Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Pipsqueak pariahs? The fuss over children in public. The idea that parents can take their children everywhere is being tested in subtle ways. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 8:26:52 PM    comment []

The piracy wave vexing Hollywood has hit particularly close to home for one studio [The Smoking Gun] Secret Service agents last month raided the Los Angeles home of a Fox Entertainment employee suspected of involvement in an online conspiracy to distribute pirated films like Old School, X-Men 2, and The Matrix Reloaded. According to the below Secret Service affidavit, more than a dozen illegally duplicated movies were actually housed on a Fox computer server (along with pirated computer software and games), where they were accessed by members of a "warez" group trafficking in such bootlegged material. Lisa Yamamoto, the 45-year-old Fox employee whose home was raided, is allegedly a key member of that "warez" group. Last November, in the course of an investigation into an unrelated computer intrusion, Fox gumshoes stumbled upon the cache of pirated films, and immediately called in the feds. Along with unwittingly storing the titles, Fox was also paying for the bandwidth used when ring members downloaded the films. Yamamoto, who has yet to be charged in the probe, did not respond to phone or e-mail messages left for her by TSG. 2:38:50 PM    comment []

Stephen has a Friday list of music, try his website for free music. [Ted Ritzer: Free Music] 6:13:29 AM    comment []

The Free Culture Movement: A Victory. As some of you may remember, in addition to Eldred v. Aschcroft, there are a number of other cases that we're pushing to set judicial limits on Congress's appetite for the public domain. Golan v. Ashcroft is one. Golan challenges Congress's "restoration" of copyrights to work that had passed into the public domain. The government moved to dismiss Golan on the basis of Eldred. Today the District Court (opinion) rejected the government's motion, and, while striking an Eldred-related claim, refused to dismiss the other 3 counts of the complaint. Thanks to Wheeler, Trigg & Kennedy in Denver, and former Center associate, and now law professor, Ed Lee, the battle continues. Meanwhile, stay tuned for great news re the Public Domain Enhancement Act (and see if you can find a couple more signatures to push the total over 20,000). And stay tuned again Monday for other related news. [Lessig Blog] 5:53:18 AM    comment []