- Harvard Internet Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain’s take on the Google – Verizon Net Neutrality Proposals is here.
- CNET reported on a lawsuit alleging how several major websites have broken the law by secretly tracking user activities on other sites using Flash Cookies.
- In an interview, Google’s Eric Schmidt said he believes every young person will one day be allowed to change their name to distance themselves from embarrassing photographs and material stored on their friends’ social media sites.
- Google is trying to line up content owners for its new Google TV software.
- One of the hottest issues in the content licensing space: What’s a “mobile device”?
- Domain Name Wire reports on Paris Hilton’s recent legal action against cybersquatters.
- The Washington Post reports that some luxury hotels are now offering eReaders as perks to hotel guests.
In what may signal regulators’ growing focus on advertisers’ use of social media, particularly in regulated industries, on July 29, 2010, the FDA issued its first Facebook-related citation in connection with Novartis’ use of Facebook’s share function on its Tasigna® website. By clicking on the “share” button on the website, consumers could post Novartis-created information about Tasigna® (“Shared Content”) on their Facebook profile walls, which would then be sent to the consumers’ “friends” via the newsfeed. It also allowed a consumer to send a separate message containing the Shared Content to their “friends” on Facebook. The FDA cited four (4) ways in which the website and the Facebook “share” widget violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the FDA implementing regulations: (i) omission of risk information, (ii) broadening of drug indication, (iii) unsubstantiated superiority claims/overstatement of efficacy, and (iv) failure to submit. Read more »
A ”Who’s Who” of leading technology innovators and thinkers have gathered in Lake Tahoe, Nevada for the inaugural Techonomy Conference. Attendees include industry titans Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and a host of leading academics and writers. Our colleagues Jerrold Spiegel and Michael Frankfurt are there too. Thus far, the biggest news out of the conference relates to Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s comments about privacy, some of which appear to be causing a stir . Read more »
- The FCC has launched a new Help Center to help consumers learn about the agency’s work, file indecency complaints, and comment on FCC proceedings.
- The FTC is searching for a browser-level way for consumers to opt out of online behavioral advertising. But no consensus on privacy emerged from the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s hearings this week regarding online privacy.
- Goldman Sachs will begin monitoring employee e-mails for profanity.
- The Guardian is displaying a map (powered by Google Maps) of lawsuits currently faced by Google.
- Both Google and the US Intelligence Community are investing in the same startup, a company that monitors web activity in real time .
- Startup Company of the Day: Flipboard.
- U.S. Technology giants are lobbying the EU to streamline privacy rules in order to offer cloud computing services. Currently every EU nation has its own data-protection and retention rules.
- A new class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court against several large media companies regarding their use of Quantcast’s Flash cookies a/k/a “zombie” cookies, technology used by many of the web’s top sites for a variety of purposes. The lawsuit alleges that the companies’ use of such cookies violated eavesdropping and hacking laws. The complaint is available here .
- According to All Things Digital , Apple has yet to allow Time Inc. to sell and manage subscriptions for its iPad apps.
A federal court will permit Baidu, Inc., a leading Chinese search engine company, to sue Register.com for gross negligence, recklessness, and breach of contract.
The lawsuit arose after a hacker took over Baidu’s Register.com account and interrupted its service for two days in January 2010. Among other things, the hacker redirected Baidu’s users to the Web site of the Iranian Cyber Army. Baidu claimed the hacker wrested control of Baidu’s account as a result of errors made by Register.com’s tech support Internet “chat” staff. According to the complaint: ”Although the Intruder gave the Rep an incorrect response to [a] security question, the Rep nonetheless proceeded with processing the Intruder’s request to change Baidu’s email address; [and] [w]hen the Intruder sent the Rep a bogus security code, the Rep did not notice that it was the wrong code, apparently because the Rep didn’t even bother to check it against the original security code.” The Intruder then allegedly changed the password and hacked into Baidu’s account. Baidu claimed injury to its reputation and business totaling “millions” of dollars. Read more »
The FTC has extended the deadline to submit comments in connection with its review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule. The Press Release regarding the extension is available here. The COPPA Rule requires that website operators notify parents and obtain their consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. Comments will be accepted until July 12, 2010, and may be submitted using this comment form. You can also view public comments on this site.
If you promise customers that their personal information is secure, you had better deliver on that promise. That is the message of last week’s settlement between the FTC and Twitter — the FTC’s first case against a social networking service. It’s a message the FTC has sent to industry before.
The matter arose when hackers twice secured administrative control of Twitter in early 2009. (How? In one case, an automated password-guessing tool smoked out the administrative password – ”a weak, lowercase, letter-only, common dictionary word,” according to the complaint.) The breach led to a series of phony tweets from a number of user accounts — including one from then President-elect Obama. Hackers also reviewed non-public user information. Read more »
We reviewed Judge Stanton’s comprehensive decision in this closely watched case. If upheld on appeal, it’s a victory not only for YouTube and Google, but for all Internet service providers (ISPs).
If you haven’t followed the case, Viacom had sued Google and YouTube for intentional and contributory copyright infringement, alleging “tens of thousands of videos on YouTube … were taken unlawfully from Viacom’s copyrighted works without authorization.” In defense, Google and YouTube asserted DMCA section 512. This so-called ”safe harbor” limits ISP liability for copyright infringement in certain situations. Whether defendants in copyright cases enjoy the limitation of liability is based on, among other things, their knowledge of — and response to – infringing activity on their service of which they become aware. Read more »
Tags: Copyright Infringement, Digital Millen. Copyright Act, Google, safe harbor, Viacom, YouTube
Copyright Act, Court Cases, Google, Viacom, YouTube | editor | 
June 25, 2010 2:21 pm
There’s big news in the CyberLaw world today. The Associated Press is reporting that a federal court in New York has dismissed Viacom’s $1 billion copyright suit against Google and YouTube. It appears the defendants’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act sec. 512 safe-harbor defense carried the day. We are reading the 30 page decision by Southern District Judge Louis Stanton now. More to come.
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released answers to frequently asked questions about its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. These FAQs provide helpful additional guidance regarding the FTC’s revisions to the Guides. Key issues addressed by the FAQs include: Read more »
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