Digital Rights + Internet Governance + Innovation Policy

Sun to plug OpenDocument to Global Summit

Sun Microsystems Inc and like-minded organizations will promote the use of open standards, including the OpenDocument Format much feared by Microsoft Corp, at the Internet Governance Forum summit this week in Athens, Greece. The company, along with supporters including IP Justice and the Consumer Project on Technology, will urge governments to adopt procurement practices that recognize open technology standards as important, and forbid buying only proprietary technology.

UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Opens in Athens: IP Justice Sponsors 3 Workshops on Internet Policy Issues

The inaugural meeting of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) takes place in Athens, Greece from 30 October – 2 November 2006. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has convened the forum to build multi-stakeholder dialogue on Internet policy issues. Over 1500 participants from around the world are expected to attend the forum to identify emerging issues and make recommendations intended to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet. In May 2006, Annan appointed IP Justice Executive Director Robin Gross to the IGF Advisory Group to help shape the policy dialogue. “The IGF was created out of recognition that the Internet has connected the world’s people together like never before, and we must work together to build an Internet that fosters a free flow of information, innovation and development for all,” said Robin Gross. Together with a number of other NGOs, industry and governments, IP Justice is co-sponsoring three workshops at IGF on the topics of “An Internet Bill of Rights”, “Access to Knowledge and Freedom of Expression” and “Open Standards”. Details on the 3 workshops are below....

DVD-Jon Liberates the iPod – Digital Music Wars Take New Direction – Unlocking the Devices

Jon Johansen has done it again! He has has figured out how to improve existing technology by reverse engineering it and building innovative new software that expands consumer choice -- this time for digital music. You may remember in 1999, when 15-year-old Jon Johansen posted DeCSS, a tool created to build a DVD player for the Linux operating system, and started a fire-storm of movie studio lawsuits under the brand new 1998 US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California trade secrets law. (Jon was also acquitted twice in Norway by the Norwegian Supreme Court). The DeCSS case was my first case as an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and we were all treading on unchartered territory in those days. Since then, the DMCA and other anti-circumvention laws have created a legal quagmire for reverse engineers that has kept us all too busy. ....

DeCSS Litigation Timeline (Hollywood’s war on DVD software and consumers)

DeCSS Litigation Timeline Below is a table that outlines Hollywood's various legal battles to outlaw DeCSS software. v. Mathew Pavlovich Filed by DVD-CCAIn California State Courts under trade secret misappropriation claim.(Jurisdictional question). v. Andrew Bunner Filed by DVD-CCAIn California State Courts under trade secret misappropriation claim.(First Amendment issue). v. 2600 Magazine Filed by Eight Hollywood [...]

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