Wednesday, March 14, 2007 ILR Home Page

Weekly Alert
March 14, 2007
Latest News
  • Intellectual Property
  • Internet Commerce
  • Freedom of Speech
  • Telecommunications
  • Privacy & Security
  • Taxation
  • Jurisdiction & Procedure
  • Criminal Liability
    Latest Cases
    Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs
    Latest Research from Pike & Fischer
    User Generated Content: The New, New Media Revolution
    Subscription Information
  • Latest News
    INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
    Video Entertainment Giant Seeks $1 Billion for Copyright Infringements on YouTube Site
    Viacom International, owner of some of the most popular video programming freely coursing across the Internet, filed a $1 billion copyright infringement suit March 13 against YouTube, Inc., operator of the YouTube video-sharing web site. Viacom, in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleged both direct and secondary copyright infringement claims against YouTube. Viacom's complaint alleged, "YouTube has harnessed technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale," appropriating "the value of creative content on a massive scale for YouTube's benefit without payment or license." Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. (Complaint), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1402. Read more...
    Other Intellectual Property news:
  • Tariff 22 Could Force Online Game Services to Pay Much More for Performance Rights
  • C-SPAN Relaxes Policy for Use of Its Government Event Video Coverage
  • Video Game Cheat for 'Leveling Up' Players Alleged to Violate DMCA, EULA Prohibitions
  • DRM Debate Not Likely to Be Resolved by Federal Rules, FTC Commissioner Says
  • Content Industry, Academia Share Latest Efforts to End Illegal File-Sharing by Students
  • WIPO Cites Rise in Cybersquatting Disputes, Threat from Registration Abuse
  • Use of Domain Name After Cease-and-Desist Letter Sufficient to Establish Bad Faith Intent
  • Advisory Role of UK Patent Office to Grow Sharply in Wake of Gowers Review
  • Search ILR's Intellectual Property database

    INTERNET COMMERCE
    SEC Halts Trading in 35 Stocks Touted in Spam E-Mail Campaigns
    The Securities and Exchange Commission announced March 8 that it has suspended trading in the securities of 35 companies that have been the subject of recent "spam" e-mail campaigns touting their value. The trading suspensions, which are the most "ever aimed at spammed companies," were imposed because of questions about the "adequacy and accuracy of information about the companies," the agency said in a release. In re Certain Companies Quoted on the Pink Sheets (Order of Suspension of Trading), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1409. Read more...
    Other Internet Commerce news:
  • House Hearing on Radio Policy Focuses on Proposed XM-Sirius Satellite Merger
  • Three from India Charged in Case Alleging Online-Account Hacking, Sell-Off
  • Search ILR's Internet Commerce database

    FREEDOM OF SPEECH
    Site's Knowledge of Claim, Delay Removing Content No Bar to CDA Section 230 Immunity
    The mere fact that a web site operator had been given notice that defamatory postings and e-mail messages were present on its network was not enough to deprive the site operator of CDA Section 230 immunity from claims arising from the messages, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held Feb. 13. The court also rejected the plaintiff's argument that the site operator's delay in removing the offensive material defeated Section 230 immunity. Eckert v. Microsoft Corp., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1243. Read more...
    Search ILR's Freedom of Speech database

    TELECOMMUNICATIONS
    Small Business Chairwoman Asks Telephone, Cable Firms How to Better Deploy Broadband
    Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee, sought answers March 7 from a panel of telephone and cable officials about advancing broadband deployment in the United States, an issue of critical importance to entrepreneurs. Her questions elicited a range of responses from the panel, including further debate on the merits of net neutrality regulations. Several of the panel participants also mentioned the need to reform the universal service fund and the Rural Utilities Service's broadband grant program. Read more...
    Search ILR's Telecommunications database

    PRIVACY & SECURITY
    PTO Report Details Personal, National Security Risks with Inadvertent Filesharing
    The Patent and Trademark Office March 5 released a report concluding that the distributors of five popular filesharing programs repeatedly deployed features that they knew or should have known could cause users to share files inadvertently. The report, "Filesharing Programs and Technological Features to Induce Users to Share," identifies features in recent versions of five popular filesharing programs that could cause users to inadvertently distribute to others downloaded files or their own proprietary or sensitive files. Read more...
    Other Privacy & Security news:
  • French Agency Launches Consultation on Access to Whois Database Information
  • FTC to Hold April Workshop on Identity Authentication
  • Attorney General: There Is 'No Excuse' for Errors in FBI Requests for Records
  • Italian Employers May Not Monitor Worker E-Mail
  • Study: Data Creation to Outstrip Storage Capacity
  • OPM Asks Federal Insurers for E-Health Commitment
  • Spain to Require One-Year Retention of ISP Connection, Telephone Call Data
  • Ontario Commissioner Issues Direction on Storing Data on Laptop Computers
  • Search ILR's Privacy & Security database

    TAXATION
    Extending Internet Tax Freeze Could Spur Better Broadband Deployment, Officials Say
    A permanent extension of the Internet tax moratorium is needed to advance broadband deployment in the United States, a pair of telecommunications executives told a House panel March 7. Richard Cimerman, vice president of state telecommunications policy at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said broadband service should not be assessed for universal service, which is "in effect" the same thing as a tax. Read more...
    Other Taxation news:
  • New York City Issues Memo on Internet Access, VoIP
  • Search ILR's Taxation database

    JURISDICTION & PROCEDURE
    Single Online Auction Transaction Does Not Support Minimum Contacts in Buyer's Forum
    Participation in an online auction does not, in and of itself, subject a seller to jurisdiction wherever the buyer lives if the seller did not engage in any activities outside of the single sale to invoke the protections of that forum, the New York Civil Court for Richmond County held Feb. 27. In evaluating an eBay transaction gone sour, the court determined that the parties were not prevented by eBay's user agreement from bringing civil actions against each other. Notwithstanding, the court declined jurisdiction in this case because it said the seller had not purposefully availed itself of the New York forum where the buyer resided. Sayeedi v. Walser, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1283. Read more...
    Other Jurisdiction & Procedure news:
  • Jurisdiction Denied When Web Contacts Referenced, but Did Not Induce, Sales There
  • Accessibility of Gambling Sites in Nevada Insufficient to Support Jurisdiction There
  • Search ILR's Jurisdiction & Procedure database

    CRIMINAL LIABILITY
    ISP Disclosure, If Statutorily Compelled, Requires No Validation to Support Warrant
    When an Internet service provider complies with federal requirements to disclose known illegal activities, its tips are presumptively reliable, the Florida Court of Appeals for the Second District held Feb. 23. The court held that tips about child pornography that America Online furnished to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were presumptively reliable as the basis for a search warrant because federal statute required AOL to make them. AOL had no motivation for reporting the illegal activity other than complying with the law, the court said. State of Florida v. Woldridge, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1285. Read more...
    Other Criminal Liability news:
  • Criminalizing Spyware, Malware Is Target of Missouri Legislation
  • Sweden to Outlaw Denial of Service Attacks, Step Up Action Against Piracy
  • Search ILR's Criminal Liability database

    Latest Cases
  • Anlin Industries, Inc. v. Burgess, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1419 [ED Cal] (Use of domain name after cease-and-desist letter sufficient to establish bad faith intent)
  • BidZirk, LLC v. Smith, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1407 [4th Cir] (District court properly denied preliminary injunction in case alleging that blog articles violated the Federal Trademark Dilution Act)
  • Certain Companies Quoted on the Pink Sheets (Order of Suspension of Trading), In re, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1409 [SEC] (SEC halts trading in 35 stocks touted in spam e-mail campaigns)
  • Eckert v. Microsoft Corp., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1243 [ED Mich] (Site's knowledge of claim, delay removing content no bar to CDA immunity)
  • Florida, State of v. Woldridge, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1285 [Fla Dist Ct App] (ISP disclosure, if statutorily compelled, requires no validation to support warrant)
  • Mullally v. Jones, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1291 [D Nev] (Exercise of personal jurisdiction improper where plaintiffs have failed to allege that defendants have intentionally targeted Nevada residents with the intent or knowledge of harming plaintiff through their web sites)
  • Nevyas v. Morgan, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1415 [Pa Super Ct] (Gripe site operator's agreement to remove specific libelous statements does not amount to wholesale gag order)
  • Optimal Beverage Co., Inc. v. United Brands Co., Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1287 [SD Tex] (When the web site is passive, the mere fact that it contains a copy of a nationwide article as published in a Texas newspaper does not establish minimum contacts with Texas)
  • Price v. Corzine, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1423 [D NJ] (Online publication of publicly available information, where the public availability of that information is not challenged, does not give rise to a valid claim)
  • Sayeedi v. Walser, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1283 [NY City Civ Ct] (Single online auction transaction does not support minimum contacts in buyer's forum)
  • Skyline Software Systems, Inc. v. Keyhole, Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1405 [D Mass] (Google Earth does not infringe patent)
  • Sundance Image Technology, Inc. v. Cone Editions Press, Ltd., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1421 [SD Cal] (Linking to alleged defamatory statements does not constitute republication for purposes of statute of limitations, but a change in web site's header could)
  • United States v. Alvarez, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1417 [8th Cir] (Special condition of supervised release prohibiting defendant from having Internet access is upheld)
  • United States v. Cyberheat, Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1413 [D Ariz] (Vicarious liability for violations of CAN-SPAM and FTC labeling rule for sexually explicit content)
  • United States v. Kelley, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1411 [9th Cir] (Totality of circumstances establishes probable cause to search computer based on receipt of e-mails containing child porn)
  • United States v. McVey, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1289 [ED Va] (The five-level enhancement under §2G2.2(b)(3)(B) of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual applies when a defendant, as a member of a file-sharing group of computer users, receives child pornography over the Internet while also knowing that his computer shares it with other members of the group)
  • Search ILR's Cases database

    Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs
  • MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (Defendants' Answer, Counterclaims and Third-Party Complaint), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1224 [D Ariz] (Video game companies respond to complaint from seller of game cheating software tool and allege violations of DMCA)
  • MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (First Amended Complaint), 2006 ILRWeb (P&F) 3250 [D Ariz] (Seller of video game cheating software tool seeks ruling that it does not violate the game companies' DMCA rights)
  • Securities and Exchange Commission v. Marimuthu (Civil Complaint), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1400 [D Neb] (SEC brings civil charges against three from India alleging online-account hacking, sell-off)
  • Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. (Complaint), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1402 [SD NY] (Video entertainment giant seeks $1 billion for copyright infringements on YouTube site)
  • Search ILR's Pleadings database

    Latest Research from Pike & Fischer
    AT&T U-verse: Analysis of the Business Strategy
    This analysis examines the status of AT&T's new U-verse rollout, including the company's pricing, technology and regulatory strategies for expanding the new service. The report includes initial customer metrics and outlines systems-integration challenges that the company faces as it builds the network that will carry U-verse services. We conclude that AT&T will be forced to significantly increase its investment in network infrastructure as U-verse scales. The report includes valuable qualitative forecasts, our recommendations to the company regarding overall strategy for the service, and AT&T's responses to our conclusions.
    Order now

    User Generated Content: The New, New Media Revolution
    March 29, 2007 - 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
    Last year marked the rapid emergence of offerings that radically altered the Internet content landscape. User Generated Content or "UGC" exploded on the scene along with new tools that greatly facilitated content collaboration, publication, and distribution. Coupled with widespread adoption and use of social networking sites, 2006 culminated in the $1.6B acquisition of YouTube by Google. These developments raise new legal challenges for rights holders and users — affecting intellectual property, privacy, defamation, consumer protection, negligence, and contract formation. Join Pike & Fischer's panel of experts as they address these and other issues surfacing on the new, new media horizon.
    Register now

    Subscription Information
    In order to receive your own copy of Internet Law & Regulation's Weekly Alert, please fill out the Weekly Alert sign-up form. Also, invite colleagues to request a trial to ILR. For additional information, contact customercare@pf.com.

    To unsubscribe, do not reply to this message. Instead, please use the unsubscribe feature at the bottom of this email.

    Pike & Fischer • 1010 Wayne Avenue • Suite 1400 • Silver Spring, MD 20910-5600
    Phone: 1-800-255-8131 • Fax: 301-562-1521 • Web:
    www.pf.com
    Privacy Policy

    Click here to unsubscribe

    HomeSite MapForward to a FriendCustomer CareContact Pike and Fischer, Inc.