legal

Private Investigator Pleads Guilty in Hewlett-Packard Spying Probe

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 12, 2007 - 11:25am.

San Jose, Calif. - A private investigator involved in the Hewlett-Packard boardroom spying scandal on Friday pleaded guilty to identity theft and conspiracy charges, the Associated Press reported.

McCurry Draws Fire for Net Neutrality Position

Authored by Ned Sherman on June 8, 2006 - 10:37am.

The LA Times reports that Former Clinton Whitehouse Press Secretary Mike McCurry has drawn fire from supporters of "net neutrality", including many on the left, for having taken up the cause of telecommunication giants who oppose legislation restricting their ability to charge extra to provide high bandwith services. McCurry was hired by AT&T, Bell South and other communications companies to promote this position, putting himself at odds with Congresional Democrats, liberal bloggers and companies like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft who support legislation to maintain a level playing field. According to McCurry who has written about his position at The Huffington Post: "The Internet is not a free public good. It is a bunch of wires and switches and connections and pipes and it is creaky."
To view his post on the topic, see:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-mccurry/hostile-commentary-and-ne_b_20179.html
For the LA Times story, see:
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-fi-mccurry5jun05,1,1593780.story

iMesh Launches Legal P2P Music Service in Canada

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 24, 2006 - 9:48am.

New York - Mesh, a legal peer-to-peer music file-sharing network, on Tuesday announced the launch of its service in Canada. New York-based iMesh -- formerly an illicit file-sharing network -- launched in the U.S. in October 2005 as a paid service that offers tracks from all the major record labels and many independents for purchase and download. The Canadian version of iMesh will cost users CDN $8.95 per month (U.S. $7.77).

Report: Legal Song Downloads Tripled in First Half of 2005

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 21, 2005 - 9:00am.

London -- The number of legal music downloads has tripled in the first half of 2005, to 180 million, compared with 57 million at the same point last year, according to data released on Thursday by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The U.S. is estimated to have accounted for 159 million of all song downloads sold so far this year; a total of 157 million downloads were sold worldwide last year. The IFPI cited increased broadband adoption and the crackdown on piracy for the increase, noting that the number of songs available on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks has risen only 3% so far this year, from 870 million to 900 million tracks. "We are now seeing real evidence that people are increasingly put off by illegal file-sharing and turning to legal ways of enjoying music online," said IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy. "Whether it's the fear of getting caught breaking the law, or the realization that many networks could damage your home PC, attitudes are changing, and that is good news for the whole music industry." The IFPI said that since industry legal actions against file-swappers began in September 2003, more than 14,200 actions have been filed in 12 countries.

Canada Rules Music File-Sharing Legal, Denies Motions to ID Song-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 1, 2004 - 9:15am.

Toronto -- In a ruling that could have tremendous effects on music downloading in the country, a Canadian federal court has denied motions from the Canadian record industry to identify alleged music file-swappers from their Internet service providers, adding that downloading songs for personal use and offering them to others online is legal in Canada. In February, the Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) filed motions to require five Canadian Internet service providers to disclose the identities of 29 subscribers it believed were offering music on file-sharing services. The CRIA then intended to file copyright infringement lawsuits against the alleged pirates, similar to the tactics taken in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America -- which has sued nearly 2,000 Americans for copyright infringement. "We are reviewing the decision received today from the trial court and expect to appeal it," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl. "In our view, the copyright law in Canada does not allow people to put hundreds or thousands of music files on the Internet for copying, transmission and distribution to millions of strangers." Earlier this week, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it filed suits seeking the identities of alleged file-swappers in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada; Wednesday's decision will likely have an affect on the IFPI litigation as well.

Canada Declares P2P Downloading Legal, Levies Tariff on MP3 Players

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 12, 2003 - 5:19am.

Ottawa, Canada -- In a surprise move, the Canadian Copyright Board has ruled that under current Canadian copyright law, downloading music over peer-to-peer file-sharing services like Kazaa is legal. The board said that downloading was legal if the acquired file was used as a "personal copy;" uploading files to such services, however, was not declared to be legal. Additionally, the board voted to freeze the tariffs that Canadians pay on recordable media like blank CDs -- fees that go into a fund that compensates artists and copyright holders -- at their current rates until the end of 2004. The decision ignored recording industry requests for an increase on the tariffs, as well as its desire to add recordable DVDs and computer hard drives to the list of taxed devices. However, consumers will now pay $2 per GB on hard drive-based MP3 players, with a maximum tariff of $25 for MP3 players with capacities over 10GB. The Copyright Board did not rule out a future tariff on computer hard drives, but decided in the mean time to rule in favor of the consumer.

Survey: 78% of U.S. Teens Think File-Sharing Should Be Legal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 10, 2003 - 4:38am.

Rochester, N.Y. -- Not surprisingly, a recent survey of 13-18 year-olds found that two-thirds of U.S. teens oppose fining individuals who offer copyrighted music online for other people to download, and three-quarters said they think sharing songs with others should be legal. The poll, conducted by New York-based Harris Interactive, found that only 13% of teens believe that people who offer copyrighted music on their computers for others to download should be fined, and that only 34% of teens had ever paid for a music download. "The results of this Harris Interactive survey show that American teenagers, who account for a significant amount of the revenue generated by the music industry, do not agree with the current legal actions that are being enforced against music file sharers," said Harris Interactive senior research associate Marc Scheer.

tags: File-Sharing | legal | U.S | Survey |