UCLA Law Professor Doug Lichtman has a new essay (posted by The Media Institute) and podcast on a topic that seems obvious on its face: Everyone Hates DRM. That is mostly true, at least from a consumer standpoint. But that doesn’t mean it still isn’t relevant in today’s society, and I Lichtman understands that as [...]

WASHINGTON – The above headline shouldn’t have to happen. In my panel yesterday here at CISAC’s 2nd World Copyright Summit, I dismissed the false dichotomy of “Hollywood v. Silicon Valley,” but it keeps popping up. This morning CISAC had Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro debate National Music Publishers Association CEO David Israelite. It will [...]

The good folks at the Digital Watermarking Alliance have put out an interesting white paper titled “Digital Serial Numbers and Piracy Deterrence: The Deterrent Effect of Digital Serial Numbers on Illegal File-Sharing and Downloading.” Here are some highlights from their release: The study, conducted by Interpret, aimed to determine whether the inclusion of Digital Serial [...]

Should we all just throw up our hands, say infringement online can never be tamed, and find some way to compensate creators even if that means forfeiture of their rights over distribution and reproduction? Some say yes. I continue to maintain that consumer-friendly legal models (sometimes enabled by rights management) and education can make the [...]

SEATTLE — Here we go again. At the end of the Federal Trade Commission Town Hall here on digital rights management at the University of Washington School of Law, during the time the FTC had set aside for audience ranting — I mean feedback — an FTC official read a question from someone watching the [...]

SEATTLE — My overall impression of the Federal Trade Commission Town Hall meeting held here at the U. of Washington School of Law regarding digital rights management? Too many lawyers and technologists. Nothing against lawyers and technologists; some of my best friends are lawyers or technologists, or both. But the nature of those professions is [...]

SEATTLE — I’m here at the FTC Town Hall meeting on digital rights management at the University of Washington School of Law. I just finished appearing on a panel here (well, actually I just finished an enjoyable chimichanga at a great joint right off campus, I had to eat before posting). The FTC is webcasting [...]

While I am now back from the Consumer Electronics show, I want to do one more entry on the event. By and large, I saw once again that consumer electronics manufacturers are working to develop products that are partnered with licensed creative works. This is critical, because if we want a continued stream of new [...]

Has it been three years already? The US Copyright Office is again hearing arguments for exceptions for, as the December 29 Federal Register notice puts it, “certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there [...]

The Progress & Freedom Foundation today published a new paper titled “From ‘Dinosaurs’ to Digital: An Examination of Ongoing Innovations in Copyright Industries.” As PFF’s press release notes, the paper “itemizes the variety of ways traditional content industries are experimenting with digital distribution models. In an effort to compete with user-generated content and online piracy, [...]