The U.S. cable industry and the government fought Internet service providers before the Supreme Court last month over whether cable high-speed Internet lines must be opened to rival Internet providers.
At issue is an appeals court decision last year that said cable high-speed Internet service, known as broadband, has a telecommunications component and therefore is subject to traditional telephone network access requirements.
The super-fast "Internet2" network that connects universities researching the next-generation Internet has found new followers in college students who download pirated music and movies.
Entertainment groups said last month they intend to sue hundreds of students accused of illegally distributing copyrighted songs and films across college campuses using the private research network, which boasts speeds hundreds of times faster than the Internet.
Spam is a cost effective and lawful marketing tool. A spammer can send an e-mail advertisement to one million people at a cost of only $100. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 allows the use of unsolicited commercial e-mail. However, to avoid legal difficulties, those who use spam should consider doing more. In particular, it is highly advisable to establish an appropriate chain of title for target list databases they acquire.
The Supreme Court appeared wary on March 29th of punishing peer-to-peer downloading services like Grokster for copyright violation, in spite of arguments by a lawyer for the recording and movie industries that they amount to "a gigantic infringement machine."
An hour of spirited oral arguments in the case MGM Studios Inc. v. Grokster Ltd., played out before a courtroom packed with intellectual property lawyers and entertainment industry representatives.
Recent developments of note in the Internet industry. This month:
Music Industry Expands Piracy Lawsuits to Asia
Senators Eschew Historical Tax for Internet
Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Extend Internet Tax Ban
Congress Moving to Tackle Spyware Problem
Judge Sentences Spammer to 9 Years
The booming world of online gambling has dealt lawyers a messy hand of legal challenges, spawning a host of lawsuits that target an industry poised to make nearly $10 billion this year ' up 40% from last year.
In California, a group of lawyers has filed a class action suit against a dozen search engines, including Yahoo and Google, for allegedly running ads that lead players to online gaming sites. The suit seeks to hold the search engines responsible for gambling losses.
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the
Tenant estoppel certificates are generally perceived by most tenants as an occasional innocuous annoyance, and in most cases they are just that. There are certain instances, however, where the careless execution by a tenant of an estoppel can lead to serious potential legal difficulties in the future.
After extensively reviewing or drafting the "substantive" provisions of a lease, it is tempting to overlook the so-called "boilerplate" provisions usually found at the end of the lease. These provisions typically are placed innocuously in the "Miscellaneous" section of a lease, thereby furthering the impression that such provisions are standardized and of little importance. Such boilerplate provisions are not nearly as uniform and standard as one might think, however, and numerous differences can be found in Miscellaneous provisions depending on whether the lease is drafted on behalf of the landlord or the tenant. It is imperative, therefore, that the boilerplate provisions of a lease are carefully reviewed by both parties to ensure that such provisions accurately and completely set forth each party's understanding of the lease terms.
The rumor that the retailing giant, Target Stores, may be taking over one of Canada's oldest and most venerable department store retailers, the 334-year-old Hudson's Bay Company ("The Bay"), and/or its junior department store discount division, Zellers, has left many Canadian landlords scrambling to review their leases in order to ascertain their rights. Many landlords will find that Target may be able to slip into The Bay's shoes without the necessity of having to obtain the landlords' consent to the transaction. Target's entry into Canada may prove to be as seamless and effortless as Wal-Mart's successful entry into the Canadian market a decade ago through its subleasing of stores from F.W. Woolworth & Company, a feat that was achieved for the most part without the necessity of landlord consent.
