Web 2.0 Forum Less Than 2 Weeks Away

Only 13 days left to register for Pike & Fischer's conference, Legal Risk Management in the Web 2.0 World, to be held Tuesday, Sept. 18 in Washington, D.C.  Don't miss this unique opportunity to:

·  Network with industry colleagues from the 60+ organizations already planning to attend. 
·  Hear keynote presentations by MPAA, Inc. Chairman & CEO Dan Glickman, AOL's Chief Privacy Officer & Sr. V.P. of Consumer Advocacy Jules Polonetsky and Facebook Vice President & Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly.
·  Participate in 5 interactive panel discussions covering the opportunities and risks arising from video distribution, social networking, user-generated content, and other Web 2.0 applications.

View the full program for a detailed rundown of all panels and participating faculty.  Group, government, non-profit, solo-practitioner, and academic rates are available.  Learn More  Register Now

Latest News 
 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 
Microsoft's 'i'm' for Instant Messaging Is Not Confusingly Similar to Instant Media's 'I'M' 
 
The senior user of the mark "I'M" cannot bar Microsoft Corp. from using its lowercase "i'm" mark for instant messaging philanthropic efforts because the "I'M' mark is weak and the parties' goods—downloadable software applications—are distinct, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled Aug. 13.  Refusing to enjoin the software giant's use of its mark, the court emphasized that for claims involving a likelihood of confusion over the Internet, particularly in the case of a weak mark, a court must examine all relevant Sleekcraft factors, especially those factors identified as the "Internet troika."  Instant Media, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2423.  Read more ...

Other Intellectual Property news: 
 
·  Showing That Domain Name Control Would Be Transferred Supports Ex Parte TRO Relief
·  CRS Report Surveys Responses to Royalty Board's Webcaster Rate Ruling
 
Search ILR's Intellectual Property database

INTERNET COMMERCE 
 
E-Mail Marketer's Conclusory Claims of Loss Fail to Support $11 Million Default Judgment 
 
Damages imposed following a default, based solely on an e-mail marketer's projections of the value of lost business opportunities as a result of being blacklisted by the defendant, violated the rule that damages must be calculated to a reasonable certainty in default cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held Aug. 30.  The court also said that an injunction prohibiting the blacklist creator from ever again classifying the defendant as a "spammer" was unjustified. The injunction needed to take the possibility of changed circumstances into account.  e360 Insight, LLC v. The Spamhaus Project, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2479.  Read more ...
 
Other Internet Commerce news: 
 
·  Trading Partners Await U.S. Plans for Compensation in WTO Gambling Dispute
·  DOJ, States Applaud Outcome from Final Judgments in Microsoft Case
·  States Question Effect of 2002 Microsoft Consent Decree on Market Dominance
·  Japan Appeals Adverse WTO Rulings in DRAMs Case Against South Korea
·  Officials Say Rio Internet Meeting to Address 'Critical Resources' Issues
 
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH
 
FEC Dismisses Case Against Daily Kos, Says Rules Do Not Apply to Internet Blogs 
 
The Federal Election Commission has dismissed an enforcement case in which the liberal Internet blog Daily Kos was charged with violating campaign finance law by posting blog entries that support particular federal candidates.  The FEC said in a Sept. 4 statement the commissioners voted unanimously to find that Internet blog activity is exempt from regulation under the media exemption and the volunteer exemption to campaign finance law.  In re Kos Media, LLC, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2601.  Read more ...
 
Other Freedom of Speech news: 
 
·  Article Accessible Through Searchable Web Archive Held Continuously Published
·  Web Site Qualifies as News Media for FOIA Waiver
 
Search ILR's Freedom of Speech database 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
FCC Dismisses M2Z Application to Build Free Broadband Network 
 
The Federal Communications Commission late Aug. 31 dismissed an application and denied a forbearance petition filed by M2Z Networks, Inc. to build a free nationwide broadband network, and will initiate a rulemaking instead.  At issue is 20 MHz of unpaired spectrum in the 2155-2175 MHz band, which has been lying fallow for about seven years.  In May 2006, M2Z filed an application with the FCC to build a free nationwide broadband network using that spectrum if the commission gave it the license.  In re Applications for License and Authority to Operate the 2155-2175 MHz Band (Order), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2481.  Read more ...
 
Other Telecommunications news: 
 
·  FCC Adopts Additional Safeguards to Deter Fraud in Universal Service
·  Incentives Best Way to Achieve Broadband Access, IIA's Irving Says
·  ITU Cites Growth in Mobile, Internet Users, Increase in Independent Regulatory Agencies
 
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PRIVACY & SECURITY 
 
TorrentSpy Wiretap Suit Against MPAA Over Use of Hacked E-Mails Dismissed 
 
A lawsuit by TorrentSpy that accused the Motion Picture Association of America of illegally intercepting e-mails from the peer-to-peer network to use in a related copyright infringement case was dismissed Aug. 22 by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.  Judge Florence-Marie Cooper rejected claims that the Wiretap Act, 18 USC §2510, was implicated when e-mails were hacked from plaintiff Justin Bunnell and then sold by the hacker to MPAA.  Bunnell v. Motion Picture Association of America, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2467.  Read more ...
 
Other Privacy & Security news: 
 
·  Privacy Advocates Vow Aggressive Lobbying Against Long-Term Warrantless Surveillance
·  Council of Europe Argues Case for Enhancing Protection of Users
·  Monster Says 1.3 Million Job Seekers Affected by Web Site Hacking Breach
 
Search ILR's Privacy & Security database 

TAXATION
 
State Cooperation on Business Taxes Seen Necessary to Fend Off Federal Limits 
 
States should continue joint efforts to simplify and modernize the taxation of businesses in order to reduce chances that federal lawmakers will intervene to the detriment of state taxing authority, according to Joe Huddleston, executive director of the Multistate Tax Commission.  Huddleston, who recently spoke on the theme at the annual meeting of the Midwestern States Association of Tax Administrators, said Aug. 31 that the approach currently being taken by states to tax business income was rooted in assumptions dating back to the 1950s, and which were badly out of step with current business practices.  Read more ...

Search ILR's Taxation database 

JURISDICTION & PROCEDURE 
 
Citing Web Site Interactivity, Court Finds Purposeful Availment in Single eBay Sale 
 
Sellers using Internet auction site eBay purposefully avail themselves of forums where their buyers reside by virtue of the eBay site's interactivity, the Louisiana Court of Appeal held Aug. 8.  The court analyzed an eBay sale gone wrong under the interactivity test established in Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc.  The court concluded that because eBay is more than an "information only" site, all sales facilitated through it were the result of intentional contacts that would support jurisdiction.  Crummey v. Morgan, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2471.  Read more ...
 
Other Jurisdiction & Procedure news: 
 
·  TorrentSpy Web Server RAM Data Must Be Released in Discovery
 
Search ILR's Jurisdiction & Procedure database

Latest Cases 
 
·  Applications for License and Authority to Operate the 2155-2175 MHz Band, In re (Order), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2481 [FCC] (FCC denies M2Z's application to build a free, national wireless broadband service in the 2155-2175 MHz band)
·  Art Attacks Ink, LLC v. MGA Entertainment, Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2293 [SD Cal] (Mere display of copyrighted words on web site, without more, does not establish "access" for purposes of infringement liability)
·  Atlantic Recording Corp. v. Howell, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2465 [D Ariz] (Computer owner violated copyright owners' distribution rights by making sound recordings available to others via P2P network)
·  Bunnell v. Motion Picture Association of America, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2467 [CD Cal] (No violation of Wiretap Act where hacker accessed e-mail in electronic storage)
·  Center for Public Integrity v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2475 [D DC] (Web site qualifies as news media for FOIA waiver)
·  Columbia Pictures, Inc. v. Bunnell, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2463 [CD Cal] (TorrentSpy web server RAM data must be released in discovery)
·  Comprehensive Review of the Universal Service Fund Management, Administration, and Oversight, In re (Report and Order), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2469 [FCC] (FCC adopts additional safeguards to deter fraud in universal service)
·  Crummey v. Morgan, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2471 [La Ct App] (Citing web site interactivity, court finds purposeful availment in single eBay sale)
·  e360 Insight v. The Spamhaus Project, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2479 [7th Cir] (Default judgment against spam filtering company affirmed, but damage award and injunctive relief vacated and remanded)
·  Instant Media, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2423 [ND Cal] (Microsoft's 'i'm' for instant messaging is not confusingly similar to Instant Media's 'I'M')
·  Jankovic v. International Crisis Group, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2291 [DC Cir] (Republication of allegedly defamatory reports on the Internet did not restart the one-year statute of limitations for defamation)
·  Kos Media, LLC, In re, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2601 [FEC] (FEC dismisses case against Daily Kos, says rules do not apply to Internet blogs)
·  Lennar Pacific Properties Management, Inc. v. Dauben, Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2429 [ND Tex] (Showing that domain name control would be transferred supports ex parte TRO relief)
·  Taub v. McClatchy Newspapers, Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2473 [D SC] (Article accessible through searchable web archive held continuously published)
·  Zango, Inc. v. Kaspersky Lab, Inc., 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2477 [WD Wash] (CDA immunizes company whose software designates plaintiff's product as malware)
 
Search ILR's Cases database

Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs 
 
·  New York, State of v. Microsoft Corp. (California Group's Report on Remedial Effectiveness), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2420 [D DC] (States question effect of 2002 Microsoft consent decree on market dominance)
·  Polaris IP, LLC v. Google, Inc. (Complaint), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2416 [ED Tex] (Patent owner files infringement action against Internet companies over message routing)
·  United States v. Microsoft Corp. (Review of the Final Judgments by the United States and New York Group), 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2418 [D DC] (DOJ, states applaud outcome from final judgments in Microsoft case)
 
Search ILR's Pleadings database 

Latest Research from Pike & Fischer

Competitive Analysis: U.S. Mobile Broadband Services Strategies 2007
A number of emerging mobile applications will be significant drivers of revenue growth in the wireless services market. Many of these applications – particularly those that rely on mobile broadband technology -- will redefine the competitive position and strength of key players in the market. This analysis discusses the content, services, and applications employed and planned by the key players in the U.S. wireless market, and assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and potential for success of each. The reort also includes predictions on the competitive dynamics that will result from the emergence of mobile broadband services. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, T-Mobile, Alltel, and others are covered. 

Fiber Optic Telecommunications Networks: Construction Contracts
This second volume of James Booth's treatise on fiber optic telecommunications networks will assist owners and contractors in preparing clear and viable contracts for the construction of elements of telecommunications systems. The author discusses the important elements of a construction contract from both the owner's perspective and the contractor's perspective, and offers alternate clauses to suit the varying needs of individual owners and contractors. The key elements of fiber optic construction agreements--from achieving clarity in describing the work to be performed to providing fairness and security in the termination clause--are covered in clear, easy to adopt text and incisive explanatory comments. 

View all Market Research Reports & Briefs

Events & Conferences 
 
Net Neutrality: Still on the Front Burner - Summit Audio Recording Now Available
It's not too late to catch the debate that took center stage at Pike & Fischer's Broadband Policy Summit.  Purchase this 75-minute audio recording and listen in as our panel of experts engage in a lively debate of the pros and cons of net neutrality and whether or not legislation is likely to pass in the 110th Congress.   You'll hear the very latest insights and opinions from top organizations in the thick of the net neutrality debate -- including Jim Cicconi of AT&T; Gigi Sohn, President of Public Knowledge; Mike McCurry, Partner, Public Strategies and Paul E. Misener of Amazon.com.  
Learn More   Order Now

View all Events & Conferences

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