[NYCInfoLaw] Reading Group next Tuesday Feb 16 @ Cardozo

Tue Feb 9 22:13:13 PST 2010

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick reminder that the next reading group will be
next Tuesday, Feb 16, 7-9pm at Cardozo School of Law.
Details and a suggested reading list below.  Food will be
served. Please RSVP to cardozoIPLS at gmail.com if you
can make it.

Best,

Ryan Rentmeester
Co-President, Cardozo Intellectual Property Law Society

----------------------------------------------------
[Reading Group] A Cloudy Future for iTunes? What Apple’s acquisition
of Lala.com might mean for cloud-based computing.

When: Tuesday, February 16, 7pm – 9pm
Where: Room 424, Cardozo School of Law, 555 5th Avenue (at 12th street)

Description:

Recently Apple has purchased Lala.com, the music download,
stream, and preview site. Some cynics believe they are ridding the
market of a competitor, but insiders say the company is making a play
at putting their iTunes music store at the forefront of cloud-based
computing.

For those of you who don’t know about Lala.com, the site
combines social networking with music retail. Music fans can browse
music and listen to full songs and albums – a massive improvement from
the :30 second snippet currently allowed on iTunes. Next, the user is
given a three-tiered pricing option for purchasing music: buy the
physical album, buy the DRM free digital album or track (roughly $0.89
per song), or for around $0.10 per song or $1.00 per album, add the
track to your Lala library. All songs in your library can be played
free forever and can be accessed from any computer or handheld device
as long as you have an Internet signal. The thing that separates
Lala.com from the rest is, if allowed, a program will access and read
your iTunes library and give you free access to all the music you
currently own, thus giving you virtual access to your entire iTunes
library anywhere you go – no ipod or hard drive needed.
MP3.com had a similar set up back in 2000 before the RIAA shut them
down. Lala’s approach has been to negotiate licenses with the major
labels. While Apple’s acquisition of Lala will not affect the
website’s operability, if Apple wishes to take the same cloud-based
approach with iTunes, they may have to renegotiate with all the
majors. This raises many issues.

•       If the majors won’t play ball, following recent cases such as
Cartoon Network v. Cablevision and UMG v. Veoh are licenses necessary
for instituting such a cloud-based approach?

•       Are broad based licenses with the majors a good way to approach this
        unsettled issue in copyright law? Will such licenses set a chilling
        precedent for those who are attempting to beat back the reach of
        one-sizes-fits-all copyright laws that haven’t grown with
technology?

•       How would a new license for a cloud-based music affect access and
privacy?

•       What might Apple’s entrance into cloud-based computing mean for
        other industries? Might we be living in the clouds sooner than
we think?

While people have been contemplating the Celestial Jukebox for quite a
while, with Apple entering the picture, the future may have just
gotten cloudy.

Food will be served. RSVP to cardozoIPLS at gmail.com.
RSVP not required to attend. All are welcome.

See you at the reading group!
As always the drinking group will meet afterwards.

Readings:
(the list is a just a suggestion. The articles are light reading and
very short. The case law is a pick of cases that have decided issues
relevant to the topic. Do not feel like you have to read the full
cases. I have provided links to Wiki synopses for all.)

Articles:
CNN.com – Apple, Labels talk music in the cloud
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/21/cnet.apple.music.industry/index.html

PCWorld – What Apple’s Lala acquisition may mean for iTunes
http://www.pcworld.com/article/183804/what_apples_lala_acquisition_may_mean_for_itunes.html

AppleInsider article – Forcasts for Apple’s Lala Acquisition
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/12/07/apples_lala_purchase_could_bring_browser_access_to_itunes_content.html

Michael Roberston – Former CEO of MP3.com weighs in on Apple’s Cloud
Strategy
http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/19/apples-secret-cloud-strategy-and-why-lala-is-critical/

Digital Music News – Apple’s cloud enters murky legal skies
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/012110applecloud

Wall street Journal – Apple plots reboot of iTunes for web (Online
Subcription required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126040631831584643.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_tech

Op Ed:
--Jonathan Zittrain’s NYTimes OpEd, “Lost in the Cloud”, raising
access and privacy issues regarding cloud computing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/opinion/20zittrain.html

--CIO.com’s response and counter point to Zittrain’s OpEd:
http://www.cio.com/article/498550/Clueless_on_the_Charles_Zittrain_s_Cloud_Missive_Got_it_Wrong

Case Law:
--Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/464_US_417.htm

Synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_v._Universal#cite_ref-0

--UMG v. MP3.com:
UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc., 92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (S.D.N.Y. 2000),
http://www.internetlibrary.com/pdf/UMG-Recording-MP3.com-SDNY.pdf

Synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMG_v._MP3.com
http://web.archive.org/web/20041024235112/http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2000/mp3courtpoint.html

--Cartoon Network v. Cablevision:
Cartoon Network, LP v. CSC Holdings, Inc., 536 F.3d 121 (2d Cir. 2008),
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/cablevision.pdf

Synopsis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon_Network,_LP_v._CSC_Holdings,_Inc.

--Io Group v. Veoh Networks, SJ Order:
Io Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 586 F. Supp. 2d 1132 (N.D. Cal. 2008)
http://www.eff.org/files/Io v. Veoh (d ct).pdf

--UMG v. Veoh Networks, SJ Order:
UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 93 U.S.P.Q.2d 1010 (C.D. Cal.
2009)
http://www.eff.org/files/UMG%20v.%20Veoh%20SJ%20Opinion.pdf

Synopsis:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/umg-v-veoh-another-victory-web-2-0
http://www.digitalmedialawyerblog.com/2009/09/umg_v_veoh_has_judge_matz_gone_1.html

See you next week!

______________________________

Ryan Rentmeester
J.D. Candidate, 2010
Co-President, 2009-2010
Cardozo Intellectual Property Law Society
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