[TriLUG] Good budget priced inkjet for Linux?

Robert Floyd r.floyd3 at verizon.net
Mon Apr 14 15:38:34 EDT 2003


On Mon, 2003-04-14 at 14:42, Mark Shuford wrote:
> From:
> 
> >>
> >>http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/28811.html
> >>
> >>In November stores used the DMCA to defend the copyright of pricing lists, now its been applied to printer cartridge microchips. 
> >>.  
> >>
> 
> What? Does this mean the list as 'fixed in a medium' or are they 
> claiming you can't even read a price off a list  to someone? If the 
> latter is the case it is contrary to my reading on the copyright act...

The November case involved a web site that posted post-Thanksgiving
sales prices from various chains ahead of time to give shoppers a
heads-up. The retailers sued him, claiming their sales lists were
protected by copyright under the DMCA and forced him to shut down his
site. The actual sales lists were then circulated via a mailing list. I
don't recall the final outcome of this, but it raised some interesting
issues.

Sales are an important competitive tool used by retailers, especially in
the all-important Thanksgiving to Christmas period, which makes or
breaks the sales years for most retailers. Premature leaks of sale items
and prices could, in theory, give competitors a leg up, though, in
practice, this is less likely. The real question is whether DMCA should
have been invoked; the critical question is whether a price list can be
copyright. I believe the consensus is no. Perhaps the retailers should
have focused instead on identifying and dealing with the sources of the
leaks.

Robert Floyd
Durham, NC




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