] WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
] unanimously voted today to require Internet telephone
] companies to provide emergency 911 service to all their
] customers.

FCC Mandates 911 VoIP Service

] The case involved software written in part by Drew
] Technologies, Inc., to which others contributed, in
] reliance upon the GPL. DrewTech, an engineering firm in
] Michigan, develops custom vehicle communications
] solutions for the automobile industry. DrewTech released
] the software at issue on SourceForge, under the GNU
] General Public License ("GPL").
]
] I never thought I'd find cars fascinating. But this case
] changed my mind. It's a struggle over ownership of
] software written and released under the GPL but later
] claimed as a copyrighted work by a publisher of standards
] for the automotive industry, the Society of Automotive
] Engineers. But on a deeper level, it addresses a new
] issue. With cars now being computerized, can
] manufacturers assert copyright and trade secret rights
] over software? Over standards? Before you answer, did you
] know that there is proposed legislation, the Motor
] Vehicle Owner's Right to Repair Act?

This is really good news. It is unacceptable for information required to comply with the law to be some company's proprietary intellectual property.

A GPL Win in Michigan - DrewTech v. SAE

] In response to a complaint by broadband communications
] company Vonage Holdings Corp., the U.S. Federal
] Communications Commission announced on Thursday its
] ruling that "Madison River shall not block ports used for
] VOIP applications or otherwise prevent customers from
] using VOIP applications."

This is outstanding not only in that the FCC did the Right Thing but that they turned this complaint around in about a month!

FCC Says Telco Must Allow VOIP Traffic

]
] Earthlink Inc. on Wednesday said is has filed four
] lawsuits that accuse alleged spammers in four states of
] violating the federal CAN-SPAM act.

EarthLink Sues Alleged Spammers

] U.S. lawyers know that what judges do is to pick winners
] and losers, then help the winners win and help the losers
] lose. The goal is finality in a dispute. That means
] helping the winner create a record that has the best
] chance of being sustained on appeal. Even more
] importantly, however, Judge Kimball has decided that this
] case is going to get what judges call "active case
] management." That means that the judge is dropping the
] default mode of just letting the lawyers develop the
] record while the judge plays referee. The judge is going
] to actively manage development of the record.

Remember SCO? It sounds like the judge is finally pissed off
now...

More SCO

]
] The Bush Administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme
] Court to overturn lower court rulings that allowed the
] copying of recordings and movies through file
] peer-to-peer software technology.

ugh...

TechWeb | News | Bush Administration Seeks To Curb Music, Movie File-Swapping | Jan. 25, 2005

] Michael K. Powell announced this afternoon that he would
] step down as chairman of the Federal Communications
] Commission in March, ending a four-year term that was
] marked by the tightening of standards on decency and
] attempts to loosen restrictions on media ownership.

This may be bad news. As assinine as the indecency stuff is, he has tended to take a free-markets approach to regulation. Lessig has spoken favorably of him on various occassions.

] The replacements being considered for Mr. Powell are said by
] administration officials to include another Republican member of
] the commission, Kevin Martin; Becky Klein, a former head of the
] public utility commission in Texas; Patrick Wood III, the head of
] the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and Michael Gallagher,
] head of the National Telecommunications and Information
] Administration in the Commerce Department.

I don't know anything about any of these people.

(I didn't know he was a Clinton appointee -- Bush made
him chair)

Powell Is Stepping Down as Chairman of F.C.C. in March

] Lawmakers and legal experts predicted on Wednesday that
] the Supreme Court decision returning discretion on
] sentencing to judges would renew the struggle between
] Congress and the judiciary for control over setting
] criminal punishment.

Reactions: New Fight Over Controlling Punishments Is Widely Seen

] The court on Wednesday struck down part of the nearly
] two-decade-old sentencing system, then imposed new
] requirements that were contested even among the justices.

Court Sets Up Fight Over Federal Sentences

] The DVD Copy Control Association, the group that owns the
] copy-protection technology contained on DVDs, said a
] company called Kaleidescape is offering products that
] illegally make copies of DVDs. The company, which has won
] several recent consumer electronics awards, said it has
] worked closely with the DVD CCA for more than a year, and
] will fight the suit, filed Tuesday.

Its good to hear they're fighting it; this is clearly fair use even if it violates the DMCA.

Hollywood allies sue DVD jukebox maker