<-- The Filter --> April 2004

[1] In the News: Gmail, Can I Have a Cookie?
[2] Case in Point: On Hiatus
[3] Berkman News: Come Aboard
[4] Conference Watch
[5] Bookmarks: Step Inside
[6] Quotables: Everybody's Free?
[7] Talk Back
[8] Subscription Info
[9] About us
[10] Not a Copyright

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                  [1]  IN THE NEWS

                  ================

* Mixed Signals in Online Music

Recent headlines about online music have offered conflicting views about how

file sharing has affected music sales.  A study from professors at Harvard

Business School and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill found that

downloading activity has no discernable impact on how well a song sells. 

U.S. markets seemed to support this conclusion: for the first time in three

years, music sales rose 9.1% in the first quarter.  But international music

sales followed the opposite trajectory, dropping 7.6% in 2003.

Sales up:

<http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0086_BC_MusicIndustry&&news&newsflash-financial>

Sales down:

<http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62985,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_htmlc>

Sales same:

<http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=19563>

Developments on the legal front were similarly mixed.  A Canadian court ruled

that music downloading does not violate the country's copyright laws.  But

the organization representing the European music industry, the IFPI, launched

legal action against 247 individuals in Europe accused of illegal

downloading.

The Berkman Center's report on developments in European courts:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/media/uploads/72/7/breakingnews.htm>

News about the Canadian decision:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/media/home?wid=25&func=viewSubmission&sid=29>

While the picture of digital media continues to get blurry, the Berkman

Center recently released a new study shedding light on one aspect of this

landscape: iTunes, Apple's Online Music Store.  The iTunes Case Study

analyzes the legal foundations of the service and considers the future of the

contract-copyright interplay as iTunes and other online music stores consider

expansion into international markets.  

The iTunes Case Study:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/media/itunes>

* Cybernews From Around the Globe

Canada:

CRTC on VoIP: <http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2004/r040407.htm>

Internet gambling legal?: <http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040408.gtgamble0408/BNStory/Technology/>

EU:

Filesharing the news: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3611227.stm>

Companies may share tech: <http://news.com.com/2100-7343_3-5186262.html>

Asia:

Vietnamese access tightens: <http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2004/4/12/technology/7749162&sec=technology>

Dispute resolution in the Philippines:

<http://www.itmatters.com.ph/news/news_04052004c.html>

Africa:

Find missing kids with tech: <http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2004/0404080938.asp?A=CEL&S=Cellular&O=FPT>

Nigerian ISP troubles: <http://allafrica.com/stories/200404080921.html>

* Google Controversies Grow

Gmail, the new email service from Google, is bumping up against privacy 

and trademark complaints.  Can a free gigabyte of storage sell the online 

community on Gmail, which will serve targeted ads based on the content of 

a customer's email?  As of this writing, a California state senator is drafting

 legislation to block the service, and Google has responded to complaints by

 promising to listen to customer concerns.  And by the way, how did that 

anti-Semitic group get to be #1 in the search engine for the word "Jew"?  

At least that issue can be solved by users, by what's known as a Google-bomb

 - linking to a particular site in order to "fix" the search results.

On Gmail:

<http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=27113>

<http://news.com.com/2010-1032-5187543.html?tag=nefd.acpro>

<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63041,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3>

<http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5191028.html?tag=nefd.top>

On Googling "Jew":

<http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5186012.html>

<http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15212>

* Social Networking: The Next Generation

A new generation of social networking applications is beginning to emerge. 

Last week, the New York-based company, Dodgeball.com, released software that

utilizes text messaging so that users can post their whereabouts from their

cell phones and find out if members of their networks are in the area.  Our

newest Berkman Fellow, John Clippinger, is also exploring new forms of social

networking.  His project, Social Physics, creates a platform to support more

sophisticated layers of contacts and group memberships.

The Dodgeball.com news:

<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1563927,00.asp>

More on John Clippinger's work:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/john_clippinger>

The most recent release from AudioBerkman explores the ins and outs of social

networks.  Producers traveled to South by Southwest Interactive to find out

what happens when an online community is forced to meet face-to-face.

Listen in: 

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/audio/socialnetworks>

And read a Berkman Briefing, "Interactive at Interactive":

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/briefings/interactive>

* Lessig's Extremely _Free Culture_

Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford's Center for Internet & Society recently released his third book, _Free Culture_, under a Creative Commons license - downloadable as a .pdf as well as in book form.  This groundbreaking act has spurred the online community to create an audio library of the book's chapters, translations, and a Wiki version, among others.

About the book:

<http://www.free-culture.cc/index.html>

Other versions:

<http://www.free-culture.cc/remixes/>

<http://www.socialbrain.org/freeculture/>

More on the story:

<http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040412.wxlessig12/BNStory/Technology/>

                  [2] CASE IN POINT

                  =================

Case In Point is taking a short hiatus.  Please look for a new topic in the May issue of Filter.

                  [3] BERKMAN NEWS                

                  ================

* New Berkman Fellows: Mary Rundle and John Clippinger

The Berkman Center is pleased to announce the arrival of two new fellows, Mary Rundle and John Clippinger.  Rundle, also a fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet & Society, will be working on her Net Dialogue Project.  Clippinger, also an advisor at the Department of Defense, studies social networks from a scientific perspective.

<http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blogs/rundle/>

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/john_clippinger>

* A Few Seats Remain for the Internet Law Program

Register now for the Internet Law Program, which brings together the top minds in cyberlaw for three days of on-site instruction. The program kicks off with a distance learning component on April 14 to May 5. The program is intended for a broad audience, and no previous experience with Internet law is necessary. Past participants have included entrepreneurs, policymakers, educators, technology professionals, and journalists who write about technology. American lawyers in some states may be eligible for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit.

Program information:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw/>

To register:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw/register>

* iTunes Case Study Released

The Berkman Center's Digital Media Project Team has just released a new Case Study that examines the legal foundation of Apple's online music store, iTunes.  The Study analyzes the interplay between contract law, copyright, and DRM, and it also investigates how this legal foundation is likely to fare in other jurisdictions, such as in the EU and Japan, which have different regulatory guidelines for copyright and contract.  Read an overview of the research and download the Study from the iTunes Case Study website.  

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/media/itunes>

<http://www.apple.com/itunes/>

                  [4] CONFERENCE WATCH

                  ====================

April:

* April 16, 2004, Cambridge, MA--Slowing the Stream: Digital Media Meeting

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/Speedbumps/Speed-bumps_conference.html>

* April 17, 2004, Cambridge, MA--BloggerCon II

<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/bloggercon>

May:

* May 2-4, 2004, Washington, DC--Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit

<http://www.futureofmusic.org/events/summit04/>

* May 10-14, 2004, Barcelona--INET/IGC 2004 Strengthening the Net: Building an Open and Trusted Internet

<http://www.isoc.org/inet04/>

* May 13-15, 2004, Cambridge, MA--Internet Law Program (Registration Open!)

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw>

* May 26-27, 2004, Zaporozhye, Ukraine--The Second Cybercrime Conference 2004

<http://www.crime-research.org/conferenc.html>

June:

* June 9-11, 2004, San Francisco, CA--IAPP TRUSTe Symposium: Privacy Futures

<http://privacyfutures.org/>

* June 24-25, 2004, Lucerne, Switzerland--Digital Rights Management: The End of Collecting Societies?

<http://www.unilu.ch/rf/4945.htm>

July:

* July 14-31, 2004, Oxford, UK--Oxford Internet Institute Summer Programme (Applications Now Being Accepted)

<http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/teaching/?rq=sdp2004>

                  [5]  BOOKMARKS

                  ==============

* Ethan Katsh to ICANN: Where is our ombudsman?

<http://www.odr.info/icann>

* Copyfight Moves, Expands Authorship

<http://www.corante.com/copyfight>

* New EFF Weblogs - Deep Links and Mini Links

<http://blogs.eff.org/deeplinks/>

<http://blogs.eff.org/minilinks/>

                  [6]  QUOTABLES

                  ==============

"...In a technologically mediated age, our grand freedoms -- freedom of speech, of association, of the press -- are based on the narrow ones. Wave after wave of world-changing technology like email and the Web and instant messaging and Napster and Kazaa have been made possible because the technological freedoms we enjoy, especially the ones instantiated in the internet." -- Clay Shirky

<http://www.gothamist.com/interview/archives/2004/04/09/clay_shirky_internet_technologist.php>

"The upshot is that any blogger in the heat of exchange, a pissy mood, or an incautious moment can get you killed in the news, which feeds off matters the campaign will comment on." -- Jay Rosen, on the Kos-Atrios-Kerry controversy

<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2004/04/07/atrios_kos.html>

                  [7]  TALK BACK

                  ================

We continue to adjust the Filter's format and content in 

response to your feedback.  

Further comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Please send them to filter-editor@cyber.harvard.edu

                  [8]  SUBSCRIPTION INFO

                  ======================

Follow this link to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the list: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/filter/subscribe>

                  [9]  ABOUT US

                  =============

Read The Filter online at <http://cyber.harvard.edu/filter/>.

Who we are:

<http://cyber.harvard.edu/filter/about.html>

                  [10]  NOT A COPYRIGHT

                  =====================

A publication of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard

Law School <http://cyber.harvard.edu> You may--and please

do--forward or copy this newsletter to friends and colleagues.

This work is hereby released into the Public Domain. To view a copy of the 

public domain dedication, visit 

<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/>

or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, 

California 94305, USA.