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.
