IP MEMES: OLLIE OLLIE OXLEY FREE—AND MORE

(My September contribution to IP Memes follows.)

OLLIE OLLIE OXLEY FREE

Given its rigorous and costly requirements, it's not surprising the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has been widely criticized as a
Congressional public relations stunt executed response to Enron and
WorldCom. Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy, for example, has called
the Act the corporate equivalent of a full body cavity search carried
out with no probable cause. While it's immediately apparent how S-Ox
compliance serves to — insert the word "excessively" to taste — pad the coffers of lawyers and accountants, the Act's negative impact on
the world of open source software is less obvious but no less
important. With the environment emphazising accountability and
liability, it is tempting for CIOs and CEOs to cling to industry
behemoths with deep pockets for technologies to run their business
processes. The price they will pay is likely to be a high one in
terms of flexibility and responsiveness, without any ironclad
protection against the regulatory watchdogs. While open source
continues to make corporate inroads, in the face of mandatory
Sarbanes-Oxley compliance its advocates must also overcome the same
mindset that spent billions on the Y2K "crisis."

Links:

• Linux Journal, Bridging The Gap


• Sarbanes-Oxley: Dragon or White Knight?


• McNealy slams Sarbanes-Oxley


• Sarbanes-Oxley: The Role of Technology

LIKE THE OTHERS

In what customers will no doubt find a welcome departure from its
"Like No Other" marketing campaign, Sony Electronics announced last
week that its new digital audio players, including the iconic Walkman,
will support the MP3 format. In the past, only files created using
Sony's proprietary ATRAC compression technology would play on the
company's digital audio devices. The company's portable music players
will now be better able to go head to head with Apple's iPod and other
devices that support the more common and popular MP3 format, though
Sony's online music store, Sony Connect, will continue to sell only
ATRAC files. A Sony Europe executive said the shift is designed to
appeal to those who already have a large collection of MP3s. Some of
these presumably were downloaded before stores like Sony Connect came
into existence, though it appears the company is banking wisely on its
ability to profit both from its own online music sales and from the
MP3s its customers may obtain elsewhere. No word yet on whether
Sony's new players will come with a discount on the "Like No Other"
thong. [Disclosure: I represent Sony Computer Entertainment America
Inc. in connection with its amicus brief submitted in the Lexmark v.
Static Control DMCA case pending in the Sixth Circuit.]

Links:

• Sony to support MP3s


• Sony plans to allow MP3 format on Walkman


• Sony Electronics, News & Information


• The "Like No Other" Thong

BIT RATES AND BID RATES, THE SEQUEL

In July, IP Memes covered eBay's experiment in auctioning digital
music downloads. The pilot project has now ended and eBay's Digital
Downloads category is live. Seller PassAlong Networks is licensed to
sell the catalogs of several major labels. Those interested must
download the PassAlong software, described as "necessary for licensing
requirements," and be prepared to play files in the Windows Media
(WMA) format. Also selling on eBay is iHoopla Music, an artist direct
store that delivers WMA files as well.

Links:

• eBay, Digital Downloads Category


• eBay, About PassAlong


• eBay, About iHoopla


• PassAlong jump-starts eBay music effort


• July contribution to IP Memes

SAMPLE SALE

"Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling
creativity in any significant way." So held the Sixth Circuit
recently in Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films, a case involving the
band NWA, its song "100 Miles and Runnin," and the song's sample of a
three-note guitar riff first riffed by George Clinton and Funkadelic.
In its decision, the Sixth Circuit has promulgated an admittedly
unprecedented bright line test that makes no allowance for the
unlicensed use of de minimis, unrecognizeable portions of sound
recordings. Blawger/lawyer Marty Schwimmer posted a comment he
received from well known copyright lawyer Craig Mende pointing out the
conflict between the new Bridgeport Music decision and seemingly
analogous situations where courts have authorized de minimis use.
(Can you say Circuit split?) Blawger/Professor Larry Lessig points
out the difficulty of implementing the Court's bright line test, and
the perhaps unintentional preferred status it confers on recorded
music.

Links:

• 
  Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films


• 6th Circuit Breaks It Down Re Sampling


• "Get a license or do not sample"


• Billboard, Court ruling could chill sample use

"A STICKY STAIN ON THE BOTTOM OF THEIR MASSIVE HOOVES"

Cluetrain Manifesto co-author David Weinberger spoke last week to the
Entertainment and Media section of the World Economic Forum, and he
reported the experience on his weblog, JOHO (Journal of the
Hyperlinked Organization) The Blog. The meeting, attended by senior
members of the recording, movie, and media industries, left Dr.
Weinberger chilled at the propects for technological innovation and
the Internet. In addition to providing his impressions of the ways in
which the section members and their organizations fail to understand
what constitutes real value for their customers, Dr. Weinberger
describes his pitch the the group: a less restrictive approach to
copyright laws and enforcement in the name of cultural health and
well-being. This is required reading for technology users of all
stripes who hope to go through life with a minimum of legal defense
costs and jail time, and copyright holders of all stripes who hope to
make effective use of the Internet in pursuit of their livelihood.

Links:

• My Tuesday With The World Economy Forum