"This is typically the kind of situation that happens when lawyers are allowed to become too influential"
You are exactly right.
There is also another related [poor] business strategy: Sign on with a consulting firm that will provide "full service" protection of your brands and IP. In that situation, the business may not even be directly involved in the decision to do send this type of letter.
Hint for the MBA set: Any time your decision making process consists of "leaving it up to" someone who is in a different business than you, watch out. They may be making decisions that are not necessarily in your best interest.
What the US sorely needs to accomplish legal reform can be said in 2 words: Loser Pays.
So called consumer advocates (who are really representatives for plaintiff's attorneys) hate the idea for the very reason it is a good idea. Increasing the risk associated with bringing a questionable lawsuit means there will be fewer lawsuits. Fewer lawsuits mean fewer lawyers getting paid, and less expenditure of resources in nonproductive ways by all concerned.
A true consumer advocate should accept this idea because if a corporation has wronged a consumer or group of consumers, the offender would be quicker to settle if it knew there was a good chance of losing not only the judgment, but also the opponent's legal fees. There is less chance that a true offender can just stall until the claimant runs out of money and gives up.
Loser Pays means fewer frivolous lawsuits, fewer attempts at legal bullying and less expensive justice. Period.
Adobe wants guaranteed access to your private data
Adobe's subsidiary and suspected NSA contractor Omniture is the #1 merchant of private data taken from your computer without your permission or knowledge. (Yes, I know Google Analytics is right up there doing the same thing). Adobe/Omniture wants to ensure there is a legal framework for them to continue doing this without your approval, and certainly without any ability for you to block or otherwise interfere.
And in case you might have wondered why the NSA picked Utah as the site for their new multi-billion dollar surveillance data facility, it is not a coincidence that Omniture's new Omniture's new headquarters is being built just "across the freeway"
From The Oregonian, Aug 13, 2012: discussion of a ticket given for using a cell-phone map application while stopped at a traffic light. (look at the second half of the page)
That is also the law in Oregon. You can use a dashboard GPS because it doesn't send out radio signals, but you can't use GPS on your phone because the phone does.
Dumb law.
"The very problem is that homeland security is told to work against anti-government for4ces. It would be better if it was told to work against anti-democratic forces"
I'd like to hit [insightful] on this comment about 10 times!
No, Amazon should not be compelled to sell something they do not want to sell, and no, they have not done something terrible by exercising their right to choose what is sold on their site. I just happen to disagree with their choice. It also is most certainly censorship - not in a universal sense, and not in the sense that they are seeking to deny anyone the right to find and access material that others may judge to be objectionable. Such a limited meaning of "censor" isn't the only way to use the word. Consider, for example, that you can choose to censor your own expression.
I do believe this policy is related to liability risk. Amazon doesn't want to get criticized and perhaps even sued by some angry parents alleging that Amazon should be liable for allowing their innocent child to be exposed to objectionable material on a site that Amazon made available to the public.
I seriously doubt Prince himself is trolling around the internet looking for supposed infringement. Almost certainly he signed a contract with a company that has promised to look out for his copyright interests so he doesn't have to personally worry with the details. The IP enforcement firm has incentive to find every miniscule scrap of music that can be attributed to their client. They must continue to keep proving their value in order to perpetuate their future paychecks.
"They don't have anyone who can validate that the content "
It should not be Amazon's responsibility to "validate" content. "Validation" in this context is just another euphemism for censorship. If Amazon is truly concerned about their inability to monitor what is being published, why can't they rely on crowd-sourced reporting of objections.
This case is an example of why I believe the concept of safe harbors ought to be extended beyond DMCA liability. There should be similar safe harbors from tort liability as well.
Let's also not forget that by the very definition of normal population curves at least 2% of the population falls more than 2 standard deviations below the mean for IQ.
Maybe by dismissing the cases there will be a reduction in material damages, but even if all the claims are dismissed, there's still the fact that Prenda Law has caused a lot of time to be wasted in courtrooms which are funded and maintained by the taxpayers.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out since Dutch museums hold some of the world's most famous paintings -- think "Old Dutch Masters" such as Rembrandt, and those museums have been in the forefront of claiming copyright on images of paintings.
Que the "national heritage" claims in 3,2,1...
"they throw in questions to show the bizarre beliefs of the current incarnation of the Republican party"
If the factors which explain a poll's results are obscured by those who are publishing them, then it still remains an attempt to manipulate opinion rather than explain opinion.
"In the future, expect copyright locks, wherein you cannot use the machine you're using, listen to music or drive a car without paying copyright royalties out of the ass"
That isn't the future, its the present.
Here is an example from the medical world:
Consider the most commonly used surgical robot which was developed at taxpayer expense by DARPA for battlefield use. The Army decided they didn't want it so a private company now sells the devices for millions of dollars each. The arms of this robot which are stainless steel and don't wear out not anywhere quick enough to suit the company's stockholders, are designed to detect when they enter a human body. After a certain number of passes into the body, the robot is disabled until you pay thousands so you can attach a new piece of equipment for it. The old one, which is just a usable as when you took it new out of the package is thrown away.
Now how do you think this scam is defended? By the DMCA of course. If you hacked their software to circumvent the inactivation process, you would be breaking the law.
It's a perfect example of the monumental waste and expense borne by the public as a result of IP law.
I might add that up to this point, hospitals haven't cared a bit about this kind of thing since they were just passing all of their expenses, along with a hefty markup, on to the insurance companies, or in the unlucky cases - directly to the patients. We will see how much this changes in the next few years since it remains unclear exactly how Obamacare is going to play out.
On the post: Makers Of Nutella Force Fan Who Created World Nutella Day To Shut It Down [Updated]
Re:
There is also another related [poor] business strategy: Sign on with a consulting firm that will provide "full service" protection of your brands and IP. In that situation, the business may not even be directly involved in the decision to do send this type of letter.
Hint for the MBA set: Any time your decision making process consists of "leaving it up to" someone who is in a different business than you, watch out. They may be making decisions that are not necessarily in your best interest.
On the post: DOJ And Dept. Of Education To Colleges: Start Restricting Free Speech On Campus Or Kiss Your Federal Funding Goodbye
Civil Liberties = Civil Rights
On the post: Winning But Losing: Lessons From An Internet StartUp
Bring the British system to the US
So called consumer advocates (who are really representatives for plaintiff's attorneys) hate the idea for the very reason it is a good idea. Increasing the risk associated with bringing a questionable lawsuit means there will be fewer lawsuits. Fewer lawsuits mean fewer lawyers getting paid, and less expenditure of resources in nonproductive ways by all concerned.
A true consumer advocate should accept this idea because if a corporation has wronged a consumer or group of consumers, the offender would be quicker to settle if it knew there was a good chance of losing not only the judgment, but also the opponent's legal fees. There is less chance that a true offender can just stall until the claimant runs out of money and gives up.
Loser Pays means fewer frivolous lawsuits, fewer attempts at legal bullying and less expensive justice. Period.
On the post: Shameful: Tech Companies Fighting Against Necessary CFAA Reform And CISPA Fixes
Re: Adobe wants guaranteed access to your private data
On the post: Shameful: Tech Companies Fighting Against Necessary CFAA Reform And CISPA Fixes
Adobe wants guaranteed access to your private data
And in case you might have wondered why the NSA picked Utah as the site for their new multi-billion dollar surveillance data facility, it is not a coincidence that Omniture's new Omniture's new headquarters is being built just "across the freeway"
On the post: French Politician Wants To Limit How Cheaply Companies Can Sell Goods Online Compared to Physical Shop Prices
Price controls always fail.
On the post: California Court Rules It Illegal To Check Maps On Your Phone While Driving
Re: Re: Re: "That is also the law in Oregon"
Here is the Oregon law in question: ORS 811.507
On the post: California Court Rules It Illegal To Check Maps On Your Phone While Driving
Dumb law.
On the post: New Evidence: Homeland Security Spied On Peaceful Protestors; Worried About Protests Getting News Coverage
Re:
On the post: Amazon Refuses To Publish First Cornish-Language Ebook
Re: Re: Re:
I do believe this policy is related to liability risk. Amazon doesn't want to get criticized and perhaps even sued by some angry parents alleging that Amazon should be liable for allowing their innocent child to be exposed to objectionable material on a site that Amazon made available to the public.
On the post: Prince Sends A Takedown Over Six Second Vine Clips
How it really works...
On the post: Amazon Refuses To Publish First Cornish-Language Ebook
Re:
This case is an example of why I believe the concept of safe harbors ought to be extended beyond DMCA liability. There should be similar safe harbors from tort liability as well.
On the post: What I Learned About My Own Daily Life From The Latest North Korean Propaganda Video
On the post: People Who Have Actually Heard of the Supreme Court Don't Like It Very Much
On the post: Shockingly Unshocking: 'Cybersecurity' FUD Has Been Big Big Business For Contractors
On the post: Prenda Law Tries To Close The Barn Door After The Horse Has Lawyered Up
Prenda has been wasting public money
On the post: Dutch Government Realizes That Non-Original Works Don't Deserve Copyright
Que the "national heritage" claims in 3,2,1...
On the post: If You Want Two-Thirds Of Americans To Agree That Violent Video Games Are More Dangerous Than Guns, All You Have To Do Is Ask The Right Americans
Re: Misunderstanding the poll...
On the post: If You Want Two-Thirds Of Americans To Agree That Violent Video Games Are More Dangerous Than Guns, All You Have To Do Is Ask The Right Americans
On the post: Copyright Boss: 'It's Great Mechanics Now Need To Know About Copyright'
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Here is an example from the medical world:
Consider the most commonly used surgical robot which was developed at taxpayer expense by DARPA for battlefield use. The Army decided they didn't want it so a private company now sells the devices for millions of dollars each. The arms of this robot which are stainless steel and don't wear out not anywhere quick enough to suit the company's stockholders, are designed to detect when they enter a human body. After a certain number of passes into the body, the robot is disabled until you pay thousands so you can attach a new piece of equipment for it. The old one, which is just a usable as when you took it new out of the package is thrown away.
Now how do you think this scam is defended? By the DMCA of course. If you hacked their software to circumvent the inactivation process, you would be breaking the law.
It's a perfect example of the monumental waste and expense borne by the public as a result of IP law.
I might add that up to this point, hospitals haven't cared a bit about this kind of thing since they were just passing all of their expenses, along with a hefty markup, on to the insurance companies, or in the unlucky cases - directly to the patients. We will see how much this changes in the next few years since it remains unclear exactly how Obamacare is going to play out.