The island nation of Antigua and Barbuda (which is approximately 216-miles east of the U.S. Virgin Islands) has had a 14-year legal battle with the United States stemming from the U.S. prohibition of foreign online gambling operations which devastated what was once a $3.4 billion industry in Antigua. In 2004, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled…
9th Circuit Reverses “Innocence of Muslims” Ban In July 2012 a trailer for the film, “The Innocence of Muslims” was released on YouTube and sparked outrage in the Islamic community that included protests that resulted in over 50 deaths and Fatwas and death threats for movie participants. It was banned in a number of Islamic…
The newly released report by the Department of Commerce’s Internet Task Force, “COPYRIGHT POLICY, CREATIVITY, AND INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY,” is the starting point for a round of public discussions on the protection of copyrights in the digital age. While some press reports have raised concerns over reviving SOPA’s criminalizing the streaming of copyright…
SEGMENT 1: Professor Patricia Aufderheide Discusses the application of Fair Use to the web. Professor Aufderheide is Director of the Center for Social Media at The American University’s School of Communications and author of “Reclaiming Fair Use” The Center for Social Media showcases and analyzes media for public knowledge and action—media made by, for, and…
Google to Lower Search Rank for Sites With High Take Down Requests Google stated that they will soon include in their search algorithm “the number of valid copyright removal notices we receive for any given site. Sites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in our results. This ranking change should help users find legitimate,…
Village Voice Media Under Increased Pressure to Drop Backpage Sex Ads Two years ago State Attorney Generals pressured Craigslist to drop adult oriented advertisements which reportedly generated approximately $36 million in revenue annually for the online classified giant. The advertisements and pressure have now migrated to Village Voice’s Backpage.com. H&M, Pfitzer Pharmaceutical, IKEA, Barnes and…
SOPA Defeat a “Political Coming of Age for Tech Industry” As you may know, this firm has long advocated greater involvement of the tech community in public policy debates and it cannot disagree with the New York Times assessment that the grassroots campaign and internet blackout day clearly were a “political coming of age for…
The EU voted to extend the music copyright by 20 years, delaying the day when The Beatle and other Brit invasion legends will be part of the public domain. The extension was welcomed by industry groups, with others calling it a “cultural disaster.” US copyrights cover 95 years. More Info: Nate Anderson, No Beatles…
LISTEN OTHER RECENT SHOWS Simple Mistakes Companies Make Air Date: July 13, 2011 Bennet speaks with guest Brian Benenhaley, co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors of ReachSmart Interactive and the AdDrive Affiliate Network, and the two discuss the most common legal mistakes companies make, and how to avoid them. http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/cyberlaw-and-business-report/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/FlowPlayerClassic.swf Podcast: Play in…
Last fall, the entertainment lobby pushed for the passage of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) during the lame duck post election session only to be blocked by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). COICA sought to allow seizure of “rogue websites” dedicated to the sale of infringing or counterfeit goods, but was quickly…
Yesterday, a Nevada federal judge held that Righthaven did not have standing to sue for copyright infringement, since Stevens Media could not assign only the right to sue. The judge went further, however, and noted that “Righthaven has made multiple inaccurate and likely dishonest statements to the Court” and ordered it show cause why it should…
In the Courts Ad Networks and Copyright, Text Spam and Perfect 10s Judge Enjoins Ad Network from Running Ads for Infringing Site In a rare move, a federal judge has enjoined Chitika and Clicksor.com from placing ads with the site Pharmatext.org based on allegations that the site infringes copyright by offering pirated…
Righthaven in Retreat After courts’ began expressing hostility towards copyright troll Righthaven’s lawsuits against bloggers and others, Righthaven has reversed course and is seeking to dismiss its case against DemocraticUnderground.com explaining it will no longer file suit if less than 75 percent of the work is used. At the same time, Righthaven’s continued viability was…
Righthaven Loses First Case, Named in Counterclaim Righthaven, which has now filed 157 copyright infringement actions on behalf of its newspaper sponsors, suffered its first defeat as a federal district judge took the unprecedented step of dismissing the claim on the basis of fair use. In addition, the Electronic Frontier Foundation have come to the…
No Solid Gold in RIAA File Sharing Suits The Recording Industry Association of America is finding that its legal war against over 18,000 file sharers is about as big a hit as Pat Boone’s 1997 heavy metal album. While the RIAA has recovered about $1.4 million in damages, it has spent about $63 million…
Cyber Report 