White House Actually Goes Against Hollywood, Supports Copyright Exemptions For Visually Impaired
TechDirt Dec 16 09With the Obama White House appearing thoroughly convinced of the entertainment industry's views on "piracy," it's a bit surprising to hear that it has come out in favor of a proposed treaty to create copyright exceptions for the visually impaired. This is the WIPO treaty that we recently wrote about, noting that all those organizations pushing for ACTA were very much against this particular treaty. The Commerce Department even responded to the entertainment industry by saying that nothing about the treaty appears to "weaken" international copyright law, as they fear. Unfortunately, the details suggest a bit of horse trading may be going on. Full story...
More stories from techdirt »
Just As It Tries To Kick People Offline, The British Gov't Wants To Move All Public Service Online
TechDirt 2 hours agoJust as it considers kicking people offline via the Digital Economy Bill, it looks like the UK is getting set to move all sorts of government services online -- giving every UK citizen a unique webpage, where they can access all sorts of personalized gov't services.
Irish Collection Society Wants Hotels To Pay Performance Fees For Music Played In Guest Rooms
TechDirt 2 days agoWe've seen all sorts of ridiculous claims by performance rights collection societies trying to demand performance rights for things that clearly were not intended as "performances.
Hot News Is Back: Court Blocks Website From Reporting The News
TechDirt 2 days agoIn the last few years, there's been a push by some companies to bring back the immensely troubling "hot news doctrine," that appears to violate everything we know about the First Amendment and copyright law.
Would UK Politicians Support The Digital Economy Bill If It Applied To Offline Activities As Well?
TechDirt 2 days agoThe entertainment industry always likes to take the digital world and compare it to the physical world as if the two were the same -- often making claims like unauthorized downloading is "just like stealing a CD from a store.
Nestle Discovers The Streisand Effect... But Only After Making Things Worse And Worse... And Worse
TechDirt 2 days agoEarlier this week, reader Jorvay sent over the news of how food giant Nestle had massively overreacted to an (admittedly disgusting) anti-Nestle video put together by Greenpeace and posted to YouTube.
More ACTA Leaks: Would Create Special Organization To Manage Worldwide Copyright Laws
TechDirt 2 days agoThe more of ACTA that leaks, the worse it seems. KEI has the details on another portion of ACTA that had not leaked yet, which focuses on setting up new institutions that would manage ACTA after it was implemented.
People Realizing That Viacom's Filings Take YouTube Quotes Totally Out Of Context
TechDirt 3 days agoI had pointed this out in a comment yesterday, but with so many press reports suggesting that Viacom's filing found some sort of "smoking gun" in the YouTube emails concerning founders talking about "stealing" videos, it's worth pointing out that Viacom appears to have taken these quotes totally out of context.
The Onion Puts Out An Equally Accurate Report On Recording Industry Revenue Issues
TechDirt 3 days agoAh, leave it to The Onion to successfully encapsulate the state of the recording industry with a report that is basically as accurate as most of the reports that come out of the RIAA these days:
The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that the combined revenue brought in by Warner, Sony, EMI, Universal, and countless independent music labels in 2009 totaled $18.
Too Little Too Late: Universal Music Finally Realizes That Maybe CDs Were Too Expensive
TechDirt 3 days agoDavid Herron alerts us to the news that it's finally occurred to the brain trust at Universal Music that, perhaps, CD prices were too high.
Despite Plenty Of Warning EA Still Decides To Follow Ubisoft Down The Wrong Path With DRM
TechDirt 3 days agoLast summer, we wrote about some reports that EA was going to require a constant internet connection for Command & Conquer 4.
Popular Tags »»
account director android apple apps architect bonus daniel marks developers digital communications digital project engadget england facebook gadget gadgets gbp global client global radio google gurus information architect ipad iphone job jobs launch london london england mail marketing marketing agency marketing manager microsoft mobile ncity next level nsource nup nwe recruitment seo social media twitter user experience web developer entertainmentMost read today »
Most read this week »
What's New on TechNews.AM
