Peter Lovell 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (27)

• On the post: Dear Tom Wheeler: I'm Sorry I Thought You Were A Mindless Cable Shill

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2015 @ 09:21pm

  roll roll roll

  Wheeler is an amazing breath of fresh air in an environment that had been *so* bad for *such* a long time.
  
  Those in the TFH brigade will claim that he's just tempering the fire for a while and soon things will revert to "normal". I disagree - there has been a HUGE change in sentiment in the past year or so and only the really stupid have failed to notice. I categorize Comcast as #2 only because some Republican-candidates-for-President have jumped even harder on the kill-net-neutrality bandwagon.
  
  My expectation, for which I have long argued, is that the telecommunications ("carriage") business will be separated from the information ("content") one as some states have done with energy. And has been done in many other countries withe telecommunications and content.
  
  This is the notion that it's not good to have your service provider (ISP) also run movie studios and TV networks. And that people who don't subscribe to that ISP can't get some of that content.
  
  With the de-merger focus currently going on, the "big thing" in Wall Street may be some strategic unravellings in the next few months. The ISP business is sort-of stable because of the localization but content is where all the action will be - because it's nationwide. Access is poles-and-wires (perceived as low-tech, low margin, but guaranteed) and it's local. And sometimes regulated. Content is sexy, hi-tech, high-margin, nationwide but is more risky because there are lots of competitors.
  
  The ISP-content nexus is starting to unravel - which is good. We should eliminate it forever.

• On the post: Netflix Says Striking Cap-Exempt Deals With Australian ISPs Was A Mistake It Won't Make Again

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2015 @ 09:41pm

  different scenario

  The situation in Australia is very, very different. Transit is quite expensive and wired connections are capped - not just wireless as is the case for most usage in the U.S.
  
  In addition, local competitors already had exemptions in place. So Netflix had not a lot of choice.
  
  That said, the better solution would have been colo boxes in Australia and work with the ISPs to do unmetered, as Adrian's comment suggests.

• On the post: Once Again, Political Speech Is Silenced By Copyright/ContentID

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2015 @ 05:57am

  Licenses ?

  This will get awkward if it turns out that Paul's campaign actually had licensed the music.

• On the post: Lawsuit: TSA Supervisor Got Traveler Arrested For Bogus 'Terroristic Threat' Charge, Lied About Incident In Court

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2015 @ 08:01pm

  Re: Re: commenting

  It seems likely that consequences would be several in North Korea.
  
  And here we can talk about it and report on it. But if you do you might well find that you yourself miss your next flight to wherever you were going. You almost certainly won't go to jail but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that you'll never fly again.

• On the post: Taylor Swift One Ups Katy Perry Again: Threatens To Sue Fans For Etsy Fan Products

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2015 @ 07:52pm

  Copyright and Trademarks

  The problem here is that folks seem to have been using things without authorization. That's a problem for them but it's also a problem for Taylor Swift. I am not a lawyer so don't rely upon this as "Legal Advice", but here's the scoop ...
  
  Copyright protection on something you create such as a song, or a novel, is automatic. You don't have to register it but you should if it'll be for sale as you can only sue someone for Copyright infringement once you're registered it.
  
  Trademarks are very different. You have to apply for them and sometimes it's turned down. More importantly - you have to defend it. That is, if you discover that someone is abusing your trademark then you must get them to stop. If you don't take action then you're at risk of losing that trademark right.
  
  So if the fans received legal notices then one possible action would be to request a license. If it's really a "fan club", especially an "official fan club", then they'd probably get the usage rights they need for almost-free (as long as it's not a profit-making thing). That's the way fan clubs work: ask the artist for permission to use certain photos etc, get that permission for the specific purposes, and make things. It's not hard.
  
  A side note about trying to copyright a phrase: it turns out (and I am surprised) that something such as a book title, song title or album title is NOT eligible for copyright protection. The contents (text, lyrics, music, etc) can be copyrighted but not the titles.

• On the post: John Steele Looking To Join Former Prenda Lawyer Paul Hansmeier In ADA Lawsuit Shakedown Business

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 09:25pm

  Still at it

  I had thought that these guys were recommended for disbarment (i.e. had their licenses pulled). Did that not happen?
  
  And also for misreporting on taxes. Did that get resolved, or ignored?

• On the post: US Defense Official Says Intelligence Agencies Need To 'Grow Up' And Stop Blaming Snowden For Their ISIS-Tracking Problems

  

  Peter Lovell ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2014 @ 12:54pm

  Growing up

  Time for the NSA to put on its big-boy pants