Talk about a big deal. Microsoft has offered to purchase Yahoo for $44 billion. If completed, the monstrosity would be an instant Google competitor, combining the forces of two firms that alone have not been able to compete with Google. While the deal is a long way from coming to fruition, this seems to make sense at first glance. Both Yahoo and Microsoft have had their various struggles over the Read More
ICANN Kills Domain Tasting
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has announced a proposal to start charging a non-refundable annual ICANN fee on registrar domain registrations immediately upon registration. The ICANN Board resolved to: . . . encourage ICANN's budgetary process to include fees for all domains added, including domains added during the AGP, and encourages community discussion involved in Read More
Bill Eyes International IP Help
A recent bill introduced in the house, entitled “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007,” or PRO IP for short, casts an eye towards improving international cooperation and enforcement of IP rights. The bill, introduced by John Conyers of Michigan, proposes that the United States Patent and Trademark Office appoint 10 intellectual property attachés to serve Read More
Happy MLK Day
Working for protection of individual rights, whether for civil rights, privacy rights or IP rights, requires leadership. The holiday is a good opportunity to be reminded that Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent style of leadership, which relies on truth, justice, and belief in force of law, is an effective method of resolving disputes and bringing about change in a variety of arenas. Read More
Of CyberLaw and CyberLawg
Unfortunately, there have been some blog postings and other communications regarding this firm’s application for the use of the mark “CyberLaw” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Because many of these communications are lacking in providing complete and accurate information, the firm issues the following statement. A blog post issued by EFF’s Corynne McSherry criticizes the firm’s application. Read More
Domain Tasting Under Review
ICANN, the agency responsible for global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, including domain names and Internet protocols, is eyeing the practice of domain name tasting for policy changes. Tasting, originally designed to keep typos from becoming permanent errors, is also used by domain name entrepreneurs to test the profitability of certain names before committing to Read More
Suicide, Cyberbullying & Cybervigilantes
The Washington Post has a feature on the story of Megan Meier, the girl who committed suicide based on messages she received from a group of cyberbullies. The feature tells the entire story of the saga from start to end, and nicely illustrates the mentality and organization of online groups with questionable intentions. Also of interest is the limited statutory options prosecutors had in Read More
FTC Proposes Online Behavioral Ad Principles
To address important consumer privacy concerns associated with online behavioral advertising, the Federal Trade Commission recently released a set of proposed principles for advertisers to follow. The “principles” include (a) that web sites that collect behavioral data should prominently display this fact and give consumers the option to “opt-out” of the collection, (b) any data that is collected Read More
Data Thefts and Breaches Rising
Organizations that maintain personal data are spending more money and time on improving security, but many are finding that investments are too late or insufficient. Various watchdog groups report that the number of compromised records in 2007 reached 162 million records worldwide. The groups reported that 2007 was a record year for the number of privacy security breaches. While the Read More
Expanded Records Retention in P2P Litigation
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) won a copyright lawsuit against the operators of TorrentSpy.com primarily because of the defendants’ tampering of evidence. The court determined that the defendants had destroyed evidence after another judge had ordered them to keep server logs, user IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and other information. TorrentSpy argued that it destroyed certain records Read More