Court of Appeals Issues Important Copyright Ruling August 4th, 2008

There was good news out of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit the other day: the court issued a decision that will have favorable implications for network innovators.  Specifically, the Appeals Court decision focused on whether a new remote-storage digital video recorder (RS-DVR) service proposed by Cablevision Systems violated the Copyright Act.  (My colleague Dave Cohen mentioned this case a bit in a post about intellectual property and copyright a couple weeks ago.)

Film studios and television networks argued that the RS-DVR violated copyright law.  Last year, USTelecom spearheaded efforts to file an amicus brief with the Court of Appeals, after realizing the benefits that such network-based storage services offer consumers.  In today’s decision, the Second Circuit concluded that the proposed new service “would not directly infringe plaintiffs’ exclusive rights to reproduce and publicly perform their copyrighted works.”

The Court’s decision has broad implications in today’s broadband marketplace.  For example, network based services can save companies-and consumers-both time and money.  Since network based services can be upgraded and maintained from a central location, customers and service providers no longer have to deal with the headache and cost of a truck roll to the subscriber’s premises.  USTelecom was pleased with the court’s decision and believes it will result in an exciting marketplace in DVR technologies for consumers.

USTelecom Vidcast: Genie Barton on Retention Marketing July 21st, 2008

The FCC recently issued a ruling on a complaint against Verizon’s retention marketing program. Over the objections of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the agency determined that Verizon’s use of number porting requests to identify and retention market to its own customers was a violation of proprietary information belonging to the company requesting the port. Especially with regard to the benefits to consumers of competition, USTelecom finds the order highly objectionable. In our most recent Vidcast, we sat down with USTelecom Vice President and General Counsel Genie Barton to talk about why.

Why Copyright Matters to ISPs July 17th, 2008

We’ve written before about the importance of intellectual property law to ISPs, especially as more and more copyrighted works become available in digital format. In a recent vidcast on the subject, my colleague Kevin Rupy used the example of Cablevision, a New York-based cable company that was accused by broadcasters of copyright infringement when the company introduced an innovative DVR solution for its customers that didn’t require a set-top box; customers’ recorded programming would be stored instead on Cablevision’s servers. Broadcasters and content owners claimed that this amounted to “re-broadcasting” their proprietary content. Even though from a user perspective Cablevision’s solution operated exactly the same as a set-top DVR, the content owners were victorious over Cablevision in US District Court. (For more complete coverage, see this piece from last year in Ars Technica.)

But copyright is growing more important to ISPs for another reason as well: copyright holders want to enlist the help of ISPs to crack down on users distributing digital copyrighted works illegally. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing this week, Andrew Lack, the chairman of Sony BMG Music Entertainment observed in his written testimony that “this past year has witnessed a virtual explosion of global public interest in developing structures in which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can enhance their role in addressing the unauthorized transmission of copyright content.” Lack also called for the “U.S. and foreign governments to make the Internet safe for e-commerce in copyrighted material by encouraging marketplace solutions to take hold.”

The takeaway is clear: copyright owners are increasingly calling on the ISPs–and Congress–to do something. Despite the fact that existing law is more than sufficient (specifically the many steps involved in qualifying for the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), various members of Congress have suggested that attempts to enact legislation holding ISPs responsible for the content distributed on their networks may be in store in the future. One way or another, ISPs should be on notice that developments in copyright and intellectual property law are certainly worthy of their attention.

USTelecom Fights Against the FCC’s Retention Marketing Order July 9th, 2008

Yesterday, we filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to support Verizon’s effort to win a stay on implementation of an FCC order that would require the company to discontinue its retention marketing program and would prevent other telecom companies from retention marketing to their customers. For reasons laid out in detail in our brief and discussed in a recent Crossroads Express (USTelecom members only), the order in question is very troubling. In a statement released yesterday afternoon, USTelecom President and CEO Walter B. McCormick explains:

Our brief today protects our members’ First Amendment right to communicate with their customers, and it supports consumers’ right to have access to timely, accurate information about prices and service options. But it also supports a much broader goal: creating a true marketplace for communications services where regardless of platform, providers can compete head-to-head without artificial regulatory advantages. The Order’s result is that cable companies—which offer bundled services that are like those offered by telecom companies—can use retention marketing programs to keep their video customers, but telecom companies can’t use the same methods to retain voice customers: that result is fundamentally unfair. We applaud FCC Chairman Kevin Martin for opposing the Order, and we’re confident that after careful review, the Court will reach the same conclusion and reject it.

We’ll be actively involved in the legal effort to support our members’ ability to compete on a level playing field with other communications providers. As the case unfolds, be sure to check back here on the USTelecom blog for more updates and information.

USTelecom Vidcast: Jon Banks on the Cable Franchise Court Decision July 2nd, 2008

As Tom noted yesterday, the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit released a decision on Friday upholding the FCC’s authority to open up markets in video services by instructing cable franchising authorities to reduce barriers to entry for telecom companies. We sat down yesterday with USTelecom’s Senior VP for Law and Policy Jon Banks to discuss the court decision and the original FCC order that the decision upheld.

You can see more USTelecom Vidcasts here.

Court Delivers Win for Video Competition July 1st, 2008

We were asked to share our thoughts in a post at The Hill’s Congress Blog about last Friday’s decision by the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which upheld the FCC’s 2007 Order streamlining the local franchising process for telecom companies trying to compete with cable companies.

The FCC Chairman has long recognized that competition with cable offerings provides the best solution to rising cable prices, and that lowering hurdles for telecom companies to invest in video helps increase the availability and capacity of broadband networks. The court’s decision provides invaluable support for this vital objective and USTelecom and our member companies will continue the work to achieve the goals of increased investment in broadband networks and a level regulatory playing field.

You can read the whole post, which excerpts from USTelecom’s press statement about the benefits to consumers this decision will bring, here.

We’ll have a vidcast about this coming soon, as well.