Event Notice for Seattle:

Washington Lawyers for the Arts, next brown bag lunch covers a great topic, Privacy and Publicity.  Seattle attorney Mel Simburg will guide you through the ins and outs of Washington’s laws regarding privacy and publicity, including who is protected, what exactly the law prevents, how protection under these laws differs from that provided under copyright and trademark laws, and how privacy and publicity rights concerns are balanced against the First Amendment right of free speech. He will answer your questions, so come prepared!

Noon to 1:30 pm (registration begins at 11:30 am.)

LOCATION:
Stoel Rives LLP
600 University St, Ste 3600

Seattle, Washington 98101
Click here for directions

Note: Unfortunately, we cannot provide comped parking. We suggest taking a Metro bus. Here is a link to Metro Transit trip planner.

FEE:
In advance: $35 attorneys and paralegals; $10 artists and students
At the door: $40 attorneys and paralegals; $15 artists and students

REGISTRATION:

Sunlight is gearing up for another TransparencyCamp in August in California.

This is an un-conference is about convening a trans-partisan tribe of open government advocates from all walks — government representatives, technologists, developers, NGOs, wonks and activists — to share knowledge on how to use new technologies to make our government transparent and meaningfully accessible to the public.

Sign up here: http://transparencycamp.org/ (limited space)

PS: it is in August so I will still be in DC, if you are attending and will be live blogging please ping me so I can follow along.

I will be attending, and hopefully live blogging, a talk on cybersecurity over at Google’s DC Office. I hope the panel addressee issues including deep packet inspection and the potential for abusive uses like censorship.  Here is a little more info on it:

In its Cyberspace Policy Review, the Obama Administration outlined a series of recommendations to defend against cyberattacks, while pending legislation seeks to promote more secure computer networks. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has created a new cybersecurity command, raising questions on how to balance cybersecurity with user privacy and access.

As part of the ongoing Google D.C. Talks series, and in partnership with the Center for a New American Security, experts will offer perspectives on how the United States can implement a national cybersecurity strategy. Participants are invited to submit questions in advance via Google Moderator.

Introduction:
Dr. Kristin Lord, Vice President and Director of Studies
Center for a New American Security

Moderator:
Harry Wingo, Policy Counsel, Google

Panelists:
Ellen Doneski, Chief of Staff, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, & Transportation

Liesyl Franz, Vice President for Information Security and Global Public Policy,
TechAmerica

Richard Hale, Chief Information Assurance Executive, Defense Information
Systems Agency

Philip Reitinger, Deputy Undersecretary of National Protection & Programs
Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

When:
Friday, June 26, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Where:
Google D.C. Office
1101 New York Avenue, NW
2nd Floor
Entrance on EYE Street
Washington, DC

While reading BoingBoing today I ran into another DMCA take down (or at least what looked like a take down). Running into a takedown on content that is news related feels like someone has taken the newspaper I am reading light it on fire. GRR, A mere threat of infringement should not be able to quash a news story. Without access to knowledge our rights are useless, quelling political speech like this is wrong!

Is this video infringing? There is no way to tell without viewing, but what is clear is that copyright law can be used to kill free speech and the freedom of the press.  These takedown notices should inform the public of who is abusing copyright law.

Run into a takedown on content that is news related feels like someone has taken the newspaper I am reading light it on fire. GRR, A mere threat of infringement should not be able to quash a news story.

I am also a little concerned that this is not a run of the mill take down the wording is a little odd: “This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions.” It implies that is is available in other countries… where could i watch it from… can I proxy in to YouTube from Canada on the EU to see it?  Obama is speaking out against Iran’s reaction to the election, as an American I have a compelling need to get educated over what is going on before we find ourselves railroaded into a 3rd Mideast war.

Update: the video appears to be owned by the BBC. It is still not clear why it is not viewable in the US.  Is google becoming a firewall for copyright holders?  Where are we living in the US or China?

While reading my PK email I was directed to a great blog on IP overuse.  Howard Knopf, a Canadian IP lawyer, runs the blog Excess Copyright which is mostly stories of copyright going to far.  Topics include 3 strikes laws and J. D. Salinger’s over use of copyright to try and prevent “unauthorized sequel” called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye.  I strongly recommend checking it out and adding it to your reader.

Here Sample Post for March 1st 2008 :

More on Euro-Excellence v. Kraft

I’ve just done a short talk on the Supreme Court of Canada’s important Kraft decision (in which I was involved) for a LSUC CLE programme on February 28, 2008 in Toronto. Here’s my brief paper.

Here’s a bit of the bottom line in that paper.

The doors have now been opened to new issues such as copyright abuse or misuse, or the argument that copyright law cannot be used to limit free trade in articles not protected by copyright. Other arguments are also open. Current and future potential plaintiffs contemplating the use of copyright law to bar parallel imports of consumer products not protected by copyright may wish to be careful about what they wish for.

HK

Since starting at Public Knowledge (pk) I have been asked at least 20 time what is PK and what do we do. Here is my 1 min elevator speech for PK feel free to make comments:

Public knowledge works to ensure that public interest is given a strong voice when creating intellectual property, access to knowledge and telecommunications policy. Traditionally these polices have been legislated or created by the courts without bring all stake holder to the table, specifically the public has been left out. This is where PK comes in to represent users interests as users become the new generation of participatory creators. PK strives to create more access to information and ideas through advocating for logical policy that values innovation and openness.

If given more time and the person has interest I will continue by highlighting there work in copyright on fair use or orphaned works, on net neutrality or in terms of service dependent on the audience.