Why I Oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)/E-PARASITES Act

Eric Goldman has a great summary of the bill and its problems. Well recommended reading.

At Web Censorship Hearing, Congress Guns for “Pro-Pirate” Google

Nate Anderson at Ars Technica had a good summary of the SOPA testimony before Congress.

In other news:

RIAA Wants ReDigi Out Of The Business of Selling “Used” iTunes Tracks

This was the most interesting new application of the First Sale doctrine in copyright this week. As I understand the business sells a copy and not the actually sold iTunes track, this one may not turn out in ReDigi’s favor. This dispute will be worth watching.

Vint Cerf: The Government Is Going Overboard in Internet Copyright Control

On November 14th, Vint Cerf spoke to the Atmosphere conference:

“He told the audience, “Remember, governance is a big word that includes human rights, freedom of speech, economic transactions on a worldwide basis — it touches everything. It’s everywhere, and that’s why Internet governance is topic A in many corners.”

PhoneDog v. Kravitz

This lawsuit over corporate Twitter followers as “property” is quite interesting. Kravitz left PhoneDog with 17,000 followers, and instead of turning over the account he changed the name from “Phonedog_Noah” to his personal name. On a Motion to Dismiss, the Court (Northern District of California) decided to deny Kravitz’s motion. Well worth reading.

Judge Rules Feds Can Have WikiLeaks Associates’ Twitter Data

On November 10th, Judge O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virgina ruled that government prosecutors can have access to information about three Wikileaks supporters’ Twitter accounts – not the content, but the metadata. This decision has been criticized by the EFF.

Finally, I’d like to note that if people are interested in my firm’s IP Webinar series, the next webinar I’m presenting will be on December 7, 2011 on “Online Works: Copyright Registration and Enforcement.” For more information, follow this link.

SOPA and other @Cyberlaw Links is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Also, for those who may be interested, here is the link to the recent webinar I did for my firm on “Common Trademark Application Problems.”

And now, on to this week’s @cyberlaw links -

RIAA Lawyer Says DMCA May Need Overhaul

Greg Sandoval of CNET had an interesting article, focusing on a statement during a panel discussion by Jennifer Pariser that the DMCA needed an overhaul.  She said:

“We might need to go to Congress at some point for a fix,” Pariser added. “Not because the statute was badly drafted but because the interpretation has been so hamstrung by court decisions.”

 

In a World of Cybertheft, U.S. Names China, Russia as Main Culprits

A report from the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive named China and Russia as the main bad actors in the world of cyber-espionage.

“Chinese actors are the world’s most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage,” said the report, “Foreign Spies Stealing U.S. Economic Secrets in Cyberspace,” which was based on the work of 14 U.S. intelligence agencies. The report also notes that “Russia’s intelligence services are conducting a range of activities to collect economic information and technology from U.S. targets.”

The Digital Death of Copyright’s First Sale Doctrine

Annemarie Bridy’s article is on the First Sale Doctrine and the effect that the Supreme Court’s denial of cert in the Vernor v. Autodesk case had on the doctrine. I heartily encourage you to read it.

Did Chevy Steal This Commercial Idea From a Popular Blog?

It was nice to be quoted by Matt Silverman in this Mashable article discussing the extent of copyright protection in the underlying concept of a blog.

Why Parents Help Children Violate Facebook’s 13+ Rule

This study by Danah Boyd, Eszter Hargittai, Jason Schultz and John Palfrey looked at the real-life application of COPPA and parents who help their children skirt its requirements. It’s well worth reading.

S. 978 – What Justin Bieber Has To Do With Online Streaming Bill

I was quoted in this article from the Christian Science Monitor discussing Senate Bill 978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act.

TWiL 136 and @cyberlaw Links is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

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This week’s @cyberlaw links are interesting to me for many reasons:

Heading Off Privacy Problems—Before They Arise

I thought this article by Julia Angwin was a good look at how some companies are undertaking “privacy-impact assessments” before undertaking new initiatives.  There’s nothing like heading off problems at the pass, and it is good to add privacy considerations to your normal checklist of items to consider before things go out the door.

Is Printing a Gun the Same as Buying One?

John Bigg’s article was very interesting to me because 3-d printing is becoming more prevalent. The article looks at the problems that arise when an item that would normally require a permit to purchase (the lower receiver for an AR-15 rifle) can be printed at home on the device you made. 3-d printers like Makerbot’s raise concerns, as John points out:

“I find it fascinating that we’re even asking these questions at this point. The fact that we are now able to manufacture usable weapon parts is an important step in the evolution of fabrication and manufacture and, if I were a weapons giant, I’d start rethinking my sales strategies. When a company of rebels can print their own AK-47s (a concept that is still a ways off), whose fault is it? The person who made the plans? The fabricator? The company whose rifles they copied?”

Stay tuned, this debate will have far reaching implications in years to come.

Typosquatting Continues to Pose Dangers to Enterprises, Consumers

Mary Roach’s article did a good job pointing out the concern with “doppelganger” websites – which are like a typical typosquatting domain, but instead of being a misspelling it’s merely missing an important dot, like “mailyahoo.com” instead of “mail.yahoo.com.”  This is one case where proactive defensive registrations can be quite helpful, which Mary recommends along with other good advice.

US Net Neutrality Rules Finalized, In Effect November 20

I’ve been following the Net Neutrality debate for years, and now the FCC’s still-controversial final “open-internet” rules [PDF] will be in effect on November 20, 2011. Now, the legal challenges can begin.

Copyright Basics webinar and @cyberlaw Links is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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HP Touchpad’s Fate

Jonathan Ezor’s review of the HP Touchpad I linked to last week became more timely after HP’s announcement that it was discontinuing the platform. It looks like WebOS may live on in some form, but the TouchPad itself is being phased out. Sad, really, as among Jonathan’s conclusions was the following nugget:

“With its ease of setup and support, true multitasking, Bluetooth keyboard compatibility, Flash-enabled browser, and Synergy, the HP TouchPad represents a solid choice for law firms and legal departments that want to add tablets to their technology portfolios.”

Too bad. I used Palms before they were even called Palms (I had a Pilot 1000 back in the day), and was quietly rooting for HP to do well after it acquired Palm.

Fake Apple Stores in China

On Ron Coleman’s Likelihood of Confusion blog, guest author Paul Jones offered his insight into the fake Apple Stores that were recently spotted in China. His insight isn’t that China is finding it hard to crack down on infringers, but rather the remote nature of the province and its inability to have a real store:

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan Province, in the far south of China. The province borders on Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. It is thus far inland and is not one of the richer coastal provinces where foreign retailers first open their stores. But Kunming Prefecture has about 6 ½ million people. In other words there is demand there but no supply.

The entire article is well worth a read.

The Challenge of Producing Secure Devices

This article in Security Week was interesting for its insight into the world of developers. The pressure on developers to ship devices is so strong that they may have to ship devices with security flaws in order to meet deadlines. Chris Eng of Veracode is quoted as saying:

“I don’t think that every tiny bug, every tiny security bug, has to be fixed before it goes out the door,” he said. “Ideally you fix as many as you can but there’s always going to be some date where you have to ship stuff and you have to prioritize…but you also shouldn’t forget about them.”

This is relevant as many security issues today come from these vulnerabilities which may never be completely patched. There will always be someone who hasn’t applied the recommended security patches, etc., and thus perpetuate the problem caused by the hardware being released this way.

Copyright Termination

I liked this article by Larry Rohter on the upcoming battle over recording artists who can now file termination notices for their master recordings dating from 1978. The recording studios say no deal, however, claiming that the master recordings are works made for hire and thus not eligible for termination. As the article notes,

“Independent copyright experts, however, find that argument unconvincing. Not only have recording artists traditionally paid for the making of their records themselves, with advances from the record companies that are then charged against royalties, they are also exempted from both the obligations and benefits an employee typically expects.”

Artists already filing notices include Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Bryan Adams, Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Waits and Charlie Daniels.

This Week’s @cyberlaw Links is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Most wireless routers come out of the box with the default setting of being wide open, i.e. with no security, so anyone can use the connection who is within range of it. Many security experts recommend that manufacturers change these defaults, but that is the situation currently.

Many security experts recommend WPA2 level encryption if your device supports it. The older type, WEP, can be cracked in less than a minute with commonly available tools, so it is not recommended. It still would be better than no encryption if that is all your device supports.

A good way to find out how to secure your own wireless network is to search Google with the terms “how to secure wireless network” along with the manufacturer’s name or model number of the device. Some general advice can be found in this WikiHow article, although I do disagree with its recommendation for MAC address filtering. I’d also recommend listening to the Security Now podcasts relating to encryption, including Episode 13, at http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm. The transcript can be found here – http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-013.htm. It’s an oldie (the show now has over 300 episodes), but that old episode is still worth listening to.

Of course, there are arguments for open wireless networks, but that should be a choice, not a default, in my humble opinion.

Securing Your Wireless Network is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Here are some other recent updates from Twitter:
- For the first time ever, companies report that electronic theft surpassed physical theft – http://is.gd/g8RcW
- Interesting NPR story on the business of burying Internet search results – http://is.gd/g8fUQ
- Article on the business of data scraping from the WSJ – http://is.gd/fYFwB
- Nice article on the Pentagon’s new Cyber Warriors – http://is.gd/fOePF

For those of you on Facebook, be sure to “like” the Cyberlaw Central page there – http://www.facebook.com/CyberlawCentral

This Week in Law and Other Updates is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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The transcript of the interview can be found here.

Thanks again, Lance, for the opportunity.

Twitterview by @22twts is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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To me, here’s the heart of the argument to take a side:

Either you think Net Neutrality should apply no matter how you access the Internet, or you’re Googizon and say wireless networks don’t count. You either expand the open Internet for everyone and continue building an amazing resource for free speech and innovation, or you invest in private toll lanes for the select few. You either believe the FCC should have the power to protect Internet users, or you want a toothless watchdog. You have to choose.

I believe netizens should carefully review all network neutrality proposals and figure out what makes each one different. They should determine which ones they can support and which ones they can’t, and why. They should then make their choices or preferences known, through grass roots efforts if necessary.

I respect that reasonable minds can differ on the questions here, but either way you must choose and make your preference known.

Net Neutrality – Avoiding the “Mushy Middle” is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

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Fact 1 – it’s a proposal, not a bill actually winding its way through congress.

Fact 2 – it’s a compromise, as Google admits in its recent post discussing the lack of wireless regulation:

MYTH: This proposal would eliminate network neutrality over wireless.

FACT: It’s true that Google previously has advocated for certain openness safeguards to be applied in a similar fashion to what would be applied to wireline services. However, in the spirit of compromise, we have agreed to a proposal that allows this market to remain free from regulation for now, while Congress keeps a watchful eye.

Why? First, the wireless market is more competitive than the wireline market, given that consumers typically have more than just two providers to choose from. Second, because wireless networks employ airwaves, rather than wires, and share constrained capacity among many users, these carriers need to manage their networks more actively. Third, network and device openness is now beginning to take off as a significant business model in this space.

In our proposal, we agreed that the best first step is for wireless providers to be fully transparent with users about how network traffic is managed to avoid congestion, or prioritized for certain applications and content. Our proposal also asks the Federal government to monitor and report regularly on the state of the wireless broadband market. Importantly, Congress would always have the ability to step in and impose new safeguards on wireless broadband providers to protect consumers’ interests.

It’s also important to keep in mind that the future of wireless broadband increasingly will be found in the advanced, 4th generation (4G) networks now being constructed. Verizon will begin rolling out its 4G network this fall under openness license conditions that Google helped persuade the FCC to adopt. Clearwire is already providing 4G service in some markets, operating under a unique wholesale/openness business model. So consumers across the country are beginning to experience open Internet wireless platforms, which we hope will be enhanced and encouraged by our transparency proposal.

Fact 3 – It was announced shortly after the FCC announced that its closed door meetings with stakeholders had ended, which likely means this proposal is one which had been floated, and rejected, in these closed door meetings.

Still, after much ado about nothing, for a careful analysis I can recommend this post by Nilay Patel.

Let’s see where this debate over this proposal leads us, hopefully to a real plan.

Much Ado About Nothing – Google & Verizon’s Network Neutrality Proposal is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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Scanning and Paper Reduction in the Law Office 101

The first session, with speakers Nancy Duhon and Michael Morse, was a great introduction to how to implement a paperless system in a real law practice. Michael has a thriving PI practice in Michigan, and his firm does not accept paper copies of accident reports, medical records, etc., if they can help it. Those they have to accept are scanned and shredded, or in certain cases the originals are returned to the client. Lots of good tips and tricks came from this session. You need a good way to get paper into your system, a good backup system, and a good way to get what you need back out of the system.

Document Management Software: The Electronic File Butler

This was the weakest session for me, but not due to the speakers. Steve Best and Richard Serpe did a great job keeping our interest, but I thought the topic could have been condensed down to about 6 minutes. Yes – “DMS software really works to help you search, and you need to force compliance with using it.” Enough said. One great thing about Techshow is the openness of the speakers and the exhibitors – I met the President of Worldox, Ray Zweifelhofer, at a reception and we had a nice chat about his company’s software. I know it’s a popular package, and with good people like that at the helm it’s bound to stay popular.

Digital Workflow – Developing the Paperless Habit

This was easily the best session of the track. Nerino Petro and Ernie Svenson (Ernie the Attorney) did a fantastic job expanding on the insights from the first session with more practical tips and real-life examples. I forgot which one of them said it, but I still remember the line “Friends don’t let friends print emails.” If it’s digital, keep it digital. If it’s not digital, get it digital and get rid of the paper. I’ve gotten to know Nerino over the years attending Techshow, and his sessions are always interesting and informative. Ernie is also quite down to earth and a very good speaker. If you don’t already follow his separate “PDF For Lawyers” blog, I strongly suggest you subscribe.

Paperless Law Office Library: Research and Forms

Donna Neff and Paul Unger finished the day with another strong session. Good tips on creating and storing usable forms and research libraries were shared. Donna has developed a system for the storage of electronic files without the use of a document management software package that was introduced in this session but expanded on in another session on Friday. With a good system in place to scan incoming paper, and a way to get what you need out of the system again, a lawyer has little need to keep lots of paper.

I always enjoy Techshow, which is why I’ve gone more years than not since 2006. I think last year (2009) was the only year since then I haven’t gone through the CLE sessions. I am looking forward to Techshow 2011!

ABA Techshow 2010 – Roundup of Paperless Office Sessions is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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