Some recent links I found particularly interesting on Twitter include:

Net Neutrality Case Heads to D.C. Circuit

A challenge to the FCC’s new Network Neutrality rules will be heard by the D.C. Circuit, which in the past has been tough on the FCC.

Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when higher up military leaders learn that their drones have been infected with a computer virus from reading this article in WIRED.

Tracking the Trackers: When Everyone Knows Your Username

Jonathan Mayer’s article describing his research into web usage tracking is an excellent read.

Hacked!

If you’ve ever had your email hacked, you can sympathize with this great article from the Atlantic.

News 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

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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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From Twitter, here are some recent links of interest:
- Saving to read later: The Great Cyberheist – http://is.gd/gUJ0H
- Interesting article on the licensing fees Netflix is paying for its streaming content – http://is.gd/gncOW

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

Recent Quotes and Updates is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

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I encourage normal readers of this blog who are also interested in trademark practice to check it out.

Post on Firm blog – Six Considerations for Trademark Due Diligence is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

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Trademark owners with registrations can register their trademarks with Facebook in order to block potentially infringing URLs from being created. Here is a link to the submission page.

We shall see if this actually becomes an issue similar to cybersquatting in domain names, but due to the shortness of time between now and the 13th I’m posting the information here to help get the word out. Please let me know in the comments below what you think of this process and how Facebook has handled it. Personally, it would have been nice for there to have been more notice.

Will Facebook username squatting be a problem? is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

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It’s of particular interest to me because I often counsel people on their creative endeavors who do not know what regime under the umbrella of “intellectual property” their particular endeavor is best, whether it be trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secrets. It’s also interesting because people often think of “cyberlaw” as being the intersection of intellectual property and the Internet, but it really is much more than just that. It’s the application of both new and existing legal principles, whether they be IP or other regulations, to the Internet and other avenues of electronic communications. As more and more businesses go online, it’s rarer that people won’t have some issue that intersects with cyberlaw at one point or another.

Turning back to the article, to me the most important rationale for copyright and patent protection is the protecting the right of the creator to control the use, distribution, or exploitation for their ideas for a limited period of time. Trademark is a slightly different rationale, in that trademarks are tied into a consumer protection rationale and the right to identify the source of particular goods or services to avoid consumer confusion.

So, what rationale do you think is best to apply? Also, what term would you use other than “intellectual property” if you had a choice to do so? Those are certainly interesting questions posed by the article. Food for thought, as they say.

Article on just what is “Intellectual Property” is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

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The most interesting part for me was a comparison of the different notice and takedown procedures implemented by each company. In particular, Google is unique in that it takes down all uses of a competitor’s trademark, even in cases of fair use such as in comparative advertising. While broader than what the law requires, it was easier for Google to administrate such a policy because, as the other speakers admitted, it is hard to scale a system which requires a balancing of factors like fair use.

I would have appreciated a more thorough analysis of whether using a trademark as a trigger for the display of an advertisement is a trademark use. Some courts say yes, and others say no. The speakers, of course, were advocating the more favorable to them “no”, but it is a complicated issue that deserved better.

Overall, the session was a good one, quite packed in terms of attendees. I was glad to have found a seat near the front.

INTA 2007: Muddy waters: Evolving Law and Policy on Internet Advertising is a post from: Cyberlaw Central

©2012 Cyberlaw Central.

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