FTC Commissioner: “Somebody has got to pay”
FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle goes off about corporate data security practices. Internet News quotes him as saying “industry has, to a great extent, been irresponsible, and somebody has got to pay.” The article also quotes him as saying the lax…
Keeping Vermont Safe from Dangerous Billboards
This one made me laugh. It’s illegal to drive without a seat belt in Vermont. Billboards are also illegal in Vermont. So when the Vermont Highway Safety Program wanted to remind people to buckle up, they bought billboards in Massachusetts…
BNA on Mandatory Disclosure Laws
BNA (registration required) runs an article recapping state-level activity on mandatory security breach notification laws. Seven states (Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, and Washington) have adopted laws, and Florida is expected to join this list soon. The laws…
Supreme Court on Interstate Shipment of Wine–Granholm v. Heald
Granholm v. Heald, 544 U.S. __ (May 16, 2005). The US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, has declared that states cannot discriminate between out-of-state wineries and in-state wineries in allowing direct-to-consumer sales. Such discrimination violates the dormant commerce clause….
Racine Man Plans to Fight RIAA
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on Dave Bink, a Racine dad who was sued by the RIAA because of KaZaA downloads made by his 13 year old daughter. He has decided to fight the lawsuit in court because (a) his daughter…
Orphan Works Comments, Round 2
After the first 716 comments on orphan works, you’d think the Copyright Office would have had enough. Instead, they allowed the filing of “responses” to the initial 716 comment salvo and got another 145 comments. Whew! That’s a lot of…
Yahoo Sued for Allowing Child Porn Operators to Use Site Tools
Yahoo has been sued for allowing child pornographers to communicate with each other using hosting and messaging services from Yahoo Groups. Prediction: Yahoo will win this case on a motion to dismiss based on 47 USC 230. Why? There is…
Internet Explorer Market Share Dips Below 90%
Microsoft’s share of the browser market has dipped below 90%. On my blogs, the numbers are even less favorable for Microsoft. Consider my blog stats in the month of May (so far): “Unknown” 50.9 % (I believe this includes RSS…
Sen. Allen Introduces New Anti-Spyware Legislation
Sen. Allen promised to introduce an anti-spyware law about a month ago, but Internet News is reporting that he introduced a bill yesterday. A copy is not yet on Thomas or on Sen. Allen’s website. The article suggests that Allen…
Patent Act of 2005 Proposed Draft
The “Committee print” version of the proposal is available here. Prior comments here.