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.

From the NY Times:

As even digital music revenue growth falters because of rampant file-sharing by consumers, the major record labels are moving closer to releasing music on the Internet with no copying restrictions a step they once vowed never to take.

As some reader may know, Michele Boldrin and I have been working on a book about intellectual property, titled "Against Intellectual Monopoly." There we make the case that without the artificial protection of patent and copyright competition functions best, and that patent and copyright do little or nothing to increase innovation and creation. Since they do plenty of other harm: we conclude that it would be best to do away with the entire mess. If you are interested in the details, we've just released the latest version on line at http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/againstnew.htm.

The book is to be published (yes under copyright...but under our contract there will continue to be a free version available online) by Cambridge University Press - probably to appear in about a year's time.

There is a NY Times article on the mixtape controversy. Apparently many label executives and officials at the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major music companies, say the mixtape is contributing to the problem. They argue that sales are ultimately undermined when the mixtape leaps from promotional giveaway item to replacement for an artist's official label-distributed album.

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?

I previously posted on an article by security researcher Peter Gutmann about DRM in Windows Vista in which he argues that Microsoft has chosen to degrade in important and significant ways the performance and capability of their operating system to protect "premium content." Microsoft has posted a response denying all charges. Unfortunately, reading the details of the denial, it appears that everything Gutmann said is true.

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.)