Call for White Papers

Pike & Fischer is pleased to announce an opportunity to share Web 2.0 best practices at our upcoming Legal Risk Management Forum.  We encourage submission of white papers covering topics relevant to our program, including content infringement, privacy, reputation preservation, and other critical issues facing Internet businesses.  Executive summaries of all accepted papers will be published in the Forum reference book distributed to all registered attendees.  Full text digital versions of papers will be distributed to attendees via a secure webpage or flash drive.  Qualifying papers must be non-commercial titles formally published within the last year and must be submitted by Friday, September 5, 2008.  Submit papers to customercare@pf.com.  For more information, contact Meg Hargreaves, at 1-800-255-8131 x 229.
 

Latest News 
 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 
Video-Logging Database, Other Video Data Ordered Disclosed in YouTube-Viacom Dispute 
 
Video-sharing website YouTube, Inc.'s logging database, which includes information about how many times each video has been viewed as well as the user name and IP address of every viewer, is essential information in a copyright infringement lawsuit that must be surrendered to copyright owner plaintiffs during discovery, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held July 2.  The court said that the plaintiffs' need for the video logging information outweighed the cost in time and money of transferring the data.  The court also concluded that any privacy concerns for YouTube users—identified in the log by user name and IP address—were merely "speculative."  Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2207.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Intellectual Property news: 
 
·  Court Finds Website's Infringement Willful, Awards Copyright Owner Statutory Damages
·  En Banc Court Says National Geographic CD-ROM Collection Is a Privileged Revision
·  Study Suggests Enforcement Groups Using Flawed Tactics to Identify Alleged Infringers
·  Canadian Company Sues RIM for Patent Infringement
·  Copyright Act Preempts North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Claim
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Intellectual Property database

INTERNET COMMERCE 
 
Summary Judgment Inappropriate for Web Company Feeding False Hits to Competitor 
 
Whether an insurance quote referral service committed fraud by entering nearly 4,000 false leads into a competitor's web database, then advertising itself as providing more accurate results, is a question of fact that cannot be determined on summary judgment, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado held June 17.  The court said that whether the false leads amounted to fraud in this case raised genuine issues of material fact. The wronged company plausibly relied on the false information, and whether the reliance was justified was a question for the jury, the court said.  NetQuote, Inc. v. Byrd, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2075.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Internet Commerce news: 
 
·  D.C. Spammers Could Face Up to $500,000 Statutory Damages Under Council-OK'd Bill
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Internet Commerce database

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
Republican Committee Leaders at Odds with Family Group on Spectrum Auction 
 
Two GOP committee leaders recently made public their objections to a proposed spectrum auction by the Federal Communications Commission that includes a mandatory filter on obscene content, but their analysis is flawed and their position is "too hard," a Family Research Council fellow said July 2.  On June 30, Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) sent a letter to the FCC urging it to drop its proposed conditions for an upcoming auction of advanced wireless services spectrum.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Telecommunications news: 
 
·  Senate Begins Debate on FISA Bill; Vote Moved Due to Helms Funeral
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Telecommunications database

PRIVACY & SECURITY 
 
ISP-Advertising Partnerships Violate Federal, State Wiretap Laws, Consumer Groups Finds 
 
Behavioral advertising partnerships in which Internet service providers sell subscriber activity to online marketing companies may violate state and federal wiretap laws, according to a report published by a consumer advocacy group July 8.  Traditional online advertising arrangements comply with the federal wiretap law because they operate under agreements with webpage operators, which are parties to user communications as users surf the Web.  Internet service providers' distribution of that data, however, without subscriber consent, may not comply, Ari Schwartz, the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology's vice president and chief operating officer, said in a press briefing announcing the report.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Privacy & Security news: 
 
·  European Human Rights Court Holds U.K. Violated Law by Intercepting Communications
·  New York Legislature Sends New ID Theft Law to Governor for Signature
·  Unnecessary Disclosure of Confidential Computer Files Not Protected Under Title VII
·  PCI Standards Council Guidelines Would Require Transaction-Wide PIN Data Security
·  EU and U.S. Officials Agree on 12 Principles for Sharing Data in Law Enforcement Context
·  EU Data Retention Directive Faces Challenges in Separate Irish, European Court Hearings
·  U.K. Privacy Office Names RAND Europe to Study 'Out of Date' EU Data Directive
·  EU Article 29 Working Party Releases New Guidance on Binding Corporate Rules
·  FTC, California Privacy Office to Host Privacy Protection Workshop in August
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Privacy & Security database 

TAXATION
 
New York Guidance Memo Clarifies New Internet Sales Tax Requirements 
 
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance June 30 issued a guidance memo (TSB-M-08(3.1)S) to clarify part of the state's controversial new law requiring certain online retailers to collect sales taxes.  The memo clarifies requirements a retailer must meet to prove it is not responsible for collecting the tax by rebutting a presumption in the law.  The memo also establishes a two-part test for rebutting the presumption that a retailer must register as a sales tax vendor and collect the tax.  Subscribers read more ...

Subscribers may search ILR's Taxation database 

JURISDICTION & PROCEDURE 
 
No Judicial Notice for Wikipedia Entry, Other Web Content on Motion to Dismiss 
 
Entries on Wikipedia.com and the contents of other webpages not included in trademark infringement pleadings are not "generally known" and cannot properly be the subjects of judicial notice on a motion to dismiss, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held May 14.  The court said that notice was not appropriate for web content not included in the parties' pleadings.  Presence online did not itself lend the credibility needed for judicial notice, the court said.  Cynergy Ergonomics, Inc. v. Ergonomic Partners, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 1919.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Jurisdiction & Procedure news: 
 
·  White House Threatens Veto of Bill Requiring Preservation of Government E-Mail Records
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Jurisdiction & Procedure database

CRIMINAL LIABILITY 
 
Teenager to Plead Guilty in First Prosecution for Using P2P to Deliver Malicious Code 
 
In what prosecutors said is the first prosecution in the United States of a person for using peer-to-peer (P2P) software as a delivery mechanism for malicious computer code, a 19-year-old Wyoming man agreed June 26 to plead guilty to a federal felony charge stemming from his development of a computer worm used to infect thousands of computers and create a botnet that he then exploited to obtain credit card and banking information.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Criminal Liability database 

Latest Cases 
 
·  Cynergy Ergonomics, Inc. v. Ergonomic Partners, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 1919 [ED Mo] (Wikipedia entries and other webpage contents not included in trademark infringement pleadings are not "generally known" and cannot properly be subjects of judicial notice on a motion to dismiss)
·  Development of Nationwide Broadband Data To Evaluate Reasonable and Timely Deployment of Advanced Services to All Americans, et al. (Final Rule), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2201 [FCC] (FCC amends Form 477 data collection to collect additional data on broadband service subscriptions)
·  e360Insight, LLC v. Comcast Corp., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2205 [ND Ill] (Motion to dismiss counterclaims filed by ISP against alleged spammers is denied in large part)
·  Finance Express LLC v. Nowcom Corp., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2077 [CD Cal] (Domain name registration, "keyword stuffing," and "keying" constitute "use in commerce," cause initial interest confusion)
·  Greenberg v. National Geographic Society (En Banc Opinion), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2069 [11th Cir] (National Geographic's CD-ROM set constitutes a privileged revision of the print issues under 17 USC §201(c))
·  Liberty v. United Kingdom, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2203 [ECHR] (British government violated privacy rights of three human rights organizations by tapping their phone, fax, e-mail, and data communications)
·  Louisiana, State of v. Hatton, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2209 [La Sup Ct] (Trial court erred in holding that statute criminalizing Computer-Aided Solicitation for Sexual Purposes violated Louisiana Constitution)
·  National Security Agency Telecommunications Records Litigation, In re, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2211 [ND Cal] (FISA preempts the state secrets privilege in connection with electronic surveillance for intelligence purposes)
·  NetQuote, Inc. v. Byrd, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2075 [D Colo] (Whether an insurance quote referral service committed fraud by entering false leads into a competitor's web database, then advertising itself as providing more accurate results, cannot be determined on summary judgment)
·  Niswander v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2073 [6th Cir] (Employee's disclosure of confidential computer files in preparation for trial in order to "jog her memory" of unrelated workplace misdeeds is not protected under Title VII)
·  Rutledge v. High Point Regional Health System, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 1921 [MD NC] (State law deceptive trade practices claim alleging unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and Internet display of copyrighted works, preempted by the Copyright Act)
·  Silver Ring Splint Co. v. Digisplint, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2071 [WD Va] (Operator of website that infringes copyright in catalog liable for $30,000 in statutory damages; entitled to injunctive relief on counterclaim for cybersquatting)
·  Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2207 [SD NY] (Copyright holders have not justified their need for seeing the source code of software that the Google and YouTube websites use to search for video clips available on the Internet)
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Cases database

Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs 
 
·  Rosetta Stone Ltd. v. Rocket Languages Ltd. (Complaint), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2200 [CD Cal] (Software manufacturer sues competitor for infringement related to its alleged use of plaintiff's trademarks in Internet advertising)
·  Wi-LAN, Inc. v. Research in Motion Corp. (Complaint), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2016 [ED Tex] (Canadian technology company sues RIM, others for patent infringement)
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Pleadings database 

Latest Research from Pike & Fischer

Communications Industry Survey: Views on the U.S. Economic & Regulatory Climate - New!
Cable, satellite TV and now even telephone companies have been heavily promoting a variety of new video services, ranging from high-definition TV to movies on demand. But communications industry leaders believe the best way to attract and keep customers is by providing the fastest Internet speeds, according to this survey of executives, engineers, consultants, academics, and regulators. The study also discloses what communications executives are planning this year in terms of marketing and sales, capital expenditures, pricing and more. The survey also sheds light on the industry's biggest regulatory concerns as the Bush Administration winds down, and which of the presidential candidates is winning the most favor from the industry. The report includes 28 charts and graphs.

Residential VoIP Pricing Update - June 2008 - New!
This recurring report details the pricing and marketing strategies of residential VoIP services. Companies covered include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Verizon, AT&T, Vonage, and Lingo.

Events & Conferences 
 
Legal Risk Management Forum II: Overcoming Obstacles in the Web 2.0 World
Early Bird Registration Ends August 1
September 16 - 17, 2008 - AED Conference Center - Washington, D.C.
Gain the latest insights and guidance on dealing with the growing array of legal risks associated with Web 2.0.  We've expanded our program to include a half-day workshop on Web 2.0 essentials, and we've included panels addressing content infringement, privacy, reputation preservation, virtual worlds, and other critical issues facing Internet businesses.  Confirmed closing keynote Doug Mandell, General Counsel, LinkedIn and Managing Partner, Mandell Law Group, PC.  Upcoming keynotes to be announced.  View the entire program.  Reserve your seat before August 1st to secure our discounted Early Bird Rate!  Group, Government and Academic rates also available.  Interested in participating in or sponsoring this legal symposium?  Contact Meg Hargreaves at 301-562-1530 x 229. 


Broadband Policy Summit IV — Webcast & DVD's Now Available!
On June 12-13, BPS IV once again played host to over 200+ of the nation's top federal, state and private sector players who debated the critical issues facing the broadband industry.  40+ speakers participated in debates covering wireless broadband, network management/net neutrality, broadband deployment and more.  Keynotes were delivered by FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps, FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch, Ambassador David Gross and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL).  Missed the Summit?  Streaming video and DVDs of all Summit proceedings are now available.  Watch the Webcast  Order a DVD  Visit the Blog

View all Events & Conferences

Internet Law Attorney Directory

Find a lawyer ... Add a listing
Many of your colleagues have already added their names to Pike & Fischer's Internet Law Attorney Directory!  Isn't it time to add yours?  ILR subscribers are entitled to one complimentary premium listing per account. Additional listings and listings by non-subscribers can be purchased for $49.99 (or $69.99 for a premium boldfaced listing).  Use this form to submit your complimentary or paid listing today!

Subscription Information

In order to receive your own copy of Internet Law & Regulation's Weekly Alert, please fill out the Weekly Alert sign-up form. Also, invite colleagues to request a trial to ILR. For additional information, contact customercare@pf.com. 

To unsubscribe, do not reply to this message. Instead, please use the unsubscribe feature at the bottom of this email.