The US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) at §§ 1201-1203 makes it illegal to circumvent technological protection measures in software or technology which protects underlying intellectual property. Today the Library of Congress has ruled that this prohibition does not apply to iPhone “jailbreaking.”
“Jailbreaking” is a term which describes the process of hacking a phone’s operating …
iPhone Hacking No Longer Illegal
YouTube Safe from Copyright Infringement Claims
The Southern District of New York has held that YouTube enjoys the protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) “safeguard” exception for Internet Service Providers.
Section 512(c) of the DMCA protects ISPs from copyright infringement claims for storing user-uploaded infringing content so long as the ISP does not have “actual knowledge” of the infringement or …
GET IT IN WRITING, says New York Court
In Snyder v. Bronfman (Nov. 23, 2009), the New York Court of Appeals recently ruled that oral contracts barred by NY General Obligations Law 5-701(a)(10), a.k.a. “The Statute of Frauds,” could no longer recover on quantum meruit theory. While the admonition to “get it in writing” had long been understood by the business community, those …
Supreme Court Decision Gives Big Business Huge Political Advantage Over Small Business
Today, in a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court struck major parts of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance restrictions, clearing the way for unions and major corporations to pour money into political issue advertising.
In stark language the court acknowledged it was overturning its own precedents, but Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing the majority opinion, said the …
USPTO to Prioritize Green Tech Applications
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is running a pilot program to accelerate the patent applications pertaining to green technologies. Applications connected to green tech will be examined out of turn (the current default timeline is 3+ years):
Currently, an application pertaining to environmental quality, or energy conservation, development of renewable energy resources or …
Net Neutrality Concerns For Small Businesses
The FCC’s recent net neutrality proposal carries a great potential to aid the business sector and, as with most government initiatives, it also carries an equally great risk of screwing everything up. Here’s what small business owners should know:
Net neutrality in a nutshell: Internet service providers (ISPs) cannot discriminate among their users in deciding how …