Netflix has formed a new political action group in an effort to gain more influence in Washington. Newly filed federal records show that the new group, called FLIXPAC, can officially make political donations directly to federal candidates of up to $5,000 for each election cycle. Politico argues that it gives Netflix a way in which it can push its pro IP, anti-piracy agenda.
Microsoft has reached a settlement with Uniloc over its use of software activation that is rumored to be in excess of $100 million. An Australian inventor and co-founder of Uniloc, Ric Richardson, developed the patent for the software activation technology used in popular Microsoft products such as Office. After initially winning $388 million lawsuit against Microsoft in 2009, the result was later overturned on appeal. The case recently returned to the court in Rhode Island, though this time Microsoft agreed to settle before the case went further.
The US Senate is reportedly set to vote on the Protect IP Act on January 24, making it one of the first pieces of legislation to be put to a vote when the senators return from their holiday vacation. The controversial anti-piracy bill was said to be fast-tracked by Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada.
NBC is again considering distribution of its TV shows through the iTunes store, pending a more rigid anti-piracy stance. According to CNET, George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer for NBC Universal, says that digital piracy hurts the company to the point where it is not viable to distribute its content digitally. The statement comes after NBC Universal pulled shows such as Heroes and The Office from iTunes over a pricing dispute between itself and Apple.
Information security firm Aladdin Knowledge Systems today announced that its Aladdin HASP HL for Mac software anti-piracy licensing USB key supports Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The USB-based software copy protection scheme enables software publishers to enforce intellectual property protection and support custom licensing models while securely upgrading or downgrading licenses on keys in the field.
Music label EMI could weaken the anti-piracy campaigns of both the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the near future by reducing its financial help with both organizations, claims an anonymous insider speaking to Reuters. A recent acquisition of EMI by the private equity firm Terra Firma is known to have triggered a financial review that would reduce the millions of dollars that the label supplies to both groups.
