Press Releases

Background: House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) today introduced H.R. 5994, the “Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.”

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We are grateful to Chairman Conyers and Rep. Lofgren for introducing this legislation.

“The bill squarely addresses the issue of the enormous market power of the telephone and cable companies as the providers of 98 percent of the broadband service in the country. The bill restores the principle of non-discrimination that allowed the Internet to flourish in the dial-up era, making certain that the same freedom and innovation will flourish in the broadband era without burdensome regulation.

Background: The House Intellectual Property Subcommittee today approved H.R. 5889, the Orphan Works Act of 2008. Orphan works are works, such as photographs, music or film, or other works for which the copyright holder can’t be found by someone who wants to use the work in a way that normally would require permission. Works can become “orphaned” for a number of reasons: the owner did not register the work, the owner sold rights in the work and did not register the transfer, the owner died and his heirs cannot be found.

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

The producers of World of Warcraft may not like gamers using automated “bots” to play the game, but the company can’t ban the practice under copyright law, Public Knowledge has told a federal court in Arizona.

In a brief filed Monday (May 5) with the U.S. District Court in Arizona, Public Knowledge said that Blizzard Entertainment, which produced the game, misinterpreted copyright law in its suit against MDY, which produces the “Glider” software that plays World of Warcraft while the owner is not even at the computer. Blizzard claims Glider infringed on the game’s copyright, arguing that by breaking the rules in a license agreement, the players are violating copyright each time they load the game into computer memory in order to play it.

Earlier today, the House Judiciary Committee approved HR 4279, the Pro-IP bill, which would increase penalties for violations of intellectual property laws, among other items.

The following is the statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“We are pleased that the Committee amended the bill (HR 4279) to make clear there has to be a ‘substantial connection’ between property to be seized, such as a computer, a car or a house, and any violations of the copyright law. Now that the Committee has approved the bill, we look forward to legislative action on Orphan Works legislation, (HR 5889), that would work to restore balance in copyright law.”

Public Knowledge Statement on FCC Inspector General Report

Earlier today, the Inspector General of the Federal Communications Commission released a report on the bidding for the D Block in the recent spectrum auction. The report is here.

For background, please refer to this blog post that discussions some of the same issues as the IG report: http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1479

The following is the statement of Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

Contacts:

• Art Brodsky (PK): 202-518-0020 (o) 301-908-7715 (c) abrodsky@publicknowledge.org
• Tania Panczyk-Collins (APTS): 202-654-4222 (o) 773-220-9513 (c) tpanczyk@apts.org

Public Knowledge, the Internet Archive, Association of Public Television Stations and the Association of Research Libraries joined today to praise the work of Senate and House legislators for introducing legislation that would allow for greater use of “orphan works.” Those are books, music, photos or other works for which the copyright holder can’t be found by someone who wants to use the work in a way that normally would require permission.

Works can become “orphaned” for a number of reasons: the owner did not register the work, the owner sold rights in the work and did not register the transfer, the owner died and his heirs cannot be found. The U.S. Copyright Office found in January, 2006 that that the “orphan works problem is real and warrants attention.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and former panel Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Senate’s version, S. 2913. House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), introduced his chamber’s bill with Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), senior Committee Republican Lamar Smith (R-TX) and ranking Subcommittee member Howard Coble (R-NC).

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s testimony today before the Senate Commerce Committee was right on the money when he said that the Commission should take very seriously whether Internet network management by a cable or telephone company ‘arbitrarily blocks or degrades a particular application.’

“By saying there should be ‘heightened scrutiny’ if it appears that a telephone or cable company is selectively picking out some applications for special treatment, Martin put the companies on notice that their management techniques need to ‘further a compelling or at least an important/legitimate interest would need to be tailored to fit the exact interest.’

Comcast and Pando, a company working on a more efficient method of distributing peer-to-peer content, announced today they will work on a “bill of rights” for P2P users and Internet Service Providers. The following is a statement from Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

Public Knowledge, joined by a prominent state legislator as well as consumer and public interest groups, told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that regulators act to protect the rights of consumers to use text messaging without undue interference from wireless companies. The FCC should also protect some wireless carriers from the anticompetitive behavior of others, Public Knowledge and groups filing with it said.

In addition, groups representing advocacy organizations and the disability community agreed that their access to texting remains in jeopardy unless the FCC acts.

The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), earlier this week approved, and presented to representatives of the U.S. government, a resolution in favor of policies that will promote a non-discriminatory Internet. The TACD is a group of 60 consumer and public-interest organizations from the European Union and the U.S. More background on the organization is found at www.tacd.org.

The resolution, adopted at a TACD meeting in Washington, D.C., found that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) “have the technical ability to act as gatekeepers, blocking or degrading consumers’ access to certain content and applications, or limiting the types of equipment that can be attached to the network. Such behavior can severely limit the usefulness of the Internet and frustrate consumers’ aims.”