Online business Toolkit

Story: MPAA launches software snooping tool

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The 9th Circuit court rules that bloggers and online news sites do not get the same 1st amendment rights as the traditional offline press does.

Quotes: Fosbinder criticized the panel for failing to “even mention” the First Amendment and argued that if a similar standard were applied to print media, it would authorize a copyright owner to “shut down the New York Times on a mere suspicion.”

The “good faith” standard has been held, under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, under federal securities laws, and in other contexts, to include an obligation to make a reasonable investigation into the truth of an allegation before making it, Fosbinder said.

The court’s interpretation of the DMCA creates “a second class of First Amendment protection for a new mode of communication,” Fosbinder said. If the interpretation is correct, then the DMCA is unconstitutional, he declared.

An amicus brief was also filed in the case on behalf of the Internet Commerce Coalition, a trade association which includes AT&T, BellSouth Corporation, eBay Inc., MCI, SBC Communications Inc., Time Warner, and Verizon Communications.

This ruling affirms that copyright holders do not need to conduct ANY investigation in order to have an online news website shut down. It shows that online news sites do not get the same rights as tradition news outlets.

This ruling also shows how as reported on Fox News: "The 9th Circuit seems to wield an awful lot of power, and it is the most reversed court in the nation," "There's some serious judicial activism going on there." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139436,00.html

Links: http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/ross120204.htm
http://www.internetmovies.com/legal.html
The Ruling: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/5F0FA19839BAF10A88256F5D0003D3C3/$file/0316034.pdf?openelement

Contact: Jim FOSBINDER of FOSBINDER & FOSBINDER A LAW CORPORATION for comments or interviews
(808)244-1524 tel. toll free: (877)244-1527

Or Mike Rossi of InternetMovies.com @ 808-283-2885

Please help get this story out. This is most certainly going to supreme court and may very well help prove the DMCA unconstitutional

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