Policy Blog
Public Knowledge and Patent Reform
Follow @gigibsohnEarlier this week, Public Knowledge announced that we have hired Charles Duan to head up our new Patent Reform Project. Charles is a computer scientist and former patent litigator who is currently working with my colleagues at the University of Colorado Law School analyzing next-generation Internet technologies and their impact on privacy, intellectual property and communications law. He’ll be starting full time this summer and we’re excited to get started.
PK calls for simple and usable solutions to the problem of orphan works
Follow @rrangnathAmong the many valuable collections that the Library of Congress holds is a vast collection of old newspapers. The Library explains (page 16) that digitizing these collections can provide new and efficient tools for researchers. These newspapers offer a wealth of information on topics such as “the Great Depression, American perspectives on the rise of Hitler and World War II, post-World War I and immigrant communities in America, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, community views on the Civil Rights Act of 1968, to name a few.” These newspapers and scores of other works cannot be publicly disseminated without permission from their copyright owners, who are often unlocatable. These works are called orphan works. The Copyright Office is conducting an inquiry into possible solutions to the problem of orphan works.
Five Fundamentals for the Phone Network, Part 2: Interconnection and Competition
Follow @jgriffinpkLast week we started unpacking Public Knowledge’s proposed Five Fundamentals to guide the upgrade of our phone network to an IP-based infrastructure. First, we explained the importance of providing basic phone service to everyone in the country, regardless of the protocols used to deliver that service.
This week, we’ll focus on the continued need for interconnection and competition among phone service providers.
Why Is Your Cable Bill So High?
Follow @bergmayerShare your cable frustrations here. The best stories will be published to this blog on Thursday, March 21!
Why is it that cable bills keep getting higher? While a lot of the blame falls on the cable industry itself, even some large cable companies can find themselves squeezed by high programming costs that they then pass along to consumers.
For years, cable prices have increased at a rate faster than inflation. According to a report released last year by the NPD group, the average cable bill (just video, not including broadband or voice) reached $86 per month. Compared to an $8 per month Netflix subscription, or an Amazon Instant Video subscription that works out to about $7 per month (and includes free shipping on actual physical goods sold by Amazon for a year), that's a lot.
Cell Phone Unlocking: The Root of the Problem (and Solution) is in Copyright
Follow @sherwinpkYesterday, the White House responded to a We the People petition on phone unlocking, stating that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones and tablets. This puts the administration in line with a large number of consumers who are upset that the Library of Congress refused to exempt phone unlocking (modifying phone software so consumers can use their phones with a different mobile phone company) from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA.”)
However, the White House statement doesn’t reverse the Library’s decision, and nothing in the statement seems to suggest that it plans to.
Five Fundamentals for the Phone Network, Part 1: Service to All Americans
Follow @jgriffinpkThe debate around the technological transition of our phone system to an IP-based network is now well underway at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and among state and local regulators across the country. Public Knowledge has argued that we must guide this transition according to five fundamental principles: service to all Americans, interconnection and competition, consumer protection, network reliability, and public safety. These principles lie at the heart of the reliability, efficiency, and consumer-friendly aspects of the phone network that we often take for granted.
preservesthe openness of the Internet and the public's access to knowledge, promotes creativity through balanced copyright, and upholds and protects the rights of consumers to use innovative technology lawfully.
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