On today's podcast we discuss the (near) end of the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, MegaUpload vs. UMG and YouTube, and SOPA. We also have an extended interview with Robert Levine, author of Free Ride, How Digital Parasites are Destroying The Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back.

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It is likely that even MegaUpload did not anticipate the madness it would unleash when it released a video of major artists (and hangers-on) endorsing the site set to the beat of a wildly catchy song.  Of all of the questions raised in the video’s aftermath, those flowing from Universal Music Group’s (UMG) legal filing take the cake (for now).

It was suggested that a Scannebago should be driving around the United States scanning public library works to make them available online. (I envision the Scannebago as a cross between a Winnebago, a Google Street View car and the pickup truck from Twister, but you might picture a more creative image.) Regardless of the process, many public libraries have scanned works over the past few years and now it is time to organize the digital works for public access across the country—and eventually internationally. Last year, the Berkman Center for Internet and Technology, with funding from the Alfred P.

Project Gutenberg is one of the Internet's great resources--the first "digital library," with thousands of public domain ebooks, and created entirely by volunteers. Its founder, Michael Hart, passed away this week, after founding the project--by typing in a copy of the Declaration of Independence--in 1971. In doing this, Hart invented the ebook, and what became Project Gutenberg release #1 is still available online. Hart's passing is a sad occasion but a good time to reflect on the importance of his life's work.

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p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;">One of the biggest pieces of news in the gaming industry this past month involved Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, a title released for Nintendo’s new 3DS handheld system. The game itself was not that unusual; at first blush, it’s just your typical “run around shooting zombies” affair. What got everyone talking (and some others very, very upset) was a feature developer Capcom put in the game, acknowledged only in small print in the game’s instruction manual: In RE: The Mercenaries 3D, once the player initially boots up the game, his/her progress is automatically recorded to the game card and cannot be deleted. Ever.

On today's podcast we update the status of the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger, walk through the intricacies of politicians licensing music for their campaigns, talk about IP protection surrounding attempts to 3D print a cube from the movie Super 8, and mark the death and life of social networks.  We also discuss the decision of civil society organizations to pull out of international open internet discussions at OECD and consider the ramifications of this week's Supreme Court ruling on minors' access to violent video games.

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On Monday, in a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (formerly known as Schwarzenegger v. EMA) ruled that a California law purportedly banning the sale of violent videogames to minors violated the First Amendment. I have to admit: the majority opinion, written by Justice Scalia, really surprised me. The Court chose some pretty broad language to back up its decision (as I’ll explain, it didn’t actually have to), and it laid out some important new principles. Yes, the California law is no more, but that doesn’t mean everything is back to the status quo – in fact, due to the language it uses, this decision has wider implications that will affect not only games but also how we interpret the First Amendment from here on out. Overall, what are the most surprising takeaways from all this?

If you pay attention to intellectual property (IP) issues on the internet, there is probably one concept that is on your mind more than any other: “fair use.”  Fair use has been at the forefront of debates surrounding internet IP issues for a good reason.  It is a way to answer the question “when is it OK to copy something that is protected by copyright?”

In some ways the prominence of fair use is a historical fluke tied to the technical abilities of computers on the internet.  That is because jumping to a fair use analysis skips over a critical question: does copyright even apply?  The importance of this question is highlighted by the case of Todd Blatt.  Blatt created a copy of a cube from the movie Super 8, and then uploaded it to be 3D printed at Shapeways.  A few hours later he received an email from Paramount Pictures insisting that he take it down because the cube violated Paramount’s copyrights.  In this case Paramount is probably legally right in claiming ownership of the cube.  But in the world of 3D printing that is not always so clear.

Imagine for a moment you had not been paying attention for the past fifteen years.  While watching Google’s announcement yesterday about its music service (or Amazon’s last month) you might wonder why the music industry failed to learn its lesson from its experience with iTunes.