EU Council Monitor - 16/01/09

Wednesday's session: Czech Presidency
"The economy and energy security are two priorities of the incoming Czech Presidency of the Union according to Czech PM Mirek Topolánek who addressed the House Wednesday. Later MEPs debated the crisis in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine gas stand-off.

Czech PM outlines 6-month programme
Mirek Topolánek began his six-month term of office by thanking the former French Presidency for its work: "it is not easy to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU after France. I see only one way to rise to the occasion, with honour."" [Europa]

Ministers of Finance to Hold the First Meeting of the Ecofin Council in 2009
"On 20 January 2009 Brussels will hold its first meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) under the auspices of the Czech Presidency.

On the eve of the meeting a regular gathering of ministers of the Eurogroup will take place. Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek will open the meeting and present the Ecofin Council programme during the Czech Presidency. This part of the meeting is open to the public and a recording (and live broadcast) will be available at the Council website." [EU2009]

Czechs want VAT compromise by March
"EU finance ministers will on Tuesday (20 January) discuss how a compromise could be achieved by March on a proposal to reduce value-added tax (VAT) rates on labour intensive services. The Czech presidency of the EU will present a timeline to ministers for discussion following an agreement by EU leaders in December that they should “settle this issue by March 2009”.

Miroslav Kalousek, the Czech finance minister, said that an agreement could be reached on the issue, which has been discussed by member states for three years. “I believe we will be able to reach a compromise. I imagine it will be applied to a narrow range of goods and services,” Kalousek said in Prague on Thursday (8 January).
“We will try and put forward a compromise and not undermine each other with unfair competition.”" [EuropeanVoice]

Czechs seek agreement on alternative institutional plans
"The Czech presidency of the EU wants member states to reach agreement by the end of June on alternative plans for institutions, including the European Commission, that would be affected by the adoption or rejection of the Lisbon treaty by the Irish people.

Alexandr Vondra, the Czech deputy prime minister, told journalists in Prague last week that the Czech presidency would try to finalise alternative plans. “We have to be ready for both scenarios, that the Lisbon treaty is in force by the end of the year, or we have to act and co-operate in the EU under the Nice treaty,” he said. Vondra said that a special meeting of ministers responsible for EU affairs held in Prague on 8 January had discussed the future size of the Commission and the arrangements for nominating the next president of the Commission, both issues affected by the fate of the Lisbon treaty." [EuropeanVoice]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 30/12/08

Choruss: legal file sharing on campus 11th December 2008
"The plan to provide US students with compulsory flat-fee music finally has a name, it emerged this week. Choruss LLC will provide participating universities with a replacement for their current subscription services such as Rhapsody, and has the backing of the the EFF and the tacit support of the RIAA. That alone indicates the magnitude of the initiative. When have those two lobbying groups ever agreed on music policy?

This, the worst kept secret in the music business, leaked out in April, when Jim Griffin confirmed he had been engaged by Warner Music to seek deals that would help end the litigation strategy against students, and replace it with a steady pool of income for the rights holders. (Griffin has spent a decade campaigning to "monetize the anarchy" of digital music - see our 2004 interview)." [TheRegister]

Has Boston University Left Its Safe Harbor and Become Liable for Students' Piracy? 12. 2.2008
"Defenders of the most egregious, blatant forms of online copyright piracy often suffer from what could be called Wile-E.-Coyote syndrome: They can become so fixated on throttling the roadrunner of copyright protection that they fail to notice that they have just run off a cliff and begun plunging downward.

For example, a federal judge has reportedly held that Boston University (BU) is such an incompetent internet-access provider that it cannot disclose the identities of allegedly infringing users of its network. In London-Sire Records, Inc. v. Does 1-4, Judge Gertner's recent order granted BU's "Motion to Quash" because "[BU] has adequately demonstrated that it is not able to identify the alleged infringers with a reasonable degree of technical certainty."

Continue reading Has Boston University Left Its Safe Harbor and Become Liable for Students' Piracy? . . ."

New Op-Ed December 30, 2008
"Rick Carnes and I co-wrote an op-ed on ISP music licensing (as exemplified by the Choruss operation) for Content Agenda that might be of interest.

http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6625534.html?industryid=45173t

Coolfer published a couple comments on the op-ed. Let it be known that I dig Glenn and Coolfer and I'm just clarifying a couple things he mentioned (also just speaking for myself here and not for my co-author).

One of the points we made is that an unlimited download service at below market rates undermines the investment that legitimate services have spent and committed. (I refuse to use "all you can eat" to describe these services as that phrase grates on me as comparing music to, let's say, a potato, which I won't do.) The point (which I made in more detail in a recent article for the ABA) is that users are already paying for the very Internet connection they use to buy their music from legitimate services. If you tell them that they only need to pay $5 a month more for all the music they want from what were once illegal "services"--well, I think you see where that goes. The idea seems to be that students could get rid of their Rhapsody accounts, which appears to make EFF very happy." [MusicTechPolicy]

Don't Make Kids Online Crooks December 29, 2008 Monday
"Seventy-five years ago, Prohibition ended. Just 13 years after launching an extraordinary experiment in social reform, the nation recognized that the battle against "intoxicating liquors" had failed. Organized crime had exploded. Civil rights had been weakened. And an enormous number of ordinary Americans had become "criminals" as they found ways to evade, and profit from the evasion of, this hopeless law.

We're about a decade into our own hopeless war of prohibition, this one against "peer-to-peer piracy." The copyright industry has used every legal means within its reach (and some that may not be so legal) to stop Internet "pirates" from "sharing" copyrighted content without permission. These "copyright wars"--what the late Jack Valenti, former head of the Motion Picture Association of America, called his own "terrorist war" in which apparently the "terrorists" are our kids--have consumed an ever growing amount of legal resources. The Recording Industry Association of America alone has sued tens of thousands of individuals. These suits allege millions of dollars in damages. And schools across the nation have adopted strict policies to block activity that the Supreme Court in 2005 declared presumptively illegal." [ContentAgenda]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 15/12/08

EIB gets an extra €30bn for infrastructure projects
"Funds will be directed primarily towards into new member states. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will spend an extra €30 billion on projects over the next two years following an agreement at last week's meeting of EU finance minister to increase the bank's capital.

The bank's reserves were increased from €67bn to €232bn to allow continued funding of current projects and financing of future projects. The immediate effect will be extra money during 2009-10 for the bank's main project areas." [EuropeanVoice]

US Sues Sony Music Over Children's Online Privacy
"Sony Music Entertainment was sued on Wednesday by the U.S. government, which claimed the music company violated federal rules aimed at protecting the online privacy of children. Sony Music improperly accepted registrations on its music Web sites from users who were under 13, without obtaining consent from their parents, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan." [BillBoard]

Canadian Copyright Board Raises Tax
"The Canadian Copyright Board has announced it will raise the tax on blank compact discs to 29¢ (US$0.23), a 38% increase. Previously the tariff on blank recordable CDs was 21¢ (US$0.1679).

The tariff is collected on behalf of the Canadian Private Copying Collective, an organization formed in 1999 and created to collect money that compensates musicians and stakeholders for having their music copied by individuals. The decision leaves the rate for audio cassettes at 24¢
The board says there were two reasons for the increase.

“First, increased mechanical licence royalties, coupled with the elimination of container deductions and free goods allowances in the calculation of the performers' and makers' remuneration, greatly add to our estimation of the total remuneration per prerecorded CD," the board said in a report. "Second, the use of compression technology raises from 15 to 18.4 the average number of tracks copied on a blank CD used to copy music."" [BillBoard]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 05/12/08

Stepping up the fight against piracy
"The EU struggles to come up with an effective set-up for intellectual property rights. The EU constantly stresses the importance of promoting a knowledge-based economy. But one of the crucial components of a knowledge-based economy, as the European Commission and national governments have repeatedly acknowledged, is an effective set-up for protecting intellectual property rights. Without protection for intellectual property, runs the argument, inventors and innovators will take their talents elsewhere and businesses will not develop the new products, services and technologies needed if the EU is to be an area of innovation.

Holders of intellectual property rights need to be sure that the revenue from their brands and inventions is maximised and counterfeiting and piracy is adequately tackled both inside the Union and in the rest of the world." [EuropeanVoice]

Can the EU protect intellectual property? (I) by Karin Riis-Jørgensen MEP
"Europe needs modern solutions to tackle the problems that counterfeiters of digital and physical goods pose to intellectual property rights. There is no doubt that protection of intellectual property is and will be one of the major challenges for Europe in the future. In a global world we need to protect our property rights and trademarks. The growth of the counterfeiting industry is partly a consequence of globalisation, since more than half of the counterfeit goods that come to Europe are from China. But globalisation is also the reason why we need to protect our trademarks. For many companies, production is no longer profitable in Europe, but development is. And that is what we are good at in Europe and what we need to protect. If new designs and goods are copied as soon as they enter the market, development will no longer be profitable in Europe." [EuropeanVoice]

Can the EU protect intellectual property? (II) by Arlene McCarthy MEP
"Counterfeiting and piracy pose serious threats to business and governments, but also put European consumers at great risk. Global counterfeiting and piracy continues to rise. It accounts for some 7% of world trade and in 2007 European customs officers registered more than 43,000 cases of fake goods seized at the EU's external border, compared to 37,000 in 2006. An increase of almost 17%.

Legitimate business is damaged by the loss of sales haemorrhaging to counterfeit and pirated goods and services. Europe is a centre of excellence for promoting innovation and creative products. The creative media and business information sector alone is worth more than €350 billion, but counterfeiting and piracy rob entre-preneurs of vital resources for research and development investment in new innovative products and services, and undermine Europe's attempt to increase its competitiveness and create jobs." [EuropeanVoice]

Canadian Copyright Board Opens Hearing On Music Tariffs
"The Canadian Copyright Board kicked off a large-scale hearing today in Ottawa over arguments about multiple tariffs that cover everything from performing rights in songs to mechanical reproduction rights.
"It's sure to be a landmark hearing, if only because it's the first time that the board has combined all radio-related tariffs into a single proceeding," says David Basskin, president of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA).

The hearing will take more than a week and will hear debates over several tariffs, including those brought forward by the Society of Authors, Composers, and Music Publishers of Canada for performing rights in songs, an application by CMRRA and Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec dealing with reproduction rights, the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada and La Société de gestion collective de l'Union des artistes involving performing rights as well as the AVLA Audio-Video Licensing Agency and Quebec Collective Society for the Rights of Makers of Sound and Video Recordings." [Billboard]

Exclusive: Indies vs. Spain
In a desperate move to save jobs and preserve a hard-built cultural and commercial industry, a group of music companies and retailers are nearing a decision to file a legal action against the government of Spain, Music Confidential has learned. Executives believe the government is shirking its responsibility to protect the companies' intellectual property and commercial rights from Internet piracy.

Not only would this be the first lawsuit of its kind, but the twist is that it is not being led by multinational corporations. This move is driven by small- and medium-sized independent Spanish enterprises. Sources say that at least one other independent music group will also be monitoring their progress with an eye toward filing similar actions against the governments of other European Union member states. The governments of Germany and Italy may be next in line. [MusicConfidential]

Merlin honoured by Spanish government
"Indie global rights agency Merlin has been honoured at the International Forum on Digital Content (FICOD) in Madrid. Merlin board member Mark Kitcatt was presented with the award for Improving Competition For Independent Music Companies by Spanish Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Sr. D. Miguel Sebastian.
The award recognises the work that Merlin is doing to enhance the ability of independents to access the online space and to develop the digital market.

Merlin CEO Charles Caldas says, “We are delighted to have received this award and that the tremendous efficiency and global reach that Merlin provides those wishing to license the world’s most exciting and commercially valuable independent repertoire has been recognised.”" [MusicWeek]

Burnham to keep pressure on ISPs
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has again signalled that the Government is in no mood for messing and will legislate should ISPs not make progress on piracy. Speaking at last night’s Squaring The Circle MusicTank, which was the final of four networking sessions examining alternatives to illegal file sharing, Burnham told industry executives that he is “determined to bring the issue to a conclusion”. He added that pressure will be kept on the ISPs to ensure progress with the ongoing Memorandum of Understanding does not slip.

Burnham told the networking group, which also featured contributions from Dan Klein, Detica media accounts director, Simon Persoff, Orange UK director, legal and regulatory and Richard Mollet, the BPI’s public affairs director, that the success of the MoU will be seen over a two to three year timescale and that the parties need to “find solutions which reward creators. It is in the public interest for there to be a workable system of copyright.”
He added that the creative industries and the internet are now mainstream, so the debate is changing and the need for government to have a role is becoming clearer – “the internet is not a place where governments can’t go”." [MusicWeek]

UK consumers, Big Content battle over three-strikes rules
"Although France's "graduated response" proceedings have attracted the most attention, the UK is in the midst of a consultation of its own on how to involve both content owners and ISPs in some sort of response to P2P file-sharing. The government is pushing a co-regulatory approach that would task industry groups with hashing out the details of such a plan, while the government would make sure that any agreement is fair, competitive, and preserves privacy. With all the responses now in, the UK music industry is clearly pleased that it won't have to pursue 6.5 million copyright infringers on its own. Digital rights groups are... less excited.

The entire consultation is helmed by BERR , the UK agency that handles Business, Enterprise, & Regulatory Reform, and it stems from the famous (in certain circles, anyway) Gowers Review of intellectual property that we covered extensively back in 2006 . That report, which took a top-to-bottom look at UK copyright and IP policy, was stuffed with plenty of consumer-friendly ideas, such as no new copyright term extensions. But it also contained good news for rightsholders, such as a suggestion that the government step in if ISPs and rightsholders couldn't agree on how to handle the issue of P2P file-sharing." [ArsTechnica]

ISPs sign voluntary code on speed
""BT, Virgin Media, Talk Talk and Tiscali are among a group of Internet Service Providers which have signed up to Ofcom’s new voluntary code of practice governing broadband speeds.
Ofcom had found a rising number of ISPs were selling their services by claiming faster and faster broadband speeds to download music, games and films. But, few customers were seeing the tangible benefits.
The regulator, therefore, asked ISPs to provide better and more realistic information and sign up to the code of practice on how they present broadband speeds.
The eight principles of the code cover areas such as training and information at point of sale to ensure that customers are aware that they might not get the maximum speed advertised because of technical or other factors. The code also ensures every ISP must have trustworthy systems to find the cause of a speed problem and take steps to fix any issue that is down to them." [MusicWeek]