In a victory for the technology industry, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed a vote on the Protect IP Act, the online piracy bill before the Senate. In effect, Congress is going back to the drawing board to balance intellectual property rights with openness and innovation on the Internet. -db From Wired, January 20, 2012, by David Kravets. Full story
The Citizen Media Law Project is providing access to information on the SOPA and PIPA, the online piracy bills before Congress, and also to links for summaries and commentaries on the laws. -db From the Citizen Media Law Project, January 18, 2012, by CMLP Staff. Full story
With copyright protection established in the U.S. Constitution and free speech in the Bill of Rights, it is vital to honor each in the fight over the new online piracy bills currently before Congress says Ken Paulson of the First Amendment Center. It will be a difficult task to craft a law that intercepts pirated content headed for the U.S. while protecting the free flow of ideas. -db From the First Amendment Center, January 13,
It now appears now that Congressional bills to protect copyright on the Internet will be embroiled in a long, intense struggle even as President Barack Obama declared his opposition to key elements of the bills. The technology industry opposes the bills out of concern that they will stifle free speech and innovation. -db From The New York Times, January 15, 2012, by Jenna Wortham and Somini Sengupta with contribution from Nick Bilton. Full story
The Justice Department seized the assets of a popular music blog, Dajaz1, reportedly for violations of copyright, but did not give the blog a day in court to fight the action. Writing in TechDirt, Mike Masnick says it was an outrageous act, “I suspect that nearly all of you [readers] would say that’s a classic case of prior restraint, a massive First Amendment violation, and exactly the kind of thing that does not, or should