""

"A set of nonsensical APIs could be created that had exactly the same structure, selection and organization as the Oracle APIs, but that did different things.
For example, the sqrt() method could always return zero - indeed, every method that returns a number could always return zero, while those that return text could always return the letter "a", those that return true or false could always return true, and so on, with a default result being used for every variable type.

This set of APIs would serve no useful purpose, but would have exactly the same structure, selection and organization as the Oracle APIs. No reasonable jury could ever conclude that the “expression” in this hypothetical set of APIs is substantially similar to the “expression” in the Oracle APIs, notwithstanding the “copied” structure, selection and organization.

Thus, Oracle’s infringement theory fails unless it accuses not just the structure."

"This role for APIs tends to support Oracle's view that they are the property of the owners and are not intended for free use by unlicensed parties wanting to implement them. And Google's internal deliberations that show an awareness that a license might be necessary would also support the idea that the APIs are property. On this basis and the careful copyrights in each document, I am unwillingly led to conclude that the jury might not deliver good news when it returns from its deliberations. Of course, I deeply hope I'm wrong.

However, a silver lining could present itself: The jury could affirm that the APIs are copyrighted but that the syntax of the function signatures are a fair use exception. This would safeguard the right to reimplement APIs forever without fear of suit for copyright violation. And it would not be an unreasonable finding."

""As the Advocate General states in point 57 of his Opinion, to accept that the functionality of a computer program can be protected by copyright would amount to making it possible to monopolise ideas, to the detriment of technological progress and industrial development.""

"To us, the Web is a sort of shared external memory. We do not have to remember unnecessary details: dates, sums, formulas, clauses, street names, detailed definitions. It is enough for us to have an abstract, the essence that is needed to process the information and relate it to others. Should we need the details, we can look them up within seconds. Similarly, we do not have to be experts in everything, because we know where to find people who specialise in what we ourselves do not know, and whom we can trust. People who will share their expertise with us not for profit, but because of our shared belief that information exists in motion, that it wants to be free, that we all benefit from the exchange of information. Every day: studying, working, solving everyday issues, pursuing interests. We know how to compete and we like to do it, but our competition, our desire to be different, is built on knowledge, on the ability to interpret and process information, and not on monopolising it."

"Is it really as dire as all that? It’s an emergency is it? Tim points out that he and a lot of other content creators have been happily coexisting with piracy all this time, and I’m certainly one of them. Make good stuff, then make it easy for people to buy it. There’s your anti-piracy plan. The big content companies are TERRIBLE at doing both of these things, so it’s no wonder they’re not doing so well in the current environment. And right now everyone’s fighting to control distribution channels, which is why I can’t watch Star Wars on Netflix or iTunes. It’s fine if you want to have that fight, but don’t yell and scream about how you’re losing business to piracy when your stuff isn’t even available in the box I have on top of my TV. A lot of us have figured out how to do this."

from Pinboard Network RSS Improver http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=b22b9c9acee5906aab7e8a7645a247a9 "We haven’t lost yet, but we have to win the copyright war first if we want to keep the Internet and the PC free and open. Freedom in the future will require us to have the capacity to monitor our devices and set meaningful policies for them; to examine and terminate the software processes that runs on them; and to maintain them as honest servants to our will, not as traitors and spies working for criminals, thugs, and control freaks."Source: http://pinboard.in/

"An API implementation that uses only the necessary API components, but does not repeat the underlying implementation, is an “independent” implementation. A Ford and a Chevy are, in this sense, independent implementations of a car — while they both provide drivers with the same gas pedal and steering interface to the underlying functionality, Chevy engineers likely did not photocopy Ford blueprints in order to build the Chevy’s engine and steering mechanism. Similarly, the fact that virtually every modern computer application supports common keyboard commands like Ctl+C, Ctl+V, and Ctl+P does not prove that the programmers used each other’s implementation source code. Instead, they have each re-implemented the functionality in a way that makes sense for their circumstances, reusing only the “interface” of the keyboard commands."

"the vast majority of both consumers and video professionals don't know: ALL modern video cameras and camcorders that shoot in h.264 or mpeg2, come with a license agreement that says that you can only use that camera to shoot video for "personal use and non-commercial" purposes (go on, read your manuals)."

The exceptions at the bottom of many Google Code pages: "Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License."

RT @LisalaLibrarian: RT @EFF: MPAA and RIAA Seek Net Neutrality #Copyright Loophole #netneutrality

chat with The New York Times Co.’s general counsel, Ken Richieri, who considers whether news aggregators are protected by “fair use,” the legal standard that permits reproduction of copyrighted material under guidelines that, as Richieri says, “work a lot better in the analog world than they do in a digital world.” He ends up largely dissenting from the view of other media companies in suggesting that while news aggregation might constitute unfair competition, it isn’t really a copyright issue: “The AP’s saying, ‘Well, if all of these facts are listed in the same place [on an unlicensed site], that’s a substitute.’ And that may well be, but I’m not sure it’s a substitute for the expression, which is what copyright protects.” He also observes that “traditionally, newspapers were the users of fair use, and pretty much that’s all they did and saw themselves as.”

"Given the increase in artistic production along with the greater public access conclude that "weaker copyright protection, it seems, has benefited society." This is consistent with the authors' view that weaker copyright is "uambiguously desirable if it does not lessen the incentives of artists and entertainment companies to produce new works." 2. The paper takes on several longstanding myths about the economic effects of file sharing, noting that many downloaded songs do not represent a lost sale, some mashups may increase the market for the original work, and the entertainment industry can still steer consumer attention to particular artists (which results in more sales and downloads). 3. The authors' point out that file sharing may not result in reduced incentives to create if the willingness to pay for "complements" increases."

"President Obama reportedly gave an iPod, loaded with 40 show tunes, to England's Queen Elizabeth II as a gift. Did he violate the law when he did so?"

With the old economics destroyed, organizational forms perfected for industrial production have to be replaced with structures optimized for digital data. It makes increasingly less sense even to talk about a publishing industry, because the core problem publishing solves — the incredible difficulty, complexity, and expense of making something available to the public — has stopped being a problem

Postulating that buying DRM music means that when that proprietary technology dies, you'll have to do something criminal to recover it.

original tune to which Key's "Defence of Fort McHenry" was mashed up with, resulting in the Star Spangled Banner I wonder what would have happened if today's copyright laws would have been in force then...

A federal judge has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom its records of which users watched which videos on YouTube

won't this cause record labels to wrap the promo cds in a eula?

Even though their clients did not upload or download any files, the researchers received over 400 takedown requests accusing them of copyright infringement. Every one of those notices was a false positive.

why don't we have an intellectual property tax?

some nice generalizations about fair use

a site-by-site breakdown of what you get — and give up — by consenting to the Terms of Service at some of the major video sites.

identify nine common types of re-appropriation practices that use copyrighted material:

Thorough review of Fairey's art, including the Obey series, and how much he has depended on the art of others.

By the end of the day, John has infringed the copyrights of twenty emails, three legal articles, an architectural rendering, a poem, five photographs, an animated character, a musical composition, a painting, and fifty notes and drawings. All told, he has

Is it wrong to be a Lessig groupie?

library metaphor for Oink makes more sense than economic analogies: for digital music & data, there’s lots of demand but no scarcity at all, which either requires that we rebuild an economic model not based on supply & demand, or start embracing commons

summarizes the problem the CD industry has. Not only are they fighting something cheaper, they’re also fighting something better than they are willing to offer. Is it any surprise that they’re losing?

we as a culture need to examine how we feel about music and art.

ultimately, DRM only affects people who buy media honestly, rather those who nick, borrow or cheat their way to it.

Cory Doctorow looks at the back room dealing that allowed entertainment companies and electronics companies to craft public policy on digital rights management.

(a) optimal copyright falls as the costs of production go down (for example as a result of digitization) and that (b) the optimal level of copyright will, in general, fall over time.

liberating the public domain images of the Smithsonian

Pages Ed Felten found interesting

The mere act of forwarding an email or posting an exchange to a website is grounds for legal action, according to University of Arkansas law professor Ned Snow.

By going after someone for stealing your content, you are protecting the millions of others who let it slide.

The royalty-free license under which Microsoft plans to make its upcoming new Office Open XML Formats widely available is incompatible with the GNU General Public License and will thus prevent many free and open-source software projects from using the for

Windows Vista includes an extensive reworking of core OS elements in order to provide content protection for so-called “premium content”, typically HD data from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. Providing this protection incurs considerable costs in terms o

Creative Commons Deed

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing 10 Zen Monkeys in a civil lawsuit against griefer Michael Crook for abusing the DMCA and violating our free speech rights.

This document collects a number of reported cases where the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA have been invoked not against pirates, but against consumers, scientists, and legitimate competitors. It will be updated from time to time as additional

Next-generation computers are designed to restrict how you use them even before you buy them. What can the free software community do?

Microsoft Research DRM talk

A mod to change the copyright in phpbb