying of own CDs:People should be given a “private right to copy’” their own CDs and DVDs, says a think tank.
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Toshiba’s Lawyers Declares an End to Innovation

Posted on October 24, 2006 by Mark

Perhaps, he wants you to be able to take a movie to a friend’s house and watch it there (as long as you don’t leave a copy), etc. But, anything else like ripping the movie to an unprotected format that can be played on Linux, well, that’s not really traditional, so no. What really struck me about this comment was how much of today’s technology would not exist if that had been the stance the consumer electronics companies took twenty years ago. Think about it: The Phonograph: Was being able to listen to music without sitting in front of the musician a “normal, traditional use”?
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Washington Post Advocates Against Free Markets

Posted on May 28, 2006 by Mark

So the point Geeklawyer made was on the anti-French slant in the article and, while I agree, I think it’s also interesting that the pro-America raving was all about how America allows for more innovation…. In the US, the DMCA prevents any competitor of Apple’s from being able to create a player that customers can use with their iTunes purchased music.
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