Novalawcity

Public Knowledge's Copyright Reform Proposal

The group Public Knowledge, "a Washington DC based public interest group working to defend your rights in the emerging digital culture," (see http://www.publicknowledge.org/about) has made a bold (but not so new) proposal for the reform of copyright law.

According to their Web site (http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/2906), their Copyright Reform Act, which has five sections, is proposing to strengthen fair use, reform the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), so that circumvention of anti-copying technology is explicitly legal for lawful purposes, update copyright law to better fit with how digital technology functions, reform the anti-takedown provisions of the DMCA, and make music licensing easier for users of that content.

Copyfighter Cory Doctorow has an essay on his Web site (http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=188055) that speaks to this issue. There is a rather secretive copyright treaty, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), under development, and reform to the Copyright Act is especially important in view of this treaty. Cory's essay is a call to action about ACTA.

George Mason University Law School teaches a seminar in multinational IP, (also covering so-called "hard IP"--patents) which is located at: http://www.law.gmu.edu/assets/files/academics/schedule/2010/spring/HOUSEL_MultinationalIP-Syllabus.pdf. The PDF of the syllabus is full of links to materials and also references primary materials.

For some information from the other side of the intellectual property debate:

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has some information about intellectual property: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/, with links to additional material.

WIPO also has a collection of international copyright laws, at http://www.wipo.int/clea/en/, the WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook, at http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/iprm/index.html, and an e-booklet, Understanding Copyright and Related Rights, at http://www.wipo.int/freepublications/en/intproperty/909/wipo_pub_909.html#intro.

Public Corruption, Part Two: Florida Faces, Tries to Fight Public Corruption

The Federal honest-services fraud statute is being tested after a number of officials in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties have been arrested for public corruption. Some Florida legislators--and the Broward and Palm Beach County State Attorrneys, Michael Satz and Michael McAuliffe--are advocating strengthening of Florida's public-corruption laws in ways that do not depend on the language of the Federal honest-services fraud statute. Called the "Restoring Faith in Public Office Act," the new state legislation, SB 1076 (bill information page) (bill text), would amend Florida Statutes section 838.022, "Official misconduct," to include failing, with corrupt intent, to disclose a financial interest or a direct or indirect benefit.

The bill is sponsored by Democratic state senator Dan Gelber, and supported by other Democrats. The Miami Herald ran an article about the new public-corruption legislation, and the Sun-Sentinel ran an editorial advocating the legislation. According to the Sun-Sentinel, the legislation's chances of passage are limited unless it acquires bipartisan support.

Public Corruption, Part One: Honest-Services Fraud

Public corruption and honest services fraud are an issue both in Florida and nationally. My next two blog posts will address this issue, first on the Federal level, then on the state level.

Public officials and businesspeople in the U.S. are being charged and in some cases convicted under the Federal honest services fraud statute. The statute, 18 U.S.C. §1346 (1988), is itself an addendum to 18 U.S.C. chapter 63, "Mail Fraud and Other Fraud Offenses," which includes wire fraud and bank fraud. Section 1346, which does not itself define a crime, adds to the definition of "scheme or artifice to defraud." It reads: "For the purposes of this chapter, the term 'scheme or artifice to defraud' includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services."

The Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the honest services fraud statute in three cases this term: Black v. United States, Weyhrauch v. United States, and Skilling v. United States.  (The links are to SCOTUSWiki, a companion site to SCOTUSBlog, brought to you by Akin Gump's Supreme Court and Appellate practice group.) According to the Los Angeles Times, during the arguments over Black and Weyhrauch, on December 9, 2009, the Supreme Court seemed dubious about the constitutionality of the honest-services fraud statute, with no real ideological split. The honest-services fraud statute is analyzed, and its history delved into, in this article originally published on the American Bar Association's Web site, "The Honest Services Statute: Scalpel or Axe?"  The Miami Herald ran an editorial in December 2009 about the necessity of the honest-services fraud statute.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" May Be Repealed

The White House and the U.S. military, with the support of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, are moving to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, codified at 10 U.S.C. §654 (1993). Under "don't ask, don't tell," service members are not questioned over their sexual orientation but are subject to discharge if they reveal publicly that they are gay or lesbian. Accoding to the New York Times's coverage, the Obama administration was faced with a choice: move away from the policy, or defend in court a policy which President Obama had long thought was wrong.

Here are some more links about "don't ask, don't tell":

• Google has a timeline of the debate, starting in 1993.


• Center for Military Readiness President Elaine Donnelly opposes repeal.


• The New York Times published an editorial advocating the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell.


• Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State Colin Powell now favors repeal.


• Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah, who served 29½ years as a naval intelligence officer and was chief of staff and deputy commander at the Office of Naval Intelligence, describes her experiences under "don't ask, don't tell."

"Why Minnesota 2008 Is Not Florida 2000"

Edward B. Foley, director of Ohio State University's Election Law @ Moritz, has posted a very interesting analysis of the current contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for Minnesota's senate seat. Among other points, he argues that, unlike the decisions in Florida's 2000 presidential election snafu, Minnesota's "judicial rulings over the counting of ballots do not appear to be a partisan effort to tilt the legal playing field to assist a favored candidate."  To read the entire post, click here.

Presidential Inaugural Committee

The PIC website details the extensive work that made the inauguration today possible. The committee's blog, plans, an inaugural store selling collectibles, and live streaming coverage of the event starting at 11 are worth exploring.

Looking for a "Plum" Job? Check This Out!

The 2008 Plum Book, which lists federal government positions appointed by the President, is now available online via GPOAccess.  Officially know as the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, this publication is compiled every four years, following the Presidential election. 

These are the major categories of positions, listed on p. iii:
• Executive Schedule and salary-equivalent positions paid at the rates established for levels I through V of the Executive Schedule;
• Senior Executive Service (SES) ‘‘General’’ positions;
• Senior Foreign Service positions;
• Schedule C positions excepted from the competitive service by the President, or by the Director, Office of Personnel Management, because of the confidential or policy-determining nature of the position duties;
and
• Other positions at the GS–14 and above level excepted from the competitive civil service by law because of the confidential or policy-determining nature of the position duties.

Even if you're not looking to try for a Presidential appointment, the Plum Book provides a wealth of information about those positions!

Boost your politcal awareness with just 5 websites

PC World highlights five websites that will improve your political awareness on matters like candidate voting histories, legislation, and money in politics.

Hat tip: Emily Feldman at the American Association of Law Libraries' Washington Blawg.

Fact check round-up

With the general election less than two months away, we're at a quadrennial high for stretched truths, fact shading, lies, damned lies, statistics, spin, and periodic outbreaks of flaming pants. Ouch!

How do you sort out the facts from the "facts"?  LLRX's new article Political Fact-Checking Websites by information consultant Peggy Garvin provides a good overview of the major fact checking websites, the people and organizations behind them, and their methods of separating fiction from non-fiction.

Garvin also mentions that popular urban legend checking website Snopes.com can be useful in this realm, because it "tends to cover rumors (faked videos, altered photos, and the like) that the others don’t touch," as well as those ubiquitous email forwards.

Speech Wars

In case you're undecided about the upcoming presidential election, or curious to compare the candidates' use of words, Ben Reis has compiled a neat website. Speech Wars allows you to search speeches given by John McCain and Barack Obama for specific words to see how often they have been used over the course of their respective campaigns.

Hat tip: Library Stuff