On 05/25/2000, Eric Eldred <eldred[_at_]eldritchpress.org> wrote:
>
> On Wed, May 24, 2000, Dodi Schultz <schultz[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > To suggest that an invasion of a private home by armed officers of
> > the law is equivalent to requiring a commercial operation to remove
> > text from a Website -- when the *author* claims copyright infringement,
> > not when an opponent objects to content -- is, in my opinion, and
> > putting it as politely as I can, without merit. This is not a civil
> > liberties issue. It is an intellectual property issue.
>
> A private party listed for sale on e-Bay a so-called e-Meter
> that is used by a certain organization (that has been declared
> in Germany not to be a church). We have already mentioned this
> case on this list.
>
> An arm of the organization emailed e-Bay, the online auction
> site, and demanded the article be withdrawn. AFAIK e-Bay did
> this, to comply with the DMCA.
>
> I have not been able to determine what copyright or patent
> infringement was alleged, only that the e-Meter is not for sale
> by the organization (although it is for sale by other groups).
> I checked the patent and it has expired; I don't understand how
> the machine could be copyrighted -- it is a primitive skin
> galvanometer.
>
> Although my knowledge of the facts here is limited by the apparent
> immediate compliance under the DMCA by both the auction site and
> the auctioning party, it does seem to me that it is not an
> intellectual property issue that is at the heart of it, but rather
> a civil liberties issue. It may also be, as you term it, a sort
> of invasion and appropriation of private property -- if the
> auctioner cannot sell the article, some rights and use of property
> are being taken away from him.
>
> I also don't believe it makes any difference under the law as to
> whether it is a commercial operation or not -- the MPAA and RIAA
> claim damages against non-commercial websites.
I think the e-meter case is really one involving a party being cautious because of two factors: (1) the uncertainty of the law; and (2) e-bay's own aversion to risk, having been stung a few times lately with sales of questionable items.
I don't see how anyone can claim a copyright in a mechanical object, so I think (hope) that once the IP law settles down in this area a little (which could, I admit, be never, or not in the foreseeable future), providers like e-Bay will feel more comfortable telling the complainers to take a hike.
Kevin Grierson
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