The Next Great Copyright Office — Josh Simmons (Kirkland & Ellis) looks at the current copyright review process, how it compares to the 1976 revision process, and pays particular attention to the issue of Copyright Office modernization.
Creators, Innovators, and Appropriation Mechanisms — “O’Connor explains that tech innovators can ‘freely advocate for copyright reform that would weaken copyright enforcement for content owners without much risk that any changes would hurt their own appropriation mechanisms.’ Even if their efforts successfully weaken some of their own IP rights, such as copyright protections for their source codes, they have a panoply of other appropriation mechanisms that they can rely on instead, such as patents, trade secrets, contracts, and the like. Importantly, the same does not hold true for the many content creators that have only their copyrights to protect them.”
Police anti-piracy operation cuts advertising on illegal sites by 70% — A measure of success in the UK: “The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit said there has been a 73% decrease in advertising from the UK’s top spending companies appearing on illegal websites since it launched a crackdown in 2013. For the last two years, the PIPCU has been running Operation Creative, with the backing of the ad industry and trade bodies representing the film, music, TV and publishing industry, to try to stop the flow of ad funds which are one of the main generators of profits for illegal sites.”
ICANN Should Curb Anonymous Domain Name Abuses — Daniel Castro: “One requirement for registering any website domain name is that the domain owner must provide its contact information. This information is placed into WHOIS, a public, online database. Some website owners choose to use a privacy and proxy service, which submits contact information for the service provider and is then responsible for relaying any inquiries to the actual registrant. Unfortunately, not all privacy and proxy services fulfill their duties, creating a serious problem for law enforcement agencies. For example, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill has noted ‘…even ICANN recognizes that the system is flawed, often allowing bad actors to hide behind incomplete, inaccurate, or proxy information.'”
If Your Instagram #Selfies Aren’t Private, This Site Might Sell Them To Total Strangers — With no pretense of any “transformative purpose.” The article quotes an Instagram rep firmly taking no position, saying, “you can draw your own conclusions about whether this violates our policies.”