May 24, 2010 – Today’s most interesting stories in technology, media and entertainment:
RapidShare Dodges A Bullet: RapidShare, one of the most popular file sharing sites, has dodged a serious copyright bullet. A Federal Judge in California ruled that RapidShare is not guilty of copyright infringement because it does not have a searchable index. It’s a subtle, but valid point. UPDATE (From my favorite copyright lawyer): Rapidshare was NOT found NOT GUILTY of copyright infringement. The court refused to grant a preliminary injunction – the standard is different and discovery has not yet taken place. Notably, the judge left it open for Perfect 10 to reapply once additional facts were developed about Rapidshare’s rewards program. The case goes forward on damages and the judge found several things that make RapidShare’s damages claim difficult – notably that (a) it had knowledge of infringement (making the DMCA defense not applicable) and (b) suggesting that the filtering it has now undertaken was required in the past. The standard for preliminary injunction has to do with whether the bad conduct will continue on a going forward basis, balancing equities, and the limited information available at an early stage.
Isohunt Under Fire: Just after the positive ruling for RapidShare, a different Federal judge shut down Isohunt – an indexed file-sharing site that is a haven for illegal downloads of movies and television shows. This is an arms race and that good guys are at a serious disadvantage.
Higher Termination Fees: AT&T is getting competitive. As more iPhone competitors roll out, AT&T is jacking up in the price of the iPhone termination fee from $150 to a whopping $325. The move comes months after Verizon increased its termination fee for select smart phones to $350. Will a higher termination fee keep you in your phone longer? The carriers certainly hope so.
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