The Search Engine Wars
Will NYT be hearing from Google's Trademark Enforcement team for this picture?
What would be worse than not watching the Superbowl?
1. Not being able to watch it at your favorite Las Vegas Hotel because of thorny IP issues;
2. Not being able to discuss it at the water cooler on Monday; or
3. Realizing that your computer has the MyDoom virus and not having an antidote: McAfee / Symantec.
See also: FTC infosecurity | FTC: Secure your Servers | New virus infects PCs, whacks SCO | Increasing speculation indicates that Mydoom may be a spam tool | SCO offers reward
Update: MyDoom downs SCO site
A Firm of One's Own
Lawyers that Blog, at some point, realize that working for some one else is not for them. Good luck, Howard.
January 28, 2004
Booble Update
Booble really seems to have thought their free riding out ahead of time. They received a cease and desist dated Jan 20 from Google and responded on Jan 28 telling Google that they don't think that the law support's Google's position and Google should reconsider because "Booble is parody."
Booble's IP Counsel did a good job of covering the trademark cases, including the LL Beane case I mentioned last time, as well as distinguishing the copyright parody case that Google cites. However, both parties fail to mention the Second Circuit case I cited, Deere v. MTD, which states that a seller of commercial products who seeks attention for their product by poking fun runs the risk of diluting the selling power of plaintiff's trademark. That case seems to me to be right on -- I wonder if it is still good case law.
Prior Post: Titillating new search engine may irk Google
Priceless Pirated Erotica
Perfect 10 asks the USDC for NoCal whether Visa can be held liable for the sale of millions of stolen photos and film clips worth billions of dollars that belong to Perfect 10 and third-parties as the knowing provider of crucial transactional support services.
Source: Reuters
Update: Google, Trademark and Keyword Ads
American Blind and Wallpaper Factory filed suit against Google in New York federal court claiming that Google's practice of selling text ads related to keyword search terms takes advantage of American Blind's trademarks, given that competitors' ads can appear on results pages turned up by searches for "American wallpaper" and "American blind."*
This lawsuit comes almost two months after Google filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., asking the court to rule on whether its keyword-advertising policy is legal.*. Google indicated that it would block advertisers from buying keywords which directly infringe American Blind's trademarks, but not descriptive or generic phrases such as american blind.
This most recent lawsuit comes on the heels of the settlement between Playboy and Netscape that failed to resolve such issues.
See also: Trademark Blog has Google's complaint and link to an earlier story in which he's heavily quoted: Google Asks Judge to Lay Down Trademark Law.
IP, Protectionism and Foreign Trade
Thomas Goetz in Wired on whether America's ever more stringent IP regulations is forcing innnovation overseas? [The Eagle Is Grounded]
Scott Miller at WSJ reports that a possible WTO decision may force the US to allow internet gambling. [Does the U.S. Ban n E-Gambling Volate the WTO? (WSJ sub req.)]
AZ Senator plans to push for net gambling law (again): Arizona Senator Jon Kyl says that he plans to re-introduce Internet gambling legislation again this year. The Kyl bill would prohibit states from legalizing online wagering within their borders. [via BNA Internet Law News]
New Blawg Revue
I've taken some time to read through the posts at the [non]billable hour and Notes from the (Legal) Underground and will need to immediately add them to the aggregator. Both are providing interesting thoughts and analysis on items I haven't seen anywhere else.
January 27, 2004
Wanted: Hacker Bounty Hunters
"In a move that better resembles the strategies of Wyatt Earp and Pat Garrett than that of a tech company, Bill Gates has officially put a bounty on the heads of Internet outlaws. With its new Wild West-type initiative, Microsoft has allocated $5 million in huge cash payouts for anyone who can help bring down computer hackers who create devastating computer viruses." [RIMS]
Related: SCO offers $250,000 reward for arrest of Mydoom worm author
January 26, 2004
Postings on several recently discussed topics
Frank Field's Jan 26 posts cover a lot of topics recently covered here, including copyright and contract.
OpenTable provides Open Access to user info
OpenTable.com has cookie security issues that allow users to change the cookie and access other user's info. [WSJ.com (sub req'd)] I think that this may be the same problem that recently launched Okrut had to shut down for this weekend.
January 25, 2004
The Tyranny of Copyright?
Selected quotes from the NYT article by Robert Boynton.
My question is why label them Copy Left when they are rooted in traditional and strict constitutional notions of COPY RIGHT?...They see themselves as fighting for a traditional understanding of intellectual property in the face of a radical effort to turn copyright law into a tool for hoarding ideas. "The notion that intellectual property rights should never expire, and works never enter the public domain -- this is the truly fanatical and unconstitutional position," says Jonathan Zittrain....
...[Benkler] notes that each major innovation in the history of communications -- the printing press, radio, telephone -- was followed by a brief period of openness before the rules of its usage were determined and alternatives eliminated. "The Internet is in that space right now...."
Comment on the article here.
See also: Public Domain Needs Your Help [EFF] | DMCA v. Public Use: Are Constitutional Safeguards Insufficient in an Era of Industry Lobbying [pdf]
Musicians to Launch Digital Music Artist Union
Hoping to stem the tide of complex accounting that often cheats artists out of their revenues, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno have started MUDDA so artists may secure revenue from digital downloads.
Kevin J. Heller, Esq.
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