Download.com has declared itself adware bundle-free—all downloads from Download.com will be certified not to be bundled with adware. Personally, I think this step goes a little far. Many of the software programs offered on Download.com are shareware or freeware, so…
I missed this before—perhaps I wasn’t the only one. ICANN has repeatedly attempted to impose a “tax” on domain names. This was first proposed back in 1999 and again at the end of 2004. Now, at the end of March,…
Uli Widmaier of Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP has written an important new article, Use, Liability, and the Structure of Trademark Law, 33 Hofstra L. Rev. 603 (2004). The article makes a persuasive argument why keyword triggering should…
New York v. Intermix Media (complaint filed April 28, 2005). Elliott Spitzer has sued software vendor Intermix Media (formerly eUniverse) for violations of New York’s consumer protection act, false advertising and common law trespass to chattels based on Intermix’s “spyware/adware.”…
I exchanged emails with Ed Foster regarding the anti-camcordering portion of the ART Act. Ed expressed concerns about the proportionality of criminalizing camcordering, and he has a point. Merely recording a movie is not, by itself, harmful. At worst, camcordering…
Not surprisingly, Pres. Bush signed the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 into law today. My critiques on film skipping and new criminal sanctions. UPDATE: Fred von Lohmann offers his characteristically clear-headed perspective on the Family Entertainment and Copyright…
The Walmart Foundation has gone after the gripe site “walmart-foundation.org” using 512(c)(3) notices to take down images that the griper took from walmartfoundation.org. A few observations about this: * copyright is an extremely effective tool against gripers. Using a 512(c)(3)…
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel sued for alleged circulation count fraud. UPDATE: Not surprisingly, the Journal-Sentinel has denied the charge. UPDATE #2: July response by the Journal-Sentinel. Then, on August 26, Shorewest alleges that the Journal-Sentinel “reimbursed carriers to buy extra copies of…
An Internet access provider has sued Kraft Foods under CAN-SPAM and the California anti-spam law. This case is a little unusual because, to date, most CAN-SPAM lawsuits have been against marginal marketers, in many cases who were expected to default….
Matthew Buchanan of Promote the Progress has assembled some source material regarding the proposed Patent Act of 2005, a surprisingly broad proposal to reform patent law. Among other significant changes, it proposes to scrap the first to invent standard in…