Kasunic, Kuzas, and Mandell to Keynote Web 2.0 Legal Risk Management Forum

Robert J. Kasunic, Principal Legal Advisor in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office, Kevin Kuzas, V.P. and General Counsel of Comcast Interactive Media, and Doug Mandell, former General Counsel of LinkedIn, will keynote Pike & Fischer's Legal Risk Management Forum II: Overcoming Obstacles in the Web 2.0 World at the AED Center, Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, September 17, 2008.  During the two-day event, which includes five interactive panel discussions on September 17 preceded by a Web 2.0 Legal Essentials workshop on September 16, business, legal, and government executives will discuss and debate the growing array of legal risks associated with social networking, blogging, and other Web 2.0 technologies.  

Latest News 
 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 
RIAA Settles Pending 'Making Available' Claim 
 
The Recording Industry Association of America has settled a case against an individual who it alleged infringed on record label copyrights by using a peer-to-peer file-sharing service to "make available" music for download, according to a stipulation filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Aug. 15.  Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc. v. Barker (Stipulation and Order), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2463.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Intellectual Property news:
 
·  Court Enjoins Bogus Ticket Sellers from Using Olympic Marks or Symbols
·  Google, Inc. Sued for Patent Infringement
·  Register of Copyrights Rules on Royalty Judges' Scope of Authority
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Intellectual Property database

INTERNET COMMERCE 
 
Target, NFB Settle Suit over Accessibility of Website to Sight-Impaired Consumers 
 
Target Corp. and the National Federation of the Blind have settled a class-action lawsuit alleging the retailer's website was inaccessible to sight-impaired consumers, the parties announced Aug. 27.  NFB in February 2006 sued Target alleging blind shoppers were blocked from accessing Target's website in violation of state and federal disability law.  Under the settlement, subject to court approval, Target will pay $6 million for valid claims by California class members who attempted to access target.com with screen reader software and encountered access barriers.  National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp. (Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2414.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Internet Commerce news: 
 
·  Circuit Split on CFAA 'Use' or 'Access' Damages Issue Warrants Interlocutory Appeal
·  Absent Evidence of Customer Confusion, Pop-Up Ads Are Not Unfairly Competitive
·  Lawmakers Press to Narrow Reach of Federal Internet Gambling Restrictions
·  McCain Administration Would Use Incentives to Spur Technology, Campaign Adviser Says
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Internet Commerce database

FREEDOM OF SPEECH
 
City's Web Links Challenge Called Unconstitutional 
 
The First Amendment's free speech provisions permitted a Sheboygan, Wis., woman to include on her personal website a link to the Sheboygan Police Department, and the city's insistence that she remove it was unconstitutional, a complaint filed Aug. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin said.  Reisinger v. Perez (Complaint), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2410.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Freedom of Speech database 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
 
Comcast to Cap Bandwidth Usage as Part of Network Management Plan 
 
Comcast Corp. Aug. 28 announced that beginning Oct. 1, it will amend its acceptable-use policy to establish a monthly data usage threshold of 250 gigabits per month per account for all residential customers.  In a statement posted to the Comcast.net website, the company said it was responding to feedback from customers who asked that it provide a specific threshold for data usage to help them determine what qualified as "excessive."  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Telecommunications news: 
 
·  Comcast Agrees to Pay $150,000 Settlement in Florida Probe of Subscriber Bandwidth Use
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Telecommunications database

PRIVACY & SECURITY 
 
Order Compelling ISP to Produce Publicly Available Information Does Not Violate SCA 
 
Internet service providers accused of facilitating copyright and trademark infringement by hosting websites selling infringing products cannot thwart a discovery order compelling them to produce information about the sales by asserting protections under the Stored Communications Act, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held Aug. 7.  Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2459.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Privacy & Security news: 
 
·  Ninth Circuit Remands Telecom-NSA Case for FISA Retroactive Immunity Consideration
·  U.K. Privacy Office to Investigate Breach of Financial Records Stored in Sold Computer
·  Data Breach Bill Passes California Senate; Business Opponents Eye Governor's Veto Pen
·  ICANN Provides Tools for Coping with Security Flaw
·  Over Next Year, FTC to Examine Online Ads, Personal Data Use Disclosures, Kovacic Says
·  Canadian Privacy Office Releases Tool to Help Business Comply with PIPEDA
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Privacy & Security database 

TAXATION
 
SSUTA Panel Hears from Researchers on Internet Sales, Small Sellers' Impact 
 
The actual size of Internet retailing in 2004 was more than 20 percent above government estimates, and sales by small sellers accounted largely for that discrepancy, a Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, Inc. task force was told Aug. 25.  The finding came from a group of professors at the University of Maryland School of Business who conducted research on characteristics of the online retail industry.  Subscribers read more ...

Other Taxation news: 
 
·  Fees for Online Trading Should Be Sourced to Texas, Comptroller Advises
·  Nexus-Creating Activities of Out-of-State Vendors Addressed in Arizona DOR Guidance
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Taxation database

JURISDICTION & PROCEDURE 
 
Writing, Web Publication of Article About Ohio Conviction No Basis for D.C. Jurisdiction 
 
An Ohio newspaper which published an article, both in print and online, referring to a Washington, D.C. resident as a pedophile cannot be sued for the article in the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held May 29.  Though the subject of the article resided in the District, the article, posted on the newspaper's website, did not provide the minimum contacts necessary for personal jurisdiction under the District's long-arm statute and the due process clause because it did not expressly target the District, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle held.  Copeland-Jackson v. Oslin, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 1925.  Subscribers read more ...
 
Other Jurisdiction & Procedure news: 
 
·  Website Only Provides Jurisdiction in Area It Targets
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Jurisdiction & Procedure database

Latest Cases 
 
·  Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax Ruling TPR 08-1, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2355 [Ariz Dep't Rev] (Nexus-creating activities of out-of-state vendors addressed in Arizona DOR guidance)
·  Black & Decker (US), Inc. v. Smith, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2457 [WD Tenn] (Circuit split on CFAA 'use' or 'access' damages issue warrants interlocutory appeal)
·  Copeland-Jackson v. Oslin, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 1925 [D DC] (Ohio newspaper which published an article, both in print and online, referring to a Washington, D.C. resident as a pedophile cannot be sued in D.C.)
·  Division of Authority Between the Copyright Royalty Judges and the Register of Copyrights under the Section 115 Statutory License (Final Order), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2465 [Copyright Office] (Register of copyrights rules on royalty judges' scope of authority)
·  Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc. v. Barker (Stipulation and Order), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2463 [SD NY] (RIAA has settled a case against an individual who it alleged infringed on record label copyrights by using a peer-to-peer file-sharing service to "make available" music for download)
·  Hepting v. AT&T Corp., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2449 [9th Cir] (In light of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a case challenging AT&T's alleged cooperation with the NSA's so-called "terrorist surveillance program" is remanded to the district court)
·  Io Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2467 [ND Cal] (Video sharing site falls within DMCA safe harbor)
·  Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2459 [ND Cal] (Order compelling ISP to produce publicly available information does not violate SCA)
·  Overstock.com, Inc. v. SmartBargains, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2435 [Utah Sup Ct] (Competitor's use of pop-up ads does not constitute unfair competition, tortious interference)
·  RJM Aviation Associates, Inc. v. London Aircraft Service Center, Inc., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2105 [Conn Super Ct] (Corporation operating aviation repair shop in Florida cannot be sued in Connecticut based on its website because no ads on the site target Florida residents)
·  Texas Comptroller Accession No. 200807139L, 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2353 [Tex Comp Pub Accts] (Fees for online trading should be sourced to Texas)
·  United States Olympic Committee v. Xclusive Leisure & Hospitality Ltd., 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2461 [ND Cal] (Court enjoins bogus ticket sellers from using Olympic marks or symbols)
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Cases database

Latest Pleadings, Motions, & Briefs 
 
·  GraphOn Corp. v. Google, Inc. (Complaint), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2408 [ED Tex] (Complaint alleges that services offered via Google's Adwords, Blogger, and YouTube sites infringe various patents)
·  National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp. (Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2414 [ND Cal] (Parties in dispute over the accessibility of Target's website file a joint motion for preliminary approval of settlement)
·  Reisinger v. Perez (Complaint), 2008 ILRWeb (P&F) 2410 [ED Wis] (Woman sues city for enjoining her from linking to various city websites, including the city police department)
 
Subscribers may search ILR's Pleadings database 

Latest Research from Pike & Fischer

Cable Advanced Advertising Market Outlook - Coming Soon!  
The cable industry hopes to increase its advertising revenue to as much as $15 billion a year once it has effectively deployed standardized advanced advertising technology capable of supporting addressable, interactive advertising on a wide scale.  A number of the largest cable MSOs have invested in Canoe Ventures, a joint venture focused on the development of advanced advertising capabilities to enable marketers to reach very specific subsets of viewers with their messages. But the ultimate value of the investments in these advertising technologies will be significantly less than the industry is hoping. In this detailed analysis we examine cable's new advertising initiatives, and provide a forecast of advertising revenue growth over the next five years.  Learn More  Order Now

Femtocells: Competitive Outlook for Service Providers - New!
Femtocells, mobile network base stations for residential or small business environments, pose a technology conundrum for the telecommunications industry. Optimistically, hundreds of thousands or millions of the devices could be built and installed in consumer residences and small businesses within the next several years, fueling the widespread adoption of 3G broadband over mobile devices. On the other hand, femtos could end up being simply niche home antennas that boost in-building mobile signals and offload backhaul traffic onto the incumbent broadband network. In this report, we outline the market opportunities and technical hurdles involved in femtocell deployments, detail the femto plans among the nation's top mobile and wireline carriers, and explore the role that femtos will play in 4G network deployments.  Learn More  Order Now

Events & Conferences 
 
Legal Risk Management Forum II: Overcoming Obstacles in the Web 2.0 World
Only Two Weeks Away - Register Now!
September 16 - 17, 2008 - AED Conference Center - Washington, D.C.
Gain the latest insights and guidance on dealing with the growing array of legal risks associated with Web 2.0.  Our half-day Workshop will immerse you in three nuts-and-bolts sessions addressing IT for Lawyers, Copyright 101, and Data Retention issues. Our full-day Forum features five interactive panels tackling intellectual property, privacy, reputation preservation, virtual worlds, and subpoena disclosure issues. Opening Keynote address from Robert J. Kasunic, Principal Legal Advisor in the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office.   Representatives from Google, NBC Universal, Phorm, AOL, Harvard, Showtime, IBM, e-Luminate and many others have already made plans to attend.  Shouldn't you?  View the entire program with faculty.   Group, Government, Academic, and Student rates available.  Ask Customer Care about our guest discount for P&F subscribers. Register Now!


Retransmission Consent Fees, Tying, and Bundling: A Pike & Fischer Webinar
September 23, 2008
With dollars at stake and the value of video programming under the microscope as the DTV transition unfolds, negotiations over carriage and programming have never been so uncertain and so critical.  As the FCC's October 1, 2008 must carry/retransmission consent election deadline looms, broadcasters' carriage negotiations with cable and satellite operators are heating up like never before.  At stake: the availability of local broadcast signals to the nation's cable and satellite subscribers, as well as millions of dollars in fees and ad revenues.  Join experts from the cable, satellite, and broadcasting sectors and take a front-row seat for a lively discussion of current business and legal issues in retransmission consent negotiations, the competitive marketplace for video distribution, and access to video programming.  Learn More  Register Now

View all Events & Conferences

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