Looks Like the PTO Rejected the W3C's Attempt to Challenge the Java/Active-X Patent. Internetnews.com reports that "Eolas Patent Survives Re-Exam." From the article: "On Tuesday, the USPTO issued a 'Notice of Intent to Issue a Reexam Certificate' to Eolas Technology, the tiny University of California spin-off that received U.S. Patent No. 5,838,906 in 1998."

So if a Use Increases the Market for a Related Service..., but hurts the market for the copyrighted work (i.e., increases the ease with which people can use public transportation, but obviates the need for hard copy maps, which are given away for free), how does the fair use analysis come out? Wired.com reports that "IPod Maps Draw Legal Threats." From the article: "More than 9,000 people downloaded the map, which was viewable on either an iPod or an iPod nano, before Bright received a Sept. 14 letter from Lester Freundlich, a senior associate counsel at New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, saying that Bright had infringed the MTA's copyright and that he needed a license to post the map and to authorize others to download it."

Sounds Like the Cayman Islands May be Getting New Residents. Reuters reports that "P2P music sites closing doors in legal fallout." From the article: "Popular file-sharing site WinMX.com ceased operating and the New York office of another, eDonkey.com, appeared to be closed, in the continuing legal fallout among underworld peer-to-peer music services, industry sources and users said on Wednesday."

More Ways to Dine Well and Help the Victims of Katrina. The Peacock Cafe is holding a benefit tonight for the Red Cross and Salvation Army. In exchange for a $75 donation (100% of which goes to either the Red Cross or Salvation Army), you get a three course meal (drinks are your responsibility).

Restaurants around the country are participating in Restaurants for Relief on Tuesday, September 27, 2005. Check the web page for participating restaurants.

The New Yugos. Reuters reports in "Bricklin will not use "Chery" name in US." From the article: "Visionary Vehicles founder Malcolm Bricklin said on Tuesday that he will not market cars from Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co. in the United States under the Chery name because of objections from General Motors Corp. GM has threatened legal action if Bricklin uses the brand name 'Chery' to bring in Chinese-made cars and trucks to the U.S. market. The world's largest automaker says that 'Chery' sounds too similar to its 'Chevy' brand, short for Chevrolet."

Interesting Development. Reuters reports that "Baidu ordered to halt music downloading service." From the article: "The Baidu cases are believed to be different, since the search engine is providing links to sites that offer illegal downloads."

Anyone Starting a Pool to Guess How Quickly These Limitations are Circumvented? The AP reports that "Google's digital library tests law." From the article: "To prevent the wholesale file-sharing that is plaguing the entertainment industry, Google has set some limits in its library project: Users won't be able to easily print materials or read more than small portions of copyright works online."

It Really Is Napster 2.0. The AP reports that "File-Sharing Services Trying to Go Legit." From the article: "Grokster, which faces a copyright-infringement suit brought by Hollywood movie studios and recording companies, has been in talks to be acquired by Mashboxx, a company preparing to launch a licensed file-swapping service, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the talks."

The Only Guarantees In Life: Death, Taxes and Pirated Microsoft Products. Internetnews.com reports that "Microsoft Sues 8 Resellers Over Fakes." From the article: "The world's biggest software maker has filed suits in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota and New York against the privately held companies who allegedly sold counterfeit copies of several different software products, such as Office 2000 Professional and Windows XP, Mary Jo Schrade, senior attorney at Microsoft, told internetnews.com."

They Get It. They Really Get It. Wired reports that "E-Tailers Get Apple Nastygrams." From the article: "'Although on the surface it looks like Apple is being overly heavy-handed with this approach, protection of its brand is important,' he said. 'Authorized Apple resellers, for example, have very clear guidelines to follow regarding the use of trademarks. It appears that this has not been the case for the rapidly growing number of web-based accessory e-tailers, particularly the gray market.'"

Slate Asks the Important Questions. Slate discusses the recently filed lawsuit regarding the Freedom Tower in "When Architects Plagiarize - It's not always bad." From the article: "Whatever the merits of the claim, the suit raises a broader issue, one that is particularly relevant in an age in which 'starchitect' buildings have become the norm: How important should artistic authorship be in the world of architecture?"

So Are These Links Manually Compiled, or the Result of Search Queries? Reuters reports that "Record labels sue Baidu for copyright infringement." From the article: "The four largest record companies have sued Baidu.com Inc. for copyright infringement, alleging the Chinese Internet search engine has been illegally providing links to free digital music downloads, according to a trade group the represents the music industry."

Anyone Know About Publicity Rights in the EU? The AP reports that "Tom Waits sues over alleged soundalike." From the article: "Andreas Schumacher, Waits' German lawyer, said the singer was approached numerous times about doing the ads last year, but declined, citing a policy of not doing commercials. He said the firm then hired a soundalike and the ads aired earlier this year in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway."

Surprised That It Took This Long. In good news for technology companies everywhere, Law.com reports that "Lemelson Patents Ruled Unenforceable." From the article: "The Federal Circuit ruled Friday that Lemelson's 18- to 39-year delay in prosecuting patent claims relating to machine vision and bar-code technologies was unreasonable."

What a Surprise - Barbershop Opened Three Years Ago Next Week. E!Online reports that "Writer Wants Cut of 'Barbershop'." From the article: "Per his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, James Davis, a 31-year-old aspiring filmmaker, says he came up with the idea for The Shop while he was working in a Atlanta barbershop. The suit claims Davis had circulated the script to several actors and production companies."

Interesting Resolution. Reuters reports that "GEICO, Google settle lawsuit." From the article: "'Terms of the settlement, although not disclosed, would suggest some sort of payment was made, but that a trial has been avoided,' Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with brokerage Hoefer & Arnett. 'This mitigates the risk of further trademark lawsuits,' he said."

Ways to Help. ABA's Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief page.

Red Cross donation page.

Liberal Blogs for Hurricane Relief.

Best Buy is matching in-store donations.

Federated Department Stores, including the Hechts chain, are also matching donations.

The Kimpton Hotels Group will credit members' Kimpton InTouch account with a bonus credit equivalent to a one-night visit for any donation to the American Red Cross of $50 or more.

McDonalds will be matching donations to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which will be directed toward relief efforts.

GM is matching employee contributions to the Red Cross, as are GE, Kimberly Clark and Ford.

DCist has information on local fundraisers in the DC-area, and the Washington Post has more.

The Richmond Times Dispatch has a listing of fundraisers in the Richmond, Virginia area.

Dine for America goes live on Thursday, September 8, 2005.

Share Our Strength is hosting a Hurricane Relief Benefit Taste Event in DC on October 17, 2005.

The Museum of the American Cocktail is sponsoring a nationwide "Save New Orleans Cocktail Hour" on Monday, September 12, 2005 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Habitat for Humanity is accepting donations and volunteers to help rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Let Me Guess What the Defense Will Be... ... fair use? Reuters reports that "ABC News sued over use of bin Laden footage." From the article: "In a suit filed August 31 in U.S. District Court in Denver and made public this week, Essam Mohamed Aly Deraz seeks $10 million in damages and to bar ABC from further use of the still photos and video pictures that he took 'at great risk to his personal safety.'"

It's Roberts. Reuters reports that "Bush picks Roberts to succeed Rehnquist."

Piling it On. The AP reports in"Aussie Court: Kazaa File-Swapping Illegal." From the article: "In a ruling hailed as a resounding victory by the recording industry, a court Monday said that popular file-swapping network Kazaa breaches copyright in Australia and gave its owners two months to stamp out further piracy by its millions of users."

Rehnquist is Dead. CNN has more.

New DMCA Ruling from the Eighth Circuit. The AP reports that "Court KOs Online Game Bypass Program." From the article: "Thursday's ruling by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here upholds a lower court's finding that the trio violated the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act as well as software license agreements by helping people bypass Blizzard's system for playing multiplayer games like Diablo and StarCraft online."

Barbera Motors in Hot Water Again. Sounds like he's making enemies that he may not want to make... First 50 Cent, and now Snoop Dog have sued the Philadelphia-area car dealership. E!Online reports that "Snoop Sues Over 'Izzle' Flap." From the article: "According to Broadus' complaint, available online at the Smoking Gun, Barbera ran an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News on Aug. 22 that stated 'Is Bar-Bizzle the Sh-izzle? Boy I Gu-izzle' in an apparent attempt to lure street-savvy kids to his lot."

Corollary to 'Keep the Negatives': Keep the Masters. Reuters reports that "Kanye West sues Chicago DJ over unreleased songs." From the article: "West is suing for violation of his publicity, privacy and trademark rights among other claims. He asks the court to void the fraudulent recording agreement and award $100,000 in general damages and at least $200,000 in punitive damages."

This is News? Reuters reports that "Recording industry sues more U.S. file-swappers." 754 this time.

Another Bite at Apple. The AP reports that "Apple Comes Under New Patent Challenge." From the article: "Raising another legal threat to the iPod music player, Creative Technology Ltd. said it has been awarded a U.S. patent for a song-navigation technology it claims is used on Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading devices." Reuters has this report.

Do Lil' Flip's Fans Even Remember Pac Man? Reuters reports that "Namco settles Pac-Man music suit against Sony." From the article: "Namco America Inc. and Sony BMG Music Entertainment said on Monday they settled a lawsuit in which Namco charged that a Sony BMG artist used sounds from its popular Pac-Man arcade game in violation of intellectual property laws."

Heavy Metal to Sell Chicken??? Reuters reports in "For Burger King and Slipknot, a game of chicken." From the article: "Burger King and CP+B actually beat Slipknot to the punch. On August 12, they filed a federal District Court action in the companies' home court of Florida against the band. It asks the court to declare that their use of a mock heavy metal band wearing chicken masks in a TV commercial does not violate any rights -- including publicity and trademark -- of Slipknot or its individual band members."

Is Anyone Surprised? Reuters reports that "Piracy crackdown spurs shift in online file-sharing." From the article: "Traffic in the popular file-sharing network BitTorrent has fallen in the wake of a crackdown on piracy, but file sharers have merely shifted to another network, eDonkey, new data released on Monday showed."

More on Perfect 10's Suit Against Google. Internetnews.com reports in "A Perfect Storm of Infringement." From the article: "Zada argues that Google should be held liable for helping searchers find sites that display stolen Perfect 10 images because, in many cases, those sites also show Google AdSense contextual ads. 'Google not only copies and displays Perfect 10 images itself,' the request for the injunction reads, 'but also links them to Infringing Sites with which Google has partnered and from which Google receives revenue through its AdSense advertising program.'"

I'm Surprised It Took So Long. Reuters reports that "Library sues over controversial Patriot Act." From the article: "Critical details of the lawsuit were blacked out on the ACLU's Web site in compliance with the gag order. The library is thought to be based in Connecticut since the lawsuit was filed there with the participation of the Connecticut branch of the ACLU."

1977? Interesting that it Was 10 Years After Gilligan's Island Went Off the Air... Reuters reports that "ABC, Touchstone sued over 'Lost'." From the article: "Spinner claims that he was hired by Sid and Marty Krofft Prods. in 1977 to write, produce and develop a script for a TV program to be produced by ABC that was titled 'Lost.' It was about a group of airplane crash survivors who struggle to survive in a jungle where they encounter strange creatures and dangerous characters."

I Wonder If They Would Have Sued Veruca Salt? E! Online reports in "Archie v. the Veronicas." From the article: "In any case, Archie Comics is convinced that a band traipsing the globe under the name of the Veronicas will 'damag[e] the Veronica character's image to her legion of fans.'"

D'oh! The AP reports that "Apple, Microsoft Duel Over iPod Patent." From the article: "Given the intense rivalry between Apple Computer Inc. and Microsoft Corp., this recent revelation had a comedic tinge: Apple took too long to file a patent on part of its blockbuster iPod music players, so Microsoft beat Apple to it."

My Hometown. BoingBoing reports in "iBook stampede." From the article: "A near riot broke out when a crowd of 5,500 to 11,000 people rushed through a gate to buy used iBooks being sold by the school district for $50. Only 1,000 iBook were being sold, and people were in a rush to get to the sales counter first."

Dell on the Hot Seat. Reuters reports that "DVD software maker Intervideo sues Dell on patents." From the article: "InterVideo alleges Dell violated its U.S. Patent No. 6,765,788 that covers the integration of certain PC and electronic device functions. The company's software allows a DVD disk to automatically start playing a movie when a user inserts a disk into a computer running an InterVideo program."

I Guess I Shouldn't Call This Blawg the IP Olympics... The AP reports that "USOC Forces 'Ferret Olympics' Name Change." From the article: "In July, a Minnesota rock band changed its name from the Olympic Hopefuls to the Hopefuls but was allowed to keep its signature track suits. The ImprovOlympic, a comedy club in Chicago, also opted to change its name, to I.O., rather than fight a threatened trademark infringement lawsuit."

Music Industry Has a New Villain Du Jour. The AP reports that "Music Industry Worried About CD Burning." From the article: "Music copied onto blank recordable CDs is becoming a bigger threat to the bottom line of record stores and music labels than online file-sharing, the head of the recording industry's trade group said Friday."

Sounds To Me Like The Concern Should Be The Number of Boxes He Used. Wired reports that "Furniture Causes FedEx Fits." From the article: "But that feel-good message seems to be lost on FedEx. The company claims that Avila is infringing on its trademark and its copyright. The day after Avila launched the site in June, FedEx asked him to take it down, claiming he had violated the DMCA." Looking at the photos, however, it looks like he took quite a few FedEx boxes to make this furniture. I know that Maryland has a rule against taking excessive quantities of "free" items. (It was passed in the wake of a problem with a certain student group attempting to stealing all of the copies of my college's newspaper over what the student group considered to be an offensive cartoon. Thus, there may be certain elements of the crime that are not met here. However, I don't think it's unreasonable for FedEx to decline to fund everybody's home decorating activities.)

Surely They're Not Trying to Prevent Use of the "Concept." Writers with no IP background covering IP stories is one of my pet peeves... E!Online reports that "Simon Sued Over Big 'Idea'." From the article: "But if Walker and Golden have their way, those episodes will never hit the airwaves. Among other damages, their lawsuit seeks immediate injunctive relief, preventing ABC from using the series' name or concept."

Do You Think Soverain's Attorneys Were Working on Contingency? Reuters reports that "Amazon.com settles patent lawsuit for $40 million." From the article: "Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday said it will pay $40 million in the third quarter to settle a patent infringement lawsuit with Soverain Software LLC."

Who Knew Pesticide Labels Were So Involved? Law.com reports in "Federal Judge Calls Foul in Race to Courthouse." From the article: "Insecticide labels are often hefty documents -- sometimes coming in the form of a 10-page booklet -- and are strictly controlled by federal law. Every label must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency before a product hits the shelves. FMC claims it spent more than 13 years and nearly $400,000 in the process of developing the label for bifenthrin products."

Sounds Like the Keystone Kops are Running Our Schools. The AP reports that "Students Charged With Computer Trespass." From the article: "At least one student viewed pornography. Some students also turned off the remote monitoring function and turned the tables on their elders - using it to view administrators' own computer screens."

Two Words: Password Protection. CNN reports in"Stealing your neighbor's Internet? Experts urge caution." From the article: "According to Geraty, using your neighbor's wireless is specifically prohibited in the California penal code. 'It's not yours and you're taking it,' he says."

I Didn't Know that the Notion of a "Divine Feminine" Was So Original. Reuters reports that "N.Y. court rules Brown didn't copy 'Da Vinci Code'." From the article: "He alleged that Brown copied the basic premise of 'Daughter of God,' including notions of a 'divine feminine' and the transition from a female to a male-dominated church under Roman Emperor Constantine."

I Can See It Now... ...Sony engineers behind bars. Wired reports that "Europe Follows Grokster's Lead." From the article: "A directive being pushed by the European Commission would, among other things, criminalize 'attempting, aiding or abetting and inciting' acts of copyright infringement. The EU parliament will take up the proposal later this year."

Maybe They Can Just Wait... ... until 2028, when the works fall into the public domain. E!Online reports that "Legal Duel Over 'Zorro'." From the article: "In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Sobrini claims it alone owns the exclusive rights to the 1919 Johnston McCulley serial, The Curse of Capistrano, from which the classic Zorro character is drawn. Sony, the suit claims, controls the rights to later stories."

More Developments in Blackberry Case. Reuters reports that "U.S. court scales back patent ruling against RIM." From the article: "The appeals court overturned the lower court's finding that RIM had infringed NTP Inc.'s 'method' patents, but reaffirmed the infringement of patents of the e-mail 'system.'"

How'd They Go This Long? Reuters reports that "Music labels file online piracy lawsuits in UK." From the article: "Record companies in Britain are filing their first ever lawsuits against five people accused of illicitly sharing music online, after settling out of court with dozens of others."

Got to Wonder What that Opinion Letter Said. The AP reports that "Microsoft Vista May Face Trademark Trouble." From the article: "Yet the CEO of Vista Inc., a business software and services company in Redmond, is already complaining that people have contacted his sales department with inquiries about Windows Vista."

I Wonder If This Ruling Will Have Implications for Criminal Lawyers? Law.com reports that "'Sports Illustrated' Ruling Pressures Media Attorneys." From the article: "Written by 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edward E. Carnes, the ruling would compel attorneys defending SI's parent company, Time Inc., to tell the court if writer Don Yaeger's sources lie under oath to shield either their identities or the degree to which they contributed to Yaeger's story."

First They Threaten My Crackberry, Then My Wayback Machine? No! William Patry has a post about a recent complaint filed against Archive.org entitled "The Way Back Machine and Robots.txt." The complaint sounds to me like the result of sour grapes: "Back to the Healthcare Advocates case. The complaint in the earlier suit against Health Advocate, Inc. was filed in June 26, 2003. Healthcare Advocates [Plaintiff in the current case] had been operating a website, www.healthcareadvocates.com since 1998. In July 8, 2003, the robots.txt instructions were inserted. The next day, it is alleged, defendant's law firm tried to access archived Healthcare Advocates website material. In the court's July 8, 2004 opinion, an allegation is recited that between July 8, 2003 and July 15, 2003, 849 attempts were made to access the archived information, of which about 112 attempts were successful. Presumably, all of the material was pre-July 8, 2003 information." More on the case here.

Kozmo's Back! Well, kinda. Having been lucky enough to be living in Boston during Kozmo's heyday, though, I'm happy to see Wired reporting that "Diapers Revive Dead Dot-Com." From the article: "Most dads would simply suck it up and take perpetual trips to the grocery store. Instead, Siragusa decided to start a new web-based delivery service that would bring the baby goods -- and the occasional DVD, pint of ice cream or tube of toothpaste -- to him within an hour."

Are Other Schools Having Special Casting Calls for "The Apprentice"? Or is it just Hopkins?

What Do These Companies Know About You? internetnews.com reports that "EPIC Fighting Online Phone Record Sales." From the article: "According to the complaint, BestPeopleSearch offers detailed phone call records and the addresses on file for holders of post office boxes and private mailboxes. EPIC said the availability of this personal information is regulated, and the "private eye" service shouldn't be able to obtain it or sell it to others. For example, the Drivers Privacy Protection Act guards the personal information in motor vehicle records."

I Wonder Whose Job it is to Continuously Hit "Reload" on the NAA Opinion Page to Find These Things? (And yes, I know someone who does that with the Fed. Circuit page...) The AP reports that "Google Wins 'Typosquatting' Dispute." From the article: "In a decision made earlier this week, arbitrator Paul A. Dorf, endorsed Google's contention that the misspelled addresses were part of a sinister plot to infect computers with programs — known as 'malware' — that can lead to recurring system crashes, wipe out valuable data or provide a window into highly sensitive information."

Unfortunately, Most of Mine Would be Ignoring Me. Wired reports in "See If You're a Good Friend." From the article: "The Social Fabric features a display of avatars on a mobile device's screen, representing individuals in a group of friends or acquaintances. The avatars use body language to show how recently you've contacted each person: Regularly contacted friends appear alert and look directly at you. Less frequent contacts might slouch and turn to the side, and infrequent contacts could have their backs turned."

This is Just Cool. Why didn't I hear about this before? Wired reports in "GPS Monopoly: Collect Over $200." From the article: "Players start out buying properties and placing apartments and hotels on them, much like the classic game. The twist: Rent payments are determined by the traffic patterns of 18 real cabs, tracked by satellite. Players collect or pay rent depending on where the cabs go, with the high tally winning at the end of each day."

Better Be Careful not to Log on to Your Neighbor's WiFi. Or that neighborly spat could turn ugly. The AP reports that "Man charged with stealing Wi-Fi signal." From the article: "The practice is so new that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn't even keep statistics, according to the St. Petersburg Times, which reported Smith's arrest this week."

That Sound You're Hearing... ... is probably European patent firms lamenting the loss of a potential revenue source. The AP reports that "Europe Parliament Nixes Software Patent Law." From the article: "But lawmakers said the measure would stifle enterprise and did not promote innovation, and that human knowledge can't be patented. The move kills the legislation since the EU head office, which had drafted it, does not plan to set forth a new version."

Betamax 2.0. Reuters reports that "TV technology at edge of legal frontier." From the article: "New to the shelves of Best Buy and CompUSA this month is Slingbox, a brick-sized device that enables viewers to route the live television signal coming into their homes to a portable device anywhere on the globe via broadband connection. Slingbox costs $250 and has no subsequent subscription fee; several stores sold out on the first day."

Sounds Like it Really May Be Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater. Reuters reports that "EU executive says would not resubmit patent bill." From the article: "'Should you decide to reject the common position, the Commission will not submit a new proposal,' Almunia told the EU assembly on the eve of a bitterly contested vote on draft legislation pitting big software companies, who want better protection, against campaigners for free, open-source software."

I Guess You'd Call That the Silver Lining. Reuters reports that "Rock museum settles suit with Jewish rock Web site." From the article: "The Cleveland museum's own lawsuit 'listed all the Jews who were in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,' said Goldberg. 'And thanks to their lawsuit, we discovered people we didn't even know who were Jewish, like the Flamingos, for instance. Who knew?'"

Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water? Reuters reports that "Tech firms want Europe patent software law pulled." From the article: "European high-tech leaders said on Monday they would prefer the European Parliament to scrap a controversial software patent law rather than confuse it with dozens of amendments when it votes later this week."

Legal Maneuvering Starts in AMD/Intel Case. Reuters reports that "AMD says motion granted in Intel suit." From the article: "The motion sought a judicial order permitting it to move forward to preserve relevant evidence possessed by specified third parties. Its lawyers will now engage in discussions with about 30 third parties, the statement said."

How About Letting Everyone Sign Up? I wonder if there are any penalties for signing yourself up as a child.... The AP reports that "Parents Can Sign Up Kids to Not Get E-Mail." From the article: "Starting Friday, parents can sign up for what Michigan officials say is the nation's first registry aimed at keeping spammers from sending children inappropriate e-mail. The new law bans sending messages to children related to such things as pornography, illegal or prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, firearms or fireworks. Parents and schools will be able to register children's e-mail addresses."

Swedes Fight Back. The AP reports that "Swedes Undeterred by Online Piracy Ban." From the article: "Antipiratbyran and similar organizations in other countries have been tracking file-sharers online and sent out warning letters to people who make illegal material available from their computers. .... More than 4,000 people reported Antipiratbyran to the Swedish Data Inspection Board, claiming the agency misused personal information by collecting IP addresses and online aliases. The inspection board agreed, and the lobbying group has stopped sending out warning letters to file-sharers."

How's the Weather Up There in Canada? Reuters reports that "Supreme Court Justice O'Connor to retire." From the article: "Her resignation will allow Bush to make his first appointment to the nine-member high court. It also could trigger a fierce confirmation fight in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats, and could threaten a shaky truce over judicial nominations."

Sounds Like an Inherent Problem in the Advertising Model, to Me. Reuters reports that "Google sued over 'click fraud' in Web ads." From the article: "Google has said it credits advertisers who have fallen prey to click fraud, but Click Defense charges that the company has not done enough to warn advertisers about the risks it presents or to protect them against it."

File Sharing Back in the Cross-Hairs. The AP reports that Feds Crack Down on Global Internet Piracy." From the article: "FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90 searches starting Wednesday, arresting four people and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works, a Justice official said. Authorities also seized hundreds of computers in raids in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom." Reuters has this report, while internetnews.com weighs in with this.

Finally, Reuters speculates on the expected fall-out from the Grokster ruling in "BitTorrent may be next target for copyright cops." From the article: "Cohen recently created a search engine on the BitTorrent home page, which could be seen as encouraging piracy. And in a manifesto on his Web site from several years ago, he stated that one of his goals was to 'commit digital piracy.'"

Two Front War... Reuters reports that "AMD Japan files suit against Intel Japan." From the article: "The latest action in Japan follows a March ruling by Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that Intel had violated antitrust laws by offering rebates to five PC makers that agreed either not to buy or to limit their purchases of chips made by AMD or other rivals."

More in the Linux Saga. The AP reports that "Judge Won't Throw Out SCO Slander Lawsuit." From the article: "Lindon-based SCO says Novell hurt its business and reputation by publicly and emphatically denying it sold copyrights when it allowed SCO to take over the business of servicing Unix technology, an operating system used by large corporations."

News From Around the World. The AP reports that "India to tighten cyberspace laws." From the article: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a special meeting of software company representatives Tuesday that stringent punishment would follow any breach of secrecy, illegal transfers of commercial information and other cyber crimes."

Processor Wars Heat Up. The Washington Post reports that "Firm Alleges Intel Tied Clients to Exclusive Deals." From the article: "AMD's suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, charges that Intel pushed manufacturers into exclusive or near-exclusive deals by making price cuts and rebates available to manufacturers only if they agreed to limit purchases from AMD."

Too Bad This Didn't Come Out Sooner. I would have been interested to hear the various IPL panelists' thoughts. Marty reports on the recent Second Circuit decision in the WhenU.com case in "2d Cir in WhenU: Sale and Placement Of Pop Up Ads Is Not Trademark Use."

They Kept the Napster Name... ... why not Grokster? Reuters reports that "Sony BMG eyes Grokster version despite court ruling." From the article: "'I'm hopeful we will move forward with a legitimate version of Grokster,' Andy Lack, chief executive of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, said in an interview. 'It won't be called Grokster, and it certainly won't be what Grokster is today,' he added."

Did Anyone Expect Them Not to Like the Ruling? Reuters reports that "Film, music companies hail Grokster ruling." From the article: "But entertainment executives said the strength of the Supreme Court decision in the case against Grokster could prompt file sharing networks to begin using filtering software that would ensure songs and videos downloaded across their networks are not illegal copies."

Dairy Industry in the Cross-Hairs. The AP reports that "Group to sue dairy over weight-loss claim." From the article: "The physicians committee, which advocates a vegan diet, asks a district court in Virginia to issue an injunction banning the ads. The filing claims that most scientific evidence shows people will either gain pounds or remain the same weight when increasing dairy consumption."

Even More on Grokster. Salon.com has an article entitled "Supreme Court's unsound decision from NYU professor Siva Vaidhyanathan. From the article: "If anyone infringes, it's Google: The company caches millions of Web pages without permission (again, giving copyright holders the option of protesting). And soon it will offer millions of copyrighted books in electronic form without payment or permission. How would Google fare in a post-Grokster world? The publishing industry no doubt wonders. And it just might sue to find out."

Grokster Round-up. The AP reports on today's decision in "Court: File-sharing services can be liable for music theft." Reuters has this report. The AP has industry reaction in "Grokster Decision Worries Tech Industry."

Grokster Overturned. The Supremes have handed down their opinion in MGM Studios v. Grokster, and have sided with the movie studios.

More on the Spyware Wars. The AP reports in "Little Agreement on Spyware Guidelines." From the article: "Symantec Corp. sought to pre-empt a lawsuit by filing one itself, asking a federal court to declare that it had the right to call Hotbot.com Inc.'s toolbar adware. Hotbot did not respond to requests for comment."

How Long Until UDRP Decisions No Longer Make News? Reuters reports that "Saint-Exupery estate wins 'cybersquatting' case." From the article: "The literary estate of French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery on Friday won a cybersquatting case to evict a Virgin Islands operator whose Web Site sells memorabilia linked to the creator of 'The Little Prince.'"

Guess I Won't Be Using Sprint. Hot on the heels of this morning's IPL panel on spyware comes the AP's report "Major Advertisers Caught in Spyware Net." From the article: "Melinda Tiemeyer, spokeswoman for Sprint PCS, said Internet users have clicked on ads delivered by adware, meaning they find them useful. Sprint is OK with using adware because users, she said, accept it in exchange for phone service offers and discounts." (How about a class action against the people who actually click on these ads, making themprofitable?)

So Do You Think They Have Special Training Classes for This? The AP reports in "Copyright-Worried Photo Labs Spurn Jobs." From the article:

Copyright law requires photo labs to be on the lookout for portraits and other professional work that should not be duplicated without a photographer's permission. In the old days, questions about an image's provenance could be settled with a negative. If you had it, you probably had the right to reproduce it.

Now, when images are submitted on CDs or memory cards or over the Web, photofinishers often have to guess whether a picture was truly taken by the customer — or whether it was scanned into a computer or pilfered off the Internet.

Guess I'll Get to Keep My Crackberry. Reuters reports in "RIM NTP workaround for use in all BlackBerries -CEO." From the article: "RIM said it had developed a technology to work around the NTP patents, which it could use as an alternative, but it gave few details."

Eyes on the EU. Reuters reports in "Showdown looms over patenting bill." From the article: "Member states and the European Parliament are looking at a bill on patenting inventions that use software. The legislature's legal affairs committee is due to debate the bill on Monday and vote on Tuesday."

It's Over. Law.com reports in "Long-Running Patent Fight Winds Down With Decision in 'Festo' Case." From the article: "One of the longest and most controversial patent battles may have come to an end with a federal court's ruling that SMC Corp. did not infringe Festo Corp.'s rodless cylinder."

What, Does Apple Have a "Sue Me" Sign on its Back. Bag and Baggage reports: "On Monday, a lawsuit was filed in Vermont alleging that Apple's iPod infringes this U.S. patent (no. 5,864,868) for '[a] computer system and method for controlling a media playing device.' The patent holder is David Contois of eMusicGear.com."

What's Good for the Generics... The AP reports in "Drug Patents Don't Bar Rival Research - Yahoo! News." : "It means that big drug companies will have more flexibility to start experimenting with potential therapies so long as they cannot feasibly be marketed until after a competitor's patent expires. Lower courts will have to sort out just how much leeway the companies will have."

Circuit Split? I guess it's possible to distinguish this case from the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in the NWA case, as the 9th Circuit was concerned with the underlying copyrighted work, while the Sixth Circuit's decision involved the copyright to the audio recording, nevertheless, it appears that the circuits are taking vastly different approaches to musical sampling cases. The AP reports in "Court Won't Review Beastie Boys Lawsuit." From the article: "The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to dismiss Newton's lawsuit alleging copyright infringement. The appeals court reasoned that the short segment in 'Pass the Mic' was not distinctive enough to be considered Newton's work."

Sounds Like the Huck Finn Case Earlier. Copyfight points us to yet another case of rights holders pulling the plug on a musical for unusual casting here. From the write-up: "a stage production of Grease was halted by the rights organization because the female cast was going to play female students in an all-girls school putting on a performance of Grease."

Interesting UK Ruling. Internetnews.com reports that "Court Tosses Patent Case Against Corbis, Getty." From the article: "Regarding the point of sale issue, the judge cited a previous case which determined that the material object must be offered for sale at a particular location, and, specifically, did not include the hard drive of a computer. Because users of Getty's service download digital files onto their hard drives, it didn't infringe, he found."

Blame it on the Lawyers... Wired reports that "Music Muffled in Star Wars Game." From the article: "As musicians, the characters play pretend, virtual instruments like the slitherhorn, ommni box or the nalargon, but are limited to a handful of canned tunes. Lawyers at Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts envision a legal nightmare if musicians were to re-create music copyrighted in the physical world."

I Question How Many Will Limit Themselves to the New TLD. The AP reports that "Internet Group OKs 'Xxx' Web Addresses." From the article: "ICM contends the 'xxx' Web addresses, which it plans to sell for $60 a year, will protect children from online smut if adult sites voluntarily adopt the suffix so filtering software used by families can more effectively block access to those sites. The $60 price is roughly ten times higher than prices other companies charge for dot-com names."

This Is Why You Don't Allow Exes to Keep the Negatives. The AP reports that "Woman sues Yahoo over nude photos." From the article: "Cecilia Barnes, 48, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County, claims an ex-boyfriend began posting unauthorized personal profiles of her containing the photos in December. The profiles included her e-mail address and work phone number."

Doesn't Seem in Line with the Other Web Site Criticism Decisions. The AP reports that "Court Hears Falwell Web Domain Arguments." From the article: "A federal judge ruled last August the domain name was nearly identical to Falwell's Web site falwell.com and could confuse Web surfers — despite a disclaimer noting it is not affiliated with Falwell."

Anyone Know What the Belgian Statute of Limitations is? E!Online reports that "Madonna Accused of Song-Napping." From the article: "Belgian composer Salvatore Acquaviva is suing the Material Mommy, accusing her of ripping off parts of his song for her 1998 worldwide hit 'Frozen' off the multiplatinum-selling album Ray of Light."

I Guess it Was Only a Matter of Time. The AP reports that "Publishers Protest Google Library Project." From the article: "The Association of American University Presses said in a letter to Google that the online search engine's library project 'appears to involve systematic infringement of copyright on a massive scale.'"

That Just Sounds Far Too Limiting. I can think of a number of "reimaginings" of Shakespeare that would not have passed muster. The AP reports that "Racial Switch Halts 'Huck Finn' Production." From the article: "'But when you're dealing with a theatrical work and race or ethnicity is a key factor, many authors or playwrights feel strongly that ethnicity has to be reflected in the actors who portray the characters,' he said."