Respecting the linking economy and information aggregators - part 1 of 3 online rights battles that need fighting this decade

"Rainbow" shared by Jakrome under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0Intuitively, if you use the Internet even sparingly as a means of connecting you to the broader world, you'll recognize that much of the activity that takes place on the internet involves humans (and automated search engines and other services) filtering and aggregating basic facts and information.  This is so fundamental to our daily Internet use it largely goes unnoticed.  A link from search engine, a tweet, or a status update from a social media service are just a few examples.  There is huge value in helping citizens sift through the wonderful oversaturation of information the Internet offers.

There are, however, real threats to our ability to find content and navigate in our vast information ocean.  This very cornerstone of the Internet is threatened by fear, misunderstanding, and overreaching from some traditional content owners.

Lenz court interprets and limits damages available under DMCA 512(f) for wrongfully issued takedown notices

The newest Lenz decision interprets damages available for bogus takedown notices under 17 U.S.C. 512(f), but its practical effect will be to limit the amount plaintiffs can recover.

Exploring new experiments in journalism: Newsday paywall fails, while Spot.us lets readers decide what news to pay for

Are paywalls working? Or are there other experiments out there finding solutions to journalism's funding dilemma? New Media Rights covers the Newsday paywall failures, and explores on an innovative journalism venture based here in California, Spot.us.

New Media Rights and UCAN Support Federal Anti-SLAPP Law to Protect First Amendment Rights

UCAN and New Media Rights have joined with the Federal Anti-SLAPP Project (FASP) and other organizations, which are working to secure federal protections for the First Amendment rights of petition and free speech.

The mega-merger of Comcast and NBC: a lethal marriage

Read about the Comcast-NBC merger and what's at stake. Some public interest groups that are calling this the beginning of the media "mega-merger" era warn that consumers will be losing out because this deal will lead to higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation. The deal will certainly alter the media marketplace and merging the country's largest cable company with a large TV broadcast company, giving Comcast control of 20% of American television viewing hours according to the latest Daily Finance reports.

The largest building in Philadelphia

How service providers deny users the right to counternotify for content removed by DMCA takedown notices

DMCA pic

New Media Rights recently heard from a blogger who received notification that a takedown notice was sent to their service provider, a website that hosts individuals blogs, and that the user’s content was removed.  However, the blogging service didn't

1) Identify the individual who requested the information be taken down OR

2) Specifically identify the infringing material

What's the problem?  This essentially destroys a users right to counternotify, allowing overreaching large content companies to control and remove Internet speech at will. 

Learn about the problem here, and learn how to fight back if you have content removed by a DMCA takedown notice.

New Media Rights offers journalists and filmmakers in the San Diego area a unique opportunity with the NMR's community journalism project

Citizen being filmed

John Mattes, an award-winning journalist is going out in the field to investigate UCAN issues including deceptive company practices and is offering an opportunity for those who are interested to "shadow" him and learn about investigative journalism and craft online videos.

Pages