Let’s Stop Using the Term “Soft IP”
By Eric Goldman You may have heard–or even used–the phrase “soft IP.” I’m not a fan of it, and I think we should retire the term. The term “soft IP” is inherently ambiguous. Sometimes, people use “soft IP” to refer…
The FTC Smartly Ends Its Imprudent Google Search Antitrust Investigation (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ended its nearly two-year-old antitrust investigation of Google’s ($GOOG) search engine practices with minimal consequences to Google. You can see the details from the FTC’s announcement. With any company as…
In Its Rush to Fix Patent Reform, Congress Didn’t Fix Its Biggest Error (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Colleen Chien and Eric Goldman Congress passed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) (S.23), commonly referred to as “patent reform,” in September 2011. The AIA is widely acknowledged as the most important change to U.S. patent law since 1952. The AIA…
The Problem of “International Orphan Works” (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Marketa Trimble The U.S. Copyright Office recently extended the deadline by which the public may submit comments on issues related to orphan works until February 4, 2013. The Office is gathering suggestions for shaping future U.S. legislation…
Section 230 Still Keeping the Pro Se Plaintiffs at Bay–Klayman v. Facebook, and More
By Eric Goldman I’m personally committed to blogging every Section 230 case I see, but I fell off the wagon in the second half of 2012. So what better way to usher out 2012 and ring in the new year…
The FTC’s New Kid Privacy Rules (COPPA) Are a Big Mess (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the FTC) promulgated new rules (effectively July 1, 2013) interpreting the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the new rules are a real mess. They are riddled with…
Facebook Isn’t–and Shouldn’t Be–A Democracy (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In 2009, Facebook ($FB) nominally enabled user governance by obligating itself to honor user votes before making certain site policy changes. This experiment in user self-governance was radical and largely unprecedented–especially given the size of Facebook’s userbase, which…
When Will We Give Up the Charade That Numbers Are Copyrightable?–National Football Scouting v. Rang
By Eric Goldman National Football Scouting, Inc. v. Rang, 11-cv-5762-RBL (W.D. Wash. Dec. 13, 2012) Individual numbers aren’t copyrightable, no matter how much work or judgment went into producing them. This proposition seems so obvious, I feel silly even mentioning…
How to Fix Software Patents (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman There has been a lot of angst about software patents, and I’ve already posted about some of the problems software patents create and some of the challenges trying to fix those problems. Unfortunately, the rhetoric about software…
Two Challenges to Fixing Software Patents (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Software patents play a huge–and controversial–role in our economy. In a recent post, I explained some of the unique problems that software innovations pose to the patent system. This post extends that discussion by exploring two structural…