This Week In Techdirt History: May 27th - June 2nd

from the looking-back dept

Five Years Ago

This week in 2013, we took a look at a big intellectual property report that focused on fearmongering about Chinese IP theft (while asking the public to foot the bill), called for companies to be allowed to use malware against infringers, and proposed cutting off funding to the World Health Organization if it doesn't start prioritizing IP protection, for some reason. Meanwhile, Hollywood studios were trying to wipe Kim Dotcom's Mega off the web, the RIAA was denying that it stifles innovation (while facing opposition from the Internet Association over its attempts to wipe out DMCA safe harbors), and CBS was trying to deny that its direct threats to sue Aereo actually meant it would sue Aereo.

Ten Years Ago

This week in 2008, Viacom and YouTube were slugging it out in court while the former tried out some new anti-embedding arguments. The RIAA dropped its attack on the defunct Allofmp3, while ignoring the resurrection of the site under a different name, and ASCAP released a hugely problematic bill of supposed rights for artists. Metallica was trying to embrace the internet without offering any free downloads, and discovering that they had already squandered all their goodwill in that arena. And ACTA went from obscure trade agreement to a source of pushback and protests in record time.

Fifteen Years Ago

This week in 2003, eBay lost a patent lawsuit over the Buy It Now feature, leading to a scramble from other online retailers to buy up the patents in question. We saw early discussion of tech ideas like personal 3D printers and telepresence robots (oh, and anti-infringement watermarks on content). Microsoft settled its dispute with AOL with a $750-million payout. And a court solidified many of the problems with the DMCA by ruling that rightsholders don't have to investigate the sites that they target.

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Filed Under: history, look back