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YouTube Cheers Dismissal of Veoh Copyright Suit
In a ruling that could have implications for Viacom's $1.65 billion lawsuit against YouTube, a California federal court on Wednesday dismissed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against online video-sharing site Veoh Networks.IO Group, an adult entertainment company, had sued Veoh, alleging the site was displaying its content in violation of copyright laws. Veoh had uploaded IO Group's content without permission. However, Judge Howard Lloyd of the U.S. District Court in San Jose disagreed with IO Group's argument. The judge ruled that Veoh is protected by the safe-harbor provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That provision protects against copyright infringement if action is taken after notification of a copyright violation."Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its Web site and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its site," Judge Lloyd wrote in his decision.Google Applauds RulingGoogle-owned YouTube was quick to praise the decision. YouTube Chief Counsel Zahavah Levine applauded the court for confirming that the DMCA protects services like YouTube that follow the law and respect copyrights. Zahavah then reiterated Google's oft-repeated statement:"YouTube has gone above and beyond the law to protect content owners while empowering people to communicate and share their experiences online."We work every day to give content owners choices about whether to take down, leave up, or even earn revenue from their videos, and we are developing state-of-the-art tools to let them do that even better."What About Viacom's Suit?Viacom could not immediately be reached for comment.Viacom filed a suit against Google in 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Viacom called YouTube a "significant, for-profit organization that has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent, Google."Google might...
An Overview of Twitter Clients for Linux (Linux Journal)
Daniel Bartholomew reviews a number of Linux twitter clients on Linux Journal."Micro-blogging sites are everywhere these days. There's Jaiku, FriendFeed, Pownce, Tumblr, and Identi.ca, to name a few. For many, though, the original micro-blogging site is the best: Twitter. It certainly has the biggest userbase, if nothing else. If you don't know what micro-blogging is and how it is different from regular blogging, check out one of the many online Twitter introductions.One thing that has helped Twitter become as popular as it has is the Twitter API. For users of Twitter, this ability for nearly any developer to create applications that work with the service means that in addition to posting via a browser or my cell phone, I can post from a score of different Desktop applications."
Decision
The legal claims SCO made against Linux are back. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals today threw out the Utah district court’s August 2007 summary judgment awarding ownership of Unix and UnixWare copyrights to Novell. The appeals court also overturned Novell’s waiver of SCO’s termination of IBM’s right to distribute AIX and Novell’s order telling SCO to abandon its breach-of-contract and copyright suit against IBM and Sequent.read more
Google
Google Inc. wants the digital rights to millions of books badly enough that it's willing to take on the U.S. Department of Justice in a court battle over whether the Internet search leader's ambitions would break antitrust and copyright laws.The stage for the showdown was set Thursday with a Google court filing that defended the $125 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit the company reached with U.S. authors and publishers more than 14 months ago.Google's 67-page filing includes a rebuttal to the Justice Department's belief that the settlement would thwart competition in the book market and undermine copyright law. The brief also tries to overcome a chorus of criticism from several of its rivals, watchdog groups, state governments and even some foreign governments.Google revised its original book agreement in November in an attempt to win the Justice Department's support, only to have the nation's top law enforcement agency reiterate its opposition last week.This time, though, Google decided to dig in its heels and attempt to persuade U.S. District Judge Denny Chin that the Justice Department and the settlement's other opponents are wrong. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 18 in a New York court hearing."The purpose of copyright law is to promote the creation and distribution of expressive works," Google's lawyers wrote in Thursday's filing. "The (settlement) advances this purpose as much as any case or agreement in copyright history."The decision to fight the Justice Department rather than seek another compromise represents a calculated risk for Google. The company's domination of Internet search and its expansion into other markets have already been drawing more regulatory scrutiny.Locking horns with the Justice Department raises the specter of antitrust regulators magnifying their focus on Google's search engine, which fuels an online advertising system that generates virtually all the company's revenue.Efforts to reach the...
North Carolina Following New York’s Lead With Affiliate Taxes
It appears that North Carolina is about to follow New York’s lead and implement a tax collection scheme that will see Amazon.com shut down its Associates affiliate program in the state. Today, all Amazon Associates in NC received this gloomy email from the online retailer:We regret to inform you that the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) appears ready to enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with North Carolina-based Associates. You are receiving this e-mail because our records indicate that you are an Amazon Associate and resident of North Carolina.Please note that this is not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Associates Program. All referral fees earned on qualified traffic will continue to be paid as planned.But because the new law is drafted to go into effect once enacted – which could happen in the next two weeks – we will have to terminate the participation of all North Carolina residents in the Amazon Associates program on or before that same day. After the termination day, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates program from North Carolina residents.The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on North Carolina residents like you were explained in detail to key senators and representatives in Raleigh, including the leadership of the Senate, House, and both chambers’ finance committees. Other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Tennessee, considered nearly identical schemes, but rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states’ residents.The North Carolina General Assembly’s website is http://www.ncleg.net/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates program, and we will apprise you of the General Assembly’s action on this matter.Sincerely,Amazon.comLast time I checked, adding new taxes in a recession were a bad thing. Amazon is a huge retailer and many people–myself included–supplement their income using its affiliate program. If others follow Amazon’s lead, then what affiliate revenue will be left to actually tax? NC would still not have any tax revenue from affiliate marketing AND those making a living from affiliate marketing lose their income. Nice move NC….not!If you’re one of those that will be affected, then you might want to contact your state representative (thanks Scott for that suggestion!)Comments
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