Wednesday, November 15, 2006		ILR Home Page

Weekly Alert November 15, 2006 Publication Schedule Latest News Intellectual Property Internet Commerce Freedom of Speech Telecommunications Privacy & Security Jurisdiction & Procedure Criminal Liability Latest Cases Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs CD Recording of Web Accessibility Conference Now Available Subscription Information

Publication Schedule The ILR Weekly Alert will not publish the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The next issue will be dated Wednesday, November 29, 2006. The ILR staff wishes its readers a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Latest News INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY YouTube's Online Neighbor at utube.com Raises Trademark, Nuisance, Trespass Claims The popularity of the YouTube video-sharing site has lead to scores of confused consumers to mistakenly visit a tube supplier's web site at utube.com, creating unwanted traffic and causing damage, according to a complaint filed Oct. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Increased traffic from misguided YouTube seekers has caused the plaintiff's web servers to crash, and has forced the plaintiff to incur increased web hosting fees to handle the load. Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corp. v. YouTube, Inc. (Complaint), 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2814. Read more...

Other Intellectual Property news: Administrators of Popular Finnish Web Site Found Guilty of Allowing Downloads Pittsburgh Law Professor Examines New Copyright Structures from Different Angles Search ILR's Intellectual Property database

INTERNET COMMERCE Court Affirms Ruling that GPL Is Not an Antitrust Violation An allegation that the GNU General Public License prevents a potential market participant from developing a competing operating system is insufficient to support a claim of price fixing under the Sherman Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held Nov. 9. Affirming the dismissal of an antitrust challenge against the GPL and the Linux operating system, the court characterized the plaintiff's legal argument as substantively faulty, and concluded that neither the GPL nor open-source software have anything to fear from the antitrust laws. Wallace v. International Business Machines Corp., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3013. Read more...

Other Internet Commerce news: Use of Software Is Not Assent to EULA Where License Deemed 'Additional Terms' Technology's Imminent Convergence Means Regulatory Scheme Must Adapt, Panelists Say Advertiser Intended to Send Unlawful Spam by Inducing Conduct of E-Mail, List Vendors Bill Gates Says Competitors Attempting to 'Castrate' Vista by Complaining to EC International Spam-Fighting Alliance Launched SEC's Cox Posts Letter About Regulation on Blog Experts Outline Strategies for Effective Use of Open Source Software Court Halts 'Malware' Spreader as Interim Relief in FTC Lawsuit Search ILR's Internet Commerce database

FREEDOM OF SPEECH Blogger That Linked to Tattle Site Drawn Into Suit A blogger that boosted the notoriety of a lesser-known blog by linking and promoting the blog may be added as a defendant in an invasion of privacy lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Oct. 30. Robert Steinbuch sued Jessica Cutler, a former Hill staffer, for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress stemming from various posts Cutler made to her "Washingtonienne" blog in which she described her social and sexual activities with various men, including Steinbuch. Shortly after those posts began to appear, another blogger, Ana Marie Cox, operator of the "Wonkette" web site, posted a link to Washingtonienne. That link resulted in a wider circulation for the posts. Steinbuch v. Cutler, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2891. Read more... Search ILR's Freedom of Speech database

TELECOMMUNICATIONS Communications Legislation to Change Under Congress Controlled by Democrats Lawmakers and industry officials anticipate a shift in both the content and handling of communications legislation in the next Congress with both chambers of Congress controlled by Democrats. Instead of a comprehensive bill, there will be significantly more oversight, hearings, and perhaps more tailored legislation that can win bipartisan support in the House and Senate, they predict. Read more... Search ILR's Telecommunications database

PRIVACY & SECURITY German Court Rules ISPs Must Delete Some Customer IP Logs German Internet service providers will have to delete some customers' Internet Protocol (IP) logs upon request following the release of a court ruling made public the week of Nov. 6. The decision issued by the Bundesgerichtshof, Germany's Federal Court of Justice—the highest appellate court for civil and criminal cases—effectively ends attempts by T-Online to save records of its customers' Internet usage. The Oct. 26 ruling threw out T-Online's argument for technical reasons, effectively allowing a Jan. 25 ruling by the District Court of Darmstadt (25 S 118/05) to stand. German IP Logs Case [party names withheld by law], 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2885. Read more...

Other Privacy & Security news: Ninth Circuit Formally Approves Appeal in Alleged NSA Phone Surveillance Suit Panelists Say Explosive Pace of Tech Change Undercuts FTC Regulatory Compliance Efforts Bush Calls Surveillance Legislation 'Priority' Item for Lame-Duck Session ChoicePoint Data Breach Class Claims Dismissed by California Federal Court Global Data Protection, Privacy Officials Issue Closing Communiqué on Surveillance Former OMB Privacy Chief Says FTC Must Adapt Approach to New Congress Web Searches on Potential Employees Illegal, Finland's Data Protection Ombudsman Rules Search ILR's Privacy & Security database

JURISDICTION & PROCEDURE Diversity Held as Insufficient Basis to Confer Jurisdiction Over Unknown Poster A federal district court does not have jurisdiction to hear a defamation claim involving anonymous online postings where, as here, that jurisdiction is based exclusively on diversity, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts held Oct. 31. Difficult though this result may be, the court explained, it is necessary because of the "very troubling" risk that authorizing a subpoena to unmask the defendant's identity may reveal that the defendant is, in fact, from the plaintiff's own state. McMann v. Doe, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2901. Read more...

Other Jurisdiction & Procedure news: Pennsylvania Justices Overturn Orders to Hand Over Hard Drives E-Newsletter Eligible for News Media Privilege Password-Protected Site Doesn't Support Jurisdiction Search ILR's Jurisdiction & Procedure database

CRIMINAL LIABILITY Delay in Executing Computer Search Warrant OK The passage of five months between the time a defendant e-mailed images of child pornography and police officers executed an affidavit for a warrant to search his home and computer did not render the information underlying the affidavit stale, the Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District, held Oct. 6. The appeals court overturned a trial court's suppression of evidence and held that the information was not stale and that the images were likely to be found wherever the defendant was living at the time. Therefore, it concluded, the warrant fulfilled the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. State of Florida v. Felix, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2893. Read more...

Other Criminal Liability news: CFAA Sentence Properly Weighed 'Lost Productivity' Search ILR's Criminal Liability database

Latest Cases Asis Internet Services v. Optin Global, Inc., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2671 [ND Cal] (Advertiser intended to send unlawful spam by inducing conduct of e-mail, list vendors) C.B.C. Wood Products, Inc. v. LMD Integrated Logistics Services, Inc., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2897 [ED NY] (Password-protected site doesn't support jurisdiction) Federal Trade Commission v. ERG Ventures, LLC (Temporary Restraining Order), 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2899 [D Nev] (Court shuts down an operation that secretly downloaded multiple malevolent software programs, including spyware, onto millions of computers without consumers' consent) Florida, State of v. Felix, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2893 [Fla Dist Ct App] (Delay in executing computer search warrant OK) Forensic Advisors, Inc. v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2683 [Md Ct Spec App] (E-newsletter eligible for news media privilege) German IP Logs Case [party names withheld by law], 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2885 [Bundesgerichtshof (Germany)] (German court rules ISPs must delete some customer IP logs) Harrington v. ChoicePoint, Inc., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2895 [CD Cal] (ChoicePoint data breach class claims dismissed by California federal court) Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. v. Haute Diggity Dog, LLC, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3015 [ED Va] (Use of Internet as trade channel does not by itself imply likely consumer confusion) McMann v. Doe, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2901 [D Mass] (Diversity held as insufficient basis to confer jurisdiction over unknown poster) Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of v. Diodoro, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3009 [Pa Super Ct] (Defendant not criminally liable for merely viewing child porn on the Internet) Steinbuch v. Cutler, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2891 [D DC] (Blogger that linked to tattle site drawn into suit) Twenty-Fourth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, In re, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2887 [Pa Sup Ct] (Pennsylvania justices overturn orders to hand over hard drives) UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Lindor, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3017 [ED NY] (Court grants alleged file sharer leave to amend answer to include affirmative defense that statutory damages of $750 per sound recording is unconstitutionally excessive) United Power Line Council's Petition for Declaratory Ruling Regarding the Classification of Broadband over Power Line Internet Access Service as an Information Service, In re, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3011 [FCC] (Commission classifies BPL-enabled Internet access service to be an information service) United States v. Schuster, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2861 [7th Cir] (CFAA sentence properly weighed 'lost productivity') Wachter Management Co. v. Dexter & Chaney, Inc., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2883 [Kan Sup Ct] (Use of software is not assent to EULA where license deemed 'additional terms') Wallace v. International Business Machines Corp., 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3013 [7th Cir] (Provision of software under General Public License does not violate antitrust laws) Search ILR's Cases database

Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs Federal Trade Commission v. ERG Ventures, LLC (Complaint), 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2816 [D Nev] (FTC alleges that defendants tricked consumers into downloading malevolent software without their consent) NetCoalition Notice of Intention to Petition for Review: SR-NYSEArca-2006-21, 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3006 [SEC] (NetCoalition raises concerns with the SEC about stock exchanges' efforts to eliminate real-time market data for consumers on the Internet) Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corp. v. YouTube, Inc. (Complaint), 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 2814 [ND Ohio] (YouTube's online neighbor at utube.com raises trademark, nuisance, trespass claims) Search ILR's Pleadings database

CD Recording of Web Accessibility Conference Now Available If you missed our audio conference on Accessibility in Cyberspace, you haven't missed out completely. CD-ROM recordings of the event are now available. Order one today!

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