On Dec. 5, 2011, S. 1945 was tossed in the bill hopper (OK, I’m old school!), quickly read twice, because, well, the text really is brief, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings were held by the Subcommittee…
Archive for the ‘Legislation in the News’ Category
Televising SCOTUS Proceedings: Serious Issues While Tossing in a Cynical 2-Cents Perspective and a Bit of Power Broker History
14
Dec
On Dec. 5, 2011, S. 1945 was tossed in the bill hopper (OK, I’m old school!), quickly read twice, because, well, the text really is brief, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings were held by the Subcommittee…
SOPA/PIPA vs a Crowdsourced Alternative, the OPEN Act
12
Dec
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) recently released a public draft of the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act as a bi-partisan alternative to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the…
Browsing On A Sunday: Copyright, Cat Hair, And Warranties
11
Dec
Constitutional scholar Laurence H. Tribe has submitted an analysis of the Stop Online Piracy Act to the House Judiciary Committee. He says the Act is an unconstitutional implementation of prior restraint. This counters a memo by Floyd Abrams who says…
In re SOPA: Library Copyright Alliance v. Register of Copyrights
23
Nov
I would like to be very clear at the outset. It is my view that if Congress does not continue to provide serious responses to online piracy, the U.S. copyright system will ultimately fail. The premise of copyright law is…
SOPA Goes To A (Carefully Managed) Hearing
16
Nov
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is headed to a hearing today before the full House Judiciary Committee. Well, we’ll call it a hearing because there is at least one party testifying that opposes the bill, and that is Katherine…
House Bill Would Place Broad IP Enforcement Powers In Hands Of Rightsholders
01
Nov
I usually appreciate the work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, though I sometimes roll my eyes at the hyperbole in some of those positions. Biases aside, the EFF report on the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3621) is pretty right-on…
California Enacts Book Purchase Privacy Law
04
Oct
California has enacted the Reader Privacy Act (S.B. 602) which requires search warrant to access customer data on regular and e-books purchased online or from bricks-and-mortar store. All the law and privacy groups are cheering. Here’s the ALCU press release,…
FCC Finalizes Net Neutrality Rules
23
Sep
The Federal Communications Commission has finally issued their net neutrality rules by publishing them with the Office of the Federal Register. The three rules listed are relatively simple: To provide greater clarity and certainty regarding the continued freedom and openness…
