The 463: Inside Tech

YouTube Deal Whispers

We've been on and off on the online music focused Pho List since 1999 or so now.  Lots of interesting industry characters, insight and many more notable lurkers.  One came out of the closet yesterday to anonymously post his/her supposed insight into the inner working of the Google/YouTube deal with respect to how to manage the copyright issues with the big media companies.

Mark Cuban quickly asked permission to post the email to his blog.  He got it, and he did.

See TechMeme for the considerable reaction to the post and its veracity.

Relevance Mic Check

Has the 2006 mid-term election marked the beginning of tech policy relevance on the national political debate?  According to the unscientific (yet fun and graphy!) Google Trends, not so much.  Let's see what's on the minds of Americans...

iraq    "health care"    "net neutrality" 

Closer to home, how about...

"net neutrality"    privacy    copyright   

Not surprisingly, net neutrality was searched most in Washington, DC.  More interestingly, DC also led in privacy related searches, but San Francisco led in copyright searches. More fun after the jump...

Google Over There

The Guardian (UK) just did the Google government affairs thing like so many US outlets.  Yet, the piece provides the welcome twist of looking into what Google is facing in European policy circles and who they are getting on board to help.  Excerpts after the jump....

Around the Horn: The No Rocket Sauce Edition

After the jump, a sermon from Jack Black on the evils of piracy.  But, first, another trip around the horn...

--The Tech Policy Summit blog features an interesting Q&A with Rob Atkinson of the the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.  Rob drops knowledge on the "third way" for net neutrality, immigration policy and broadband penetration.

--P2P traffic may still be growing, but Liz Gannes at GigaOm says the industry is still in search of a business model.

--The senior editor of the libertarian Reason Magazine takes on online gaming ban recently passed by Congress.

--Congress is looking into the burgeoning economy of the virtual world of Second Life and the tax implications of exchanging "Lindens" into dollars.  This won't be the first tech policy issue coming out of Second Life, so 463 is getting dressed in its finest avatar wear and investigating building a nice sea-side office on our own island in Second Life.  Anyone in SL know where we can get a pool table?

--Best sell-out ever.  LCD Soundsystem have created a very cool iTunes-only 45:33 minute track for running called 45:33.  It was commissioned by Nike.

We've Linked to Every Other "Google in DC" Story....

We might as well link to today's by Frank Davies at the Mercury News which focuses on Google's PAC, individual executive donations and the company's DC contribution strategy. A quote from a 463er wearing a different hat....

Google's PAC, along with a beefed-up lobbying presence in Washington, shows it is making ``a balanced and methodical, thoughtful effort'' to deal with leaders of both parties, said Jim Hock, a spokesman for Tech Net.

In other Google news today, the New York Times reports that Google has gone from one in-house lawyer in 2001 to 100 today in a piece on the company's unorthodox legal strategy. At least two are very photogenic (in addition to being noted and aggressive IP experts). We're just happy that the bear-skin rug shots were killed.

BTW, most other Google government affairs related posts can be found in our "Inside Baseball" category. And, we've listed every major story on Google in DC here.

Truth is, given the seemingly unquenchable fascination with all things Google, this blog would probably have triple the readership if we simply focused on Google and how they dealt with their tech-policy issues.

Is the Best Copyright Defense is a Good Offense?

Gigi Sohn of the DC Internet policy advocacy group Public Knowledge recently got back from a visit to the NorCal's version of the Happiest Place on Earth, other wise known as the GooglePlex.

According to her blog post, Gigi was wowed by the free detergent and fabric softener on campus. AND, the fact that Google's conference rooms are named after foreign cities. I mean, what will those crazy kids think of next? Lava lamps? OMG!

Happily, though, we just decided to cancel getting a plasma TV in our new DC offices. We'll now entertain and amaze folks by given them free Handy-Wipes and naming our conference rooms Modesto and Shreveport.

Ah, sorry. We kid because we love.

Sohn's post is actually really about a serious talk she gave at Google called "From Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley: Copyright, IP Law and Innovation." Click here to download the Power Point. In the presentation and today's post, Sohn hints at interesting point:

For much of the past five years, Public Knowledge has largely been forced to say “no” to laws and policies proposed by the content industries (with initiatives like DMCA reform, orphan works and open access the notable exceptions). Now it is time to say “yes” to an affirmative agenda to bring balance back to copyright law and allow the public to engage in creative expression that is no longer the sole province of movie studios and record companies.

Tech-ade: Is It In You?

Well, then drink up, you tech policy geek, 'cause the FTC has got some Tech-ade in all flavors coming at you soon.

The regulatory agency is putting on hearings November 6-8 in DC and has locked down participants from MySpace, Google, Facebook, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft and so many other places to discuss "Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-ade".

The FTC also has launched a blog in honor of the event that they promise will live beyond November.

Tech to DC: All You Do is Talk Talk

Back in February, both Republicans and Democrats were knocking each other over to prove that it was their respective party that was the Party of Innovation.  We said at the time that the tech industry would trade all the Valentines from Congressional leaders for action on key competitiveness issues like the R&D tax credit and funding, enhancing math and science education and making it easier for the best and brightest in the world to work for companies in the United States.

Unfortunately, as the pre-election congressional session ends, all the industry has is a bunch of fleeting memories of air kisses, winks and promises to "get something done."

Thus, a paradox.   The tech industry and tech issues are influential and important enough for the President and most every high-ranking congressional leader to make a big effort to show that they understand and support them.  Both parties created their own innovation agendas this year.  The President had an American Competitiveness Initiative that he highlighted in this year's State of the Union address.

However, why aren't actual bills getting passed?  Why is it that all of the big innovation priorities got hung up in Congress so far this session?

Bill Archey at the American Electronics Association (AeA) gives the grim news in a guest post at VentureBeat....

Sue a Little Guy; Tweak a Competitor; Get Down Tonight

Otherwise known as Universal Music suing Bolt and Grouper (which Sony Pictures plans to buy) for online video infringement.  Overview from Reuters.

Universal, whose artists include U2, Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey, said it is seeking damages up to as much as $150,000 for each incident of copyright infringement plus costs. It estimated that thousands of music videos were being viewed on both sites, to their benefit alone.

While YouTube rushes into the arms of Google's legal resources, the major labels will clearly work to create favorable precedent by separating the little guys from the pack and sicking their lawyers on them.  Thus Bolt.

Suing Grouper is a fun way for UMG to watch how Sony's infamous internal conflicts resolve themselves.

But, more than anything, this could point to the potential for collective licensing that impacts online video.  A compulsory regime was extended to ringtones just today.  It will be interesting to see if the online video players can get organized quickly enough to provide leverage against label entreaties here.

It's the Content, Imbécile!

While the U.S. media and Blogstonia obsess on the copyright issues impacting the online video market, two big UK outlets arch their right eyebrows at what portends to be an even bigger future issue:  Content regulation.  The impetus is a new effort by the UK government to drive a compromise on the controversial Television Without Frontiers EC proposal that could place similar regulations on Internet and mobile video that currently are enforced on traditional broadcasters.

And, yes, if you are a longtime reader of The 463, you know that we've been following TV Without Frontiers closely for some time now.  Loads more can be found in our online video policy category (and, specifically, in our Regulation Without Tears post -- BTW, while you are smirking at Europe, online video regulation could be a reality in the U.S. sooner than you might think.  See our review here.)

Back to the new UK coverage, The Economist opines this week...