Important 2d Circuit Adware Case–1-800 Contacts v. WhenU
1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. WhenU.com, Inc., Docket Nos. 04-0026-cv and 04-0446-cv (2d Cir. June 27, 2005). Overshadowed by yesterday’s Grokster mania, the Second Circuit finally issued an important ruling about WhenU’s liability for trademark infringement. The court found that WhenU…
Guest Blogger–Mark Schultz
I’m pleased to introduce Mark Schultz as a guest blogger. Mark is a law professor at Southern Illinois University, where he teaches intellectual property courses and legal ethics. Prior to becoming a law professor, Mark was an IT and IP…
Grokster Ruling Commentary
In this post, I’ll summarize some of the various blog reactions to Grokster that I’ve come across. You should start with my own, of course! For another good roundup (with some overlap to this post), see Ernest Miller’s The Importance…
Grokster Supreme Court Ruling
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd, Case No. 04-480. (US Supreme Court June 27, 2005). What Happened The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit’s upholding of summary judgment for the defendants, sending the case back to the lower courts…
AP Story on Defining Spyware/Adware
As a follow-up to yesterday’s story on advertiser liability for adware, today the AP runs a story about the definitional ambiguities of the words “spyware” and “adware,” and the problems those ambiguities create. I think this quote sums it up…
Problems with Congress’ Latest Anti-Porn Law
Congress’ latest anti-porn attack is codified in 18 U.S.C. 2257. a law which requires anyone producing or distributing pornography to engage in some costly and logistically-difficulty verifications and record-keeping. Kurt Opsahl at EFF explains how this law affects more than…
AP Story on Advertiser Responsibility for Adware
Michael Gormley of the Associated Press has finally released his story on advertiser responsibility for adware (I interviewed with him almost a month ago). The article does a good job recapping the issues. I have a lot more to say…
Is Copyright Infringement “Theft”?
The BBC reports on a study that the British do not equate downloading copyright material with theft. The British have specifically rejected one of the standard analogies that downloading copyrighted music is just like shoplifting a CD of the music…
FTC Goes After Another Bogus Anti-Spyware Remover
FTC v. Trustsoft, No. H05-1905 (S.D. Tex. complaint filed May 31, 2005; Stipulated Preliminary Injunction Order granted June 14, 2005). The FTC has busted another vendor of anti-spyware software for making false claims about its products–specifically, that the “SpyKiller” software…
Interview at Spyware Informer
Alex Morganis at Spyware Informer interviewed me about adware/spyware issues. Read the interview here. This ended up being a great way for me to articulate some of my latest thoughts. I hope you find the interview interesting, and I welcome…