The three articles I chose to summarize this week all deal with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and it's provisions under copyright infringement and Digital Rights Management. When a file, MP3, does not have the DRM on it, it is open for copyright infringement. This is all protected under the DMCA, which we learned about our first few weeks of class. Without the DMCA, files would not have DRM, and all could be copyrighted, and none of the artists would get their compensation.
People who unlock the Apple iPhone so that other phone companies than AT&T, and post the code online to sell, could be faced with a lawsuit under the DMCA. Some lawyers argue that if they were to post it online without compensation, and they were sued, they could argue that they were protected under free speech. It's also protected under the exception of the DMCA that a user can unlock the phone themselves, without any outside help, and cannot be sued, or fined. People who do post the code online, can be sued for copyright infringement.
This relates back to class because we learned about the DMCA and it's provisions. This is a case that takes it to the extreme, because it really challenges the Act, with it's provisions on copyrights.Sony is dropping the Digital Rights Management (DRM) from their digital song files. This will allow more access, and users to use the file more freely. They are the last of the big recording studios to do this. Sony has been planning on this for 6 months, and will sell their DRM-Free music through the Amazon Digital Store, to compete with Apple's iTunes. They are also worried about the price of the music files, because iTunes offers theirs for 99 cents, which they recording industry is not high enough.
This relates back to class because it deals with Digital Rights Management, which is part of the DMCA that we studied. Without DRM, users will be able to use files more freely, and we'll just have to see what this does to the recording industry.
Search engine SeeqPod is being sued by Warner for copyright infringement. SeeqPod allows users to search for MP3, and stream them through a Flash player. It doesn't allow searchers to download the song directly, but it does allow for bootlegging. And, it's also playing the song which is a copyright violation in itsself.
This relates back to class because it's dealing with copyright infringement, which we have learned about in class. Playing a song in a public place, such as the Internet, in this case, is a violation of copyright, and opens the poster up for a lawsuit.