Category Archives: Legal

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Alternative Interpretation of the Prodigy

So I was listening to some music, thinking about the announcement today on Anglo Irish Bank that we have 32% national debt and my generation will be expected to pay that. Kind of depressing if you ask me, but no one does, ’cause the media has got that one all wrapped up. So I asked myself, is their anything new we can learn, while I was listening to the Prodigyclassic “Breathe“. So I came to the realisation there can’t be anything added, or can there?

Breathe the pressure
Come play my game I’ll test ya
Psycho-somatic addict insane

The Prodigy

That’s a line from the song “Breathe” – it fits beautifully with what Ireland is experiencing! Breathe the pressure is the financial markets bailing down on us – while come play my game is what the Government is doing, going back to those markets. “Psycho-somatic addict insane” is perhaps the most poetic, as it symbolises the irrational nature of markets, and how we’re like junkies on the delicious debt we can’t live without (but are insane to go too deep on). If that got you thinking, I’ll leave you with the line from Breathethat shouls horrify us all:

Inhale, inhale, you’re the victim

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WebM promises Open Web Video

I’ve written about my desire for open web video before, and now it looks as if it’s finally going to happen. Lead by Google’s acquisition of On2 technologies, the VP8 codec has been renamed as “WebM” and open sourced. Vorbis will be the audio. Matroska the container for the new format. An Open Source developer for x264 does a great teardown of the format vs. h.264 here.The patent minefield stateside is still not clear by any means, but with a strong backer like Google, it’s probably the best protection your going to get. Announcements, including links to nightlies, dev and beta channel browsers with WebM support are below:

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This post is censored by IRMA

I always hoped for better for Ireland; but it seems the thieving hand of “rights” organizations which pretend to represent the artist have struck gold. Being able to cajole and bribe the largest Irish Internet Service Provider (ISP) – Eircom; has worked only too well. Although Eircom has said it will only obey by having a court order – it has agreed never to oppose these – which makes it complicit in the act of censorship. My Letter to Our ISP, Eircom, IRMA, EFF:

Dear [OUR ISP],

We are a loyal customer of yours. We are writing this because we’re concerned about recent news regarding IRMA (Irish Music Rights Ass.) relationship with your company (the recent letters sent out).

It would seem that they are seeking to become self-appointed censors of Irish Internet communications. We do not think that a third-party company should be permitted to arbitrarily decide which Internet sites Eircom users; or more importantly any Irish Internet user should be allowed to visit. Will IRMA want to block sites that merely link to copyrightable material, proxy sites that circumvent the block, blogs that criticize its actions? This is a very slippery slope and should be nipped in the bud.

In the recent high profile case against The Pirate Bay in Sweden; IRMA’s handlers (IFPI, RIAA) have shown their hand: they don’t even understand the underlying technology. John Kennedy, CEO. IFPI:

Kennedy said he qualified as a lawyer since the 70’s but hasn’t practiced recently. He was asked if he understood BitTorrent. Kennedy said he did, but in “very vague terms.” When the defense lawyers asked more detailed questions, about uTorrent for instance, Kennedy said he’d heard of it but had no idea of the details. It was very clear he knew nothing about any remotely technical issues.

This is the the kind of people who wish to regulate the Internet. Questions need to be asked that if you follow IRMA’s requested actions does this open you up to legal action for any other kinds of material which rights holders are protective of (Church of Scientology) ? and can you retain common carrier status like An Post; and need warrants issued instead of some rights organisation sending you a vague letter pretending to represent XY&Z ?

We understand the ‘concern’ about Internet piracy. Artists definitely need to be paid for their hard work. It is an important issue in this day and age, and it must be addressed correctly. Censorship is not the answer. It is avoiding the issue. As has always happened in these cases, it is normal customers who are inconvenienced and have their free speech restricted the most. We need solutions that work, not knee-jerk reactions that are doomed to fail. We recommend you read the EFF’s whitepaper on a better way forward for online music. http://www.eff.org/wp/better-way-forward-voluntary-collective-licensing-music-file-sharing

There are opportunities here that are being missed. I think it would be for the benefit of both artists and music fans if a solution could be found that combines the technologies developed by the pirates with a fair system for paying artists.

There was a very similar case in Italy where ISPs were forced to block The Pirate Bay’s website after pressure from the music industry (the result was that Italian traffic to the site increased by 5%) . The ban was judged illegal in court under European Directive, 2000/31 CE which is also applicable in Ireland.

If this ban goes ahead, Eircom and indeed Ireland will have a tarnished image on the world stage as a place where misguided efforts to protect revenue supersede freedom of communication. We would also be strongly considering abandoning our Internet subscription for an ISP who doesn’t cave to these demands, and we imagine many other business’ will too.
Please, make the right choice. The world is watching. Your decision will have an important impact on the future of the Internet in Ireland.

Yours faithfully,
[Footer]

I will posting more on this issue as it happens. Stay Tuned! If your Irish and/or in Ireland: please visit: http://blackoutireland.com/

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UK Parliamentary debate: "© is not a pension fund"

I found this doing a search for Domino Records DRM. I looked up some of my favourite artists to see if they were part of the “MAFIAA” that is the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), not surprisingly some were (70% of sold music worldwide is put out by this cartel). I got rather confused when a Franz Ferdinand album appeared on the list, when their debut album did not. Seems the record label did a deal with Sony for distribution. I found a piece of information quite old now (May 2006), but interesting anyway:

“Opponents also challenge the idea that back catalogue revenues provide investment for new ventures and to support new artists. Peter Jameson of the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) argued in The Guardian on 24 April that such investment had contributed to a boom in new British music, citing artists such as Arctic Monkeys, James Blunt and Kaiser Chiefs. However, Arctic Monkeys are with Domino Records, which was founded in 1993 and rarely re-releases records that predate itself, and James Blunt was signed by the US label Custard Records, which was set up only in 2004 and so has little back catalogue material to release; the same is true of Kaiser Chiefs, who are signed to B-Unique, which was also founded in 2004. Those are hardly good examples of recording companies that rely on significant revenue from the back catalogue profits that would be under threat if we were to stick at the 50-year copyright term.” ( Via Digital Rights Network and associated other sources)

I find the whole Digital Rights Management thing very interesting, will the greedy dinosaurs of the recording industry win? Or will technologists like Corey Doctorow or Steve Jobs suceed in getting the point across? After all you don’t see many technologists being record bosses!