June 30, 2004
Globe and Mail: ISPs free from paying royalties from downloads.
ISPs should not have to pay royalties to the music industry for files downloaded by their customers, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Wednesday. The court decided 9-0 that companies providing access to the web, are merely "intermediaries" in the downloading process and are therefore not bound by federal copyright legislation.
News.Com: Vonage beats back New York ruling.
With two state efforts to regulate VoIP now derailed, the balance of power may have shifted to the Federal Communications Commission, which wants a very limited state role and earlier this year issued a preliminary report on Net phone calling but left the details for further study.
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