All Blog Posts

Berkeley law professor Pamela Samuelson’s recent article examines proposed reforms of the DMCA’s safe harbor rules that limit the liability of ISPs hosting user-generated content. Professor Samuelson urges Congress to “take a balanced approach” and “consider the interests of a wide range of stakeholders”.

In their article “The Nature and Incidence of Software Piracy: Evidence from Windows,” Professors Susan Athey (Stanford) and Scott Stern (MIT) explore how consumers most commonly pirate software. The authors also looked into the impact of enforcement actions against popular pirating websites. This post summarizes their findings.

The new Copyright Alert System is a collaborative effort between copyright owners (major record companies and Hollywood studios) and participating Internet service providers to curb online piracy. James Grimmelmann, New York University, and Jonathan Zittrain, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, explained aspects of the system.

Chris Sprigman shares his latest book, co-written with Kal Raustiala, The Knockoff Economy. He looks at innovation and the role of IP protection as well as imitation to foster creativity.

My latest essay for Ars Technica, “Why Johnny Can’t Stream: How Online Copyright Went Insane” is now online. From my perspective, it’s an attempt to tie together my blogging on cases like Aereo, Zediva, and ReDigi and to illustrate what they have in common. From a legal perspective, it’s the story of how the public performance right has gradually made less and less sense over the last few years.

Stan Liebowitz, Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Dallas, discusses Andrew Popper’s brief on the problems and remedies of software theft. One of the points Professor Liebowitz makes is, “If the legal system of a country allows dishonest firms to gain an advantage over honest firms, then the competition between firms will tend to lead to a race to the bottom where the only firms left are dishonest and not particularly good at producing the products they are selling.”

We recently sat down with Stan Liebowitz to discuss his work on piracy and economics, as well as learn a little bit more about his journey from an ice cream vendor to one of the brightest scholars in the technology policy world.

Much to my happiness, the internets are in a frenzy about the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (aka SOPA).

Piracy is a top concern for U.S. lawmakers. Two bills now pending in Congress, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 and the Stop Online Piracy Act, are expected to generate a lot of debate as they come up for votes this legislative session. Professor Mark Lemley and co-authors David S. Levine, and David G. Post examine these proposed bills in their article, “Don’t Break the Internet.”

Last Thursday, leaders from the European Parliament joined the Congressional Internet Caucus to debate privacy, security and intellectual property. Videos are now available online.