Download Ruling May Raise Burden for Record Labels
March 27, 2008
Those who download music to their computers now have two unlikely heroes. One is Janet Bond Arterton, a federal judge who sits in New Haven, CT. The other is Christopher David Brennan, a young Waterford, CT, resident who, among other artists, has reportedly downloaded songs by Billy Joel and Hootie and the Blowfish.
Federal Circuit Split Decision on 'Public Accessibility' of Internet Posting
March 27, 2008
Do Internet postings constitute 'printed publications' that are available as prior art under 35 U.S.C. §102(b)? Most practitioners and examiners behave as though this were a settled question. It is not. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently addressed this issue in <i>SRI International v. Internet Security Systems and Symantec</i>,. After much discussion of the principle of 'public accessibility,' the majority of the panel determined that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether a paper that SRI posted on its Internet server was a printed publication.
Sponsored Linking Can Ruffle Feathers
March 27, 2008
In <i>Boston Duck Tours, LP v. Super Duck Tours, LLC</i>, the District Court of Massachusetts ruled that sponsored linking qualifies as 'use in commerce' for purposes of trademark infringement under the Lanham Act. Although the court ultimately found no likely consumer confusion in this case, in holding that sponsored linking falls within the purview of the Lanham Act, the court joins a growing number of circuits and districts that have failed to take a cue from well-settled, and clearly analogous, offline-trademark principles. Rather, these courts seem inexplicably intent on reinventing the wheel and expanding the scope of Lanham Act protection to include Web-based activities that are virtually imperceptible to consumers.
Intimidation Goes Online
March 27, 2008
Bullies used to be fairly easy to identify: Bigger than most of us, intimidating and often vicious. While bullies haven't disappeared, they have become more difficult to detect, launching scathing attacks behind the relative anonymity of the Internet. Such acts, known as cyberbullying, are becoming easier to carry out with text-messaging, blogs and interaction through social-networking sites. And they're a growing concern not only for the victims, who can be targeted round-the-clock, but also for educators, parents and lawyers.
Truck Leasing in a Down Economy: How to Prepare
March 26, 2008
The apparent downturn of the economy is currently most prevalent in the trucking sector, which saw a dramatic increase in repossessions and liquidations in the past year. This article discusses strategic options for lessors.
Web 2.0 at Work
March 25, 2008
In recent years, millions of employees have joined the world of Web 2.0, which includes social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, blogs, wikis, podcasts, video sharing sites and RSS feeds. In this constantly changing new world, where individuals have the ability to disseminate information about their employers to a potentially world-wide Internet audience, employers need to evaluate their existing technology policies and, where necessary, implement new policies and strategies.
Emerging Internet Telemedicine Issues
March 25, 2008
Internet telemedicine, in use to varying degrees for more than a decade and general technology-assisted telemedicine for much longer than that, is plagued by concern for patients whose physicians prescribe medication without a face-to-face examination. The result has been that state boards of medical examiners and state legislatures throughout the country have initiated disciplinary hearings and legislation to limit a physician's ability to practice medicine without prior hands-on contact with a patient.
IP Storm Awaits Microsoft/Yahoo
March 25, 2008
If Microsoft can conquer Yahoo with its blustery takeover bid, there may still be another storm on the horizon over intellectual property. The two companies' views about what should be shared and what should be kept proprietary have been as different as Yahoo's sunny Silicon Valley and Microsoft's dreary Seattle.
Patent Troll Blogger Sued for Defamation
March 25, 2008
The moral of this story is 'Blogger Beware,' at least when it comes to blogging anonymously about litigation involving your employer. Before Cisco Systems Inc. in-house lawyer Richard Frenkel outed himself in February as the Patent Troll Tracker blogger, he posted blog entries in October 2007 that alleged two East Texas lawyers conspired with the Eastern District Clerk's Office to alter the filing date of an infringement suit. That suit was filed against Frenkel's employer, Cisco.
e-Working For a Living
February 29, 2008
No one would deny that those in the e-commerce economy 'work hard for the money,' in the words of nascent e-commerce entrepreneur and one-time disco queen Donna Summer. But is 'workin' for a living' any different for an e-commerce manager or executive than for the rest of us? To consider how dot-com employment has evolved over the past few years, I looked at a random sample of recent employment agreements to identify current practices and techniques in e-commerce employment contracting.
