Archive for May 16th, 2006
Supreme Court Provides Injunction Guidance in eBay Case
“A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with eBay in an ongoing patent spat, handing down a ruling that could make it harder for some patent holders to force shut-offs of infringing products in the future.
“About six weeks after hearing oral arguments, the justices on Monday ruled that the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit was wrong when it issued a permanent injunction that would have prohibited eBay from using patents held by MercExchange, a small, Virginia-based company. That injunction, which was put on hold pending the Supreme Court appeal, followed a 2003 jury finding that eBay’s ‘buy-it-now’ feature, which allows customers to purchase items without participating in an auction, had infringed on two of MercExchange founder Tom Woolston’s patents.
“The high court’s decision should reduce the likelihood that infringing products will be shut down automatically and it should supply greater bargaining power to accused infringers seeking out-of-court settlements, industry lawyers said Monday. That development should address a major complaint from the technology industry, which has argued that it’s unreasonable for an entire product, which often relies on thousands of patents, to face shutdown when as few as one component infringes. They’ve said monetary damages should be enough in such situations.”
Anne Broache. Supreme Court Rules In Favor of eBay. News.com. May 15, 2006.
See also:
Supreme Court of the United States. EBay et al. v. MercExchange (No. 05-130). (.pdf) May 15, 2006.
The Patry Copyright Blog. eBay and Permanent Injunctions. May 15, 2006.
The Faculty Blog, Univ. of Chicago Law School. eBay v. MercExchange: A Brief Analysis. May 15, 2006.
Updates:
Groklaw. eBay Inc. v. MercExchange — An Analysis by Theodore C. McCullough, Esq. May 16, 2006.
Linda Greenhouse. Justices Order Rethinking of eBay Case. The New York Times. May 16, 2006.
Frank Michael Russell. Tech Giants Applaud Supreme Court Ruling in eBay Patent Case. MercuryNews.com. May 15, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
ALA Moves Quickly Against DOPA
“The American Libraries Association is fighting congressional efforts to limit access to MySpace and other social networking tools on the Internet.
“A congressional delegation calling itself the Suburban Caucus introduced legislation last week to prevent schools and libraries from allowing minors to log onto MySpace and other social networking sites, saying they have become feeding grounds for sexual predators. The Deleting Online Predators Act is one of several bills aimed at satisfying suburban voters, who ranked child safety and gas prices high on a list of concerns in a recent poll.
“The bill would remove federal funding from schools and libraries that allowed children unsupervised access to sites that could reveal objectionable material. The restrictions would apply to all sites that feature user profiles and discussion. In other words, they would prohibit minors’ unsupervised school and library access to instant messaging, many e-mail services, chat rooms and social networking sites.
“The ALA issued a statement Monday in which its president Michael Gorman described House Rule 5319 as too broad, redundant, and unnecessary.”
K.C. Jones. Libraries Fight Limits On Networking Sites. TechWeb News. May 15, 2006.
See also:
American Library Association. ALA Opposes “Deleting Online Predators Act.” (press release) May 15, 2006.
Declan McCullagh. Congress Targets Social Network Sites. News.com. May 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
In Compatibility Concession, Sony Bows to Apple
“Sony is moving to make its music management software compatible with Apple Computer’s audio file format in the latest evidence of Apple’s dominance in digital music.
“The behemoth Japanese conglomerate, which once controlled the portable music market, announced last week that the company’s data compression technology would be compatible with a number of rival formats, including Apple’s format of choice, AAC.
“In the past, Sony has fiercely held to its own Atrac system. By switching to a technology that supports AAC, Sony appears to be acknowledging Apple’s dominance in the digital music playing market, say analysts. Sony’s new management system will allow iPod users to swap some of their music to a Sony Walkman, but only songs they ripped from CDs.”
Greg Sandoval. Sony Opts for Open Audio Format. News.com. May 10, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
CC’s Podcasting Legal Guide
“The phenomenon of podcasting has been much analyzed, explained and undertaken. Technically, podcasting has been described as “the distribution of audio or video files, such as radio programs or music videos, over the internet using either RSS or Atom syndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers.” More broadly, podcasting has been heralded as “the medium that promises a future where anyone can make radio, instead of just listen to it.”
“For those interested and involved in podcasting, this Podcasting Legal Guide has been prepared to provide general information about some of the more common legal questions that get asked in relation to podcasting.
“As you may know, the Electronic Frontier Foundation produced a very practical and helpful Legal Guide for Bloggers. This Guide is designed to complement the EFF Guide for Bloggers. Many of the issues that are relevant to bloggers are also relevant to podcasting; for those crossover issues this Guide refers you to relevant sections of the EFF Guide. However, where this Guide tries to carve new ground is in relation to some of the standalone issues that are of primary relevance to podcasters, as opposed to bloggers.”
Creative Commons. Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution. (No date.)
See also:
Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers. April 20, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Digital Koans Editor Analyzes “Digital Dystopia”
“Blogs. Digital photo and video sharing. Podcasts. Rip/Mix/Burn. Tagging. Vlogs. Wikis. These buzzwords point to a fundamental social change fueled by cheap PCs and servers, the Internet and its local wired/wireless feeder networks, and powerful, low-cost software: citizens have morphed from passive media consumers to digital media producers and publishers.
“Libraries and scholars have their own set of buzz words: digital libraries, digital presses, e-prints, institutional repositories, and open access journals to name a few. They connote the same kind of change: a democratization of publishing and media production using digital technology.
“The collision of four major trends has begun in courts, legislatures, and the marketplace. It is far from over. As we shall see, it’s outcome will determine what the future of digital culture looks like.”
Charles W. Bailey Jr. Strong Copyright + DRM + Weak Net Neutrality = Digital Dystopia? (.pdf preprint) Information Technology and Libraries. 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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