DENISE CARUSO enters the lists on biotech patents for genes (NY Times link here), questioning the whole set of legalisms that have built up around them. Unlike product patents which can be improved on, "there is no analog to this network of obligations for a patent holder. As Tim Hubbard, a Human Genome Project researcher, noted at a 2001 conference: 'If you have a patent on a mousetrap, rivals can still make a better mousetrap. This isn't true in the case of genomics. If someone patents a gene, they have a real monopoly.'"

“This monopoly gives patent holders total control over patented genetic materials for any use whatsoever whether for basic research, a diagnostic test, as a test for the efficacy of a drug or the production of therapies.”

Several examples are cited in the article to suggest how against the public interest these patents can be.

In one case cited, "Patient groups filed suit in 2000, contending misappropriation of trade secrets by using their children's DNA without consent to obtain a patent. It took until 2003 for the parties to reach a confidential settlement; it allows certain laboratories to continue collecting royalties but lets institutions, doctors and scientists use the patented gene sequences without paying."

Dismal story. Read the rest.

Hackers are reported to have broken the encryption on DVDs by "stealing" the "title keys" to decrypt "high-definition DVDs through flaws in DVD player software" (yahoo link here). Title keys and some decrypted films have been posted on peer-to-peer Web sites for downloading. "The hackers did not attack the AACS encryption system itself, but stole the keys as they were exchanged between the DVD and the player to strip the encryption from the film." The high cost of writable hi-definition discs make large-scale copying of high-definition DVDs impractical, it is asserted. Both Sony's Blu-Ray and Toshiba's HD DVD are affected.

We'll see how long it is before the discs are widely reproduced. And to term the loss of keys as "stealing" is really a euphemism for the insecurity of the industry's so-called security. This was how elections may have been stolen in states using electronic voting machines.

Techdirt informs us that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) wants the power to take down ISP service to anyone it claims might be sharing copyrighted music (link here). It is currently pushing the ISPs to accede that right in a move similar to what YouTube lets copyright holders do take down a video simply based on the copyright holders assertion.

Due process? What's that?

Slashdot sends us to a Chinese site reporting that Associate professor Wang Xiaoyun of Beijing's Tsinghua University has cracked the prize encryption algorithm in wide current use (Slashdot link here). The Chinese website (Chinese article here) claims are without confirmation and it sounds like some other overreaching past claims, but if true, it is going to put a lot of government and commercial practices at risk. In other words, big news, if true.

XM Satellite Radio is now accused of letting listeners illegally record the music it plays, violating the music publishers' sole distribution rights (link here). XM argues it is “protected from infringement lawsuits by the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which permits individuals to record music off the radio for private use. The judge said she did not believe the company was protected in this instance by the act.” She did not offer any reasoning for her judgment, but the case will now go to trial.

The judge must have had some "good legal reasons" for her opinion, but they are certainly not obvious from where this reader sits.

David Pogue who writes on computers for the NYTimes responded to the story posted just below with a bit of doggerel. I am posting it all because it is circulated in an email, not on the web.

1. From the Desk of David Pogue: Ode to the R.I.A.A. ==========================================================

Ever since I phased out my career as a Broadway arranger and conductor, I've tried to keep my toe in the showbiz world in my own peculiar way: I write new, tech-industry lyrics to old melodies.

Here's my very latest. It's a special tribute to the R.I.A.A., the Recording Industry Association of America - the organization of the record companies who've decided to fight music piracy by filing lawsuits. It goes to the tune of the Village People song "Y.M.C.A." Ready? Cue the disco drums!

"R.I.A.A."

Young man, You were surfing along, And then, young man, You downloaded a song, And then, dumb man, Copied it to your 'Pod, Then a phone call came to tell you:

You've just been sued by the R.I.A.A.! You've just been sued by the R.I.A.A.! Their attorneys say, you committed a crime, And there'd better not be a next time!

They've lost their minds at the R.I.A.A.! Justice is blind at the R.I.A.A.... "You're depriving the bands! You are learning to steal, You can't do whatever you feel!"

Know what? They're a lawsuit machine. They say so what If you're only thirteen? And you know what? They were equally mean To an 80-year-old grandma!

CD Sales have dropped every year, They're not greedy- They're just quaking with fear, Yes, indeedy- What if their end is near, And we download all our music?

They'd all freak out at the R.I.A.A.- No plastic discs from the R.I.A.A.! What a way to make friends! It's a plan that can't fail: Haul your customers off to jail!

And who'll be next for the R.I.A.A.? What else is vexing the R.I.A.A.? Maybe whistling a tune? Maybe humming along? Maybe mocking them in a song-!

(The sound of jackboots bursting into the room...handcuffs...muffled cries...a columnist being dragged away... repeat and fade.)

Alan Cox, a Linux kernel developer, is reported to have filed for patents on some DRM technology (link here). Hopefully, it can be used to preclude others from imposing DRM restrictions on the public. With bated breath, we wait to see if the patents are granted.

Interesting strategy to limit the growing bane of the digital consumer.

Carlo over at techdirt has an interesting comparison of DSL service in Japan and the US (techdirt link here). The Japanese regulators in 2000 forced state owned “NTT to unbundle its local loop, didn't let it drag its feet and stymie competitive carriers, and didn't let NTT get the law chiseled away by lobby groups and lawyers.” The FCC which regulates these matters in the US, was almost totally ineffective so that competitive service was largely unavailable, and what there was was of lower quality, and more expensive.

Lucky us.

Randall Stross goes after Digital Rights Management (DRM) as invoked by both Apple and Microsoft (NY Times link here). He picks up on Melanie Tucker v. Apple Computer Inc. over what she calls factory installed crippleware for what Apple calls "FairPlay": "When you buy songs at the iTunes Music Store, you can play them on one and only one line of portable player, the iPod. And when you buy an iPod, you can play copy-protected songs bought from one and only one online music store, the iTunes Music Store."

Then he describes how MS does the same thing or tries - through its PlaysForSure copy-protection standard, which is now replaced by a new standard for the MS Zune player, not compatible with the old songs. As consumers, the "rights" enjoyed are few. As some wags have said, the initials D.R.M. should really stand for "Digital Restrictions Management."

Apple defends itself by claiming the music companies - Universal, Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony BMG insist on it. But there are independent companies that supply MP3 formatted songs. Stross thinks that may force users of DRM restrictions to give them up, but for the time being, Apple protects those songs as well on its iPod.

There is a lot more detail in the story, but Stross reaches an optimistic conclusion. He quotes Dave Goldberg, the head of Yahoo Music, who believes that "today's copy-protection battles will prove short-lived. Eventually, perhaps in 5 or 10 years, he predicts, all portable players will have wireless broadband capability and will provide direct access, anytime, anywhere, to every song ever released for a low monthly subscription fee." It has already happened in South Korea, but only after CD sales collapsed.

All true, but it doesn't get rid of copyright on music.

Slashdot reports that Pirate Bay, the widely celebrated file sharing website, is planning to buy Sealand, a former British naval platform in the North Sea in order to get round international copyright laws (link here). It previously established server sites in Holland and Belgium as well as its original home in Sweden. Sealand claims to be outside British jurisdiction by proclaiming itself a “micronation.”

For Pirate Bay's full history (two years), see (wikepedia). It argues it does not violate copyright because it only tells people where they can download the copyrighted material. Courts in many countries have ruled against the use of BitTorrent for this purpose, making Pirate Bay an accessory to crime in those jurisdictions.

Naturally Pirate Bay has infuriated software, motion picture, and recording companies which managed to take it down last spring but it was soon up again. It remains a perhaps forlorn hope of creating more sanity in our intellectual property law. But a lot of us are on its side on pure economic welfare grounds.