Thursday, July 29, 2004

Here it Comes. CNNMoney reports in "Apple: RealNetworks hacked iPod." From the article: "Apple said Thursday it is looking into Real's actions under various laws, including the Digital Copyright Millennium Act (DMCA), which prohibits the manufacture, sale or distribution of code-breaking devices used to illegally copy software." Reuters has this report, while the AP reports here.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

RIAA Wins One. C-Net reports that "Judge: RIAA can unmask file swappers."
Add France to the List of Countries to Avoid if You Want Your P2P Fix. The AP reports that "French ISPs to Crack Down on Music Pirates."
Depends on What the Definition of "More" Is? Law.com reports that "Verizon, Yellow Book Square Off in Court Over False-Ad Claim." At issue are ads with claims like: More people choose Yellow Book, not the Other Book." Seems like an instance of deliberate ambiguity. "More people" as in numerically larger? or "more people" as in a greater number than previously. Interesting case.
Anime in Court. And this time it's not for violating community decency standards. Wired reports in "Eyes Wide Open Over Anime Piracy."

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

The Law of Unintended Consequences at Work. ZDNet UK reports in "Beware of open-and-shut cases." From the article, discussing the Lindows case: "What seemed like an open and shut case of trademark infringement ended with the smaller firm $20 million and a whole lot of publicity better off. Microsoft on the other hand has been left looking not just like a bully for instigating the lawsuit--but an inept one for losing. Not only that, but the company has left a big-fat question mark over the validity of its Windows trademark--not a great day in court by any means. I'd almost feel sorry for Microsoft if it wasn't so funny." Via The Trademark Blog.
Should Have Know the Parody Would Run into Trouble. BoingBoing reports that "Woody Guthrie's copyright used to defile his memory in lawsuit threat." If you haven't seen the animation yet, check it out. Marty weighs in here. More here.
Something Worth Tuning In For. Lessig announces guest bloggers for August: UVa law professor Tim Wu, Congressman Rick Boucher, and Judge Richard Posner. This should be interesting.

Monday, July 26, 2004

More SSRN Articles. David McGowann has an article entitled "SCO What? Rhetoric, Law, and the Future of F/OSS Production." From the abstract" "Using litigation between The SCO Group and IBM as an example, this essay relates the rhetoric that drives open-source software as a social movement to legal issues open-source production faces. The essay argues that social movement rhetoric creates noise that makes legal issues more difficult to understand and resolve."

Jean Nicholas Druey has an article entitled "Information Cannot be Owned: There is More of a Difference than Many Think." From the abstract: "Apart from technology, the information age has up to now badly served its idol. It has failed sufficiently to recognize specific features of information. This is shown with respect to the question whether legal rights on information can take the form of ownership. The answer is negative considering that communication by its very nature is free and constitutes a basic value, and furthermore that law is itself information and cannot systematically dispose of information flows."

Raymond Shih Ray Ku has an article entitled "Copyright, the Constitution & Progress." From the abstract: "This essay builds upon his existing scholarship, in which Professor Ku argues that the new economics of digital technology question the application of copyright's exclusive rights to file sharing because peer-to-peer technology eliminates the need for distributor middlemen. And, a system of levies and compulsory licenses would guarantee compensation for artists while providing the public with unlimited access to the collective works of humanity."
Fan Sites Are Now Worthy of Criminal Prosecution? Surely there are better uses of the FBI's resources right now. BoingBoing reports that "Stargate fan-site operator busted under anti-terrorism law."
Just Came Across This. Mark Lemley has an interesting article up on SSRN called "Ex Ante Versus Ex Post Justifications for Intellectual Property."
That Was Fast. BoingBoing reports that "30,000 anti-Induce Act letters sent to Congress."
Wonder if There's a DMCA Claim Here? The New York Times reports that "RealNetworks Plans to Sell Songs to Be Played on iPods." Via BoingBoing.

Sunday, July 25, 2004

I Wonder if Tourists Have Different Potato Chip Preferences than Native Chicagoans? The Chicago Tribune reports that "Judge finds Lay's Jays ads 'unsavory, tasteless'." From the article: "The judge found that Frito-Lay couldn't support its claim that Chicagoans preferred its chips because testers hadn't screened out participants who weren't from Chicago." The Chicago Sun-Times has this report. Via How Appealing.
They Just Can't Win. The AP reports that "ACLU lawsuit against Ohio's punch card ballots first in nation to go to trial." From the article: "The ACLU wants all punch-card ballots in the state removed before November, saying the system is antiquated and causes errors that lead to undercounting of minority group votes."
How Will Your Vote be Recorded? InternetNews.com reports in "Diebold for Democracy." From the article: "'We cannot achieve perfectly secure systems; such things do not exist. But on the spectrum of terrible to very good, we are sitting at terrible,' Johns Hopkins University's Aviel Rubin told a congressional panel earlier this week. 'Not only have the vendors not implemented security safeguards that are possible, they have not even correctly implemented the ones that are easy.'"
Worth a Read. Canada.com reports that "They've got your number." From the article: "'There is a widening and yawning gap between the surveillance that is actually happening and people's understanding for the capacity for surveillance. People just have no clue, and I'm describing intelligent people,' says Stephanie Perrin, president of Digital Discretion Inc. in Montreal."

Friday, July 23, 2004

SCO Update. C-Net reports that "SCO flops in DaimlerChrysler Unix lawsuit."
Let's Hope This is One Vow He Doesn't Keep. InternetNews.com reports that "Hatch Vows P2P Action This Year."
Wanna Take Bets As to Whether This Is More Successful than the CAN SPAM Act? InternetNews.com has the skinny on recent legislative activity in "Trolling For Anti-Phishing Laws."
All INDUCE Act, All the Time. Check out the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 Blawg.
Um, Wow. Ernest Miller reports on the INDUCE Act hearings in "Copyright Office on INDUCE Act (IICA): It isn't Strong Enough." Wired has the other side of the story in "Techies Blast Induce Act."
Don't Mess with My TiVo. The AP reports that "TiVo Battles Hollywood Over Copyrights." Wendy has more.
Claim Construction Case Taken Up by Federal Circuit. Law.com reports that "Federal Circuit Set to Enter Defining Conflict for Patent Bar."
Time to Rewrite Those User Agreements. Law.com reports on a recent California state case involving the issue of host liability in "EBay Ruling Punctures Web Liability Shield."

Thursday, July 22, 2004

The Price of Success. Naplesnews.com reports that "Marco company sues for 'XM' rights." Via The Trademark Blog.
Sounds Like the Right Outcome. The Trademark Blog reports that "9th Cir: Playmakers v. Playmakers - Injunction Denied." I'm sure Sujal will be happy to know that. (c:
More Criticism of INDUCE Act. Wired reports in "Copyright Bill to Kill Tech?"
Congress May OK ClearPlay Technology. The AP reports that "Device Lets Parents Cut Smut From DVDs." Reuters has this report. If only Congress were this concerned with all content consumers' fair use rights...
Siva Vaidhyanathan on the INDUCE Act Hearings. Salon has his report in "Is your computer a loaded gun?"

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Does This Mean They're Going to Hell? The Register reports that "God violates Intel trademark." From the article:
That said divine being did violate the trademark of the INTEL CORPORATION (hereafter referred to as the "plaintiff") in the promotion of an earthy place of worship in the name of his co-defendant JESUS CHRIST (hereafter referred to as the "Son of God") and did thereby undermine said trademark and its association with the promotion of high-quality silicon chips.

Via The Trademark Blog.
I Wonder if They're as Good as Krispy Kreme's? Newsday reports that "Krispy Kreme accuses Entenmann's of trademark infringement." Via the new The Blawg Channel.
Another One to Bite the Dust. The AP reports on the latest P2P casualty in "IMesh to Pay Music Industry in Settlement."
No New Information. The AP reports on the latest Disney copyright dispute in "'Lion Sleeps' lawsuit awaits Disney response."

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

A New Music Business Model, Barbie in a Blender, and More Bag and Baggage has this month's installment of IP Meme.
Make that Trademark Infringement. BoingBoing reports on a recent trademark infringement case filed by Miller in "Mullets. Copyright. Beer."
More on Lindows Settlement. Reuters reports in "Lindows Settles with Microsoft, Sets IPO Terms." The AP has this report.

Monday, July 19, 2004

This Could Get Interesting. The AP reports that "Advocacy groups challenge Fox News slogan."
Is the Second Circuit the Best Place to Set Up a P2P? Wired reports on a New York-based P2P company in "P2P Company Not Going Anywhere."
An End to the LINDOWS Dispute. The Trademark Blog reports that "The MS To Purchase LINDOWS name and LINDOWS.COM Domain Name."
A New Take on Code is Law. LawMeme applies the concepts of Lon Fuller's book, The Morality of Law to software in "The Morality of Software."
Disney in Court Again. Reuters reports that "Marvel Sues Disney Over Cartoon Series Profits."
Court Denies Injunction Against MasterCard. Law.com reports in "No Trademark Violation Found in Dispute Over 'Smart Cards'."

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Musical Copyright Battle Across the Pond. BoingBoing reports on the debate surrounding a recent UK copyright decision in "Musicologist wins copyright battle over 300-year-old works."
Not Even One Quote from the Anti-Extension Camp? Reuters reports on efforts to extend the copyright duration in Europe in "European Copyright Clock Ticking on Elvis Hits."

Friday, July 16, 2004

You Didn't Think it Would be Easy? The AP reports that "Tough road for patent-busters."

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Why Deal With the Nasty Taste if You Don't Even Get a Caffeine Jolt? Reuters reports that "Decaf coffee brews ownership controversy." From the article: "In an industry which the International Coffee Organization, ICO, estimated in 2002 generated some $70 billion in global retail sales, the stakes are high as Ethiopia challenges Brazil over the ownership of plants collected from the East African country's forests." (Wonder how much hate mail I'll get for denigrating the taste of coffee?)
Have they Actually Offered Goods and Services Under the Mark SHIRE? BoingBoing reports that "Tolkien estate claims trademark for 'shire'."
Another Round of P2P Suits in Canada? The Globe and Mail reports that "Canadian music industry files music-swapping appeal."

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

A Bad Sign for Patent Protection in China? LawMeme reports that "China Revokes Viagra Patent."

Monday, July 12, 2004

More on the Boston DMCA Case. C-Net reports that "StorageTek wins copyright injunction."
I Guess They Were Bound to Make a Few Enemies. The LA Times reports that "Suzuki, Consumer Reports Settle Case."
Judgment in Tony Twist Case. The AP reports that "Tony Twist wins battle over name." The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch has this report.
Larry on outFOXed Documentary. You can read Larry's take on the IP issues involved here.

Sunday, July 11, 2004

I Thought There Was Already Case Law Finding this to be Fair Use. If not, it seems like copyright protection has been strengthened beyond that of patent protection. BoingBoing has this post about a recent DMCA ruling.

Friday, July 09, 2004

I'm Shocked, Shocked... The Trademark Blog's take on the Googles.com opposition.
If You Do Business in the EU, Pay Attention. The Guardian reports that "Software patents are back on the European agenda and the stakes are high" in "Patently unfair."
Ugh. The AP reports that "Patriot Act Wins House Vote."
Challenging Conventional Wisdom. Wired reports on a recent experiment with using P2P services for publicity purposes in "Winwood: Roll With P2P, Baby."

Thursday, July 08, 2004

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Am I the Only One Who Thinks This Sets a Bad Precedent? I don't even want to think of how many American journalists are likely breaking the law of China and other authoritarian regimes by posting news stories critical of their leadership... The Age reports on U.S. efforts to extradite an Australian national in "Alleged software pirate back in jail."
New York Times Weighs in On Recent Wiretap Decision. The New York Times reports in "You've Got Mail (and Court Says Others Can Read It)."
More On Debate Over Texas Slogan. The LA Times has this.
Heavy Hitters Come Out Against INDUCE Act. InternetNews.com reports that "P2P Bill Induces Tech Group to Action."
This Quote Says it All: "Not only does it rip us off, but it's not even as good." E!Online Reports in "Wayans' 'White Chicks' Rip-Off?"

Saturday, July 03, 2004

Friday, July 02, 2004

Poetic Justice? Reuters reports on the latest Disney fracas in "A Flap Over 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'."
Copyright Flap Over Moore Film. E!Online reports in "Playing 'Fahrenheit'?"

Thursday, July 01, 2004

The Headline Says it All. From BoingBoing, "Porno patents."
Apparently You Can Prohibit a Hacker from Accessing the Internet, but Not a Child Molester. Law.com reports that "Computer Ban for Pedophile Is Too Broad, Says Calif. Court."
More on the INDUCE Act. The Boston Globe reports in "For geeks, it's a big misunderstanding."
I Think They Meant First Circuit Court of Appeals... since I doubt Massachusetts state courts are in the business of interpreting federal criminal statutes. Wired reports that "E-Mail Snooping Ruled Permissible." (Which may be overstating it a bit. They ruled it wasn't criminal, but my guess is that the customers may have a claim for breach of the service agreement.) The AP has this report.
Naming it After the Employee in Question Probably Doesn't Help Google's Claim it was Independently Developed... Wired reports on the social networking service wars in "Lawsuit: Google Stole Orkut Code." Reuters has this report.