RIAA received return fire: Pacific Bell Internet Services sues
In response to the RIAA's building wave of impending subpoenas against alleged copyright infringers, Pacific Bell Internet Services filed suit against the RIAA, complaining that the music industry's reach is too broad.
Furthermore,

In the complaint, PBIS maintains it only acts as a ``passive conduit'' for the activity of its subscribers and ``does not initiate or direct the transmission of those files and has no control over their content or destination.''

A RIAA spokesman called the lawsuit an attempt at ``procedural gamesmanship'' and insisted that Internet service providers must reveal the identities of online copyright infringers.

The dangers of IP: Vaidhyanathan series
Siva Vaidhyanathan continues to write a series of ambitious, firebranding articles to openDemocracy.org: on p2p, on filesharing for culture and diversity, and on science. Vaidhyanathan rips open the intellectual property holders' drive for increased control at a planetary level.

To their credit, openDemocracy is supporting critics who respond to Vaidhyanathan.

Some good Sivamemes for use in the IP struggle:

"We often mistake the collection of end-products of culture – the symphonies and operas, novels and poems – that have survived the rigorous peer review of markets and critics as the culture itself. Culture is not the sum of its products. It is the process that generates those products. And if it is working properly, culture is radically democratic, vibrant, malleable, surprising, and fun. "

"Now, rhymes and rhythms from all corners of the Earth are available in malleable form at low cost to curious artists everywhere. Peer-to-peer has gone global. Of course, there are some big economic and technological hurdles to overcome before it can affect all cultural traditions equally. As the differences narrow, how will the availability of a vast and already stunningly diverse library of sounds change creativity and commerce? Won’t all music be “world music?”"

"Science is the most successful, open and distributed communicative system human beings have ever created and maintained."

"Proprietary control of databases of essential genetic information, for instance, raised the specter of redundant, imperfect, competitive private databases that would simultaneously lower the profits for companies that maintain them and raise transaction costs for companies that wish to use the information to develop drugs or therapies. "

Internet fears web: p2p and children together in one bill
The Protecting Children from Peer-to-Peer Pornography Act has hit Congress, and manages to combine two classic cyberfears: p2p trading and "children" accessing porn.
(via BNA.com)
posted by Bryan Alexander @ 3:14 PM

Copyright wars in July 2003
United States Congress Representatives Conyers and Berman (D-Michigan, -California) have introduced a bill criminalizing p2p filesharing. ACCOPS ramps up penalties: up to $250,000 US for a single file.

Meanwhile, a Nielsen survey finds that p2p downloads have declined over the past month, most likely in response to the RIAA's threatened swarm of lawsuits. Might be a chilling effect.

(via Emergent Report)
posted by Bryan Alexander @ 8:37 AM

Moblogging Conference Blogging
The First International Moblogging Conference is happening now in Tokyo, Japan. There's a conference blog here, as well as some liveblogging from Joi Ito and Pete Watson.
disclaimer: Mindjack is a sponsor of this event
posted by Donald Melanson @ 12:59 PM

Information anarchy vs DRM enclosures: Siva Vaidhyanathan
Siva Vaidhyanathan starts a five-part series about p2p electronic networks and culture, in the British openDemocracy site. The first part lays out the struggle between info anarchy and info enclosure.

In recent years we have seen the rise of anarchy as a relevant ideology in many areas of life. Our ideologies affect the technologies we choose to adopt. And using certain technologies can alter our ideologies. Anarchy is not just a function of small political groups and marginal information technologies any more. Anarchy matters.

Matrix Reloaded: ASCII scenes
Increase your retro loading: The Matrix Reloaded, fight scenes in ASCII.

(via BoingBoing)
posted by Bryan Alexander @ 2:34 PM