A crucial meeting that will determine the future of the proposed WIPO Broadcasting Treaty has been underway this week at WIPO. WIPO' s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights was scheduled to meet from 18-21 June, and then hold a Preparatory Conference on June 22, to agree the rules...

In May 2004, Sony opened up its own store for selling digital music: Sony Connect. From the start, the service was plagued with self-inflicted woes. Thanks to Sony?s use of DRM and a proprietary music format (ATRAC), music bought through Sony Connect could only be played on Sony?s expensive digital...

Bush Administration Attacks 'Shield' for BloggersShould bloggers have "reporter's privilege"?
Which ISPs Are Spying on You?Wired News asks the major ISPs about what information they
gather on their customers.
Watchdog Group Slams Google on PrivacyA watchdog group says Google's privacy policies are the
...

Not even a week after AT&T announced plans to adopt undefined technical measures to stop "piracy," NBC Universal has asked [PDF] the FCC to declare that "broadband service providers have an obligation to use readily available means" (emphasis added) to stop copyright infringement. On the unintentionally funny-and-scary scale...

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THE NEW WIPO DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
PCDA Recommendations to 2007 General Assembly
(As adopted 9:38 pm June 15, 2007)
The PCDA decided to make the following recommendations to the 2007 General Assembly:
1. To adopt the recommendations for action in the agreed proposals contained in...

A judge ordered [PDF] the FBI today to finally release agency records about its abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) to collect Americans' personal information. The ruling came just a day after the EFF urged [PDF] the judge to immediately respond in its lawsuit over agency delays.
...

According to the Washington Post, "An internal FBI audit has found that the bureau potentially violated the law or agency rules more than 1,000 times while collecting data about domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions in recent years, far more than was documented in a Justice Department report...