Here are a few short items of interest I’d like to pass along: 1) Conrad Jacoby has a great article on the electronic discovery of employee-owned computer equipment that was published at llrx. Here is a link. 2) If you’ve not already seen Michael Wesch’s video called Information R/evolution, check it out now. It only…
Author: Kevin A. Thompson
Kevin A. Thompson practices primarily in the area of domestic and international trademarks, copyrights and internet law issues. He is experienced with prosecuting international applications under the Madrid Protocol. Kevin counsels clients in the selection, clearance, and maintenance of trademarks. He advises them with respect to enforcement of rights, and assists in representing them in disputes around the world to protect their valuable intellectual property.
Kevin received his law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1998 with Honors and Order of the Coif. Kevin received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993. He is on the Board of Managers for the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago, having served in the past as the chair of its Internet Law Committee, and is also past chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Computer Law Committee.
Will hacked iPhones become iBricks?
Jacqui Cheng’s article at Ars Technica points out the dilemma facing consumers who want to hack their iPhones so they are not tied to Apple’s exclusive service provider in the USA, AT&T. While hacks are available, they are quasi-legal at best. And, users who do it face the possibility that their $600/$400 iPhone could become…
Video on National Security Letters
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee has put together a 26-minute video entitled “FBI Unbound: How National Security Letters Violate Our Privacy”, which can be viewed online or ordered on DVD. It features interviews with Lisa Graves, Bruce Fein, and George Christian, who actually received one of these letters and can talk about it. Hat…
Symantec releases e-discovery solution
Symantec has announced a new e-discovery initiative by rolling out products that will assist in the collection of electronically stored information. Unfortunately, these appear to be only for users of its Enterprise Vault solution. Still, it’s a nice change. Symantec claims that it will reduce the likelihood of system administrators having to testify as to…
Blawgworld 2007
I’m happy that my Blog was included in the 2007 edition of Blawgworld, published by Technolawyer. Here’s a link to get your free copy. Be sure to check out the other wonderful legal blogs that are linked through from there.
Detecting government spyware
Here’s an interesting article, written by Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache, entitled “Will security firms detect policy spyware?” There are currently no rules that specifically require companies to comply with requests for government spyware to be installed on users’ machines. There similarly is no current requirement for anti-spyware vendors to write software that doesn’t detect…
Microsoft claims Open Source software violates its patents
Although I’m not a patent attorney, I was drawn to news of Microsoft’s statement in a Fortune article that free and Open Source software violated 235 of its patents. Mary Jo Foley covered the news in detail here. In particular, the claim was made by Microsoft’s Horacio Gutierrez that the Linux kernel violates 42 Microsoft…
INTA 2007: Muddy waters: Evolving Law and Policy on Internet Advertising
I attended the session this morning at INTA 2007 on Internet advertising, specifically the focus was on keywords but popups were discussed as well. The speakers were Peter Becker of Microsoft, Laura Covington of Yahoo, Lauren Fisher of AOL, and Rose Hagan of Google. The most interesting part for me was a comparison of the…
Meet the Bloggers III – Monday April 30, 7:30 PM
John Welch and Marty Schwimmer have organized Meet the Bloggers III, which will be held on Monday, April 30th at 7:30 at the Billy Goat Tavern here in Chicago. More details can be found here at the TTABlog. I fully intend to attend, even if I may be a few minutes late.
Practice Tip: Use Truecrypt to secure portable media
Imagine you need to take a file with sensitive data on it with you on a trip, but the only method you have available is a small USB thumb drive. You get to your destination only to discover the drive fell out of your pocket somewhere along the way. What a disaster, the hardest for…