Battle for Wireless Spectrum Heating Up

  Wireless spectrum promises to become one of the hottest commodities of the 21st Century. The radio spectrum, a limited resource, is the range of radio frequencies on which wireless communications may travel. Just as certain domain names or posh physical addresses are valuable, certain portions of the spectrum can be very valuable to business, government, the military and community service and protection, Read More

A Sexy Second Life Copyright Suit

  A company founded by an ex-plumber is suing for copyright infringement over the “SexGen bed, a software application that allows two characters to have sex in the game.” Eros, the firm that develops and sells the software online, alleges that another character in Second Life found a technical exploitation that allowed the object to be copied and resold at a substantial discount over the price Eros was Read More

EU and US Will Share Passenger Data

  The European Union and United States have announced a new effort to share passenger name records (PNRs) for purposes of providing more information about terrorist threats. The European Union will ensure that air carriers operating passenger flights in foreign air transportation to or from the United States of America will make available PNR data contained in their reservation systems as required by Read More

ISPs Start Charging For E-Mail

In a move that was imminent given the rise in unsolicited commercial e-mails, some internet service providers have begun to start charging for the privilege of sending e-mail. Internet service providers Comcast, Cox Communications, Road Runner and AOL will now charge legitimate mass-mailers, such as banks, inestment firms and retailers, for the privilege of delivering their legitimate e-mail messages to the ISPs’ Read More

Spam, Trojans, Law and Terrorism

  A new study suggests that certain phishing and spamming operations are filtering their proceeds directly into terrorist cells that plan to attack the United Kingdom and United States. The men behind the operation in the study used stolen credit cards, obtained via phishing schemes, to purchase necessary materials. The men then used the stolen credit cards to launder money through online gambling sites, Read More

Google and Doubleclick Questioned in Europe

  BEUC, Europe's major consumer group, is following the lead of the U.S. based Electronic Privacy Information Center in questioning the privacy effects of a proposed merger/acquisition between Google and DoubleClick. Bottom Line: More pressure on privacy matters will do little to help the acquisition which is already playing defense on privacy matters within the United States. While unlikely to stop the Read More

Taxing the Internet: Article by Attorney Eric Menhart

  CyberLaw's principal attorney, Eric Menhart, recently had an article published in the Journal of State Taxation. The article, entitled Taxing the Internet: Analyzing the States’ Plan to Derive Online Sales Revenue, explores the barriers that the states of the nation face in taxing Internet transactions. The synopsis of the article is as follows:   "On a typical day, millions of consumers Read More

FTC Urges Restraint On Internet Regs

  The FTC has come out against new legislation that would regulate pricing for high-speed Internet access. The primary issue is "net neutrality;" the idea that all customers should pay the same price for their Internet access, no matter how they use it. Major ISPs want the ability to charge customers more for higher bandwidth content or more reliably. The FTC says that they and the Department of Read More

Patent Reviews Now Public Domain

  The United States Patent and Trademark Office has unveiled its new program that allows the general public to provide feedback on pending patent applications. The program allows users to comment, support or oppose certain patent applications. The patent applications currently at issue are those in computer technology, which has become a “hot” area of patent law with the rise of the open source software Read More

CDA Immunity Further Weakened

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