The path to success is no longer labeled

This is the sort of band that would have clawed for any chance to perform for a major-label A&R executive just a decade ago, but now its focus is on the Internet -- which, no surprise, is the prized high ground in the contemporary music business -- and finding spark and tinder wherever it may be.

The Afternoons have also sought out public radio, film soundtrack opportunities, the art scene and even designer T- shirts to promote their music in a time when "American Idol" and its lottery of fame have replaced the follow-the-chart career rules of "American Bandstand" and "American Top 40."

"We don't really think of the major labels as something we need or need to pursue at this point," said drummer Brent Turner. "Everything these days is in flux, and you find your audience in different ways."

The Afternoons became a bit of a local sensation when graphic artist Shepard Fairey took an interest in their music and, fresh from his Barack Obama "Hope" poster, designed street posters for the band's first single, the buoyant "Say Yes."

Fairey gave the band's demo to an art collector with a considerable music pedigree -- Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones. Jones played the band on his radio show on Indie 103.1 (the now-defunct cutting-edge rock station), which was low in signal strength but high in tastemaker pulse.

Now the Afternoons are part of a group of young music acts participating in a new-model approach to the marketplace that may be quirky but is showing promise. "Art, fashion, live performance are the things that help us connect now," Scott said. "We think if people hear the music and what we have to say, then we can start a relationship with them. But the hard part is getting heard."

Senator who opposes antipiracy bill under pressure?

Since the legislation was introduced very late in the prior congressional session, Wyden's opposition forced supporters to wait until Congress reconvened. Now that Congress is back to work, Leahy has said he will again try to get COICA passed. The bill already has the backing of the major Hollywood film studios and record labels, but a mostly new group of supporters sent a letter today to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, praising him for past antipiracy efforts and asking for his support in getting COICA passed.

Among the companies that signed the letter, Nike, one of Oregon's largest and most influential companies, was at the top of the list. A little lower was Adidas, another large company with operations in Oregon.

"We encourage you to work with your colleagues in the Administration and the Congress toward enactment of the principles central to ... the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act."
--COICA supporters

Maybe it was a coincidence that Nike was so conspicuous, but either way, COICA backers are sending a message that the bill has heavyweight support. In addition to Nike, some of the other companies or groups that signed the letter included Viacom, NBC Universal, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, Voltage Pictures (makers of the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker"), Chanel, Burberry Limited, and Major League Baseball.

Copyright owners appear to really want COICA and for good reason. They have battled illegal file sharing for years with little success. They have argued that Internet piracy harms the U.S. economy and kills jobs here. While the studies done on the economic impacts caused by illegal file sharing were questioned by the Government Accountability Office last year, there is some growing support that entertainment companies are ailing. Music sales are down, and last week Sony Corp. announced it will shut down a CD-manufacturing plant in Pitman, N.J. About 300 people will be laid off. Sony once operated three CD-making operations in the United States. It now has one.

COICA would give the government sweeping power to shut down domain names belonging to U.S.-based pirate sites as well as the authority to order Internet service providers to cut off access to similar sites overseas.

The Department of Justice would also have the authority to order credit card companies to stop processing transactions from suspected Web sites and order online advertising services, such as Google, to boot the sites off their ad networks and sever financial ties. One of the underlying themes of COICA is to choke off money-making abilities of pirate sites.

Opponents say the legislation is censorship.

番組のネット転送は「違法」＝著作権侵害認める−テレビ局実質勝訴・最高裁

テレビ番組をインターネットで海外に転送するサービスが著作権法に違反するかが争われた訴訟の上告審判決で、最高裁第３小法廷（田原睦夫裁判長）は１８日、転送業者による著作権侵害を認めた。その上で、サービスを適法とした二審判決を破棄、審理を知財高裁に差し戻した。
　訴えたテレビ局側の実質的な勝訴判決で、差し戻し審では損害賠償額などが算定される。転送サービスをめぐるこれまでの地裁、高裁判決では、判断が分かれていた。
　問題となったのは永野商店（東京）が「まねきＴＶ」の名称で、海外の日本人向けに行うサービス。利用者は購入したソニーの映像送信機器「ロケーションフリー」を利用料を支払って永野商店に預託し、同社は機器をアンテナにつなぎ、ネット回線でテレビ番組をリアルタイム送信していた。
　番組送信の主体が、機器を購入した利用者か、管理した業者かが争点となったが、第３小法廷は、「機器が公衆用の電気通信回線に接続され、継続的に情報が入力される場合には、情報入力者が送信主体となる」との初判断を示し、入力設定していた永野商店が送信主体と認定した。
　被告側は、映像の送受信は機器と利用者のパソコンとの間で「１対１」で行われており、公衆送信には当たらないと主張。しかし、第３小法廷は「契約は業者との関係を問わず結ばれており、利用者は不特定の『公衆』に当たる」と判断し、著作権法で定めた公衆送信権などの侵害を認めた。
　ＮＨＫと在京民放５社が、サービス差し止めと損害賠償を求め提訴。一、二審は著作権侵害を認めず、請求を退けていた。

'Hurt Locker' lawyers continue antipiracy fight

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, the law firm that has filed copyright complaints against thousands of accused illegal file sharers on behalf of independent filmmakers this year, is getting some important help.
(Credit: Voltage Pictures)

DGW, which also operates under the name U.S. Copyright Group, has recruited lawyers from as many as 23 U.S. states to file lawsuits against thousands of suspected film pirates in local courts, according to Thomas Dunlap, the firm's co-founder and one of the participating attorneys.

DGW represents about a dozen movie makers, including the producers of Oscar winning film, "The Hurt Locker." Last month, the firm's efforts appeared to be doomed when it was forced to drop thousands of defendants from one of its suits. The firm had accused hundreds of Time Warner Cable subscribers of pirating a clients' movie and the bandwidth provider agreed to identify only 28 customers a month. DGW possesses Internet protocol addresses but needs ISPs to identify the owners of those addresses. The firm told a federal district court that because of TWC's stance, it would need five years to obtain the names of all the defendants.
A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., denied the extension request. She said she wanted to determine sooner rather than later whether her court even had jurisdiction over all the defendants, many of whom live in other states. Dunlap said he would partner with lawyers licensed to practice in other jurisdictions and continue to press the cases. Many attorneys who oppose Dunlap in these copyright cases were skeptical.

Stopping illegal file sharing a low priority for DOJ?

The DOJ's 28-page report raises all kinds of questions for me.

Is the commercial pirating of films and music online harder to prosecute? Are media companies hurt by this as much as they say? (The credibility of the studies that film and music sectors have cited on the impacts of piracy were called into question by the U.S. Government Accountability Office last year.) How much support in Washington do entertainment companies possess?

Smash and grab

The reports from the DOJ and FBI are part of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (PRO IP), signed into law by former President George Bush. As part of the act, civil and criminal penalties for copyright and trademark infringement were increased and a new office within the government's executive branch was established. The act also requires the DOJ to submit a report on its PRO IP investigative and prosecution efforts.

President Barack Obama has promised to step up efforts into protecting intellectual property. Last June, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told reporters that file sharing wasn't any different than stealing physical goods. "Piracy is theft," Biden said. "Clean and simple, it's smash and grab. It ain't no different than smashing a window at Tiffany's and grabbing [merchandise]."
That's tough talk. Pinpointing government action on this issue is more difficult.

A bill introduced in the Senate last year called the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act would have given the government sweeping power to shut down U.S.-based pirate sites as well as the authority to order Internet service providers to cut off access to similar sites overseas. Opponents called the legislation censorship. The bill never got out of the Senate and its future is unclear.