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FCC Proposes the "Third Way" to monitor the Internet |
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Written by Jeffrey Neu
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The Federal Communications Commission proposed an approach to regulating broadband Internet service on Thursday in light of the recent Comcast decision, that would reclassify the transmission component as a basic utility subject to the agency’s oversight in order to enforce consumer protections and equal access.
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski proposes to regulate broadband lines under existing rules that govern traditional phone networks.
The case for net neutrality is to maintain an Internet where user access is free from government or provider restrictions on content or devices, and that web access is not unnecessarily slowed or blocked. In essense, all data is treated equally, and no Internet service provider (Comcast, TimeWarner, Verizon, et. al) can give preferential treatment in regard to where content comes from or the speed at which data is made available.
However, under FCC chairman Julius Genachowski's proposal, broadband lines regulated under existing rules that govern traditional phone networks would broadband something between a utility and an information service, and that it would under that definition have the ability to regulate traffic.
If ou have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.
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Hatchery Hatch Match 2010....registration open |
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Written by Jeffrey Neu
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The Hatchery, a New York Venture Collaboration group, has opened registration for the 2010 Hatch Match. Hatch Match 2010 will take place at the Lower Library at Columbia University on Thursday, June, 3 2010, 5 PM. You can register here. Naturally we'll be there helping out as much as we can...look forward to seeing you there!
A few facts about the Hatch Match:
- There are currently over 37 investors making themselves available for entrepreneurs. This means that there will be almost 900 meetings for funding opportunities.
- There are over 50 organizations in the New York tech community involved in making Hatch Match 2010 a success including New York Economic Development Corp, New York City Investment Fund, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Interactive Advertising Bureau, UK Trade and Investment, and Bloomberg Ventures.
- This is a once yearly event giving the tech community access to investors in a open and public way.
The Hatchery provides a unique funnel for New York innovators to interact with investors, present their plans, receive expert feedback, and pave the way for them to receive funding.
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Aaron Titus testifies before the United States Senate. |
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Written by Jeffrey Neu
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The Senate Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on how to prevent and protect against terrorists using firearms to attack the United States. Aaron Titus, an attorney at J. C. Neu and Associates testified on behalf of the Privacy Coalition.
You can view the video here. Mr. Titus starts his testimony at roughly 1:42.
You can also read Mr. Titus' testimony here. |
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Unmasking of File Sharers isn't for uploaders only anymore, downloaders subject to Subpoena power |
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Written by Jeffrey Neu
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The roads and approaches of P2P prosecution and litigation has, at a minimum, been approached in a slightly controversial manner. Prior to 2003, copyright owners did not need to file a lawsuit to obtain an subpoena in order to unmask the identity of alleged copyright infringers, or p2p file sharers. However, in 2003, an appeals court ruled that unless the information resided on an online service providers servers (sucn as Youtube, Twitter, etc.), a copyright holder was required to file a lawsuit in order to serve a subpoena requesting the identity of an alleged infringer.
In the most recent case of Arist Records, LLC vs. Doe 3, the RIAA detected what it claimed to be infringing activity on an IP address the university linked to the student. The unidentified student moved to quash a federal judge’s order that the university forward the student’s identity to the RIAA.The student asserted a First Amendment right of privacy on the internet, in addition to a fair-use right to the six music tracks in question.
The appeals court ruled in the RIAA’s favor after balancing a constitutional right to remain anonymous against a copyright owner’s right to disclosure of the identity of a possible “trespasser of its intellectual property interest.”
“To the extent that anonymity is used to mask copyright infringement or to facilitate such infringement by other persons, it is unprotected by the First Amendment,” the appeals court wrote.
And even if a defendant claims a fair-use right to the material in question, content owners have a right to learn the identities to commence a lawsuit, the court wrote.
“And although Doe 3 indicates that he ‘may’ have had a permissible purpose for copying and sharing the music found in his file-sharing folder,” the court wrote, “any assertion of such a purpose raises questions of credibility and plausibility that cannot be resolved while Doe 3 avoids suit by hiding behind a shield of anonymity.” |
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