Report: Antipiracy coalition of big media, tech on the way
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An impressive coalition of media companies on Thursday will release a list of guidelines for protecting copyrights online, according to The Journal.
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LOS ANGELES - A coalition of major media and Internet companies yesterday issued a set of guidelines for handling copyright-protected videos on large user-generated sites such as MySpace.
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Tech companies pushing for access to spectrum &quot;white spaces&quot; and for net neutrality and open access on broadband and wireless networks have an antiproperty agenda, said one critic on Wednesday.Open access and other conditions on the 700MHz spectrum currently being auctioned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)&#160;may be suppressing bids and limiting the uses winning bidders have for the spectrum, added Scott Cleland, founder of telecom analyst firm The Precursor Group, speaking at the U.S. Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee&#39;s 2008 State of the &#39;Net Conference in Washington, D.C. Cleland voiced a contrarian view during a discussion of spectrum policy; other speakers called on the U.S. Congress and the FCC to open up more spectrum to unlicensed uses.Open access in the ongoing 700MHz auction at the FCC, widening fair-use rights under copyright, net neutrality, and white-spaces access to television spectrum are all part of a broad and hidden agenda pushed by some tech companies and civil liberties groups, said Cleland, whose company operates the anti-net-neutrality advocacy group NetCompetition.org.&quot;Everybody throws the word &#39;open&#39; around and says open is wonderful,&quot; he said. &quot;But &#39;open&#39; means communal. It means not owned.&quot;Other speakers suggested mobile networks aren&#39;t open enough. Mobile voice providers Verizon Wireless and AT&amp;T have embraced a version of open access in recent months, but they still limit innovative mobile applications, said Jason Devitt, founder of secretive startup Skydeck and cofounder of mobile-phone-application provider Vindigo.Verizon Wireless in November announced it would open its network this year to outside devices, but that doesn&#39;t help mobile application developers, Devitt said. Most of Verizon&#39;s customers will still get their handsets from Verizon, and developers will have to get the company&#39;s permission to include their applications on Verizon-sold phones, he said.&quot;If you&#39;re a developer of mobile applications, Verizon&#39;s announcement makes no difference,&quot; he said.Cleland blasted the FCC for including open-access requirements in about a third of the 62MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band currently being auctioned, saying some of the requirements may have driven away bidders. In the 22MHz block of spectrum called the C block, the winning bidder must allow users to bring such devices&#160;as mobile phones from other carriers and allow outside applications to run on the network.The FCC&#39;s 700MHz auction began last Thursday, and after 16 rounds of bidding through Wednesday, the high bid for the C block was nearly $4.3 billion, just short of the reserve price of $4.6 billion set by the FCC. High bids for the complete auction totalled $10.8 billion, and the FCC had expected to raise at least $10 billion. The auction will likely continue for several days, depending on bidding action.But Cleland criticized the FCC for imposing conditions on the C block and the D block of spectrum, a 10MHz block that the FCC wants to pair with another 10MHz set aside for public safety. The winning bidder of the D block would be required to build a nationwide mobile and broadband network with the two pieces of spectrum, with the network shared by public safety agencies and commercial users.As of late Wednesday, the D block had received a high bid of $472 million, far short of the $1.3 billion reserve price demanded by the FCC. The FCC may have to re-auction the D block without some of the requirements, Cleland said.When the FCC sets several conditions on spectrum, &quot;the bidders have the freedom not to play,&quot; Cleland said. &quot;An auction is a party. You don&#39;t get people to come to your party if you make it not fun and not a happy place.&quot;Other speakers disagreed with Cleland. The FCC needs to push forward with a proposal that would open up the unused &quot;white spaces&quot; in the spectrum bands used by U.S. television broadcasters, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Spectrum Policy Program at think tank the New America Foundation.Opening up this unused spectrum, which allows the long-range transmission of signals, would allow companies to offer wireless broadband services, particularly in rural areas, Calabrese said.TV broadcasters have opposed unlicensed spectrum use in the white spaces, saying the technology to avoid existing signals is unproven. The FCC is currently testing white-space devices.
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A new political action committee supports candidates who speak for the consumer when it comes to copyright law. The group doesn't have the big bucks of the entertainment companies, but it's just getting started. By Katie Dean.
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When it comes to technology start-ups, the appetite for risk among media companies appears to be on the rise.
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Despite evidence that sharing music and movies online remains popular, a report issued Tuesday by a committee of entertainment and university leaders says universities have made strides the past year to curtail online piracy.    The report, submitted to Congress by the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, highlights steps taken by the universities to tackle Internet piracy but offers few details of their effectiveness...
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NEW YORK A broad coalition of major players in online and traditional media signed off on a set of "collaborative principles" Thursday that they hope will guide the growth of online video while also respecting copyrights.
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Congress weighs a bill to restrict cooperation between U.S. companies and digital dictatorships.
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Copyright cabal ahead A large group of media giants is poised to announce a new system for copyrighting content on t'internet.â¦
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Consumer rights advocates are decrying a "statement of principles" issued by various large broadcasting and media companies Thursday. The guidelines urge sites with user-generated content to deploy filtering technology that, experts say, has been proven to hamper various forms of fair use.
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A new report calls for the creation of new anti-piracy offices across the US, Europe and Asia.
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In a copyright-infringement trial under way this week in an Australian federal court, music industry representatives say they plan to make public the secretive ownership structure of the Kazaa file-trading network. By Patrick Gray.
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iPressroom:  WHAT:       Noted Los Angeles-based media business authorities will convene to discuss the impact of blogs, podcasts, emerging personal publishing and social media platforms on the business of mainstream media and entertainment.
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Good grief, the entertainment industry&#39;s content cartel just won&#39;t give up. Copyright owners, recording artists, publishing houses, attorneys--you name &#39;em, they&#39;re lining up to file amicus briefs supporting
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Devices that let people carry video and images are set to have a big year, industry experts say.
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Blogs that monitor file-sharing and antipiracy developments online find themselves this week in a kerfuffle with a company that sells antipiracy services to major studios and recording firms. The bloggers say the firm attempted to entrap potential downloaders; the head of Media Defender denies it.
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By Associated Press  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- A coalition of technology companies and environmental groups led by Google Inc. and Intel Corp.