Latest News 
 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 
Trademark Owners Clarify, Solidify Demands for Needed Protections in Coming New gTLDs

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers's specially-commissioned "Implementation Recommendation Team," an internationally diverse group of trademark lawyers and owners, published May 29 a final report outlining the protections they say represent a bare-minimum approach to safeguarding trademark rights that ICANN should adopt if it moves forward with its plan to open applications for an unlimited number of new domain names.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Intellectual Property news: 
 
·  Market Demand for New gTLDs Strong in Second Level, 'Pre-Order' Program Claims
·  Supreme Court Will Review Bilski Case on Test for Patentability of Business Methods
·  Government Recommends Denial of Cert in Cablevision 'Remote Storage' DVR Case
·  EU Signals Breakthrough in Establishing Pan-European Online Music Licensing System
·  Rogue Google Analytics Account Access Did Not Destroy Secrecy of Marketing Metrics
·  New Website Seeks to Track Debate About Google Book Settlement
·  EU States Urge Investigation Into Google's Digital Book Plan
·  Earlier Online Commerce Roundtable Shows Progress in Music Licensing in EU
·  Domain Name User Who Lost at WIPO Is Nailed as Cybersquatter in Federal Court
·  Famous Mark's Registration as Domain Name Not Itself Evidence of Intent to Profit
·  Wyden and Brownback Propose Bill to Amend Webcaster Settlement Act
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Intellectual Property database

INTERNET COMMERCE 
 
Host's Website Removal Could Support Breach of License but Not Conversion Claim

A website design and hosting company could not be held liable for conversion of a website it removed after its client failed to pay for requested modifications, because the client was merely a licensee and did not own the site, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled May 19.  Conwell v. Gray Loon Outdoor Marketing Group, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1877.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Internet Commerce news: 
 
·  Employer's Allegations of Loss Alone Enough to Advance CFAA Claim to Trial
·  Firm Sues Google for AdWords Tied to Competitor
·  California Deceptive E-Mail Subject Claims Aren't Preempted by CAN-SPAM, Court Rules
·  French High Court Rules eBay May Close User Company's Accounts Without Warning
·  Contract's Writing Requirement Not Satisfied by E-Mail, Minnesota Supreme Court Decrees
·  DeLauro Bill Would Create Infrastructure Bank; Dodd May Soon Reintroduce His Plan
·  WTO Panel to Issue Final Ruling on Chinese Audiovisual Restrictions in June
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Internet Commerce database

FREEDOM OF SPEECH
 
MySpace Prompts Asking Users to Enter Details Did Not Make It a 'Content Provider'

The MySpace social network's prompts to users, asking them to provide information to fill in user profiles, did not make the service an "information content provider" that could be held liable for the publication of the contents of users' profiles, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled May 22.  Doe IX v. MySpace, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1889.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Freedom of Speech news: 
 
·  Single-Publication Rule Applies to Alleged Online Slur
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Freedom of Speech database 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
President Obama Confirms Support for Net Neutrality in Internet Policy

President Obama May 29 reiterated his support for the controversial concept of network neutrality, making reference to it as he unveiled a new cybersecurity report and plan that his administration is adopting.  Obama has long supported net neutrality, which aims to ensure that Internet service providers do not block, degrade, or discriminate against online content, services, or applications that might compete with them.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Telecommunications news: 
 
·  FCC Releases Farm Bill Report on State of Rural Broadband Access
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Telecommunications database

PRIVACY & SECURITY 
 
Amended Nevada Personal Information E-Data Transfer Law Includes Mobile Storage Devices

Nevada Gov. James A. Gibbons (R) May 29 signed a bill (S.B. 227) that will require entities doing business in the state to encrypt data storage devices containing personal information that they move outside the secured physical and logical boundaries of the entity.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Privacy & Security news: 
 
·  Napolitano Consolidates DHS Cybersecurity Leadership, Announces New Appointments
·  White House Expected to Release Results of 60-Day Cybersecurity Review
·  Company's Keylogger Use May Violate Wiretap Act
·  Advisory Board Urges Privacy Act Update in Light of Emerging Technological Trends
·  Tech Leaders Praise Obama Plan to Boost U.S. Cybersecurity
·  New White House Cyber Official Faces Tough Challenges, Experts Say
·  New Swedish Surveillance Law Amendments Would Add Court, Privacy Review to Process
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Privacy & Security database 

TAXATION
 
NCSL Tax Panel Opposed to UDITPA Revision Effort

State legislators involved in multistate streamlined sales tax efforts are opposed to a current initiative to revise a model uniform apportionment law, the co-chairman of the panel said May 30.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Taxation news: 
 
·  Vendor Compensation Language Said Delaying Federal SSUTA Bill
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Taxation database 

JURISDICTION & PROCEDURE 
 
Use of Mark in AdWords Text May Generate Jurisdiction Where Trademark Holder Resides

New York and Connecticut residents that incorporated trademarks into the text of Google AdWords may have to defend against infringement claims in Nebraska where the mark holder resides, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska ruled May 14.  ShoeMoney Media Group, Inc. v. Farrell, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1871.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Jurisdiction & Procedure news: 
 
·  California Forum Likely Inconvenient for Facebook Action Also Filed in Germany
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Jurisdiction & Procedure database

CRIMINAL LIABILITY 
 
Accessing Ex-Spouse's E-Mail Account May Be Abuse

A woman's request to extend a restraining order under the state Domestic Violence Protection Act against her ex-husband—based on her allegation that he accessed her private e-mail account without her permission—should not have been dismissed, the California Court of Appeal, Sixth District, said in an opinion filed April 24 and published May 19.  Nadkarni v. Nadkarni, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1713.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Criminal Liability news: 
 
·  ITU Issues Cybercrime Legislation Toolkit, Cybercrime Guide for Developing Countries
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Criminal Liability database 

Latest Cases 
 
·  Alderman v. Pocahontas County Board of Education, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1121 [W Va] (Statements about public school officials made by a teacher on the Internet and at public hearing were not protected by the First Amendment)
·  Asis Internet Services v. Vistaprint USA, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1833 [ND Cal] (Claims under California's deceptive advertising law arising from misleading e-mail subject lines are not preempted by the federal CAN-SPAM Act)
·  Bloomington-Normal Seating Co. v. Albritton, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1891 [CD Ill] (Plaintiff adequately states claims under the CFAA and the SCA)
·  Brahmana v. Lembo, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1873 [ND Cal] (Company may have violated the Wiretap Act when it used keylogging tools to monitor employees' personal communications)
·  Conwell v. Gray Loon Outdoor Marketing Group, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1877 [Ind] (Lacking ownership of copyright, defendant could not maintain counterclaim for conversion against website developer)
·  Doe IX v. MySpace, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1889 [ED Tex] (By prompting its users to supplement their profiles with additional information via a list of categories, MySpace does become an information content provider under the CDA)
·  DWC v. eBay Europe S.A.R.L., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1881 [Cour de Cassation (France)] (French court upheld the right of eBay to terminate, without warning, the accounts of a company it suspected of trying to get around the eBay user agreement)
·  Facebook, Inc. v. StudiVZ Ltd., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1803 [ND Cal] (California forum likely inconvenient for Facebook action also filed in Germany)
·  Gillette Co. v. Amaltea Impex S.R.L., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1883 [WIPO] (Registration of a known trademark as a domain name does not itself evidence a bad faith intent to later sell the domain to the trademark owner, even if the registrant has a history of proposing such sales)
·  Holland v. Hurley, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1893 [Ariz Ct App] (Trial court did not err in dismissing plaintiff's complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction over the out-of-state defendant who sold a car to plaintiff, an Arizona resident, through eBay)
·  Interflora, Inc. v. Marks and Spencer PLC, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1885 [High Ct Just, Ch Div (UK)] (Case regarding the use of trademarks in keyword advertising will be referred to the ECJ, as there ought to be a common European set of answers to these issues)
·  Nadkarni v. Nadkarni, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1713 [Cal Ct App] (Accessing ex-spouse's e-mail account may be abuse under state Domestic Violence Protection Act)
·  Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of v. Diodoro, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1875 [Pa] (Accessing and viewing child porn on the Internet constitutes sufficient "control" to support conviction)
·  Salyer v. Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1699 [WD Ky] (Single-publication rule, which provides that defamation occurs when a statement is made to the public, applies to content posted online)
·  Search Warrant Executed on March 30, 2009 at the Residence of Movant Riccardo Calixte, In re, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1879 [Mass] (Law enforcement authorities must return laptop and other property seized from student's dorm room because there was no probable cause to search the room)
·  ShoeMoney Media Group, Inc. v. Farrell, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1871 [D Neb] (New York and Connecticut residents that incorporated trademarks into the text of Google AdWords may have to defend against infringement claims in Nebraska where the mark holder resides)
·  Sony Music Entertainment v. Cloud, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1887 [ED Pa] (Court denies motion to dismiss P2P infringement complaint)
·  Terry, In re (Public Reprimand), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1715 [NC Jud Standards Comm'n] (Judge's ex parte communications with lawyer via Facebook warrant a public reprimand)
·  Texas International Property Associates v. Hoerbiger Holding AG, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1845 [ND Tex] (Plaintiff's bad faith registration and use of domain name violates ACPA)
·  Valspar Refinish, Inc. v. Gaylord's, Inc., 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1701 [Minn] (A contract provision requiring that intent to terminate be provided in writing 60 days before termination is not satisfied by an e-mail expressing one party's displeasure with the other's performance)
·  Vinyl Interactive, LLC v. Guarino, 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1869 [ND Cal] (Trade secret status of proprietary marketing data was not destroyed by a former employee's unauthorized access to a company's Google Analytics account)
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Cases database

Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs 
 
·  Bilski v. Doll (Petitioners' Reply Brief), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1836 [US] (The Federal Circuit's "machine-or-transformation" test has abruptly changed the law of what can be patented, and therefore warrants Supreme Court review)
·  Bradburn v. North Central Regional Library District (Brief of Amici Curiae Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy & Technology), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1828 [Wash] (Public library's refusal to remove content filtering software violates First Amendment, as well as a key U.S. Supreme Court decision)
·  Bradburn v. North Central Regional Library District (Corrected Plaintiffs' Opening Brief), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1454 [Wash] (Public library's filtering policy is overbroad and an unconstitutional content-based restriction on speech)
·  Cable News Network, Inc. v. CSC Holdings, Inc. (Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1830 [US] (Solicitor General says that petition for a writ of certiorari in case about remote-storage DVR should be denied)
·  ICM Registry, LLC v. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN's Response to Claimant's Memorial on the Merits), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1834 [Int'l Ctr Disp Res] (ICANN argues that it did not act inconsistently with its articles and bylaws in considering and ultimately denying application for .xxx TLD)
·  Stratton Faxon v. Google, Inc. (Complaint), 2009 ILRWeb (P&F) 1832 [Conn Super Ct] (Application for prejudgment remedy to attach Google's property due to use of law firm's trademark as Google AdWord)
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Pleadings database 

Latest Research from Pike & Fischer

Consumer IPTV Outlook 2009 – New!
IPTV as a broad consumer solution is at a very early and arguably primitive stage in its development. Standards need to be developed, interoperability addressed and capital costs investigated. Dense urban areas or regions with an established fiber footprint will experience an earlier deployment--perhaps in the three-to-five-year range. In the meantime, a number of over-the-top video providers will latch onto available broadband networks with proprietary solutions that will promise to be "disruptive" to both legacy and IPTV offerings. However, P&F contends that proprietary solutions risk eventual obsolescence or buyout as fiber network and IPTV deployments manifest on a widespread scale. This report provides an outlook on the network buildouts, customer demand and opportunities in the IPTV-enabled world.  Learn More  Order Now

Household Telecom Spending and the Economic Crisis: A Consumer Survey – New!
Cutbacks in home communications and entertainment services have yet to emerge as a measurable trend, despite the ongoing recession. This nationwide survey indicates that most consumers are spending the same amount on phone, Internet and multichannel video as they've spent in the past. Respondents say they would rather keep Internet, video and voice services in their budgets than any other type of expense, including gym memberships, personal care products and apparel. But the results also point to customers becoming more aware of ways to spend less on those services, such as converting to lower-priced Internet service tiers or watching TV shows online for free. This report provides details on our survey findings, including a rich array of demographic variables and predictions about customer behavior over the remainder of 2009. Thirty-nine charts are included.  Learn More  Order Now

Events & Conferences 
 

Broadband Policy Summit V – Two Weeks Left to Register
Sheraton Crystal City - Arlington, VA, June 18 & 19, 2009
BPS V will once again play host to the nation's top federal, state and private sector players who will discuss and debate the critical issues facing the broadband industry, including a volatile economy, wireless broadband, network management/net neutrality, broadband deployment and more. Confirmed keynotes include Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Acting FCC Chair Michael J. Copps, Mark Seifert, Senior Advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Department of Commerce & Grant Seiffert, President of the Telecommunications Industry Association. View the Summit program. Interested in sponsoring? Contact Todd Dale.  Learn More  Register Now 


Trademark-Based Keyword Advertising: Potential Liability and Avenues for Relief – New Webinar!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 |  2:00 – 3:30 p.m. EDT
The debate over the use of others' trademarks to trigger online advertisements is heating up.  A recent ruling held that such use constitutes an actionable "use in commerce," while other cases are pending, including claims against advertisers and search engines, and even class action lawsuits.  At the same time, Google is liberalizing its policy to permit use of third-party trademarks in some text ads.  Join Pike & Fischer for an interactive Webinar featuring legal experts from Google, Santa Clara Law School, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as they clarify common misconceptions about keyword advertising, examine the implications of third-party trademark use, and offer guidance for brand owners, marketers, resellers, and website operators.  Learn More  Order Now

View all Events & Conferences

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