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March 30, 2006
allTunes v iTunes
AllOfMP3 Launches allTunes [still probably not legal in the U.S.] [via waxy]
Apple v. Apple [1991 trademark agreement between Apple Computer and Apple Corps, Ltd, the British company formed by the Beatles and their families. This agreement is currently the subject of litigation between the two companies in London, England.]
Apple Related: Apple v. Does
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 29, 2006
Fair Use DRM Hearings
The House Energy and Commerce Commitee has two hearings on fair use and DRM this week.
March 29 1PM, on video:
* Blake Krikorian, CEO, Sling Media
* Jim Denney, VP for Product Marketing, TiVo, Inc.;
* John Feehery, EVP, External Affairs, MPAA; and
* Stevan Mitchell, VP of IP Policy, Entertainment Software Association
Mar 31, on audio.
via Alex Curtis's blog.
Posted by Kevin Heller
Bloggers & Journalists
SEC Puts Focus on Journalists: Is it reasonable for the SEC to go after journalists' communications with sources if reporters are being used to spread misinformation.
Declan McCullagh: Thanks to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, and a lawsuit brought by Reps. Shays and Meehan, and the unwillingness of the FEC's Democratic commissioners to fight it, we now have internet election regulations.
Do journalist shield laws protect bloggers? By Helen W. Gunnarsson
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 28, 2006
D&O and K
* Google K
* Feds Pressures Companies Not to Pay Indicted Employee's Legal Fees ($)
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 27, 2006
blawg review #50
the dark goddess of replevin answers a few questions you didn't even know you had asked in Blawg Review #50. [via Blawg Review]
Additional Links:
* my Links category
* my del.icio.us daily links
* Denise Howell's monday roundup
* Wired GC: Slacking at 700 emails a day
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 24, 2006
Lawyers and blogging go together like witches and stoning
Cameron Stracher in today's WSJ ($): "According to a survey conducted by blogads.com, lawyers ranked fourth among both readers and posters to blogs. Many of the best- known blogs, such as instapundit.com, are run by lawyers. It's easy to understand why blogging attracts the J.D. set: Few professions combine as much creative talent with so much mind-numbing work."
Also discusses Wonkette, Opinionistas lawyers turned fiction writers and recommends that a happy lawyer should start a blog about their work.
See also: Wired GC on Stracher: Takes One to Know One.
* post title taken from After (Billable) Hours.
Posted by Kevin Heller
freeipods not really free
NY AG Eliot Spitzer is suing Gratis Internet for selling personal information obtained from millions of consumers despite a promise of confidentiality. [Philly.com]
Related: What’s Your Personal Information Worth? (calculator)
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 23, 2006
Global Filmmaking Risks Map 2006
Aon has just released its 2006 Risks in Global Filmmaking Map (reg req), which measures crime in more than 200 countries to help producers and directors "identify and manage the risks associated with filming in foreign countries."
Posted by Kevin Heller
DMCA is Anti-Competitive
Circumventing Competition: The Perverse Consequences of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [pdf]: "The DMCA is anti-competitive. It gives copyright holders—and the technology companies that distribute their content—the legal power to create closed technology platforms and exclude competitors from interoperating with them. Worst of all, DRM technologies are clumsy and ineffective; they inconvenience legitimate users but do little to stop pirates."
The DMCA is not only anti-competitive, but I would argue that it is unconstitutional as it does not allow for fair use, which is required by the Copyright Clause of the Constitution. I argue it here: Digital Millennium Copyright Act v. Public Use: Are Constitutional Safeguards Insufficient in an Era of Industry Lobbying.
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 21, 2006
B12 - Show Your Bones
Defamation laws and blogging [via]
Why Do So Few Women Reach the Top of Big Law Firms?
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 20, 2006
post breaches patents
Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins. [via, law, nyt]
B Vitamin Supreme Court Case Could Prove Tough Medicine for Patent Lawyers / Supreme Court Tackles Patentability of Scientific Phenomena
The Case Against Vitamins [$] [websites via podcast: nih ods; about herbs; consumerlab]
Patent lawsuits: Best defense or just offensive?
Client Communications Are Not A Billable Event. Especially, when you're discussing billing issues.
Does a government-funded website promoting evolution violate the Constitution?
It's not really about billable hours.
USPTO Launches Web-Based Filing System for Patent Applications
SVMLB Materials from talk on DRM [Related: Class action antitrust suit filed against music industry over online services; California Supreme Court to clarify right to publish damaging public facts in "non-media" context]
South Park's pulled Scientology episode is on YouTube [via waxy.org]
CC license was recently upheld in a Dutch courtroom.
Suing Google Because Your Google Site Ranking Sucks. [via] [KinderStart.com v. Google]
9th Circuit Court of Appeals says Bong Hits 4 Jesus' Banner Was Free Speech
and just in case you came here looking for something positive to say about legal bloggers after all the recent blawg-ha-ha: Blawgosphere Gets Better By the Day
Posted by Kevin Heller
Blawg Review #49
Blawg Review #49 is up at Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog [via]
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 17, 2006
Google Wins Copyright Battle
WSJ: Judge R. Barclay Surrick of the ED PA ruled [pdf] that Google's temporary storage of Web pages, a practice known as "caching," didn't constitute direct infringement of copyright.
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 15, 2006
free coffee today, free beer tomorrow
NYT: "After the Justice Department drastically reduced its request for information from Google, a federal judge said on Tuesday that he intended to approve at least part of that request"
Google on Lane’s Gifts v. Google
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 13, 2006
Blawg Review #48
Blawg Review #48 is up at Rethink(IP) - thoughts later.
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 07, 2006
Dr. Pepper v. Diet Dr. Pepper
Jeremy Richey's Adventures in Procrastination reminded me that I'm still trying to find out if there is any truth to this mefi post about Benzene in soft drinks. Diet Dr. Pepper is one of the few that doesn't have the required ingredients.
It also reminded me that you should submit your best legal posts for inclusion in Rethink(IP)'s Blawg Review #48. ALso, if you want to host it appears that there are some dates opening up in 2007.
I think Jeremy's should definitely be included since not only did he procrastinate but boldly blogged about it too.
Posted by Kevin Heller
NBC takes the right approach to offering their Content
NBC Video: "Now, instead of searching the web for "borrowed" NBC highlights, you can go to the source! We've taken your viral favorites and gathered them into one convenient location."
Here's a link to a high res version of the SNL Digital Short: Natalie Portman Raps. [via]
Previously: Youtube is not Napster
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 06, 2006
MySixSites
Since I read the NYT via gmail, here are the six sites I visit every day:
Blawgr
Bloglines
del.icio.us
Google/gmail
The Morning News
WSJ.com
I also have a handful of live bookmarklets that I check, but don't necessarily visit.
Related: digg / tech - Web users 'only visit six sites'
Posted by Kevin Heller
Teacher's Editions and First Sale
Professor Patry on how to ace those first year finals.
Posted by Kevin Heller
Shape Blog
I really like the picture of the chair used to introduce the Shape Blog [xml], a joint venture of the intellectual property law blogs ReThink (IP), the TTABlog, and the Trademark Blog.
Pictures make the text all that much more interesting, so I think the guys have a really good topic to explore.
[via an announcement on Blawgr]
For some reason, it reminds me of a course I took on Phenomenology.
Posted by Kevin Heller
Blawg Review #47
Blawg Review #47 is up at Unused and Probably Unusable.
Posted by Kevin Heller
YouTube is not Napster
Newsweek's Brad Stone supplies helpful information that further supports my thesis that YouTube is not Napster. [via waxy]
Previously: Consumption: Media and Culture
Posted by Kevin Heller
Dealbook Blog
Andrew Ross Sorkin's (of the NYT) email newsletter "Dealbook" is now a blog. [rss]
I've been subscribed to the newsletter for years and find it to be an excellent source of information.
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 05, 2006
No Comment
Y'see, Theo, I'm Litigation Cosby!
Cosby's Lawyers See No Flattery in an Imitation
Posted by Kevin Heller
this title and post caught my eye
Spring Break Trade (Un)Dress at Counterfeit Chic
Posted by Kevin Heller
but is the instruction sea sponge worthy
Math Class for Poets pointed me to this little interesting automatic spell check disaster that occurred to a Santa Clara solo who briefed the court thusly:
"An appropriate instruction limiting the judge's criminal liability in such a prosecution must be given sea sponge explaining that certain acts or omissions by themselves are not sufficient to support a conviction."
Posted by Kevin Heller | Comments (0)
March 04, 2006
Potential Problem for Internet Anonymity
BoingBoing posts:
NJ Assemblyman introduces bill to force online identification Jason Schultz says,LinkPeter J. Biondi, NJ Assemblyman for District 16, has introduced A1327, a bill to force every ISP and website with comments/forums to demand user identification from every single poster (called an "information content provider" in the bill). While ostensibly an effort to stop defamation on the net, the identification requirements apply to all posters, not just those who defame others.Link
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 03, 2006
Bizz Bang Buzz
Good luck to Anthony Cerminaro of Bizz Bang Buzz on going solo out in Pittsburgh, PA. Anthony handles all types of startup and tech stuff so if you're out his way and looking for legal help - he's your guy.
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 02, 2006
Stern Sued
CBS claims breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment and misappropriation of the CBS Corp. unit's broadcast time. [via WSJ]
Posted by Kevin Heller
Internet Pollution
That's what some call it. Lee Gomes has another name for it: Original Content: "Legitimate information, like articles from the WHO, risks being crowded out by junky, spammy imitations. Nothing very useful about that."
Posted by Kevin Heller
March 01, 2006
High Praise for Blawg Review
Sean Sirrine's Blawg Review #46 has evoked high praise from David Giacalone for the Blawg Review project:
I may have to stop reading Blawg Review every week. No, it's not because of its cutesy title. It's far more practical: The darn "carnival" of law-related weblogs keeps adding to my to-do list of things to read -- and then, naturally, of things to write -- at a pace that can never be accomplished.
To be honest, I'm not sure that anything better has ever been said about it.
Sean and David also inspired the Editor of Blawg Review to create a collaborative law blogroll -- myHq blawgs.
I definitely believe that this is a great project - to collect all the legal blogs on one page, but still feel strongly that permanent links, or an email or a comment (at least for bloggers just starting out) are great so that others know who's reading them.
While I am on the topic of Blawg Review, I hope to end kevin.lexblog's inquisition into the ownership of the site by stating for the record one final time that I am not the Editor of Blawg Review and the only reason I am even involved with the project is because when the Editor approached Evan Schaeffer about the project Evan told "Ed." that I was busting my hump trying to get the Belly Up to the Bar (blawg carnival) started. Without Ed. the blawg review in its current form might never have materialize -- so all commendations should go to Ed. Me - I just get credit for all my failed legal and blog projects and ventures. Someone has to, I guess.
Posted by Kevin Heller
Changes at Legal Blog Watch
Headline: Lisa Stone goes full time to BlogHer; Carolyn Elefant, Robert Ambrogi take on Legal Blog Watch.
Good luck and congrats to all three. Lisa has done an excellent job monitoring the Law.com affiliates and Bob and Carolyn have been must read legal blogging for me for years.
Posted by Kevin Heller
Ernie the Attorney
Congratulations to Ernie the Attorney, a legal blogging pioneer, who has hung out the shingle in New Orleans:
effective today-- I'll be practicing under the rubric Svenson Law Firm LLC. I'll continue handling the same types of business disputes that I worked on before, but with less overhead and a lower billable rate. I'll strive to use non-hourly billable arrangements, and to use technology to increase productivity and effectiveness wherever possible.If you've read Ernie's blog since way back in 2002 you know you can't count on that.
I recommend that you read his entire post (My new law firm) to understand why he has moved on after practicing with the same firm for 18 years as well as Dennis Kennedy's post on Ernie the (Solo) Attorney to understand the respect the blawgosphere has for him.
Posted by Kevin Heller
delicious.com
"del.icio.us gives you an easy way to share your collected links on a particular topic." That's how J. Matthew Buchanan of Promote the Progress describes this service.
My simple explanation: social bookmarking is the sharing of bookmarks. Del.icio.us is a tool that enables people to share their bookmarks. I collect my bookmarks here, assigning tags to each bookmark I add. People can see my bookmarks on my del.icio.us site.
Related: my links.
Posted by Kevin Heller