Recent Articles

Verizon obtains damages, injunction against regsitrar under ACPA

January 08, 2009 16:17

[This is a guest post by contributor Brian Beckham] Plaintiff Verizon California, Inc. (Verizon) recently obtained a default judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, in its favor against Defendant, the registrar OnlineNIC, Inc. (press release)....

Should ISPs get paid to respond to DMCA takedown notices?

December 22, 2008 17:41

CNET News is running a story about how Jerry Scroggin, the owner of Louisiana’s Bayou Internet and Communications, expects big media to pay him for complying with DMCA takedown notices. No doubt Scroggin gets a little PR boost for his maverick attitude, and CNET keeps its traffic up by...

What could the RIAA’s switch in strategy mean?

December 19, 2008 20:42

The Wall Street Journal and others are reporting that the Recording Industry Association of America is adjusting its strategy for combating the massive infringement occasioned by the sharing of music files over the internet. Since 2003, that strategy has been to pursue copyright infringement cases...

Disclaimer in trademark registration sinks UDRP action

December 18, 2008 15:59

Ideation Unlimited, Inc. v. Dan Myers, Case No. D2008-1441 (WIPO November 12, 2008). A trademark owner who notices that someone else has registered a domain name incorporating the owner’s mark can file an arbitration action under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP for...

Site operator successfully challenges subpoena which sought to unmask anonymous commenters

December 16, 2008 05:34

Enterline v. Pocono Medical Center, 2008 WL 5192386 (M.D. Pa. December 11, 2008) A federal court in Pennsylvania has denied a motion demanding that a website operator turn over the identity of persons who commented anonymously in response to an article posted on the website. The court held that the...

Cisco accused of violating open source licenses

December 12, 2008 04:58

Free Software Foundation, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 08-10764 (S.D.N.Y., filed December 11, 2008). [Download the Complaint] The Free Software Foundation (”FSF”) has filed a copyright infringement suit against Cisco claiming that Cisco has violated the GPL v.2 and Lesser GPL...

What are the top 10 internet cases of 2008?

December 10, 2008 16:36

I’m working on gathering a list of the most important internet- and technology-related cases from the past year. There are many cases to choose from, and I’m trying to crowdsource the nomination process. I invite you to nominate the case or cases you think have been most significant by...

Is Twitter is a big fat copyright infringing turkey?

November 27, 2008 01:32

Here’s a topic you can mull over if conversation gets slow during tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner: Does Twitter infringe your copyright every time you post to it (i.e., put up a “tweet”)? Consider this: One of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner (under 17 U.S.C. 106)...

Court enforces forum selection clause in web hosting agreement

November 25, 2008 04:20

Bennett v. Hosting.com, Inc., 2008 WL 4951020 (N.D. Cal. November 18, 2008) Bennett filed an astounding 30-count complaint against defendant Hosting.com. Though the Managed Hosting Agreement designated Jefferson County, Kentucky to be the sole and exclusive venue for actions brought in connection...

Results of Internet searches helpful in earthworm trademark case

November 17, 2008 23:56

Cascade Mfg. Sales, Inc. v. Providnet Co. Trust, 2008 WL 4889716 (W.D. Wash. November 12, 2008) Cascade Manufacturing makes and sells composting bins in which earthworms “enhance and accelerate the composting process.” Cascade owns a federal trademark registration for WORM FACTORY. It...