One Friend Facebook Hasn’t Made Yet: Privacy Rights
April 4th, 2008 by adminJapanese Court Rejects Defamation Lawsuit Against Nobel Laureate
April 4th, 2008 by adminThe Japanese courts denied a defamation suit that made the Japanese military look horrible. The literature written by Mr. Oe talks about the mass suicides that the military encouraged the citizens of Okinawa to commit. This obviously made the military look bad but the courts decided that blocking such facts and ideas was rewriting history and denied the suit. This is a big decision because if the suit had gone through this chapter in history would have been erased from textbooks. This pertains to class because it shows how large groups like the government are very careful about the image they portray and even though this is a horrible black spot on the Japanese military it needs to be talked about because it is part of WWII.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/world/asia/29japan.html
?_r=1&scp=1&sq=defamation&st=nyt
Far-right party ‘defamed World Cup star’
April 4th, 2008 by adminThis article is about the NPD being charged with defamation because of a pamphlet they printed before the 2006 soccer World Cup that read “White, not just a jersey color! For a real NATIONAL team!” The jersey number shown on the pamphlet was number 25 worn at the time by a black defender. So the question was the Party trying to say that nonwhite skinned players shouldn’t be on the national team or was it just a coincidence that the player wearing the jersey was black. How this relates to class is that this shows a clear example of defamation of character from the perspective of Patrick Owomoyela, the plaintiff, whose jersey is being shown. His character is being questioned as to whether or not he is good enough to warrant being on the national team.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/25/
germany.far.right.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
So the boss wants to be friends on Facebook?
March 28th, 2008 by adminPeople that use social networks like Facebook have encountered a new problem with privacy since it opened up its doors to everyone. This article deals with people’s reluctance to give up certain aspects of their privacy to their business associates such as accepting their bosses as a friend on Facebook. People act differently on Facebook and might show a different side of themselves that might not necessarily be what they want to show to a boss. One of the examples in the articles goes as far as to hide her marriage from a coworker. This relates to class because it shows the right of privacy conflict. People will allow their personal information to be posted online and will hand over their credit card number but heaven forbid that your boss finds your profile on Facebook. It’s a rather interesting conflict of interest that doesn’t make logical sense.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/orl-social2308mar23,0,4717355.story
Ex-HarperCollins Publisher Settles Defamation Suit
March 28th, 2008 by adminThis article talks about how comments about ones character can create a defamation suit that can pollutes one’s character and can hurt someone’s reputation. Judith Regan was accused of making some anti-Semitic remarks that she claims are untrue. This becomes a game of he said she said but the real reason I think this relates to class is how the simplest thing like a comment falls under defamation and that something as simple as a comment can create such controversy. It also shows how reputations can be destroyed because Regan’s creditability has gone down since this occurred so application on the web would do the very same thing if some comments were put down in writing on a website or blog.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/business/media/
26books.html?st=cse&sq=defamation&scp=3
A Push to Limit the Tracking of Web Surfers’ Clicks
March 28th, 2008 by adminThis article talks about the right of privacy and how there really isn’t any privacy when it comes to consumer data on the web. Ad companies pay big money for consumer data and spending habits so that they can gear their Ad campaigns towards them. Mr. Brodsky from Albany, New York created a bill that would make the buying and selling of consumer data illegal unless the consumer gives their consent. Some companies like Microsoft are for the bill because it will also target their competition, Google, and others like AOL really don’t like the idea that their consumer information might be taken away from them. When people go on the web they don’t realize how much privacy they give up and what information is collected on them. This also refers back to the McLeod’s book where companies can “own” a human being because of all the data and the consumer profiles that they collect. The right to privacy on the web has no precedent in federal law and the bill Brodsky proposes might set an interesting precedent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/business/media/
20adco.html?scp=2&sq=right+of+privacy&st=nyt
EBay Settles Patent Dispute Over ‘Buy It Now’ Feature
March 7th, 2008 by adminThis clearly pertains to class because it was a class example. The case showed the four factor test and how the Supreme Court thought both the lower courts applied the test improperly. The patent dispute was over the “Buy it Now” feature. MercExchange stated that eBay infringed on their patent when implementing it on their site. In 2003, MercExchange was awarded $35 million laster reduced to $25 million. The Supreme Court ruled that the district court was too restrictive and that the appeals court wasn’t restrictive enough. It took this case seven years to be resolved.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/technology/29ebay.html?_
r=1&scp=3&sq=patents&st=nyt&oref=slogin
Nokia Wins Another Patent Case Against Qualcomm
March 7th, 2008 by adminIt was brought up in class that companies make quite a bit of money on finding patent infringers and in some cases make more money on the fine from infringers than from the actual product they make. Here is a case where the company keeps trying to get another company for infringement but just can’t seem to win a case. The article mentions a patent portfolio like these companies collect the patents. Qualcomm is so determined to win an infringement case against Nokia it has brought 11 suits against them. This article shows another key point that companies can drag things out in court and if Nokia wasn’t a larger company it would have caved and paid the fine long ago and then Qualcomm would have made its money.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?
articleID=206901325&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All
Online Scrabble Craze Leaves Game Sellers at Loss for Words
March 7th, 2008 by adminNew technology infringed on the old in this article Scrabulous is an online version of Scrabble has the board games created up in arms because the online version is a clear patent violation. Scrabulous has become somewhat of a phenomenon especially when an application for Facebook was created and now there are groups like “Help, I’m a Scrabulous Addict.” The interesting thing about this is that the online version seemingly breathed new life into the board game and made a younger generation aware of this game. Now granted Mattel probably doesn’t see it that way but they are considering legal action against the creators of the site. This pertains to class because for one it is a clear patent infringement because Scrabulous is copying Mattel and Mattel is bring up legal action, and this is another example where the little guy might just be muscled out by the large company for its transgression.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/business/02game.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq
=patent&st=nyt&oref=slogin
Issue: ISP Protection
February 29th, 2008 by adminIssue: ISP Protection
Articles:
David Needham
http://www.davidneedham.net/mm450/week3
‘Net giants, ISPs fear Canadian DMCA, seek copyright balance
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080213-google-
yahoo-rogers-wants-balanced-copyright-in-canada.html
Ome Cano
http://www.omezmedia.com/MM450/
P2P Downloads Crush iTunes/Digital Sales 20:1
http://www.slyck.com/story1642_P2P_Downloads_Crush_
Trevor Thompson
http://tct1985.wordpress.com/category/week-1/
Europe rules on pirates’ privacy
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2208436/eu-rules-pirate-privacy
Government has wrestled with the idea of making ISPs accountable for their actions or not for some times now. As it stands now ISP have been give “safe harbor” making it so they are not liable for the content transferred over their tubes. This point has been discussed in class through examples like YouTube where the ISP is called upon to remove a specific piece of infringing only if the prosecutor follows the necessary procedures. The view from other countries, as seen in the articles, is that they lean more towards lessening to constraints on the ISPs because they favor a balance between the private life and intellectual property rights. The governments of Canada and the EU are not neglecting the intellectual property rights but rather they view more “draconian” laws on the ISP would not foster creativity. The iTunes articles shows a different attitude that would remove the “safe harbor” protection that the ISPs have been living in for so long. If the U.S lessened the rules on ISPs then cases like Perfect10 v. CCBill would not have come about. Also in class we have discussed how in the U.S the ISPs have come under heavier fire because the U.S views privacy and the copying of matter much more negatively than countries seen the in the video “Good Copy, Bad Copy”. The two different views of this issue show how the different governments view intellectual property as they relate to fundamental rights and have to hammer out the balance. The ISP is basically the middle man that has come under fire.