Anyone out there know more on Copyright laws and the DMCA?
 

Just wondering. As you may or maynot I contacted by my ISP and told we were hosting a file that was copyright infringment. Anyways I know some of you out there own sites and may know more about this. I myself am new to running a website. Dont know jack about laws, I read the copyright laws, the dmca, and I think section 512. Anyways if anyone with alittle more knowledge could speak then please do. I do know somethings WILL be removed of the next couple of days (more dicussed in a later annoucment).
Regards,
Mike 8)

check your inbox.

check urs :D

It's a little grey, but not really. Take for example the ultimate hacker forum (no name needed). For my 8525, they have all available ROM's listed on their site, available for download. For my 750v, they HAD the Cingular ROM available, but Cingular made them take it down. Probably because Cingular doesn't want you to take a phone that is EXCLUSIVE to another carrier right now and use it for their network. Vodaphone would go crazy also if they found out, probably more than Cingular.

Picsel only sells their product pre-installed. How can they go to Palm and say "pay me to put this on all your devices" if people can go DL it for free? They won't care for that, this is why they make these things. They don't want it on an HTC phone because HTC doers not PAY THEM for it. I can't blame them.

Its pretty clear cell phone companies lose money on phone sales, with the intent of making the money back on your service. They don't lose much, but they don't profit either. This is why you can buy a phone from a different carrier, and if you choose to put a "Cingular" ROM on it then thats fine with them. But its not available yet, so that ROM mentioned earlier is no good. Plus, its a buggy ROM, and they don't want to turn people off ot their phone before its even released.

Same goes for the threading app. I'm surprised it has lasted this long. Unless HTC PAYS palm to put it on their devices, you're taking a product for free that Palm hopes to make a profit on. That may be the reason someone buys a treo instead of a Hermes, you know? Plus its a BRILLIANT program, as you can tell by the lack of other similar products that work properly. Many have treid, but none can replicate. And Palm's app is PERFECT, no CF2.0 required, no need to run in the bkgd, etc.

The more this site grows, the more people are going to notice. That doesn't always mean the right people though. Mike, I know this is all new for you, and I know nothing about running a forum myself, but any advice you need I will try and help you to the best of my ability. I hope taking these things off of the site is action enough, and if you need any help with anything I'm here, and I'm sure most others are as well. "You live and learn, and we still have a lot of living to do!" <-Thats my motto :)

your completely right Pat (same moto :D ) and alot of things are going to be removed including the palm threaded sms app. I dont have time now but it will be removed. I appreciate it too btw.
~Mike

Don't confuse Picsel and an independent organization coming after you for infringement. You'll never (or rarely) hear of Sony Music coming after someone...they have there henchmen (e.g., RIAA) do it. RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is the strong arm of the music industry. They try to act all independent...but you know that if Sony says, "go shut down Limewire, etc." that RIAA will do it. Keep in mind and consider who the real players are in this matter.
A lot of this has to do with future earnings and IP (intellectual property).

yea i think its IP in this situation, and it was a lawyer not picsel directly.
~mike

Sent you a PM.

sent ya one back :thumbleft:
~mike

The DMCA, as I understand it, prevents you from modifying content or an application in order to circumvent copyright protection schemes. It also protects programs, applications, etc. from piracy or unauthorized distribution. I don't know what files you are refering to specifically, so I can't be more specific than that.

Copyright laws are entirely different. They protect written and musical works. Coding is considered a written work, and so they fall under both standard copyrighting and the DMCA. And in the US it can also fall under patented technology. The Stanford Libraries has an excellent site dedicated to copyright laws and fair use laws, including the DMCA:

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

Anyway, your custom ROMs should be okay, as long as you are not altering the code or circumventing copyright protection schemes. Of which, extracting an unsecure compressed file shouldn't be a problem. Neither should making your own installer, as long as the file creator does not object to you hosting the files yourself (in this case you are not altering, but making available).

If you have copied written manuals or instructions from elsewhere, then you are in trouble. Even if you do not file for a copyright license or put a copyright notice on the document, anything a person writes is copyrighted in it's final form, as long as it's an original work and not part of "public domain." Fair use laws allow you to use excerpts from said written works, but not the entire thing, or most of it slightly changed to make it look like your own.

Anyway, it's all very complex. Technically you are not compelled to take anything down unless the copyright holder contacts you directly. Tell your ISP that if they receive notices in the future to tell the sender to contact you directly with the cease and desist order. If you refuse to comply then the copyright holder can get a court order to force your ISP/host to shut your site down. But beyond a court order the ISP/host has no right to do anything to you. Even if it's in the contract, because unless the copyright holder can prove infringement FIRST you can sue your ISP/host for infringing upon your copyrighted work (i.e. your web site) and breach of contract (innocent until proven guilty). By getting your ISP/host to tell people to forward cease and desists directly to you, you can deal with the issue directly and avoid the middle man and court costs on all sides.

Just some friendly advice.

Jammrock