More courts are recognizing that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) is a misguided and unworkable law and construing it accordingly. The 9th Circuit recently found in Fair Housing Council v. Roomates.com that when an ISP actively encourages or allows some damaging third party content, the ISP can face liability in spite of the CDA. Now the U.S. District Court for Connecticut has held that Read More
Bankruptcy Software Maker Practicing Law Without License
A recent 9th Circuit decision has held that a software manufacturer was practicing law without a license. The matter, entitled Frankfort Digital Services v. Kistler (In re: Reynoso), involved a manufacturer of software for bankruptcy that advertised the software as able to determine the appropriate schedules and bankruptcy exemptions based on information provided by the user. The court found that Read More
China Military Rising in Cyberspace
Yet another example of the United States’ weakness in protecting its citizens from cybercrime and cyberwarfare is the Defense Department’s recent report on China’s growing ability to challenge the United States in "electromagnetic dominance" in conflicts. China has (correctly) identified the power of viruses, denial of service attacks (DOS) and network security as critical in wars Read More
ICANN CEO Opines on Future of Internet
Paul Twomey, President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers recently gave a presentation entitled “The Future of the Internet” which set out Twomey’s personal view of the future of the Internet including issues such as the IPv4 to IPv6 transition, new gTLDs, IDNs and more. Bottom Line: The presentation is an interesting read for those interested in opinions as to the Read More
Google Challenges Vista on Antitrust
Microsoft has returned to the antitrust spotlight based on a complaint filed by Google with the United States Department of Justice. The government response to the complaints, however, appears to be substantially less imposing than the Clinton administration’s battle of the late 1990s. First, the “soap opera” reason is that Thomas O. Barnett, a top government official, sent a letter to many state Read More
FCC Loses on Profanity
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that the FCC’s policy of penalizing broadcasters for accidental expletives was “arbitrary and capricious” and would likely run afoul of the First Amendment. The court said all speech covered by the FCC's indecency policy was fully protected by the First Amendment. Bottom Line: This is good news for the networks, who have complained for Read More
New Concerns About iTunes User Data
Apple recently announced that it would be reducing the restrictive digital rights management (DRM) encoded in songs purchased via the iTunes service. However, Apple has not changed its practice of encoding each purchased track with personal data about the purchaser. The result is that each file purchased can identify the original purchaser of the track or album. This practice was less of an issue with the Read More
MySpace Settles on Spam
MySpace recently settled an anti-spam lawsuit brought against TheGlobe.com for $2.55 million. TheGlobe appears to have used the mass marketing as a last gasp attempt to survive bankruptcy, according to its recent corporate reports. Bulk marketing practices are often seen as last ditch attempts by failing companies to right the ship. Another circumstance that tends to breed bulk marketing campaigns Read More
Top Spammer Arrested
Robert Alan Soloway, allegedly one of the world’s most prolific spammers, was arrested this week on a variety of charges including mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The potential jail time for all of the charges could be 20 years or more. The arrest of Soloway is good news for legitimate marketers, Internet Service Providers and other law-abiding e-mail Read More
Internet Spyware Prevention Act of 2007
The House of Representatives recently passed the Internet Spyware (I- SPY) Prevention Act of 2007. The bill amends the federal criminal code to prohibit intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization, or exceeding authorized access, by causing a computer program or code to be copied onto the protected computer, and intentionally using that program or code: (1) in furtherance of another Read More
