Tuesday 10 August 2010

Congress, Always Pushing Dates when it Comes to Copyright

Just as it’s extended copyright terms in the past, the US Congress has no extended the wait for important copyright discussions.  Albeit, this time indirectly.The State of the Net West Conference was scheduled to take place this week in Silicon Valley. 

An important US conference that brings together law makers from congress and technology makers from country, State of the Net West explores a variety of issues surrounding the internet and government policy. 

Most copyright-related on this year’s schedule is a discussion led by Congressman Bob Goodlatte entitled “Intellectual Property and Internet Policy”.  The conference info page describes the session thus:

Numerous cases and policy changes are testing the boundaries of intellectual property protection in the digital age. Join us for a discussion hosted by Congressman Bob Goodlatte exploring the key intellectual property issues in both Washington and Silicon Valley. Congressman Bob Goodlatte is uniquely positioned to lead this debate as both the Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus and the Co-Chair of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus. The discussion will explore how the courts and the industry are working to ensure that creative copyrighted works continue to fuel Internet innovation. Expert panelists will discuss how recent court decisions including Viacom v. YouTube and LimeWire are defining and challenging copyright law -- and what it means for the future of copyright and Internet policy. Congressman Goodlatte will also discuss anti-piracy efforts and enforcement methods including payment processing, domain name seizures and ISP graduated response (a.k.a. copyright strikes) proposals.

Unfortunately, the conference has been postponed due to an emergency session of Congress.  [Maybe to deal with this?]  1709 hopes to be able to pass along more information when the conference is rescheduled.

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