Internet stakeholders should participate in voluntary industry initiatives to address illegal intellectual property-related activity, more than 70 groups wrote Congress Thursday. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Artists Rights Alliance (formerly the Content Creators Coalition), the Committee for Justice, American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Tax Reform, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and Rainbow PUSH Coalition signed. The letter cites online statistics on digital theft: 2001-2015, U.S. music revenue fell from $14 billion to $7 billion. It also cited the need to protect IP rights through international trade agreements and the link between IP and free speech, consumer protection and national security.

The Copyright Royalty Board is accepting comments through April 12 on funding the Music Modernization Act’s mechanical licensing collective (see 1812210051), said a Federal Register Wednesday. The proposed regulations would govern “proceedings to determine the reasonableness of and allocate responsibility to fund the operating budget of” the MLC, CRB said.

MPEG LA is making “substantial progress” toward launching a patent pool for ATSC 3.0, and hopes soon “to be in a position to make an announcement” on its debut of a one-stop license, emailed spokesperson Tom O’Reilly Monday. “Each pool has its own unique set of factors affecting time to market," he said. "Reaching agreement among patent holders to offer a license of wide benefit to the market takes time. ATSC 3.0 is being tested in select markets now, and we expect the license to be available well before it becomes widely deployed.” MPEG LA hoped to have a 3.0 pool operational by early 2019 with the participation of more than a dozen licensors, O’Reilly told us in November (see 1811270013). MPEG LA's August 2017 call for 3.0-essential patents was the beginning of the process to create a one-stop-license pool.

Pointing to no material facts in question and all the law going against VidAngel, U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte of Los Angeles Wednesday granted movie studios' summary judgment motion against the streaming service. In a docket 16-cv-04109 order (in Pacer), Birotte said VidAngel hasn't raised any triable issue of material fact or about its "last-ditch argument" that its service might be social criticism. He said VidAngel can't avoid copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act legal questions that the District Court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolved in previously granting the studios preliminary injunction (see 1708240017). VidAngel outside counsel didn't comment Thursday.

Intel proposed a national artificial intelligence strategy in response to President Donald Trump’s Feb. 12 executive order directing federal agencies to “prioritize investments” in AI R&D (see 1902110054). Intel sees a national AI strategy bringing together industry, academia, government and "civil society" to create a “fully realized” national strategy for AI managing the “broad social implications of AI,” it blogged Wednesday. Naveen Rao, general manager-artificial intelligence products group, and Global Privacy Officer David Hoffman outlined “actionable next steps” on increased R&D investments, ethical guidelines, data protection regulations, global interoperability standards, incentivized data sharing through tax or policy incentives, federal privacy legislation for data collection and sharing, an updated K-12 education curriculum, skills retraining programs, intellectual property protection, public and private national service opportunities and expanding laws governing human behavior to AI. “When the regulatory environment is known and understood, businesses and government can maximize their impact by pursuing the same goals,” they said.

Data Scape and C-Scape are seeking a ban on imports of data transmission devices they allege infringe their patents. The companies, in a Tariff Act Section 337 complaint Feb. 28 at the International Trade Commission, say smartphones, tablets and computers from Amazon, Apple, Verizon and Cellco (dba Verizon Wireless) copy their patented technology used in iCandy LED tickers, namely the ability to transfer data between the devices and allow changes on one device to be made in both. Data Scope and C-Scape request a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against the allegedly infringing merchandise. Comments are due March 14, said Wednesday's Federal Register. Amazon and Apple didn't comment Wednesday, and Verizon declined to comment.

Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu will testify at 2:30 p.m. March 13 during an oversight hearing before the Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee in 226 Dirksen.

Software company Rimini Street doesn’t have to pay Oracle $12.8 million in litigation costs, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday, reversing a lower court’s award in Oracle’s successful 2010 copyright infringement lawsuit. Oracle accused Rimini of using Oracle support and software materials without license, upheld by the 9th U.S. Court Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018. The costs included Oracle’s expert witness fees, e-discovery and jury consulting. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion cites limits on the term “full costs,” which doesn’t include “other” expenses: “A ‘full moon’ means the moon, not Mars. A ‘full breakfast’ means breakfast, not lunch.” Full costs means costs specified in the general costs statute, Kavanaugh wrote. Rimini said the decision has “national significance in copyright law.” Rimini looks forward to “continuing our fierce competition with Oracle in the marketplace by providing the best enterprise software support service and value for Oracle licensees worldwide,” CEO Seth Ravin said. The refund is in addition to $21.5 million Oracle returned to Rimini in a previous appeal. The high court’s “narrow” decision doesn’t change the “fundamental” fact that Rimini “engaged in a massive theft of Oracle's IP and tried to cover it up by destroying evidence and engaging in other litigation misconduct,” Oracle said.

Industry is very interested in participating in the next blockchain proof of concept involving intellectual property rights, said Vincent Annunziato, director of Customs and Border Protection’s Business Transformation and Innovation Division, at CBP's Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s Thursday meeting. “We are almost 100 percent definite with moving forward” soon with the IP rights piece, he said. “We’re hearing now that we're having about 70 people that want to come and participate.” CBP is working with parent agency Department of Homeland Security on a test of “verifiable credentials” that uses “third-party verification through consensus to prove somebody is who they say they are.”

There’s no evidence to suggest ASCAP and BMI consent decrees outlived “their intended purpose,” the MIC Coalition said Friday, responding to a proposal from ASCAP and BMI executives to replace them with an alternative framework that sunsets (see 1902280071). “If anything, they are more critical than ever in an increasingly complex and diverse licensing environment,” said the coalition. Members include the Computer & Communications Industries Association, CTA, Digital Media Association and NAB.