Public Productivity for Patent People
March 01, 2006
Does anyone remember this scene? "Call on 2 for Joe Jones!!" "Hold 2!!" Before cell phones, that was how you reached someone in the USPTO Public Search Room in Crystal Plaza 3 of Crystal City. Joe disappeared into a phone booth to conduct his business.
Lost In The Stacks Again?
February 28, 2006
Congressional funding has provided millions of Americans access to the Internet at public libraries. Reacting to complaints that library users were accessing pornographic and obscene materials, Congress enacted The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) (codified at 20 U.S.C. 9134 (2001) and 47 U.S.C. 254(h) (2001)), which mandates that libraries receiving federal funding install Internet filters. <br>Due to technological limitations, these filters block more Internet access than necessary, keeping adult patrons from accessing constitutionally protected material. The Supreme Court upheld the law, finding it a valid exercise of Congress' spending power. <i>United States v. Am. Library Ass'n</i>. However, Tenth Amendment challenges in the federal courts could result in the Supreme Court being forced to take a second look at CIPA's validity.
ISP Rats Out User
February 28, 2006
Internet users surrender any privacy rights they have to their subscriber information when they sign up for online service, a New Haven Superior Court judge has ruled in a matter of first impression in Connecticut.
Perfect 10 Racks Up Preliminary Injunction Against Google
February 28, 2006
Google's popular image search service might be in legal jeopardy. A Los Angeles federal judge ruled last month that the Internet search engine's image search feature, which displays thumbnail versions of images found on other Web sites, probably infringed a Web pornographer's copyrights. In a 48-page preliminary ruling, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz reluctantly sided with Perfect 10, a Beverly Hills, CA, adult entertainment publisher, in its copyright claim against the Internet search giant.
Net News
February 28, 2006
Report: Spyware Threats Tripled in 2005
Resolving Disputes in the Digital Age
February 28, 2006
When German banking behemoth WestLB needed its people to agree on a strategic plan for developing human resources, it turned to mediator Alex Yaroslavsky and his New York City-based Yaro Group for guidance. <br>Using an innovative system that combines "brainstorming" software from GroupSystems with traditional arbitration, Yaroslavsky facilitated a collaboration involving about 20 participants. The group, ranging from an analyst to a managing director, achieved in 2 hours what might've taken 2 weeks of discussion and review using only traditional arbitration techniques.
Online Gambling's Payoff
February 28, 2006
Although online gambling is illegal in the United States, you'd never know it by looking at the numbers. Last year alone 7.8 million Americans logged on to Internet gambling sites. <br>And with the online gambling industry banking almost $12 billion in revenue in 2005, some U.S. casinos think the time has come to legalize Internet gambling and cash in ' a position that was considered all but unthinkable until recently.
12 Angry Surfers: Mock Trials Go Online
February 28, 2006
A growing group of lawyers are seeking quicker, cheaper ways to get feedback about their cases. With technology already providing much in the way of trial support, it seems only natural that virtual communication has begun filling the mock jury gap.
<b>Technology in Marketing:</b> Podcasting For Lawyers: The Nuts And Bolts
February 28, 2006
In layman's terms, podcasting provides publishers with the ability to create their own audio broadcast and store it on the Internet for download by interested individuals to listen to at any time ' and anywhere ' they want. <br>This article will explain the nuts and bolts of creating a "podcast."
Protecting E-mail For Complete Client Privacy
February 28, 2006
Attorney-client privilege, liability for breach of confidentiality obligations and damage to a firm's reputation were all reasons originally cited for stopping the use of e-mail at law firms before it even started. Convenience and responsiveness to clients became justification enough to ignore the basic issue that e-mail was inherently insecure. The standard form disclaimer that we now see at the end of every lawyer's e-mail became the solution to protecting the confidential nature of attorney-client communications. Is it sufficient today?
