Digital Media Law | Digital Media Wire

Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to Proceed

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 8:35am.

San Jose, Calif. - Skype parent company eBay (NASD: EBAY) announced on Friday that litigation between an investor group looking to acquire Skype and the creators of the Internet telephone service has been settled, and that its sale of a majority stake in Skype will now proceed. As a result of the settlement, the acquisition deal has been restructured, and Skype creators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will now join the investor group, led by Silver Lake, and make a "significant capital investment" in exchange for a 14% stake in Skype.

E.U. to Allow "3-Strikes" Laws in New Telecoms Regulation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 12:35pm.

Brussels - The European Union has dropped language from proposed telecoms regulation that would have established Internet access as a "fundamental right," providing new leeway for countries like France and Great Britain that have enacted or are considering "three-strikes" laws that suspend repeat copyright infringers' Internet connections, according to published reports. The issue had been a sticking point holding up the telecoms regulation, and the new version represents a compromise between copyright and consumer interests.

No Doubt Sues Activision Over Avatars in "Band Hero"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 11:13am.

Los Angeles - The rock band No Doubt has filed a lawsuit against "Band Hero" video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI), alleging the company overstepped the permission granted by the band to include their likenesses within the game, Reuters reported. According to the lawsuit, the band did authorize its likenesses to be used to create avatars to perform its own songs within the game, but did not authorize the No Doubt avatars to perform songs by other bands.

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 10:38am.

London - The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps, and EMI Music have announced plans to release a limited edition apple-shaped USB drive, containing the entire Beatles re-mastered catalog in FLAC and MP3 format. The 30,000 USB apples will become available on Dec. 7 in the U.K. and Dec. 8 in North America, with a price tag of $279.

Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 9:29am.

San Francisco - Litigation between the inventors and former owners of Internet phone service Skype, current owner eBay (NASD: EBAY), and an investor group looking to acquire Skype from eBay, could be nearing a settlement, The New York Times reported, citing several people who have been briefed on the situation. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- the inventors of Skype and the peer-to-peer technology behind file-sharing service Kazaa and video portal Joost -- sued the investor group in a bid to block their acquisition of Skype from eBay.

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:57am.

Oslo, Norway - International record label trade group IFPI has lost its court case that sought to compel Norwegian ISP Telenor to block its subscribers' access to file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak reported.

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:04am.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has ordered BlueBeat, a company selling unauthorized Beatles recordings online, to immediately cease the practice.

Pirate Party Gains Second Seat in European Parliament

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 12:28pm.

Brussels - The Pirate Party, a political party centered on less-restrictive copyright schemes, has won its second seat in the European Parliament, TorrentFreak reported. Following the election of a Swedish Pirate Party candidate to a seat in the European Parliament in June, the signing of the Lisbon Treaty by all EU member states this week means that 22-year-old Swede Amelia Andersdotter will take the Pirate Party's second seat in Parliament.

INgrooves to Offer Labels RightsFlow Licensing Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:26am.

New York - INgrooves, a provider of digital music distribution, marketing and promotion services, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with RightsFlow, to provide INgrooves' clients with access to RightsFlow's licensing, accounting and royalty payment platform.

Facebook Awarded $711 Million in "Spam King" Lawsuit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 30, 2009 - 9:47am.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Facebook has won a $711 million judgment against an alleged spammer who the company said accessed members' accounts without permission and sent phony wall posts and messages.

Swedish Court: Pirate Bay Operators Must Stop Running Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 29, 2009 - 7:45am.

Stockholm, Sweden - A Swedish court has ordered two of the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay to cease their involvement in operating the site, or else face fines of $71,000 each, TorrentFreak reported. The story notes that neither Gottfrid Svartholm nor Fredrik Neij currently reside in Sweden, nor is The Pirate Bay itself currently hosted on servers within Sweden.

U.K. Parliament to Consider "Three-Strikes" P2P Bill

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 28, 2009 - 10:14am.

London - The U.K. government plans to introduce a bill mimicking France's recently enacted "three-strikes" legislation on file-sharing, which authorizes the suspension of the Internet accounts of those warned repeatedly they are violating copyrights, according to published reports. The bill will "make technical measures available, including account suspension," U.K. business, innovation and skills minister Peter Mandelson said at a meeting of government and entertainment industry heads, according to PaidContent's coverage.

Report: Pirate Bay Being Courted by Four New Suitors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 28, 2009 - 9:45am.

Stockholm, Sweden - In the wake of the unraveling of Global Gaming Factory's unsuccessful attempt to acquire The Pirate Bay, as many as four new suitors have emerged with an eye towards purchasing the file-sharing hub, TorrentFreak reported, citing Sweden's Dagens Industri. Reservella, the Seychelles-based holding company that currently owns the Pirate Bay, is reportedly currently in talks with GamersGate, a Swedish online games firm.

Labels, Artists Target YouTube in Germany Over Copyrights

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 27, 2009 - 11:45am.

*A correction was made to this story.

Hamburg, Germany - Google and YouTube face a copyright-related investigation in Germany, after a group of independent labels, publishers and artists filed complaints against the companies, Billboard reported. Parties to the complaints include labels Highball Music and Coconut Music; publishers Gerig Musikverlage, Bishop Songs and Musikverlag Progressive; and artists including soprano Sarah Brightman.

Dutch Court Orders Pirate Bay to Remove Torrents; Block Access

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 10:51am.

Amsterdam - The Amsterdam Court on Thursday gave the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay three months to remove a list of copyrighted torrents, and block access to portions of the site from Dutch users, or else face penalties of $7,500 each per day, TorrentFreak reported.

FCC Initiates Rule-Making Process on Net Neutrality

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 10:26am.

Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday initiated a rule-making process intended to "codify and supplement existing Internet openness principles." The most contentious of these guidelines relates to "Net neutrality," which would oblige ISPs not to give preference to the Internet traffic of one company or individual over another.

France Approves "Three-Strikes" Law on File-Sharing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 9:59am.

Paris - France's Constitutional Court on Thursday approved the country's "three-strikes" law, which will sever the Internet connections of those found to have been repeatedly infringing copyrights on file-sharing networks, The New York Times reported. An earlier version of the law approved by France's Parliament was rejected by the court, because it did not include a judge's approval before a user's Internet connection was suspended.

Lawsuit Claims Apple iPhone Infringes Nokia Patents

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 8:34am.

Espoo, Finland - Cell phone maker Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has filed a patent infringement against Apple (NASD: AAPL), claiming that the iPhone uses technology covered by ten Nokia patents without permissions. Filed in federal court in Delaware, the lawsuit alleges that Apple is infringing Nokia patents related to GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN standards, and technology such as wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.

Canada Authorizes ISP Bandwidth Throttling as "Last Resort"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 21, 2009 - 10:07am.

Ottawa, Canada - Canada's telecom regulator on Wednesday issued new guidelines for Internet service providers in their use of traffic management practices, that include a provision allowing for intentional "throttling" of peer-to-peer traffic as a last result.

Online Music Industry to Develop EU-Wide Licensing Scheme

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 21, 2009 - 9:22am.

Brussels - The EU's Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, on Wednesday announced a partnership between European royalty collection societies, major labels and online music retailers including Apple (NASD: AAPL) and Amazon (NASD: AMZN), to develop an EU-wide licensing scheme for music. Currently, rights for music and other copyrighted works must be negotiated separately for each individual country, with that particular country's collection society.

Breaking Digital Media Law News

Skype Litigation Settled; Sale by eBay to Investors to Proceed

E.U. to Allow "3-Strikes" Laws in New Telecoms Regulation

No Doubt Sues Activision Over Avatars in "Band Hero"

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Pirate Party Gains Second Seat in European Parliament

INgrooves to Offer Labels RightsFlow Licensing Services

Facebook Awarded $711 Million in "Spam King" Lawsuit

Swedish Court: Pirate Bay Operators Must Stop Running Site

U.K. Parliament to Consider "Three-Strikes" P2P Bill

Report: Pirate Bay Being Courted by Four New Suitors

Labels, Artists Target YouTube in Germany Over Copyrights

Dutch Court Orders Pirate Bay to Remove Torrents; Block Access

FCC Initiates Rule-Making Process on Net Neutrality

France Approves "Three-Strikes" Law on File-Sharing

Lawsuit Claims Apple iPhone Infringes Nokia Patents

Canada Authorizes ISP Bandwidth Throttling as "Last Resort"

Online Music Industry to Develop EU-Wide Licensing Scheme

Upcoming DMW Events

DMW 100 Financial Index

Recent comments

Navigation

User login

Ads

Contributors

DMW Columns

Content by Type

Translate Site

Daily Newsletter and Networking

Latest Top Stories

DMW Widget - Grab it and embed!

Latest Briefly Noted

Poll

Our Sponsors

Other Ads

Our Publications