Wednesday, March 02, 2011

FAIR ACCESS TO CULTURE AND THE RIGHT TO READ OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS

Exceptions and limitations to copyright with regard to libraries, education and print disabled persons - European Parliament P7C050 - 13th April 2011 10.00-13.00 

10.00 Introduction

Luigi Berlinguer MEP - Overview of the issues
Ádám Kósa MEP President Disability Intergroup - Copyright and disabled people’s rights
Ben White –IFLA/EBLIDA / British Library - The case for Education and Libraries

10.30 Panel 1. The book famine- what are the barriers and solutions?
Wolfgang Angermann– European Blind Union
European Dyslexia Association- Raymond Claes
Q&A from the floor

11.00 Panel 2. A WIPO treaty for print disabled people?

Rodolfo Cattani EBU - Rationale for a treaty and the campaign so far
David Hammerstein – Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue
Q&A from the floor

11.45 Panel 3. Limitations and exceptions to copyright. Opinion of the EP, Commission and Council

An MEP perspective: F. Keller, F.Sosa Wagner.
The Commission’s position (speaker TBC)
Council position – Representative from Hungarian Presidency
Dan Pescod – European Blind Union
Ben White – IFLA/EBLIDA
Q&A from the floor

12.45 Conclusions
Concluding remarks - Luigi Berlinguer MEP

    Cross-border merger control in Japan

    A.Goto, here

    Commissioner Barnier tells the European Blind Union the EU does not support a treaty for persons with disabilities

    Here, from KEI (the actual letter here).

    Business Sues Facebook to Restore Its Fan Page--Complexions v. Complexions Day Spa

    E.Goldman, here.

    The Irish Competition Authority in Difficult Economic Times

    Annual Report 2010, here.

    Zum Leistungsschutzrecht für Presseverleger: Monopolkommission v. Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger

    J.Haucap (Monopolkommission), hierD. Wolff (BDZV), hier.

    Google book search choices

    G. Occhipinti Trigona, here.

    Fifth Annual Law & Information Society Symposium: Mobile Devices, Location Technologies & Shifting Values

    March 25, 2011 Fordham University, program.

    EU Commission confirms unannounced inspections in the e-book publishing sector

    Österreichisches Kartellgericht: Preisabsprachen gestattet?

    Hier (s. auch Kartellblog)

    AGCM - DIVIETO INCROCI GIORNALI-TV: ANTITRUST A GOVERNO E PARLAMENTO, NO AL POTERE DI PROROGA AFFIDATO AL PRESIDENTE DEL CONSIGLIO

    Qui

    Monday, February 28, 2011

    IN REGULATORS WE TRUST: THE SUPREME COURT’S NEW APPROACH TO IMPLIED ANTITRUST IMMUNITY

    R.Brunell, here.

    Greece's Competition Commission fines crisis cartel in the fish farming sector

    Here. See also Greece's contribution on the topic of crisis cartels to the OECD 10th GFC

    Au sujet du pré-rapport parlementaire sur la neutralité du Net

    La Quadrature du Net, ici

    OECD 10th Global Forum on Competition


    Forum documents.
    In particular:
    Session I Cross-border Merger Control: Challenges for Developing and Emerging Economies
    Session III Crisis Cartels

    UNDERSTANDING THE RAND COMMITMENT

    D.Lichtman, here.

    Materialien zum deutschen und europäischen Wettbewerbsrecht

    F.Säcker, hier

    WHY (EVER) DEFINE MARKETS?

    K.Kaplow, here ("The thesis of this Article is that the market definition process should be abandoned").

    Liberation by software

    E.Moglen, here (guardian.co.uk).

    World Blind Union suspends participation in WIPO & EU Stakeholder discussions, pending agreement at WIPO on legal framework

    KEI, here

    Digitale Langzeitarchivierung als Thema für den 3. Korb zum Urheberrechtsgesetz

    Nestor, hier

    Address to the Blue Sky Conference on future directions in Copyright law

    R.McClelland, here.

    WIPO pushes for greater access to books for the vision impaired

    A.Reid, here.

    Thursday, February 24, 2011

    Monday, February 21, 2011

    JRR Tolkien Estate Threatens Lawsuit Over Book Featuring Tolkien As Character

    Here (from hollywoodreporter.com).

    Kreativität und Urheberrecht in der Netzökonomie

    W.Schulz, T.Büchner, hier

    Russian Supreme Arbitration Court upholds finding of Gazprom Neft's abuse of dominant position

    ФАС России press release, in English and Russian

    An Economic Defense of Flexibility in IPR Licensing: Contracting Around 'First Sale' in Multilevel Production Settings

    A.Layne-Ferrar, here.

    Open Attribute, a simple way to attribute Creative Commons licensed works on the web

    A.Neill, here.

    Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices & Challenges in a Networked World

    H.Clinton, here.

    Statut d’hébergeur de fuzz.fr aussi confirmé par par la Cour de cassation

    Arrêt n° 164 du 17 février 2011 (09-13.202) - Cour de cassation - Première chambre civile

    Thursday, February 03, 2011

    EU Advocate General Kokott on exclusive broadcasting rights

    Cases C‑403/08 and C‑429/08 Football Association Premier League Ltd and Others v QC Leisure and Others and Karen Murphy v Media Protection Services Ltd, here. Guardian report here.

    Friday, January 28, 2011

    Entente de partage de clientèle dans le secteur maritime: la court d'appel de Paris réforme la décision de l'Autorité de la concurrence

    Décision du 15 avril 2010 relative à des pratiques mises en œuvre dans le secteur de la manutention pour le transport de conteneurs au port du Havre et Arrêt de la Cour d'appel de Paris du 20 janvier 2011.

    Monday, January 10, 2011

    WIPO Seminar Series on “The Economics of Intellectual Property”: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Intellectual Property and Litigation

    Christine Greenhalgh, January 12, 2011 paper here.

    A Brief Introduction to Competition Concerns in 'Pay-for-Delay' Settlement Agreements Between Brand-Name and Generic Drug Companies

    R.Peritz, here.

    The Capper-Volstead Act, Agricultural Cooperatives, and Antitrust Immunity

    C.Varney, here.

    Counterfactual Tests in Competition Law

    C.Veljanovski, here.

    Solving the Drug Settlement Problem: The Legislative Approach

    M.A.Carrier, here.

    Standards, Innovation Incentives, and the Formation of Patent Pools

    K.M.Schmidt, here.

    Politiques européennes de concurrence et économie sociale de marché

    F.Marty, ici.

    First evaluation of the impact of the Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights

    Here.

    Monday, December 13, 2010

    Information Exchanges among Competitors

    Antonio CAPOBIANCO, OECD Competition Division, Exchange of Information among Competitors: Antitrust Challenges (Presentation)
    Monday December 13, 2010 - 2 pm
    Conference Room, Economics Faculty - Trento University
    Via Inama, 5 TRENTO

    Wednesday, December 01, 2010

    Sunday, November 28, 2010

    The Second Decade of the International Competition Network: Challenges Ahead?

    Oliver BUDZINSKI, University of Southern Denmark, "The Governance of Global Competition:  Challenges for the Second Decade of the ICN"

    Alessandra TONAZZI, Italian Competition Authority, "The Governance of Global Competition: ICN’s Next Decade"
    Friday November 26, 2010 8:30 am
    Trento Economics Faculty, Law Department
    Room 3
    via Verdi 53
    Trento - Italy

    ICN 2010 UNILATERAL CONDUCT WORKSHOP: LIVE WEBCAST

    Agenda, Webcast.

    Certification of a claim as a consumer class action following a bread price fixing cartel in South Africa dismissed

    Here.

    Senate's Inquiry into the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Franklins decision

    Here (from Australian Competition Law)

    AG Hamburg zu Urheberrechtsverletzungen durch RSS-Feeds

    A. Schneider, hier.

    The U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate on alleged smartphone-related patent infringements

    Here.

    Smart Wars - Um Smartphone-Technologien ist ein regelrechter Patentkrieg entbrannt

    F.Müller, hier.

    Current Issues in Competition and Consumer Protection Enforcement in the Retail Sector

    J.T.Rosch, FTC, here.

    Sunday, November 21, 2010

    Friday, November 05, 2010

    ICN Unilateral Conduct Working Group's teleseminar on unilateral conduct in the pharmaceutical industry

    Recording of the program and accompanying slide deck.

    2010 Merger Guidelines: Empirical Analysis

    J.Hausman, here.

    Oracle raises price of an entry-level MySQL subscription significantly

    Computerworld, here.

    Cameron on reviewing IP laws to make them fit for the digital age

    From the speech:
    "The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain.
    The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot of all the content on the internet at any one time and they feel our copyright system is not as friendly to this sort of innovation as it is in the United States.
    Over there, they have what are called ‘fair-use’ provisions, which some people believe gives companies more breathing space to create new products and services.
    So I can announce today that we are reviewing our IP laws, to see if we can make them fit for the internet age."
    See also the IPO's press release on the scope of the review.

    Sunday, October 31, 2010

    Vince Cable on Competition Policy in the UK

    From the Speech given to the Confederation of British Industry - 25 October 2010:

    "What business does however need to know to promote growth is that there are clear, consistent rules to govern business behaviour. Which brings me on to competition policy. Competition is one of the great drivers of growth, keeping prices low for consumers, driving innovation, experimentation and investment.
    When I used my party conference speech to suggest the need for a more active competition policy, this was interpreted as some kind of modern Marxism. Far from it – this is a defence of capitalism, not an assault.
    And the UK’s competition regime is regarded as one of the best in the world – particularly because of its independence and the transparency of decision making. And the EU regime on top of it – including the system of state aid rules that helps to prevent subsidy wars - is one of the Community’s most successful activities.
    But there is scope for improvement. In particular, there are difficulties in successfully prosecuting anti-trust cases and a paucity of market investigation cases. I would also like to question whether our current system of sector-specific regulation is ideal, or could we achieve something better through cross sector regulation.
    A system that is too slow imposes unacceptable costs on the regulated, and is an insufficient deterrent for would-be abusers of a dominant position. Competition Act cases have taken on average three and a half years between the investigation to a final decision. This is too slow – hardly the “efficient and timely processes” that the CBI has called for.
    I also want to ask if we are making enough investigations. Our rate of three or four a year looks odd compared to 15 in France and even more in Germany.
    In the New Year, the Government will consult on proposals to deliver more streamlined and consistent processes - including bringing the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading together to form a single competition authority, which I hope will be more proactive in addressing problems."

    Wednesday, October 27, 2010

    Is IP Good or Evil? A Vatican's Perspective

    Statement by H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva (from KEI)

    Facts and Figures on Copyright Three-Strike Rule in South Korea

    Heesob Nam, here.

    Monday, October 11, 2010

    Network Neutrality: What a Non-Discrimination Rule Should Look Like

    Barbara Van Schewick, here.

    Un signe qui identifie un site et non une marque n’est pas une contrefaçon

    Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris 3ème chambre, 2ème section Jugement du 01 octobre 2010
    Place des Tendances / Promod, (Legalis.net)

    European Antritrust Deal With Microsoft Barely Affects Browser Market

    NYT, here.

    Expertenanhörung zum Thema "Netzneutralität - Kapazitätsengpässe, Differenzierung, Netzwerkmanagement"

    Bericht.

    From "Radical Extremism" to "Balanced Copyright": Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda

    Michael Geist, Introduction. From October 14th the book will be available in both paper and as a Creative Commons licenced download.

    Kompendium Internetrecht aktualisiert

    Prof. Thomas Hoeren, hier.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has authorised Liquor Stax Australia to collectively bargain with a range of wholesale suppliers

    Final detemination.

    US Department of Transportation Proposes to Approve Antitrust Immunity for U.S.-Japan Aviation Alliances

    Here.

    Heizstrom – Marktüberblick und Verfahren

    Bundeskartellamt, s. Bericht.

    Der dritte Korb im Interesse von Bildung und Wissenschaft

    NEUREGELUNG DES URHEBERRECHTS: ANLIEGEN UND DESIDERATE FÜR EINEN DRITTEN KORB (Wissenschaftsallianz) und Stellungnahme  des Börsenvereins. Heise online berichtet über ein lebhaftes Fachgespräch der SPD-Bundestagsfraktion insbesondere zum formatgleichen Zweitveröffentlichungsrecht.

    Council of Europe: Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on network neutrality

    Here.

    Monday, October 04, 2010

    Wednesday, September 29, 2010

    WIPO's Medium Term Strategic Plan 2010-15

    Here.
    Concerning the SCCR, strategies include:

                   "continuing to support the work of Member States on copyright limitations and exceptions, with a particular focus on improving access for visually impaired and other persons with print disabilities, while accelerating work with respect to access for persons with other disabilities, educational institutions, libraries and archives;

                    continuing to support the work of Member States on the protection of audiovisual performances and on the protection of broadcasting organizations;

                    exploring the scope for discussion of new issues with important global consequences, such as orphan works or the need for increased cooperation between copyright owners and Internet intermediaries in the making available of legitimate creative content, and encouraging consideration of self-regulatory, as well as formal solutions".

    Using Competition Law to Promote Access to Knowledge

    Sean Flynn, here.

    Monday, September 27, 2010

    (American) Football, Copyright, and Innovation

    NYT, here.

    Copyright law needs a digital-age upgrade

    Pamela Samuelson, here, and by the same author et al.  THE COPYRIGHT PRINCIPLES PROJECT: DIRECTIONS FOR REFORM

    Derechos de retransmisión de acontecimientos futbolísticos en España

    Apertura de un expediente sancionador por posibles prácticas restrictivas de la competencia, por vincular la reventa de derechos de retransmisión de acontecimientos futbolísticos a la contratación de los servicios de producción y transporte de la señal de partidos de fútbol, Comunicado de Prensa.

    Competition for High Tech Employees

    US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REQUIRES SIX HIGH TECH COMPANIES TO STOP
    ENTERING INTO ANTICOMPETITIVE EMPLOYEE
    SOLICITATION AGREEMENTS, Press Release.

    Koexistenz, keine Konkurrenz: Gedruckte Bücher und E-Books ergänzen sich

    Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, hier.

    EU Commission's Statement on Apple's iPhone policy changes

    Google Suggest : le directeur de la publication condamné pour diffamation

    TGI de Paris, 8 septembre 2010, ici

    Friday, September 17, 2010

    Antitrust in the Digital Age: How Enduring Competition Principles Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission Apply to Today’s Dynamic Marketplace

    Richard Feinstein, FTC, here.

    Open Source and Merger Policy: Insights from the EU Oracle/Sun Decision

    Simonetta Vezzoso (this blog's author), hereInternational Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC), Forthcoming.

    Abstract:

    In Europe the merger between Oracle and Sun raised a series of substantial competition concerns, especially related to the acquisition by Oracle of MySQL, an open source business, and its impact on the database market. In the end, the acquisition was unconditionally cleared by the Commission. The open source nature of MySQL played a decisive role in the competition assessment of the merger conducted by the European competition authority according to the "significant impediment to effective competition" legal test. In this Article we will review the Commission’s decision with the specific aim of determining to what extent the open source nature of MySQL’s business model actually affected the scrutiny of Sun’s acquisition by Oracle under the relevant test. In particular, it will be questioned whether Oracle’s public announcement concerning its future behaviour on the database and related markets can be expected to duly address the concerns voiced by the Commission in the course of the merger proceedings. We will conclude that Judge Easterbrook’s much quoted conclusion that «[t]he GPL and open-source software have nothing to fear from the antitrust laws» may possibly need some qualification.


    Content:

    I. Introduction
    II. The EU Oracle/Sun Merger Decision
    1. The legal background
    2. The SIEC test in the context of the Oracle/Sun case
    3. The SIEC test and MySQL’s open source nature
    III. The competition assessment of open source in the context of merger policy: in search of a
    balanced approach
    IV. Conclusion

    Thursday, September 16, 2010

    EU Stakeholders Dialogue Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on access to works by people with print disabilities

    Here. See also the EU Commission's press release (thanks to Antonella De Robbio for pointing it to me).

    UK Joint Merger Assessment Guidelines Released

    From the Press Release: "The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Competition Commission (CC) have today for the first time published joint Merger Assessment Guidelines (...) The publication revises and expands guidance previously contained in several publications issued separately by the two Authorities after the introduction of the Enterprise Act 2002".

    When Do Generics Challenge Drug Patents?

    C. Scott Hemphill and Bhaven N. Sampat, here.

    Competition in the Evolving Digital Marketplace

    US House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Competition PolicyThursday 9/16/2010.


    Written testimonies:
    Richard Feinstein (Federal Trade Commission), here.
    Geoffrey A. Manne (LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL),  here
    Edward J. Black (Computer and Communications Industry Association), here.
    Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America), here
    Morgan Reed (Association for Competitive Technology), here
    Scott Cleland (Precursor LLC), here.

    Monday, September 06, 2010

    ACTA's draft agreement (reflecting August 2010 changes)

    From KEI, here.

    Antitrust Formalism is Dead! Long Live Antitrust Formalism!: Some Implications of American Needle v. NFL

    Judd E. Stone II, Joshua D. Wright, here.

    WIPO Seminar Series on “The Economics of Intellectual Property”: Hal Varian (Google) on Copyright and Transaction Costs

    Program, Geneva, September 14, 2010. Presentation and Video of the Seminar.

    Thwack!! Take That, User-Generated Content!: Marvel Enterprises v. NCSoft

    Carl Michael Szabo, here.

    Revenue Streams and Safe Harbors: How Water Law Suggests a Solution to Copyright's Orphan Works Problem

    Joel Sage, here.

    A Peek Behind the Curtain of the Texas Antitrust Complaints against Google

    Groklaw, here.

    Rachat par la coopérative agricole Sodiaal du groupe Entremont autorisé

    D'après le Communiqué "Avec l'acquisition du groupe Entremont, Sodiaal deviendra le numéro 2 sur le marché de la collecte de lait en France, derrière le groupe Lactalis. Les fournisseurs auxquels cette coopérative fera face sur ce marché seront cependant ses propres adhérents et l'Autorité a rappelé que ce contexte assurait un équilibre des relations entre vendeurs et acheteur, les éleveurs bénéficiant de leur position de sociétaires et de la sécurisation de leurs débouchés."

    Tuesday, August 17, 2010

    Post Oracle-Sun Merger: OpenSolaris' fate revealed (and what about Oracle's public announcement)?

    Here.
    From the Oracle-Sun merger decision, para 182:
    "Although, with the exception of points 1, 2 and 3 (see below paragraph 184), Oracle's
    public announcement is not legally binding on Oracle, the Commission considers that
    the strong specificities of open source software and the vibrant ecosystem surrounding
    MySQL provide for a self-enforcing mechanism ensuring that Oracle would not have
    the ability and incentives to deviate from its announced future conduct. Reputation and
    trust is of utmost importance for the sponsor of an open source project which depends
    on contributions by a large ecosystem of users, developers and customers. After the
    merger Oracle will become the sponsor of a number of significant open source projects
    of Sun, including Java, MySQL and OpenSolaris, and will as such need to gain and
    retain the trust from the open source community. In this respect, it can be expected that
    all of the public pledges made by Oracle to reassure MySQL users, developers and
    storage engine vendors will be subject to close scrutiny from the open source
    community."
    Was the EU Commission somehow slightly too optimistic?

    Wednesday, August 11, 2010