Jailbreaking now ok for ‘smart’ phones
Copyright Office Announces Exemptions to Mitigate DMCA Harms
San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation has won renewal of critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in a new ruling, including the upholding of jailbreaking rights for smartphones – and new and expanded legal protections for video remixing. Continue reading
Filed under BYOD, Content Creation, Content Management, Content management system (CMS), Content Monetization, Content Protection, Content Provision & Creation, Content Security, Content Syndication, Digital asset management, Digital Media Management (DMM), Digital rights management, Digitization, Enterprise Content Management, Industry News, Legal, Media asset management, Mobile Apps, Mobile communication, Mobile Content, Multichannel Delivery, Software, Streaming media, UGC - User-generated content, Video Content Management & Delivery (VCM), Web publishing management
A summit with leaders of the member states of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). Pictured, from left, are Naoto Kan (Japan), Nguyễn Minh Triết (Vietnam), Julia Gillard (Australia), Sebastián Piñera (Chile), Lee Hsien Loong (Signapore), Barack Obama (United States), John Key (New Zealand), Hassanal Bolkiah (Brunei), Alan García (Peru), and Muhyiddin Yassin (Malaysia). Six of these leaders represent countries that are currently negotiating to join the group.
‘Copyright cartel attempts to ‘ride roughshod’ over vulnerable groups
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus /LONDON/ +++ The Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) is a set of secretive trade negotiations whose IP clauses have much in common with the reviled ACTA and SOPA treaties, accordint to privacy advocacy group the Pirate Party UK. Continue reading
Hugh D’Andrade’s design to commemorate Electronic Frontier Foundation’s 20th Birthday.
Ignoring fair use doctrine, Authors Guild suit tries to block valuable resource
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus /London/ +++ The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed an amicus brief urging a federal court to find that the ‘fair use doctrine’ shelters Google’s Book Search “snippet” project from copyright infringement claims from the Authors Guild.
EFF was joined by three associations representing over 100,000 libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Association of College and Research Libraries. Continue reading
Filed under Accessibility, Content Categorisation, Content Curation, Data mining, Data warehousing, Digital asset management, Digital Media Management (DMM), Digital rights management, Digitization, Industry News, Intellectual Property (IP), Records & Information Management (RIM), Rights Management, Search, Web accessibility
Good causes via online IndieGoGo
Electronic Frontier Foundation to represent Oatmeal creator in fight against ‘bizarre lawsuit targeting critical online speech’
ECM Plus +++ A ‘baseless suit’ is claiming online trademark infringement and ‘cyber-Vandalism’, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
EFF said it will join with attorney Venkat Balasubramani of the law firm Focal PLLC to represent The Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman in a bizarre lawsuit targeting the online comic strip’s fundraising campaign in support of the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Federation. Continue reading
EngIish shopping centre in Stratford
Licence-free background music service MusicStream claims millions in saving for retailers
By ECM Plus Staff
ECM Plus +++ MusicStream, a royalty-free music operator has just launches a new service which boasts to be an exclusively rights-free digital background music service.
According to the company, the music and management control features have been designed specifically for retail, leisure and hospitality business use. Continue reading
Bill passed that allows for VSPs to obtain consent on an "...ongoing basis..."
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 2471) that would amend the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 to ease restrictions on sharing of video rental information.
The bill is supported by Facebook, Netflix, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Digital Media Association. The measure is opposed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Continue reading
Disc ripperama - for 'backups' of precious content
BinaryDistribution launches mediAvatar media toolkit
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ BinaryDistribution has just launched its latest version of mediAvatar Media Toolkit Ultimate and Media Toolkit.
According to the company, mediAvatar Media toolkit Ultimate for Windows and Mac OS X based computers is the quintessential toolkit for backing up* DVDs and Blu-rays protecting the original discs from scratches and general wear and tear. Continue reading
Plus ca change: Media copyright issues have been around for years
Updated version for audio/visual content protection and licensing
By ECM Plus staf
ECM Plus +++ StarForce has just released an updated version of FrontLine Audio/Video, the professional software app for protecting audio and video content from unauthorised copying and distribution. Continue reading
Image: For Inspiration Only via Flickr
Kiosked image bank to monetize online content
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ In-content online ad platform provider Kiosked has launched a ‘free’ Image Bank that the company said can enable online publishers and creatives to earn on the acquisitive ‘impulses’ their content may engender.
According to the company, the free app can can be freely downloaded and creators get paid for their images. Apparently, the Kiosked Image Bank is free to use without infringing any copyrights, the company said. Continue reading
Digital rights take centre stage in new publication
New ‘Know Your Digital Rights’ guide to constitutional liberties
By ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
EFF +++ The Electronic Frontier Foundation has answers to these questions in our new “Know Your Digital Rights” guide, including easy-to-understand tips on interacting with police officers and other law enforcement officials.
“With smart phones, tablet computers, and laptops, we carry around with us an unprecedented amount of sensitive personal information,” said EFF Staff Attorney Hanni Fakhoury. “That smart phone in your pocket right now could contain email from your doctor or your kid’s teacher, not to mention detailed contact information for all of your friends and family members. Your laptop probably holds even more data — your Internet browsing history, family photo albums, and maybe even things like an electronic copy of your taxes or your employment agreement. This is sensitive data that’s worth protecting from prying eyes.” Continue reading
Filed under Business Intelligence (BI), Business Risk, Compliance, Content Protection, Content Security, Data Governance, Data privacy, Digital rights management, Industry News, Information security, Media asset management, Mobile Apps, Mobile communication, Mobile Content, Risk Assessment, Risk Management
Righthaven case thrown out as a 'sham' - that they never owned the copyright in the first place
Court finds Righthaven had ‘no authority to bring claims against political forum’
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ In a decision with likely wide-ranging impact, a judge in Las Vegas dismissed as a sham an infringement case filed by copyright troll Righthaven LLC. The judge ruled that Righthaven did not have the legal authorization to bring a copyright lawsuit against the political forum Democratic Underground, because it had never owned the copyright in the first place.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation. Fenwick & West LLP, and Las Vegas attorney Chad Bowers are defending Democratic Underground.
Senate Bill calls for tougher penalties for unlawful streaming of content
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ Senate Judiciary Committee members Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) this week introduced S. 978, a bipartisan bill aimed at more effectively combating the online theft of copyrighted works by classifying the illicit streaming of music, movies and other content as a felony.
Under current law, illegal uploading and downloading of protected works is already a felony but not streaming. The bill follows upon the recommendations of U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel who in March outlined several steps Congress should take to improve intellectual property protection in the America. Continue reading
American Bar Association Magna Carta Tribute. Image: donnamarijne
Unsealed documents show Righthaven not true owner of news article’s copyright
The publisher of a criminal justice blog that provides resources for difficult-to-prosecute murder cases has asked a judge to dismiss the sham infringement lawsuit filed against him by copyright troll Righthaven LLC.
Recently unsealed documents show that Righthaven is not the true owner of the copyright of the news article that is the basis for the lawsuit.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are representing former prosecutor Thomas DiBiase. In this case, as in many others, Righthaven sued over the use of a Las Vegas Review-Journal article, claiming that the newspaper had transferred the copyright to Righthaven before filing the suit. Continue reading
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From silver screen to touchscreen, online video causing a revolution in the the movie industry. (Picture: L-R: vzaar’s Ken Moss, Oliver Stone, vzaar CEO Stephen McCluskey. (c) ECM Plus)
British online video platform streaming hits HD
By PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus +++ Hollywood film director Oliver Stone, npw a shareholder in the British-based online video delivery platform vzaar, said this week he now believes the internet is becoming an rising ‘force in the world of film’. Continue reading
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Content cornucopia set for advanced, custom search availability
By PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus +++ Thought Equity Motion, specialist providers of video platform and footage licensing is to partner with Sony Pictures in a bid to monetize content in its gargantuan library of content using Thought Equity Motion’s T3 Metadata Editor.
Peter Ward, SVP of information ops and content licensing for Sony Picture said the massive amount of visual data the company works with in movies and TV shows had to be textually searchable and mapped to a huge amount of other information, such as clearances, rights and restrictions, as well as music cue sheets. “The more easily we can store and access that information, the smarter we can be in using it” he said. Continue reading
Content monetisation events garners widespread suppor
ECM Plus – Last January, Europe’s media and content owners met in London to discuss the one question on everyone’s mind: how can you generate revenue from digital content?
Digital Content Monetisation Europe focussed on key changes that can be made by organisations to a digital value chain in order to contribute to solid digital ROI.
Over 300 attendees joined over 60 senior expert speakers from across music, film, broadcasting, publishing, gaming and sports to uncover successful strategies. Continue reading
Digital content creators to convene at BAFTA in monetization initiative
ECM Plus – /Manchester/ +++ D-Media Network is hosting a digital media conference at BAFTA next week from 29th to the 30th of March to thrash out how to generate an income.
According to D-Media, culture secretary Edward Vaizey will be giving a keynote speech at the launch event, to be held at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on Piccadilly in London. Continue reading
Stavropol-based Russian firm Daminion moves into document asset management
New version of ‘document asset management with image, video, and document management support for creatives and small teams
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – Russian software firm Daminion, who claims to specialise in so-called ‘media document management’ has just released Version 0.8 beta of its ‘Document Asset Management’ software.
According to the firm, Daminion 0.8 beta is a pre-release version that will be made available for public testing before the company finally releases the final version of the program. Continue reading
Filed under Asset management, Brand asset management, Content Categorisation, Content management system (CMS), Database management, Digital Media Management (DMM), Digital rights management, Document asset management, Document Management, Marketing asset management, Media asset management, Metadata management, Rights Management, Vendor News
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Film companies are abusing the law to pressure defendants to settle
ECM Plus – The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the EFF, has asked an Illinois judge to quash subpoenas issued in predatory lawsuits involving alleged illegal downloading of pornography.
According to the EFF, In an amicus brief filed last week, EFF said it has argued that the adult film companies were abusing the law in order to coerce settlement payments – despite serious problems with the underlying claims. Charles Lee Mudd Jr. of Mudd Law Offices assisted EFF with the filing of this brief.
The Foundation said that its brief submitted last week was the latest in its efforts to stop so-called ‘copyright trolls’ – content owners and lawyers who team up to extract settlements from thousands of defendants at a time.
Allegedly, tactics employed by these ‘copyright trolls’ include improperly lumping defendants together into one case and filing it in a court far away from most of the accused people’s homes and Internet connections.
EFF said that when these adult film companies file these predatory lawsuits, there is the added pressure of embarrassment associated with pornography. All of these factors can, EFF stated, convince those ensnared in the suits to quickly pay what is being demanded instead of arguing the merits of their case in court.
“Copyright owners have a right to protect their works, but they can’t use shoddy and unfair tactics to do so” said EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. “We’re asking the court to protect the rights of each and every defendant, instead of allowing these copyright trolls to game the system.”
Last month, a judge in West Virginia blocked an attempt to unmask accused pornography file-sharers in seven predatory lawsuits.
EFF said that this was closely following the reasoning from an EFF amicus brief, the judge ordered the plaintiffs to file against each defendant individually. In December 2010, a judge in the District of Columbia dismissed hundreds of individuals named in the U.S. Copyright Group troll campaign because of lack of personal jurisdiction. EFF said it had filed an amicus brief in that case as well.
“As judges start to force copyright trolls to play by rules, this kind of mass litigation will no longer be a good business model. That helps protect the rights of Internet users everywhere” McSherry added.
The full amicus brief can be downloaded from
Click to access effamicus11411.pdf
For more on copyright trolls, visit
https://www.eff.org/issues/copyright-trolls
Filed under Digital rights management, Industry News, Rights Management
Much ado about something...
AdoTube partners with FreeWheel for monetization of premium video content
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECMPlus – In-video platform specialist AdoTube has just been named by video monetization technology company FreeWheel as a one partner to stream ad formats and premium ads in conjunction with FreeWheel’s monetization rights management.
AdoTube helps publishers use their own sales teams to sell AdoTube’s multiple innovative in-stream ad formats, while also enabling them to opt-in to AdoTube’s premium ad network.
“The result should be higher standards and improved operations industry-wide.”
.Certified Partner status further ensures that AdoTube has met a substantial set of criteria that allows FreeWheel to vouch for AdoTube’s technology and solutions. FreeWheel requires companies to fully adhere to industry standards set forth by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, as well as an additional set of FreeWheel-specified criteria.
“This program is a way for us to work with our valued partners like AdoTube to continue to strive for the best levels of support, integration, and operational excellence on behalf of our mutual clients,” said Brent Horowitz, vice president of business development at FreeWheel. “The result should be higher standards and improved operations industry-wide.”
AdoTube has a systems integration in place with FreeWheel giving shared clients access to its robust advertising platform as a way to help monetize inventory and power in-video advertising.
“FreeWheel Certified Partner status highlights our continued commitment to creating the best possible advertising platform for publishers, validating our goal to help clients make the most of their in-video inventory” added Craig Aron, VP Business Development at AdoTube.
Size isn't everything
Free site product for businness users for mobile advertising, marketing
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECMPlus – Mobile web development platform Mobtron.com has just launched a new module which enables any enterprise to create their mobile site for free, together with free hosting and backups.
According to the firm, anyone willing will also be provided professional advice by experienced mobile sites developers – and free of charge.
Mobtron provides mobile website developers with detailed statistics, access to a range of monetization functions, from mobile advertising networks integration to SMS payments.
“Our goal is to make the mobile website development simple and accessible to all” commented Mobtron’s technical development manager Sarunas Davalga. “Users select the desired option, drops it into the site and at once may observe how the site has changed. Thousands of individual users have successfully used the platform already, but with our latest add-on Mobtron has become an excellent tool for companies and businesses.”
Mobtron can be used both by companies wishing to create a representative mobile site of their business and especially by media agencies looking for means to offer their customers unique and cost-effective online mobile advertising solutions.
According to the company, all sites created using Mobtron are optimized for search engines and adapted for various models of mobile devices – including the most modern smart phones. Sites can also be created or edited using mobile phone only.
Poster for independent film 'Ennui'
Santeon inks content distribution deal with RadioactiveGiant
ECM Plus – Santeon has signed a content distribution agreement with RadioactiveGiant to enable UBFilm.com to distribute content on RadioactiveGiant’s multichannel network reaching over 30 million Internet-enabled devices in the US and over 100 million worldwide.
According to the two firms, the agreement will also provide UBFilm with access to RadioactiveGiant’s independent film library of over 20,000 titles, which will be distributed on the UBFilm.com portal.
Santeon said they and RadioactiveGiant planned to collaborate on content monetization and promotion strategies for the collective content offerings. Santeon Media will integrate RadioactiveGiant’s independent content and ad network with UBFilm.com’s content management and authentication platform that will provide reliable and secure content delivery supporting a variety of business models.
“We believe signing the agreement with RadioactiveGiant will bring significant and immediate value to the UBFilm.com customer as well as film viewers who will soon have instant access to over 20,000 films in addition to our growing library of films. We are very excited to have a partnership with RadioactiveGiant and believe that it will bring mutual value for both organizations,” commented Ash Rofail, CEO, Santeon Group, Inc.
“Digital media has opened direct distribution channel opportunities to develop new business models, content discovery, and audience development programs for both established and emerging independent filmmaker. We are pleased to have formed this alliance with Santeon’s UBFilm, which we believe will provide independent filmmakers more opportunities to fund, produce and promote their films with worldwide distribution,” commented Albert Sandoval, CEO, RadioactiveGiant.
Content: Picture: extraface
Multi-dimensional monetization affiliate commerce exchange to monetise and federate gateway for mobile value chain.
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – Wmode’s new ACE platform builds on its existing billing and payments technologies for wireless carriers, the company said, by expanding the service offering to include mobile service providers, app providers, and content providers.
According to Wmode, organisations are able to connect together, enabling commerce between them and end-users, by providing a suite of app store functionality.
Some of the platform’s highlighted functions include: identity management, subscription management, payment processing and settlements, affiliate merchandising, analytics and reporting.
The ACE Identity Management features include federated IDs across multiple applications, a common user authentication platform, and a digital locker, Subscription Management incorporates service access control and end-user self-serve management, while Payments and Settlements focuses on settlements of transactions between multiple parties, flexible billing, eWallet, virtual currency, stored value services, and incorporating loyalty programs. The Affiliate Merchandising engine contains bundling, promotions, coupon codes, affiliate codes, dynamic business models, app discovery services, and many other techniques that enable users to find and sign up for suites of apps. Finally, Analytics and reporting includes tracking, data mining and transactional reporting of all services and applications.
Terry Hughes, head of market development at Wmode said: “Today’s app stores typically have a limited set of relationships between the store provider, the merchant and the end user; ACE enables multiple parties to connect together to integrate, bundle, price, deliver, collaborate and innovate, knowing that the complexities of payments, tracking, reporting, analytics and fulfillment are being taken care of. To deliver this, ACE leverages some of the ICT industry’s best-of-breed technologies including digital authentication, federated ID management, subscription services, advanced payment processing and settlement tools, and affiliate marketing systems.”
Wmode said ACE is targeted to help wireless carriers, app store providers, major brands, and service providers who want to monetize interconnected and complex mobile value chain.
Filed under Asset management, Business Process Management, Content Categorisation, Content Delivery, Content Management, Content Monetization, Content Provision & Creation, Content Security, Content Syndication, Customer Relations Management (CRM), Digital Media Management (DMM), Digital rights management, Enterprise Resource Planning & Management, Media asset management, Mobile Analytics, Mobile Content, Telecommunications, Vendor News
Image via Wikipedia
Samsung becomes first hardware manufacturer to integrate AIR 2.5 into TVs and Blu-ray players
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – BREAKING NEWS – CES Show, 2011 Las Vegas, Nevada: Samsung Electronics and Adobe are teaming up to embed Samsung’s Smart TV platform to be the first to integrate support for Adobe AIR 2.5 for TV.
According to the duo, developers will now be able to build, distribute and monetise standalone applications through Samsung’s Smart TV applications store, Samsung Apps.
The companies said they hoped that the integration of AIR for TV with Samsung’s Smart TV platform would create new opportunities for Adobe Flash Platform developers to use Adobe Creative Suite 5 to author content for AIR for TV.
All of Samsung’s 2011 Smart TVs and Smart Blu-ray players will include support for Adobe AIR for TV, the companies said.
“Content publishers want to extend their reach from smartphones to the largest screen in the home, all without sacrificing the unique context and experience of each screen” commented Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe. “Samsung is the first device manufacturer to embrace Adobe AIR for TV, and together we will enable developers to extend media applications, social games and other forms of rich content to televisions and a wide range of Samsung devices.”
Image by Aldaron via Flickr
by Rainey Reitman and Marcia Hofmann
The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression against government encroachment — but that doesn’t help if the censorship doesn’t come from the government.
The controversial whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, which has begun to publish a trove of over 250,000 classified diplomatic cables, found itself kicked off of Amazon’s servers earlier this week. WikiLeaks had apparently moved from a hosting platform in Sweden to the cloud hosting services available through Amazon in an attempt to ward off ongoing distributed denial of service attacks.
According to Amazon, WikiLeaks violated the site’s terms of service, resulting in Amazon pulling the plug on hosting services. However, news sources have also reported that Amazon cut off WikiLeaks after being questioned by members of the staff of Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman. While it’s impossible to know whether or not Amazon’s decision was directly caused by the call from the senator’s office, we do know that Lieberman has proposed “anti-WikiLeaks legislation” and that he has a history of pushing for online censorship in the name of “security.”
Importantly, the government itself can’t take official action to silence WikiLeaks’ ongoing publications – that would be an unconstitutional prior restraint, or censorship of speech before it can be communicated to the public. No government actor can nix WikiLeaks’ right to publish content any more than the government could stop the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers, which were also stolen secret government documents.
But a web hosting company isn’t the government. It’s a private actor and it certainly can choose what to publish and what not to publish. Indeed, Amazon has its own First Amendment right to do so. That makes it all the more unfortunate that Amazon caved to unofficial government pressure to squelch core political speech. Amazon had an opportunity to stand up for its customer’s right to free expression. Instead, Amazon ran away with its tail between its legs.
In the end, it’s not just WikiLeaks that suffers from corporate policies that suppress free speech, here on matters of intense public importance. It’s also readers, who lose out on their First Amendment right to read the information WikiLeaks publishes. And it’s also the other Internet speakers who can’t confidently sign up for Amazon’s hosting services without knowing that the company has a history of bowing to pressure to remove unpopular content.
Today Amazon sells many things, but its roots are in books, which historically have been a lightning rod for political censorship campaigns. These campaigns tried and failed to suppress Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, Nabokov’s Lolita, and even Orwell’s 1984. And it’s the book industry – including writers, publishers, booksellers and libraries – that has championed the rights of readers and helped America maintain a proud history of free speech in the written word, even when faced with physical danger.
While it’s frustrating to think of any hosting provider cutting services to a website because it considers the content too politically volatile or controversial, it’s especially disheartening to see Amazon knuckle under to pressure from a single senator. Other Internet intermediaries should now expect to receive a phone call when some other member of Congress is unhappy with speech they are hosting. After all, it worked on Amazon.
ECM Plus - The Voice of Content 