Mar
17
YouTube Awards
Posted by Keeley Vega at 9:19 pm under Events, Internet, Wikinomics.
Google is hosting the second annual YouTube Awards. Vote for your favorites in the following categories:
Short Film
Comedy
Series
Sports
Creative
Politics
Music
Instructional
Inspirational
Commentary
Eyewitness
Adorable
Make your selections before 11:59 pm PT on Wednesday. You can vote once per day. Winners will be announced on the 21st and all will be invited to a special YouTube gathering later this year.
I’m not particularly impressed with […]
Mar
17
An Obstacle for the Design Piracy Prohibition Act
Posted by Keeley Vega at 2:32 pm under Copyright, Legislation.
After months of negotiation between the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), an agreement was reached regarding the scope of copyright protection for fashion designs. However, the AAFA board rejected the compromise bill last week, leaving the CFDA as the chief proponent of the Design Piracy […]
Mar
17
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Posted by Keeley Vega at 12:25 pm under Uncategorized.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here is some festive March-themed trivia:
In what year was the term ”marshmallow peeps” first used in commerce?
What major retailer was sued in 2004 because it refused to accept a shipment of dancing Easter bunnies?
According to a 2007 Belfast Telegraph article, what three major American companies accounted for 20% of Irish […]
Mar
17
Japan, bellwether of net bias?
Posted by Dirk Avery at 8:55 am under Copyright, Internet.
A thousand of Japan’s ISPs have come to an agreement to ban P2P users. Users would get one strike before they were out. Once a user is out, they’ll be tough pressed to find a provider.
The popular P2P application in Japan, Winny, encrypts its traffic. The ISPs, though, are not going to do […]
Mar
16
Update: PTO Online (sp?) Chat
Posted by Keeley Vega at 9:48 pm under Events, Patent.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the PTO’s Independent Inventor Online Chat. The transcript is now available here. Of the hundreds of questions received, I’m delighted to see that mine was selected for posting because the PTO “believed [it] would be of interest to others besides the author of the question.” Sadly, I’m not […]
Mar
15
Judge Cacheris, Please Hurry
Posted by Keeley Vega at 10:58 pm under Litigation, Patent.
On February 8th, Judge Cacheris heard summary judgment arguments in the Tafas v. Dudas case involving the PTO’s Final Rules (docket available here). A review of the proceedings is available here.
The issues addressed are numerous: what is the extent of the PTO’s rulemaking authority? Are the Final Rules within this authority? Do the Final Rules govern the […]
Mar
15
The SIM Card Spy
Posted by Keeley Vega at 10:27 pm under Technology.
The SIM Card Spy is a new accessory for cell phones that allows you to back-up SIM information so you never lose phone numbers or, more interestingly, to access all files stored on the phone’s SIM card– even the deleted ones! Here’s how it works:
What a great way to make sure you never lose your numbers! […]
Mar
14
Attention Litigators
Posted by Keeley Vega at 3:13 pm under Litigation.
While fishing for points on Lexis Nexis, I found the following interesting video. The point: shepardize everything.
My favorite quote: “Just an aside,” Judge Ito.
Mar
14
First amendment in the digital age
Posted by Dirk Avery at 7:42 am under Internet, Litigation, Technology.
Can an employee mouth off to his friends about something unrelated to work? Of course? What if his “friends” happen to be the worldwide readers of his blog? A couple of days ago, outed Patent Troll Tracker Richard Frenkel was sued for defamation based on comments he made on his blog. His employer, Cisco, was […]
Mar
13
ZapMedia Sues Apple
Posted by Keeley Vega at 12:48 pm under Litigation, Patent.
Yesterday, ZapMedia filed a suit accusing Apple of “illegally using a patented method for distributing digital media over the Internet.”
“The patents in question cover a way of sending music and other digital content from servers to multiple media players, a broad description that could also apply to a wide swath of other companies selling digital […]