Wired details a DMCA dispute that is pitting ISP Verio against veteran thing.net communications from New York, a hybrid non-profit (serving the arts community) and for-profit telecom service. Thing.net hosted a site that lampooned Dow Chemical, using the company’s trademark, resulting in the termination of their service by Verio.
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Monthly Archives: December 2002
Yahoo v. NCR in Patent Case
Yahoo and NCR (founded in 1884 as National Cash Register Company) are battling over computer patents and associated licensing fees in the District Court in San Francisco. On December 13, Yahoo filed suit against NCR (4:02-cv-05813, Yahoo! Inc. v. NCR Corporation Saundra Brown Armstrong, presiding) claiming it is not infringing NCR’s patents. Continue Reading
Lindows v. Windows
This New York Times article reports on the anticipated trail in the Western District of Washington that pits the 50 person Lindows.com against the Microsoft behemoth in an effort to revoke the Windows trademark and protect against Microsoft’s claims of copyright infringement. Judge John C. Coughenour’s March 15, 2002 30 page ruling in this ongoing… Continue Reading
Verizon and Privacy Rules
Washington state and telecom provider Verizon are involved in a lawsuit, in the U.S. District Court Western District of Washington, over the collection and distribution of customer data to third parties for marketing purposes. The state’s position is that customer privacy should prevail over sale of their data, while Verizon is pushing the FCC to… Continue Reading
Supreme Court and DVD Case
On December 26, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor issued an order granting a temporary stay in DVD Copy Control Association v. Matthew Pavlovich (S 100609), pending receipt of further documentation relevant to the case. The DVD Copy Control Association has been fighting a three-year long battle to protect the Content Scramble System (CSS), a… Continue Reading
Commentary On Net Filtering
This Wired article by the co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, Lauren Weinstein, argues against the merits of internet filters in favor of education and personal responsibility. Continue Reading
"Counting on the Internet"
A new Pew Internet and American Life report released today indicates that the Internet has “become a mainstream information tool.” The 60% of Americans who have access to the Web rely on it as a primary information resource. They use it routinely to locate data from local, state and federal government agencies, to answer health… Continue Reading
DVD Copying and Fair Use
JD’s Blog mentioned a new site, Protect Fair Use, that is championing the right to make backup copies of DVDs. The site provides background on the copyright law as it applies to digital media, links to related pending legislation as well as to the DMCA, and press about how consumers have been impacted when attempting… Continue Reading
IP Law Cases in 2002
In this Law.com article, a litigation partner from NY’s Paul Weiss reviews what he considers the top 12 IP cases of 2002. Continue Reading
Yahoo and Your Privacy
This San Francisco Chronicle article speculates that Yahoo’s December 23 announcement that the company has acquired search engine Inktomi will likely result in several important ramifications. Yahoo’s tracking and monitoring of its growing population of users will increase, along with associated activities geared toward exponentially increasing the marketing of products and services to already ad-saturated… Continue Reading
Australian Libel Law Suit
Penn State Prof. of Journalsim R. Thomas Berner’s commentary on the December 10 Australian Internet libel case highlights concerns voiced elsewhere that ramifications of the case may include blocking access to sites in other countries to avoid more such litigation. Continue Reading
EU Copyright Directive Lacks Support
The EU Directive 2001/29/EC (22 May 2001) “on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society” has only two signatories as the deadline for its adoption came, and went. Only Greece and Denmark agreed to implement the EU’s counterpart to the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), much to… Continue Reading
