general-counsel
FTC Warns 100 Companies About P2P Data Leaks
RIAA and MPAA quick to “welcome” news of another story chronicling the “abuse of P2P technology,” and emphasizes the “serious threat” it poses to both consumers as well as copyright holders. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent letters to almost 100 unnamed companies warning them that personal information, including sensitive data about customers and/or employees, is available in on P2P networks. The govt agency has also opened “non-public investigations” of other companies whose customer or employee information has also been exposed on P2P networks.
Continue reading »P2P Lawsuits Are Painful, Says Viacom Lawyer
Michael Fricklas, Viacom's general counsel, has recently talked to Yale Law students about P2P and its legal implications. While he declared himself as a fan of fair use without an appeal for the idea of filing lawsuits against file sharers, Fricklas is also a fan of DRM (which he thinks could be a feasible solution for online content rental and online streaming) and a supporter of the “three strikes” policy. As Arstechnica reports, Fricklas emphasized the importance of treating customers with respect as opposed to the feeling it gives you when bringing them to court which is like “terrorism.” In his speech at Yale he explained how suing end users for illegal file sharing was “expensive, and painful, and it felt like bullying.”
Continue reading »Antipiracy Actions in Deadlock, MPAA Fires Its Leaders
The movie industry must be boiling with discontent and apparently want to set an example for how they don’t want their affairs handled since they’ve fired three of the men in charge with its anti-piracy operations. CNET reports that the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) showed the door to its general counsel Greg Goeckner (running things since 2004), director of worldwide antipiracy operations and its deputy director of Internet antipiracy. Part of the new strategy the MPPA plans to implement in the future (apart from letting go a number of people from the stuff) is getting a bit more euphemistical – what do I mean by that?
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