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From: [log in to unmask]
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Sent: 16 March 2006 20:15
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Subject: [the-filter] [the-Filter] March 2006
<-- The Filter --> March 2006
Your regular dose of public-interest Internet news and commentary from the
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School.
FILTER CONTENTS:
[0] From the Editor
[1] News
[2] Berkman Updates
[3] Community Talk
[4] Networked: Bookmarks, Webcasts, Podcasts, Tags, and Blogposts
[5] Global Voices: Digital Dose of Global Conversations
[6] Community Links
[7] Upcoming Conferences
[8] Staying Connected
[9] Filter Facts
***If you have problems clicking through any of the links below, please
read the Filter from the Berkman Center's website:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/filter/v/379/966>
[0] From the Editor
===================
Last month we introduced Community Talk, a new section that profiles a
question you've asked alongside an answer by a Berkman fellow or faculty
member. This month's featured question, "Why is it OK to tape a song off
the radio, but not the same song off a friend's CD?" comes from Ray M.;
Berkman Affiliate Derek Slater provides the answer in section [3]. We've
also got a new section, [5] Global Voices. Compiled by David Sasaki over
at Global Voices, a Berkman Center citizen media project, the monthly
digest provides you with links to interesting conversations happening
throughout the global blogosphere. As always, please send comments and
suggestions to [log in to unmask]
- Amanda Michel
[1] NEWS: a bit of what's going on and where to read more
=========================================================
*** "Waffling Over Fair Use? Deciphering the Entertainment Industry's
Stance on Format-Shifting" ***
By Tim Armstrong
Berkman Fellow and Assistant Clinical Program Director
On February 2, 2006, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA),
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Business Software
Alliance (BSA), and many other industry groups representing copyright
holders submitted comments to the U.S. Copyright Office in connection
with the Office's triennial rulemaking proceeding under the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act. The industry group's submission included the
following statement: "Nor does the fact that permission to make a copy
in particular circumstances is often or even routinely granted
necessarily establish that the copying is a fair use when the copyright
owner withholds that authorization. In this regard, the statement
attributed to counsel for copyright owners in the MGM v. Grokster case
is simply a statement about authorization, not about fair use."
What's striking about the industry groups' comments is that they appear
to some as inconsistent with the industry's representations during the
MGM v. Grokster Supreme Court trial. The counsel for the entertainment
industry stated during his oral arguments on March 29, 2005: "The record
companies, my clients, have said, for some time now, and it's been on
their website for some time now, that it's perfectly lawful to take a CD
that you've purchased, upload it onto your computer, put it onto your
iPod." To many, the counsel's comments suggested the recording industry
had conceded that such "format-shifting" of media works was lawful.
Those critical of the inconsistency argue that consumers benefit from
clarity regarding the extent of their own rights. The industry's prior
statements supplied such clarity because they were broadly consistent
with the industry's historical pattern of behavior in not bringing suit
against individual consumers for format-shifting their own CDs. By
suggesting that it has refrained from suing consumers as a matter of
grace, not because consumers are acting within their legal rights, the
industry has clouded the state of law and restored some of the legal
uncertainty surrounding personal uses of copyrighted entertainment works.
Read more:
* Tim Armstrong's blogpost:
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tka/2006/02/16#a78>
* Electronic Frontier Foundation commentary:
<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004409.php>
* Ars Technica commentary:
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060215-6190.html>
*** Sifry's Blogosphere Report ***
By Katie Chang
Berkman Intern
David Sifry, the founder and director of the blog search engine
Technorati, reported on February 13 that mainstream media giants like
the New York Times and CNN continue to receive the most attention
online, despite blogs' growing popularity. According to Sifry's report,
blogs have increased by almost eight million since October 2005 and now
total 27.2 million. While eight million represents a substantial
increase in the number of blogs, blog growth appears to be slowing. Just
last October Sifry recounted that the number of blogs has doubled
approximately every five months for the past three years. Also in his
report, Sifry called attention to The Magical Middle, those influential
blogs linked to by between 20 and 1000 people that function as expert
blogs. Despite the fact that blog popularity often appears to be in
flux, there is apparently minimal change in rank among the top 100 blogs.
Berkman Fellow David Weinberger (co-Author of "The Cluetrain Manifesto"
and "Small Pieces Loosely Joined" and a longtime blogger) interpreted
the data as reflecting that, "as more people blog, the sites we all read
in common remain the MSM (the mainstream media). But as blogging
spreads, interests get more diverse, so there are fewer blogs that we
all read." Weinberger mused that what remains to be seen is whether
mainstream media is waiting to be Wikipedia-ed, or if they will
transform themselves enough to continue being our common ground.
Learn more:
* David Sifry's report on the State of the Blogosphere:
<http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000420.html>
* David Weinberger's observations on Sifry's report:
<http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/mtarchive/blogosphere_changes_shape.html>
[2] BERKMAN UPDATES: news from in and around the Center
=======================================================
*** Berkman Represented at Congressional Hearings over the Internet and
China ***
By Berkman Intern Alex Berengaut
The public debate surrounding American corporate involvement in China's
filtering regime came to a head last month in two open congressional
hearings.
John Palfrey (Clinical Professor of Law, Berkman's Executive Director,
and a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative) testified before
the Human Rights Caucus members' briefing, "Human Rights and the
Internet - The People's Republic of China", on February 1. Present at
the hearing were representatives of human rights groups including
Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, and Human Rights
Watch. Also testifying was Nart Villeneuve, Director of Technical
Research for the OpenNet Initiative and the University of Toronto's
Citizen Lab. The OpenNet Initiative, of which the Berkman Center is a
member, has produced reports on the state of Internet filtering in
China, Iran, Yemen, Singapore, UAE, Tunisia, Burma, Bahrain, and Saudi
Arabia.
On February 15, both Prof. Palfrey and Berkman Fellow Rebecca MacKinnon
offered testimony to another Hill hearing, "The Internet in China: A
Tool for Freedom or Suppression?" Representatives who called the
hearings proposed the Global Online Freedom Act, which takes general
measures to promote Internet openness, sets minimum standards for
corporate behavior, and establishes a private right of action in U.S.
courts for individuals injured by corporate filtering. Among those
present at the February 15 hearing were the legal representatives of
Google, Yahoo!, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft; they argued that their
presence in China was a net benefit to the Chinese people, providing
both greater access to information and a forum in which people can
freely express their views.
In the public debate following the hearings, Palfrey and MacKinnon have
argued that the answer may lie in both increased corporate transparency
and a brokered approach between America's government and companies.
Read more:
* John Palfrey's blog (with links to his written testimony):
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/palfrey/>
* Rebecca MacKinnon's reflections on the proposed legislation:
<http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2006/03/global_online_f.html>
* ONI's report "Internet Filtering in China: 2004-2005":
<http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/china/>
* Palfrey and MacKinnon's Newsweek op-ed "Censorship Inc.":
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11437139/site/newsweek/>
*** Berkman Center Offers Monthly Digital Media in Asia Speaker Series ***
The Digital Media in Asia Project seeks to research and understand how
policy makers and entertainment industries in Asia are responding to the
internet and the proliferation of new digital technologies. Digital
Media in Asia will host monthly webcasts featuring speakers at the
forefront of law, policy, and digital entertainment issues in Asia.
These webcasts are open to the public.
Last month's special guest was Michigan State University law professor
and internationally renowned Chinese cyberlaw expert Peter Yu. Professor
Yu explored the challenges of protecting intellectual property rights in
digital media in China and the international implications of a failure
to protect content online. In addition, he spoke about the impact of
China's Internet regulation and information control policy, as well as
its recent accession to the World Trade Organization.
If you would like to join us virtually for the Digital Media in Asia
Speaker Series, please email Digital Media in Asia Project co-founders
Eric Priest ([log in to unmask]) or Susie Lindsay
([log in to unmask]) for more information.
The Digital Media in Asia blog: <http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/dmablog/>
*** Center for Citizen Media Launches Speakers Series and Research
Initiative ***
Approximately two months ago, Berkman Fellow Dan Gillmor launched the
Center for Citizen Media (http://citmedia.org/blog/), a new initiative
aimed at helping to enable and encourage grassroots media, especially
citizen journalism, at every level. This past month Gillmor launched
Berkman's Citizen Media Speaker Series with the talk, "The Rise of
Grassroots, Open-Source Journalism, and the Coming Era of the Citizen
Activist." The series focuses on recent developments in grassroots media
and why they are so essential to the notion of an informed citizenry.
If you are interested in getting involved with the Center for Citizen
Media, please contact Dan Gillmor at [log in to unmask]
We will be webcasting and podcasting Gillmor's talks, as well as making
them available on AudioBerkman, the Berkman Center's audio archive. To
listen in, please check: <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/audio/archive>
Read more:
* CitizenMedia.org: <http://citmedia.org/>
* Dan Gillmor: <http://www.dangillmor.com/about.htm>
[3] COMMUNITY TALK: Your questions and comments
===============================================
How it works: If you've got a question you'd like to ask the Berkman
faculty and fellows, or if you've been puzzling over a recent event and
would like some clarification, send in your questions to
[log in to unmask] by March 24. One question will be selected
and addressed by Berkman fellows and faculty in the next edition of the
Filter.
Featured Question: "Why is it OK to tape a song off the radio, but not
the same song off a friend's CD? Why is it ok to videotape a movie, but
not to copy the movie from a friend or relative?" - Ray. M
Answer by Derek Slater, Berkman Affiliate: "Unfortunately, the Copyright
Act doesn't provide any easy answer to these questions. Though copyright
holders are granted certain exclusive rights to their works, those
rights are not absolute. One important exception is called 'fair use'.
Courts determine fair use on a case-by-case basis, evaluating the
purpose and character of the use, the nature of the work used, the
amount used, and the effect on the market for the work. There's no hard
and fast rule for how these factors should be applied.
"In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled in Sony v. Universal that recording a
TV program to watch it once ('time-shifting') is lawful. Because
time-shifting is non-commercial, socially beneficial, and unlikely to
harm the market for copyrighted works, it constitutes 'fair use'. The
Court's arguments can reasonably be applied to recording for personal
use from the radio as well. Notably, the Court's analysis did not
consider recording a program and keeping it permanently ('librarying').
"What about copying a song or movie from a friend or relative's CD or
DVD? Again, without assessing particular circumstances, it's hard to say
definitively whether such copying would be lawful or not, but most
copyright owners take the position that it is illegal under most
circumstances. For example, in Napster, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
held that sharing music on P2P networks is not fair use because it
substituted for purchases of works. In addition to fair use, various
other exceptions might in some circumstances allow copying. For
instance, recording off the radio using certain devices is lawful under
the Audio Home Recording Act."
To learn more about copyright and fair use, check out:
<http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/index.html>
[4] NETWORKED: PAPERS, BOOKMARKS, WEBCASTS, PODCASTS, TAGS, AND BLOGPOSTS
Links to Berkman conversations happening online
========================================================================
* Digital Media *
PRESENTATION: "The Future Digital Economy: Digital Content- Creation,
Distribution, and Access," Prof. Terry Fisher
<http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/44/36138608.pdf>
BLOGPOST: RIAA: We Never Conceded CD Format-Shifting Was a Noninfringing
Use, Timothy K. Armstrong
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tka/2006/02/16#a78>
* Internet Governance *
ARTICLE: "Searches and Seizures in a Networked World", Prof. Jonathan
Zittrain
<http://www.harvardlawreview.org/forum/issues/119/dec05/zittrain05.shtml>
BLOGPOST: "China's New Domain Names: Lost in Translation", Rebecca
MacKinnon
<http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2006/02/chinas_new_doma.html>
BLOGPOST: "So where do I register ethanzuckerman.???" Ethan Zuckerman
<http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=429>
* Citizen Media *
BLOGPOST: "Is it Journalism? Does it pretend to be?" Dan Gillmor
<http://citmedia.org/blog/2006/02/24/is-it-journalism-does-it-pretend-to-be/
>
AUDIO BERKMAN PODCAST: "Brad Patrick (Wikipedia Counsel) on Wikipedia",
Berkman Luncheon Series
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/uploads/12/38/brad_patrick.mp3>
* The Internet and Politics *
WRITTEN TESTIMONY: Testimony to the US House of Representatives on
International Relations, Prof. John Palfrey
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/palfrey/stories/storyReader$1063>
OP-ED: "Technology and Censorship, Inc." Prof. John Palfrey and Rebecca
MacKinnon, Newsweek
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11437139/site/newsweek/>
BLOGPOST: "Global Online Freedom Act of 2006: The Evil is in the
Details", Prof. Urs Gasser
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ugasser/2006/02/16#a662>
AUDIO BERKMAN EVENT: The Sunlight Foundation launches new program to
promote greater examination of Congress.
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/audio/home?wid=12&func=viewSubmission&sid=23>
[5] Global Voices:
Digital Dose of Global Conversations
============================================
Global Voices, a non-profit global citizens' media project, is sponsored
by and was launched from the Berkman Center by Berkman Fellows Rebecca
MacKinnon and Ethan Zuckerman. David Sasaki, Global Voices Americas
Regional Editor, put together the monthly digest below, a collection of
links to the most interesting conversations happening in the global
blogosphere. Please check out Global Voices at
<http://www.globalvoicesonline.org>
In a development that surprised just about everyone, Bolivians went to
the polls last month in strong support of leftist former coca grower Evo
Morales and elected him president in the first round of elections. The
rapid change of administration and social policy has left Bolivian
bloggers with much fodder to discuss and debate. Whether it's the
legitimization of coca growing, the nationalization of hydrocarbons, or
the development of oil reserves, they want their opinions heard.
For more on Bolivian bloggers' political punditry, see Eduardo Arcos'
excellent summary of Morales' first week in office:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/02/01/the-week-that-was-boli
vian-blogs-14/>
The Danish cartoon controversy incited tragic violence and
finger-pointing across the globe, but it also inspired a much-needed
cultural exchange online. Global Voices contributors from around the
world worked extra hard to cover the conversations from their respective
countries and, although anger did at times flare up, the overwhelming
conclusion of the dialogue was a call for respect, tolerance, and
non-violence.
For more on the global reaction to the Danish cartoons see:
* Arab:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/02/05/burning-butter/>
* South Asia:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/02/03/south-asia-reacting-to
-the-danish-cartoons-controversy/>
* Jordan:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/02/07/the-jordanian-blogosph
ere-reacts-to-the-danish-cartoons/>
* Morocco:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/02/08/the-danish-cartoons-do
minate-the-moroccan-blogs/>
* Iran:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/02/08/cartoons-of-prophet-nu
clear-crisis/>
* Pakistan:
<http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/02/20/pakistan-blog-o-tracking/>
While bloggers in the United States reacted strongly and swiftly to news
that Google would be censoring search results in China, their Chinese
counterparts barely mentioned the news at all. Rather, it seems, they
were engrossed in a celebrity scandal that has come to be called, "the
steamed bun lawsuit," where one celebrated director is suing another for
parodying his work. Tian Yi gives context to the lawsuit and offers his
own analysis of why a celebrity court case is receiving more attention
among Chinese bloggers than internet censorship.
For more on the steamed bun controversy, check out Tian Yi's coverage:
<http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/02/20/all-quiet-on-the-chinese-front
/>
It's Carnival time around much of the world and Trinidad and Tobago
contributor Nicholas Laughlin has an outstanding and lively summary of
what his country's bloggers have to say about the festivities. Beginning
with critiques of the event's growing commercialism and the wearied
reactions by some bloggers who say the quality of music is lessened with
each passing year, Laughlin explains how one man's involvement sparked
excitement across the island.
For more description and photos of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival, see
Laughlin's summary:
<http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/02/24/the-web-make-to-blog-on-carniv
al-day/>
[6] COMMUNITY LINKS:
Featuring our friends and affiliates
============================================
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Press Room: "Google Copies Your Hard
Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation"
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_02.php#004400>
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Deep Links: "A Code of Conduct for
Internet Companies in Authoritarian Regimes"
<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004410.php>
Center for Social Media: "Future of Public Media"
<http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/future.htm>
Public Knowledge: "Public Knowledge Senate Testimony Links National
Video Franchise with Net Neutrality"
<http://www.publicknowledge.org/pressroom/releases/pressrelease.2006-02-14.2
918274635>
Creative Commons: "Second Life"
<http://creativecommons.org/video/secondlife>
Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything: "TOE returns with its first
alt.npr weekly podcast"
<http://www.toeradio.org/archives/2006/02/toe_returns_wit.html>
Free Expression Policy Project: "Reclaiming the First Amendment"
<http://www.fepproject.org/fepp/hofstra.CallPapers.pdf>
Center for Democracy and Technology: "Updating Privacy Protections to
Keep Pace with Technology"
<http://www.cdt.org/publications/digital-search-and-seizure.pdf>
Harvard Journal of Law & Technology: "Beyond Network Neutrality" by
Christopher S. Yoo
<http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v19/19HarvJLTech001.pdf>
[7] UPCOMING CONFERENCES
========================
*** If you know of a conference that should be included in this section,
please email a URL, conference name, and date to
[log in to unmask] ***
Upcoming Berkman Conferences:
* March 30 is the deadline to submit a proposal to Wikimania '06, to be
held August 4-6 in Cambridge, Massachusetts:
<http://cfp.wikimania.wikimedia.org/>
* Freedom 2 Connect, April 3-4 <http://pulver.com/f2c>
* "Beyond Broadcast: Reinventing Public Media in a Participatory
Culture" will be held May 12-13 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Get
involved on the planning wiki: <http://www.beyondbroadcast.net/>
Conferences:
March
* March 22-25: Museums and the Web - Albuquerque, New Mexico,
<http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/index.html/>
* March 30-31: e-Crime Congress 2006 - London, United Kingdom,
<http://www.e-crimecongress.org/ecrime2006/website.asp/>
April
* April 5-7: International Symposium on Intelligent Environments:
Improving the quality of life in a changing world - Cambridge, United
Kingdom, <http://research.microsoft.com/ero/iep/isie06/>
* April 6-7: Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Spring Conference
and Research Seminar 2006 - The Netherlands,
<http://www.alt.ac.uk/conferences.php>
* April 10-12: Open Source and Sustainability 2006 - Oxford, United
Kingdom, <http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/events/2006-04-10-12/>
* April 11-13: International Conference on Web Information Systems and
Technologies (WEBIST) - Setubal, Portugal, <http://www.webist.org/>
* April 18-20: Asia Commons: Asian Conference on the Digital Commons -
Bangkok, Thailand, <http://www.asia-commons.net/>
* April 20: LIFE: Life Cycle Information for E-Literature - London,
United Kingdom, <http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/lifeproject/conference.shtml/>
* April 20-21: Innovate and Motivate: Next Generation Libraries - Online
conference, <http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/virtualconference.htm>
* April 21-23: Access to Knowledge - New Haven, Connecticut,
<http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/a2k.html/>
* April 21-23: First Conference of Asian Bloggers, Podcasters and Online
Media: Free Expression in Asian Cyberspace - manila, Philippines
<http://www.seapa.org>
* April 25-28: Digital Learning Asia 2006, Bangkok, Thailand
<http://www.dlasia.csdms.in/>
* April 26-27: Technology Policy for a Flattening World: Educause Policy
2006 - Washington, DC, <http://www.educause.edu/Policy/1477/>
* April 26-28: The Impact of Internet on the Mass Media in Europe -
Delphi, Greece, <http://www.cost-a20.wb.st/>
* April 26-28: e-gov Asia 2006: The Asian e-Government Conference -
Bangkok, Thailand, <http://www.egovonline.net/egovasia/index.asp/>
* April 27-28: ECEG 2006: 6th European Conference on e-Government -
Marburg, Germany,
<http://www.academic-conferences.org/eceg/eceg2006/eceg06-home.htm/>
* April 28: NETLAW 2006 - Toronto, Canada,
<http://www.canadianinstitute.com/Telecommunications___Technology/Netlaw_200
6.htm/>
[8] STAYING CONNECTED:
how to find out about Berkman's weekly events
=====================================================
* Every Friday we feature the week's online blog conversations in the
Berkman Blog Buzz. If you would like to receive the Buzz via email,
please send an email to amichel AT cyber.law.harvard.edu with "Blog Buzz
subscribe" as the subject line. To take a look at last week's Berkman
Blog Buzz, go here:
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/home?wid=10&func=viewSubmission&sid=914>
* We webcast every Tuesday Luncheon Speakers event. Luncheon Series
events start at 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time. The webcast link is
http://harmony.law.harvard.edu/webcast.sdp We will also host an IRC chat
during the discussion - drop in and we'll take your questions from
there: irc://irc.freenode.net/berkman. Tune in!
* If you are unable to tune in to one of our events, please check out
Berkman's Audio Event Archive to listen in at a later time.
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/audio/archive>
* The Berkman Center sends out an events email every Wednesday. If you'd
like to be notified of upcoming events - virtual and otherwise - please
sign up by emailing amichel at cyber.law.harvard.edu.
* Future events are listed on the Berkman public calendar. It is
available here: <https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/events>
[9] FILTER FACTS
================
* Talk Back
Tell us what you think - send feedback and news announcements to:
[log in to unmask]
* Subscription Info
Subscribe or Unsubscribe: <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/signup/>
* About Us
Filter is a publication of the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School.
Editor: Amanda Michel
* Not a Copyright
This work is hereby released into the public domain. Please share it.
To read the public domain dedication, visit:
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain>
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